STOMP'S HEAD HONCHO

"In regards to the selection process, we invite the artists that we feel will bring a certain quality and style to the series, giving them the medium to express themselves via their music selection, otherwise, whats the point in selecting a DJ, if you're telling them what they can or cannot put on the mix. The whole point is to trust the DJ (that would be a good name for a compilation series ;) on their ability, style and creativity."

The "next artist" to do a Balance release always seems to be the one that was less anticipated. Who is making the decisions in terms of picking the artists?
"We always don't look for the most obvious choices or 'it' DJs of the moment and not try and make the decision based on too much strategy, obviously there is a certain level of criteria involved and we do the necessary research, but at the end of the day, it does comes down to personal choice and instinct. I think the Balance series is more of a cult brand and people discover our product via word of mouth, rather than from a massive branding or marketing campaign. The only strategy we have is to release

quality music and hopefully the brand will build as a result of this ethos. Our plan is, there is no plan."

EQ also licences albums from other labels in stead of just distribution them. Can you explain this?
"EQ Recordings licenses certain Renaissance releases, along with importing other titles for exclusive distribution. Licensed titles are those that we deem to have greater marketing and sales potential and at the same time not all Renaissance titles are available for license."

Tell us about the Chris Fortier album; which is an EQ exclusive release. Why Chris Fortier?
"The Chris Fortier - As Long as the Moment Exists' album is our first international signing and Chris approached us to release the album since he liked working with us on the Balance 007 CD, which was really cool, as we liked working with him also, so it was a good idea to release the album. The CD is a wicked collection of deep, minimal, electro, acidic and dirty house and definitely takes you a deep journey. The CD has a lot of life and we'll also

be looking to put together a remix project of the album tracks featuring some amazing underground producers.

OK. The above probably is about the good part of your job! Now reveal the downside to us.
"Probably the downside would be coming to work and finding out there's no milk in the fridge for a coffee, that and maybe the admin. aspect of running a label, it can get quite tedious at times and you can develop 'office fever' (very similar to cabin fever), spending hours on end in front of a computer."

Without doubt, due to your job you've been to many places across the globe. Tell us a cool story!
"I've been lucky enough to do a bit of travelling and have been to a lot of cool places, seen a few weird & crazy things, but one of the funnier stories was being mistaken (must've been some good drugs at the party)

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