Upon.You Records, founded in February 2007 by DJ & producer Marco Resmann, one half of the infamous project Luna City Express, and electronic music veteran Hawks Grunert, has found wide acclaim for its first release, Phage’s ‘Vut & Vat EP’, putting them on the fast lane immediately.
Originally intended as a platform for music from an inner circle of friends, as well as for aspiring
young talent, it didn’t take long until the label branched out with first international signings in 2008, various label tours all over the world, and label compilations.
Just a a few short years after its launch, Upon.You Records had gained significant backing from the likes of Steve Bug and Brothers Vibe, eventually branching out with two sub labels (Upon.You Digital and Upon.You Sweet & Sour), a booking agency, and regular events at the likes of Berlin techno mecca’s Watergate and Panoramabar, as well as a street fashion line of urban gear alongside Workaholic Berlin.
Now, with a core family that includes Martin Landsky, ONNO, Ruede Hagelstein, Gunnar Stiller, The Cheapers, Upon.You has grown into a major force on the international electronic music circuit.
So, with that, we continue our new series here, and in conjunction with Deep House Amsterdam, highlighting some of our favourite labels from around the world, we thought we would catch up with Upon.You records boss, Marco Ressman to get the scoop on all things Upon.You.
Also, at the end of the article there is a slamming mix from Marco himself, so that you can get an idea of the Upon.You Records experience as it was meant to be heard…in the mix!
“It’s always a bit frustrating when you really believe in a piece of music but the market makes its own rules.”
What does Upon.You add to the dance music spectrum?
That’s an interesting question and not that easy to answer. Even for someone like me who’s doing this job full-time it’s easy to loose track since we have so many labels nowadays. I mean every single label wants to add something to the dance music spectrum. But is it really necessary? I think that each platform has his eligibility and there’s always a story behind. Upon.You grew in Berlin and is now a label with an international reputation. Our focus in definitely the dance floor and I see a lot of diversity between all the releases that have been released so far. We’re not following any trends – so everything is possible.
When did you first think about launching Upon.You?
The idea to launch my own label has always been in my mind. To start with Upon.You came up in 2006.
When did Upon.You actually launch?
We have founded the company end of 2006. The first-ever release came out in February 2007.
Story behind the Upon.You name?
There’s always an interaction between a label and its listeners, dancers or buyers. After some brain storming sessions we came up with the idea that the expression ‚it’s upon you‘ fits quite perfectly if you want to describe that our music is all-embracing, regardless who you are, where you’re coming from and yes, we also wanted to make it sound big, like: there’s no way around our music.
What was the most difficult aspect of launching the label?
In the beginning everything seemed to be difficult as we didn’t know how to do it. We’ve already had some experiences from work with other labels, which helped a lot. But finding the right physical distributor, creating an identity and all that jazz was a proper challenge for us.
What qualities do you look for in a Upon.You artist?
I mainly look for good music and of course people that have a similar vision as me.
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