Soma: Business as Usual

 

“By this time the soma had begun to work. Eyes shone, cheeks were flushed, the inner light of universal benevolence broke out on every face in happy, friendly smiles. Even Bernard felt himself a little melted.” Aldous Leonard Huxley – Brave New World

1991 was a year full of dramatic endings. In a period of momentous change, words such as USSR, KGB, Poll Tax and Pan Am all signified cultural shifts. Amongst these mighty shifts and changes you could be forgiven for not having noticed the appearance of a small independent electronic music record label in Glasgow by the name of Soma Quality Records. 20 years on, over 300 singles and 90 albums later, there is no escaping their impact on dance music in this country and in many others.

As the celebrations reached Edinburgh for the label’s annual festival shindig at Cabaret Voltaire I found label co-founder Dave Clarke struggling to decide which memories stood out above the rest. “For half my lifetime I have been in the thick of it with these records, artists, DJs, parties, clubs, festivals and indeed it is hard to pick specific moments. Like the time we were in Detroit for the electronic music festival with Slam and Funk D'Void and we were playing an underground car park at the side of the main event. Funk D'Void put on Diabla, which was not even out then, and the place went crazy! Soon afterwards it started to rain and there was thunder but it just got even busier on our dancefloor. People were banging dustbin lids against the walls and letting off air horns. The atmosphere was electric.”

There exists an incredible amount of love for Soma and that has been in no small part due to Slam, the duo of Stuart McMillan and Orde Meikle. Through their club nights in Glasgow they kick started the label together with Glenn Gibbons and Clarke who continues to manage them. “Slam have always been at the forefront of the global underground house and techno scene,” he explains. “They know the cutting edge better than most and they have helped to guide the musical direction of Soma and have been pushing the name out there since the beginning. They also have so much respect from other DJs and artists as their productions have consistently been amongst the biggest releases on the label for 20 years.”

Many labels starting out now might learn something from the patient progress that was made in the first two years, with the label releasing only eight records in that period – the first being Slam's Eterna. Clarke is clearly not envious of those setting up a label these days in what has become a crowded market. “It was a different age altogether,” he says thinking back to 1991. “When we first released our records there were very few dance indie labels so we could get attention. To get noticed was easier, even with no internet or email;we just used a phone, a fax machine and sent out vinyl by post! They still had to be quality releases though or it wouldn’t have worked.”

The story behind Soma's 14th and 25th releases has become part of techno folklore but is worthy of a reprise due to a much hyped track to be included on the Soma: 20 Years compilation released this month. During a visit to Paris in 1993 a tape was given to McMillan whilst at a rave at the small underground venue known as Euro Disney. Even more astonishing than a Disney-hosted rave was the music the tape featured, that of a young French duo by the name of Daft Punk. “They sat us down in their studio in Paris which was in Thomas Bangalter's parents flat and we heard Da Funk for the first time.” Clarke recalls. “It wasn't finished and Thomas was not completely sure about it but we all knew right then. When they sent over the DAT tape for the release of their second single it had Rollin’ & Scratchin’ and another track called Daft Drive but no ‘Da Funk’ so we called them up and said "Hey, send over the funky one please."

There was no overnight success however. “The crazy thing was that track took so long to blow up! It trickled out the door, maybe 200 vinyl a week and then gradually it reached 2000 copies, which in 1995 was not that big a release. Then we noticed every DJ was playing it or asking for a copy, Richie Hawtin played it, Dimitri from Deee-Lite played it, everyone across the spectrum.” Soon 25,000 had been sold but at that point Soma took the decision to delete it, protecting it as a gift for the fans who had a copy.

The sudden relevance of this story 17 years later is that the previously unreleased and unheard Daft Drive will finally see the light of day as part of Soma’s compilation. As the track still remains protected by the label I ask Clarke to describe it. “It’s a crazy track, like Rollin’ & Scrathin’ but wilder and heavier. It sounds like a live jam too, very much in the style of their first live shows when the machines were running live over the beat."

The label’s importance to the electronic music scene in Scotland takes multiple forms, from the regular Slam Tent fixture at T in the Park to the confidence with which Glasgow can rightly claim to be a city recognised internationally for its clubbing. Clarke insists that the city has had as much of an effect on them. “We certainly travelled a lot and so did our music but we had firm roots in Glasgow. Our attitudes and experiences of growing up and partying here and the local music scene have been ingrained in what we do. The climate probably meant we made more tracks than people who live in hotter parts of the world too – what else you gonna do in the winter?”

The platform that the label has been able to give other artists such as Funk D’Void, Silicone Soul, Alex Smoke and Ewan Pearson has also meant a lot to Clarke and he is looking forward to Soma’s 21st year by having even more opportunities to do the same. “We have had our fun being nostalgic this year and we have still tried to be forward thinking at the same time with albums from Deepchord and the Black Dog and one newer artist from Australia called Joe Stawarz. We also have Gary Beck's debut album, a downbeat album from Alex Under and an EP from Steve Rachmad and Heiko Laux in the bag." After the celebrations are cleared up there's going to be a whole lot more from Soma to look out for. “For 2012? There will be a new Slam single and much more planned. It will very much be business as usual.”