Label Profile: Made In Glasgow Recordings

Scotland’s electronic music scene is thriving, and Electronic Glasgow wants to show why. Now in its second year, the festival returns to Glasgow, with events taking place in venues across the city representing the range and diversity of the Scottish scene.

The festival opens with a five hour set from Soma Records’ founding duo Slam, celebrating 15 years of their Return to Mono parties at Sub Club, and closes with a showcase from Made In Glasgow Recordings. In between, there are various parties from a range of established names and new faces on the scene, as well as two days of free producer/DJ workshops and discussions at The Space Community Arts Centre. 

The aforementioned closing party from Made In Glasgow Recordings coincides with the label’s latest release from new duo Manakinz, made up of James ‘Harri’ Harrigan and Max Raskin, aka Affi Koman, with their Half a Quarter EP. Ahead of the showcase, we spoke to label boss Gary Lawson about its formation and what to expect from the event.

The Skinny: How and when did Made in Glasgow Recordings begin?
Gary Lawson: The label began from a chance meeting between myself and singer-songwriter Pete MacLeod in Bez's dressing room during the Happy Mondays tour at the end of 2015. The conversation initially wasn't based around music at all as we both come from the same town, but we agreed to meet up a few weeks later and during the catch up Pete let me hear a remix of a track of his from Octave One and asked for advice on putting it out. I had been hosting parties under the Made In Glasgow name so it just seemed obvious to extend that to include a label. We both then approached Bizzy and Jamie from Desert Storm to come on board and together with the help of the Rubadub crew Made In Glasgow Recordings was born.

How do you find it running a record label in Scotland, and Glasgow in particular?
The city is full of like-minded people who really embrace electronic music so we're just grateful to be a very small part of it. By and large people are supportive, plus there's loads of amazing home-based talent out there so finding music to put out isn't a problem at all. Everyone behind the label have been around for a while so we have plenty of contacts willing to contribute to the cause. If we all feel something we'll put it out whether it's disco to acid, once it's out there whatever happens happens.

Which artists will you be showcasing at your event and why have you chosen them?
Firstly, it's nice to be part of Electronic Glasgow this year, plus the timing fits well with our next release, Manakinz’s Half a Quarter EP. The opportunity to have Harri and Affi Koman – the production duo behind Manakinz – play for the first time at the Electronic Glasgow closing party seemed too good to miss, while Rebecca Vasmant, Discos No Further, Adam, Bizzy and Kodie are all either part of the label or good friends and very talented DJs!

Which charity are you donating the door takings to and why have you chosen them?
The chosen charity is Stay Up Late Scotland who are a network of people and organisations committed to enabling people with learning disabilities to lead great social lives.

You will also be participating in a Record Label fayre on 17 and 18 October, as part of Electronic Glasgow. What will that entail?
It's an opportunity for local labels to come together and meet some of their customers face to face as part of The Electronic Glasgow Hub event, which also includes DJ/producer workshops and industry talks over two days. People coming down will get the opportunity to hear tracks over a club soundsystem before they buy, so hopefully they'll like what they hear from us. Artificial Horizon, Invisible, Inc. and Schrödinger's Box are just some of the other labels involved so there should be enough choice over the two days.

Do you think events like Electronic Glasgow are important for Scotland’s club scene? Would you like to see more of them?
Absolutely! Glasgow is one of the greatest cities in the world for electronic music with world class producers, artists and the most up for it crowd anywhere, so any event which shines a spotlight on the scene and helps celebrate it can only be positive. It's a UNESCO City of Music after all, with over half a million music visitors every year, so everyone involved in the club scene across the country surely benefits from that. A number of artists and DJs performing at Electronic Glasgow this year come from Edinburgh and surrounding areas.

Introducing Harri and Affi Koman's Manakinz

Harri and Affi Koman: "The Manakinz project was started in November 2018 out of sheer laziness as we live close to each other, always have a laugh and share a mutual love of Sumatra Mandheling. The guys from Made In Glasgow really liked our early demos and were keen to do something with us. Mucho Tranquilo is actually the first thing we ever made together and What Must I Do came together very quickly. Since then we've finished loads of tunes and have quite a few things coming out in the not too distant future.”

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Made In Glasgow Recordings Showcase takes place at The Space, Glasgow, 20 October
Electronic Glasgow takes place at venues across Glasgow from 11-20 October
facebook.com/madeinglasgowrecordings 
facebook.com/manakinzmusic