OneEDM: Welcome guys! When did the idea of Newcastle Friends conceptualize?
Newcastle Friends: Newcastle Friends became an idea back in January 2018 when I was supporting the trance scene on my YouTube channel Lost Paradise. I wanted to be a part of the scene in other ways than just a promoter, so after a month of planning, the label was ready for business. In March, I released the first track from Suncoast and then everything else slowly came into play.
What was the most difficult element to turn the label into a reality?
There really wasn’t a difficult element to turn the label into a reality. It’s very easy for people to start labels now due to simple setups at distributors. The most difficult element for growing the label was finding demos, but that is getting easier and easier over time as our publicity improves with each release.
What has been the greatest triumph for Newcastle Friends, thus far?
The greatest triumph for the label group is having the release ion.B – Lost Coast EP being featured once on Solarstone’s Pure Trance Radio and twice on Paul van Dyk’s Vonyc Sessions Radio. Our team and artists are fans of both Solarstone and Paul van Dyk, and their shows reach thousands of fans each week. This was a great publicity for our label group and the artists, and helped us turn profits at release day.
Did the idea of blending more than one genre under the label happen over time, or was that an original focus?
The idea of blending more than one genre under the label came in May. It was a gradual idea, stemmed out of my love for all three genres. Running one label with all three genres doesn’t really bode well, especially for fans who use labels as a way to find new music in a specific genre. Having sperate imprints for each sound helps build a brand, and draws in fans from all three genres.
Of the three sub-labels, which seems to be gaining the most momentum?
At the moment, our Surge imprint (focusing on uplifting trance) is gaining the most momentum. That imprint has been supported by Paul van Dyk and Solarstone, and bigger artists, such as Dreamy and Alex Wright, are releasing and remixing on Surge. In addition, it is the best selling imprint at the moment.
For an artist, what is something that would attract them to Newcastle Friends, that you’d say is unique to other record companies?
I decided to ask my artists this question to get an unbiased report. One thing many of them said was that the artists feel like a family, where all the artists know each other and are friends. Dove Project added the label doesn’t feel commercial, and fosters a very close relationship between staff and artists. Airborne US told me that what interested him in Newcastle was the “hands-on cultivation of your artists with a deep focus on pushing their artistic limits.” Francesco Fruci, a frequent artist on the label group, said his goal with music is to make people smile while listening to his work, and he feels he achieves that through Newcastle.
Do you have an intention to host live events?
We have the intention to host live events, but in two to three years. We first want to build our brand further, and develop a few artists on each label as core Newcastle artists so that fans know what to expect. After this is achieved, Newcastle Night Events will be able to take off.
Are there any of your up-and-coming artists that fans should keep an eye out for?
Dove Project, Francesco Fruci, Table 18 and Miraks are four artists on the label that I highly regard as artists with big tracks coming. Each one has a unique style and will certainly gain a lot of fans in 2019.
And finally, what are some goals for you guys over the next year?
We have so many goals that it would take too long to list them all! If I had one goal for the label group that would outrank them all, it would be releasing and promoting so much music so that we can end the year with the first annual Newcastle compilation album.
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