BlackBox launch the opening of their new record label in York

Two and a half years ago, BlackBox was founded by Kit Lockey and Callum Mclafferty; Alumni of the University of York and Derwent College, who started out holding nights on and off- campus, for anyone who enjoys anything electric; from house, techno to disco.

Their time at York saw BlackBox expand significantly. BlackBox is best known for hosting the afterparty of last year’s momentous Northern Youth fashion show along with the Svengali stage at Big D that saw Dimitri from Paris headline. Other artists they have brought to York also include Session Victim and Maribou State in Mansion, and Crazy P who joined them this term at Fibbers.

After being featured in magazines and hosting festival stages, BlackBox have just announed their record label, and are excited to host their launch party at Fibbers in York this Friday, 2nd December.

We spoke to Kit about the expansion of BlackBox into “more than just a party”:

Why did you decide to set up a record label?

It just seemed like a logical progression for BlackBox. We’ve been running events for a couple of years and always dreamed of setting up a label, but after graduating and thinking a bit more seriously about the company, we realised how many fantastic producers we already know who are connected to BlackBox in one way or another, so there’s a great opportunity to showcase a whole load of homegrown talent from artists that haven’t had the attention we think they deserve. Fast forward a couple of months and all of the technicalities have been pretty much finalised, and we’ve got our first release coming in a couple of weeks! I’m still coming to terms with the fact that we run a record label… how cool is that?

Who is first to be signed to the label?

Oren. – We’ve got his first EP coming out on December 16th, which is called Polyr. His real name is Jack McNeil, he studied Music at York and graduated a couple of years ago and moved to Berlin, where he’s been DJing and soaking up a load of inspiration for developing his own sound. His music takes inspiration from his hometown of London, as well as the industrial underground techno sound of Berlin.

What do you hope to achieve, and where do you see it in a year’s time?

I’m really focused on this idea of developing a community and support network with the label, so it’s a lot less to do with scoping out someone who might be ‘the next big thing’ and more about working with people who really care about what they’re doing and helping them achieve that, as well as getting everyone involved bouncing ideas off each other, remixing each other’s stuff, that kind of thing. So yeah, in a year’s time I’d like to see us as a small crew of producers, playing shows together and releasing music we’re all psyched about. This first year is very much about finding our feet and developing our own identity, so we’re not going to try and do too much just yet, but there’s some exciting things planned…

For more details on the event and to view the video, click here.