Label Profile – DNBB Records (Brazil)
DNBB Records are quite possibly Brazil’s most consistently hard working DNB label. They have a huge roster with several sub labels and support so many up and coming artists it’s ridiculous. They celebrate 10 years in the game this year and with label head and DJ/Artist in his own right Mystific at the helm, they are nowhere near ready to slow down yet!
To help celebrate their 10th Anniversary we hooked up with Mystific to talk label running, discovering new talent and DNB in Brazil!
Yoooooooooo Mystific! Welcome in!
Thanks! 😊
You are from Sao Paulo. Tell us a bit about DNB in your area. Brazil has a growing drum and bass community, right?
First, I would like to say thank you for this interview, it means a lot for me and for the label too.
Well, Sao Paulo is a huge city, with 8 million inhabitants and is certainly the most important economic center in Brazil today. In the not-so-distant past, we were the second capital of drum and bass after London. However, drum and bass here seemed to lose its strength and practically disappeared from the mass media during the 2010s until more or less 2018. After that, drum and bass here in Sao Paulo began to rise again, which was a surprise for me, a happy one!
Currently our drum and bass scene is hosting parties in Sao Paulo practically every weekend, which has not happened in a long time. The number of DJs and music producers has grown exponentially and the audience is rejuvenating and bringing new people, which is extremely important for the artistic foundation here. I’m happy with what is happening at the moment. We are really growing!
Before we talk about the label, you’re an artist and producer in your own right and have been making music for as long as the label has been running, or maybe before?
I’ve been a music producer for at least 20 years, but within drum and bass I have about 10 years of career. I started my life as an artist in the old and current label of the Fokuz group, Influenza Media. I was active there until 2014, at which point I took a break from drum and bass and came back later in 2016. But I was always into drum and bass and I never stopped listening. I love this style of music. I live this style of music in truth!
As an artist running a label, how do you decide what to self release, and what to put out to other labels?
I always try to release music on other labels first. I believe that I need to appear more in the “outside” world to then enter and release something on my own label, which can be confusing, but I’m not the one who decides in full what is released on DNBB. We have a team that analyses the demos and decides what may or may not be important to release. In this case, my songs can enter that list and be denied like any other artist. I’ve already signed tracks with major UK labels that were refused at DNBB by the demos team. But I always send it out first.
You’re an Ableton user. What is it about that particular DAW that you like so much? There are so many to choose from!
I believe that Ableton is more intuitive for me, also having the possibility to execute the visual elements with more of a visual layout. In addition to this there is the addition of having to make sure you have a preference among friends which enables much more collaboration. I started with Reason and then moved to Cubase, finally Ableton in 2012 and never left. Ableton also has the incredible possibility of transforming everything into midi with some precision. I really like that part too. But the intuitive aspect has always been the major drawing point.
And you also make house music too, so you like to play around with different styles?
Yes, I produce house too, but I confess that’s not my strong point! I also make a lot of music for commercials and more organic music, like background music, jingles, TV and movies among other things. I sell organic music for different markets. But speaking of house music and other aspects, I have a project called Drop Flow Records that house fans might enjoy.
So, DNBB is ten years old this year. What prompted you to start the label way back in 2012?
In fact, DNBB has existed since 2005, but it started out as a forum with thousands and thousands of people connected every day. It was the second largest drum and bass forum in the world in mid-2008 with more than 26 thousand active users. The forum was at the end of Orkut (which was run by Google) and its objective was to propagate drum and bass in Brazil and it certainly did it very well!
The forum had a huge number of DJs, music producers and moderators and ‘owners’ of the forum got together and started to create free compilations in a professional way. I myself participated in one in 2011. But it was in 2012 that I was invited to the medium, as I had not been active in the professional music scene for some time. So, in 2012 we created the brand and the website and distributed an official release initially, on Juno Download and then on Beatport.
What led us to write was precisely to create talent in the new music producers that emerged in Brazil, to disseminate our music with a photo in the new today of DNBB, which is the basis of DNBB to this day!
Across the decade you have obviously built up a really strong group of artists that you look after. What were the challenges in the early days for finding new talent?
This part is really difficult. Our intention was always to find new talents and put them in the professional music market.
We meet people every day and we get demos from all over the world, from Angola to China to the UK and Brazil. We get a lot of music, and the audition process is really complicated and time consuming.
We have 7 record companies within the DNBB group, and this is really a mega operation that involves many people and a lot of time. In addition, we have to manage everything with few resources, as after all new talents do not bring many resources at the beginning, so it takes a long time. But it is what we love and what makes us different. We’re always betting on new talent. This is our motto. We are already professionals, and we specialize in it!
And how does that compare to now? Have there been any major changes to the way you discover new talent?
Some time ago we bought two important labels that aim to release new faces, and these were Liquid Flow and Sunshine Recordings. Liquid Flow has already made some periodic releases with artists and we have a compilation called ‘Liquidism’ which covers that. That particular compilation project is now closed though, and the label will return with a new project called ‘Unsigned Hype’ for 2023, which is aimed precisely at new artists.
The DNBB label veers more toward the melodic end of the drum and bass spectrum, with occasional journeys into harder edged music. Is this because of the trend in Brazil, or personal preference, or more to do with the music you get sent?
DNBB Records started back in 2012 with drum and bass in the ‘open format’ style. Our preference is really something more melodic, but sometimes we leave this line of thought due to the fact that Brazilian artists prefer something heavier. Over time, the idea would be to release everything that is heavier and outside the melody area on our new label called 4Jungle, which has DJ Marnel as an anchor, who is one of the main pillars in Brazil in the world of drum and bass. The plan is to release all kinds of drum and bass on specific labels within the DNBB group.
You are Brazil’s biggest DNB label. That’s quite a title! You must be very proud of that!
Well, I do not like to call whether yes or not we are the biggest record label in Brazil in the style of drum and bass, but I can say that we are the one with the greatest structure and scope in the Brazilian and Latin market. We have been in the market for a long time, which has helped us to consolidate. I think it’s fair to say that we are the company that most promotes drum and bass in Brazil, that is for sure!
Tell us a bit about managing the label, then. It’s not just about the music, so who takes care of things like artwork and distribution? The things that go on behind the scenes?
Well, we are above all a company registered in Brazil, and unfortunately, in Brazil the bureaucracy is tremendous. Taxes are high for those who work with ‘external’ money. We are a lean team of 5 people who work every day for the group’s record labels and the advertising agency. We have a mastering studio in the USA that does label and affiliated services, as well as carry out services for other audiences. Then we have a new business only person, which includes labels and artists in many places around the world when it comes to media. We also have the day to day A&R, who also performs the work of auditions and relationships with artists (this is me 😊).
Then there is one non-financial person and one non-legal person. It really doesn’t seem like much, but it’s enough. We have affiliation with 4 distributors around the world, and these are Believe, Cygnus, Triple Vision and Label Engine and they do the distribution work across the globe for our labels. Before 2015 we only had Label Worx, but little by little we migrated to the others. We have approximately 500 releases on the market, with over 1000 tracks released!
The day to day running of a record company is very busy and this often extends to the weekends when it also involves live events, but we love it all!
There is also an academy linked to the label. We are very interested to hear about this, so please tell us all about it and how it fits into DNBB?
We currently have the DNBB Academy, which is restricted only to the oldest and most frequent producers of the label. There they have classes on how to act at festivals and parties, they learn every day about the digital music market, with data, spreadsheets and presentations. We sometimes hold meetings to identify market trends and how to improve sales and engagement. This is extremely important after all, because it’s practically a marriage between record label and artist.
We recently raised the flag of the BMA (Bass Music Academy) which is a course taught by DJ Andy (winner of several awards within drum and bass around the world). However, this course is paid for by anyone who wants to learn to produce and interact in the world of music. Unlike the DNBB Academy, you must be invited to join the group. This means a lot to the artists and they use the skills learned there in their daily lives as producers.
So, tell us a bit more about the sub labels within the DNBB camp?
We felt it would be more useful to create some sub-labels to improve this pattern of styles and strands. We have;
Liquid Flow, which was acquired from a German/Dutch group to put the new talents and compilations out from liquid and soulful aspect.
Creative Records, which was acquired in 2017 to release the whole spectrum of electronic music and Lo-Fi Music.
True Box Records, which is currently paused and which explores the heaviest environments of drum and bass as well as the new.
4Jungle, with the help and curation of DJ Marnel.
Soul Light Records, which covers something more atmospheric and more dramatic, usually more organic artists, and finally………..
Sunshine Recordings, which was recently acquired and intends to release more poppy and uplifting music.
What would you say is your policy when it comes to releasing music, then? You seem to be very strong advocates of pushing brand new or recently established producers?
Our main point is really the new talent, the new producer. We always aim to introduce new people into the drum and bass scene, but clearly, before releasing the songs, there has to be a conversation, and often improvements in the ideas and structures of the songs. Not everything we like is instantly ready to be launched on to the market. There is usually a certain amount of work that needs to be done before the artist releases their first tracks.
We provide a complete set of advice from the appropriate paths in streaming right through to how to behave at events and in general. We are literally talent scouts. I make it clear to all new (and older) producers that our main goal is to sell their music and to reach mature levels of exposure with all of them. Those who stick to homework always have cool results!
Tell us a bit about living in Latin America generally then. What can you tell us about your beautiful country?
Well, Brazil is a continental-sized country, you can travel up to 8 hours by plane and in some instances you won’t even have left the country!
Life here is very complicated at some points, because it is a very large country. We have a huge diversity in the country of different races and cultures as well, and the economy tends to vary from family to family. Brazil today is rich in many areas and this has given people access to many things that were unlikely before. In a general aspect, Brazil is growing and that is great. We are a country with a lot of desire to improve and we are in the battle for this!
You also broadcast regularly on Twitch. This is a radio show you do isn’t it? What is the main aim of the show?
We broadcast on Twitch every Sunday at 8PM here in Brazil, in order to show the main releases from around the world within drum and bass to our audience in Latin America. It has been cool and very fruitful. People here in Latin America are very focused on oldies and classics, but our show on Twitch and Spotify has helped everyone to get to know the newer music too, whether from new artists or old ones.
And to close out the interview, tell us about the other ways you are celebrating your 10th Anniversary?
Well, this year we really have a reason to celebrate, because in addition to the 10th anniversary of the label, this year we can finally attend events and gigs with more people here in Brazil. We went through the pandemic unharmed without any serious problems or loss of people and loved ones, thank goodness
In November we will celebrate with a super party in a club right in the centre of São Paulo, where more than 14 DJs will play and do live PA’s. In addition to international acts like Cross-Over (Devide Records), North Base (RAM, Viper and others) there are also great names on the line up such as Unreal, DJ Fabz, DJ Marnel, Hadiex, Jungie, Kalixto, RVee, Ellementhz, About the Matic, Electrum Plectrum, MT2, Villar and Leve.
We will practically have a mini-festival, with two rooms in the club, a film documentary recording on the day and many other surprises! In addition to this, we also have an album mixed by DJ Marnel, which includes several Brazilian and Latin American names which will be released digitally and also physically in CD format.
We are excited about this super party and the repercussions it will have, after all, drum and Bbass in Brazil is resurfacing and improving every day!
Stay tuned for more news, as we have a very heavy and very extensive schedule for 2023, with parties (inside and outside Brazil), new videos, lots of new music and also some free courses coming too!
FIND OUT MORE HERE:
Music | DNBB Records (bandcamp.com)
DNBB Records (Group) (@dnbbrecords) • Instagram photos and videos
Mystific (@mystificdnb) • Instagram photos and videos
