Hatiras launches new label Hatrax: interview

Hatiras launches new label Hatrax: interview

20 September, 2007 | 6.12AM

• Section: Music News
• Written by: Terry Church

As boss of one of the hottest labels in house music, you’d have thought Hatiras would be happy with his Blow Media empire. But alas, he’s still intent on world domination. His new offshoot label Hatrax has just launched and its debut release is the crazy funky house track ‘Rock Da House’ [check it in the player below]. Beatportal caught up with label boss Hatiras in Toronto, Canada to find out more about his new label. 

Is there a particular ethos behind your label?

Sure. The music has to be fun, DJ friendly and quality. The whole idea behind Blow Media, Hatrax (and my music in general) is that I operate with a punk mentality - I release music that I like, when I want and how I want without the conservative, sluggish and restrictive mentality of major labels. So far that’s proven to be a great model.

Blow Media is much more than a label innit?

Blow Media is a record label, talent management company and booking agency. We’ve also delved into event promotions, radio, music videos and more.

It’s forced me to become a man of many hats.

Through it I’ve launched my hugely popular weekly radio show ‘Hatiras Presents’ and now this second label ‘Hatrax’.

Blow Media has been very popular with Beatport customers. Why?

I’ve kept the music consistent, the releases plentiful and have brought many exciting new artists into the mix to freshen things up (Adam K, Macca, Ortzy, Hirshee, Jeff Daniels, Da Skunk).

I’ve also worked with some established names that provided the label with legitimacy (DJ Dan, Robbie Rivera, Olav Basoski, Mario Ochoa).

However, the main reason for my label’s success has to be due to the quality of the music.

You’re all about the house music.

I love the tempo, pumpiness, energy and danceability of house.

However, I don’t intend to stick to a generic house sound or formula.

I’m always looking to incorporate other genres into a danceable form like drum & bass, rock, breaks, electro, disco, hip hop, and old retro classics.

So what’s Hatrax all about?

I set up Blow Media back in 2003 when the music industry was at an all time low.

I wanted to create a vehicle to release my own music and to help launch other artists as well.

Blow Media has pretty much matured now.

I decided to set up Hatrax as a very personal vehicle for my own productions and sonic experiments.

As with Blow Media, I don’t have any rigid rules regarding Hatrax other than I want to mess around with production and release all the creative ideas running around in my head.

What pressures/difficulties have you faced running a label?

There are a lot of little tasks to take care of and things can get overwhelming.

Running a label also gives me less time in the studio.

Another downside is that a lot of people still think that it’s ok to download and share music illegally.

That kind of stuff really hurts the business side of running a label.

On the upside, I have complete creative freedom and have been able to use the internet and technology to both market and sell my music - this is something I couldn’t do years ago.

So you’re a fan of the digital revolution?

The digital revolution is extremely important. It allows for instant access to information.

As a result, people can find out about artists they like, and access their music and tour dates without being force-fed what the mainstream media wants to push. 

You played at Beatport’s pool party in Miami at this year’s Winter Music Conference and were accompanied by some lovely girls wearing ‘Blow Me’ tshirts. How important is this visual aspect to promoting your label?

Haha. Well I don’t deliberately get girls to wear Blow Me tshirts or Hatiras stickers.

That sort of stuff just kind of happens.

Hey, I won’t complain though - I think that’s pretty hype.

However, I have had a lot of control over the visual aspect of my record labels and have always tried to maintain a consistency between the look of the releases, the website and business cards.

It’s just smart branding and creates a connection with the fans.

What can we expect from you in the next 12 months?

Well, Blow Media will continue to move forward however I plan to put some of my energy into Hatrax.

With Hatrax I plan to spend more time in the studio and release more of my own music.

Some of the releases will be straight up tracks and some will be vocal productions.

I plan to dabble in a diverse range of sounds and styles but hope to bring some of the positive energy, fun, and party-time feel back into the music.

I appreciate all of the minimal and dark stuff everyone is making right now but am ready to shake things up a bit with some bangin’ beats to keep things interesting. Watch out.

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