Urban Torque on clocking a century

Urban Torque on clocking a century

25 February, 2009 | 2.32PM

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: Music News: jason moore, leigh morgan, urbantorque

Celebrated UK label Urban Torque commemorates its 100th release this month, having been pushing the groove train along a deep track since 2001.

What started out as a London club night grew to transform into a successful and accomplished label, with names like Milton Jackson, Hernán Cattáneo, Sei A and Francois Dubois all gracing the imprint’s catalogue.

Today Beatportal sat down with label heads Jason Moore and Leigh Morgan to talk about the pitfalls and joys of running their successful imprint, and what big things are in store for Urban Torque in 2009.

Tell us a little about the label’s start, and your beginnings in the electronic music industry.  How did the collaboration for the imprint come about?

Jason: Urban Torque was originally a club night I established at Heaven in London between 1999 and 2002. My resident DJs were Juan Atkins, Justin Robertson, Craig Richards, Adam Freeland, Dave Angel, Terry Francis, Phil Perry, Dave Clarke, and The Propellerheads. I was inspired by the diversity of the electronic music assembled under one roof and I wanted to recreate this in a label, as I had done with my ‘Triptonite’ album for Journeys By DJ. I joined the JDJ team in the early nineties and toured extensively, whilst A&R’ing their flagship London night at The End. I also began producing as ‘Departure Lounge’ with Si Brad, signing our first single ‘Nu Odyssey’ to Paper Recordings in 1997.

Leigh: I went to University in Liverpool, which introduced me to ‘Cream’. I moved to London and met Jason at a gym. I gave him a mix-tape and soon after he offered me a job driving him to gigs. That’s how it all started, really.

Jason: My thing used to be long sets, so I started getting Leigh to warm up for me at gigs like Phil Perry’s ‘Sound of The Suburbs’. He learned quickly, and it wasn’t long before he was warming up the main floor as a Heaven resident!

What was the initial vision for Urban Torque, and has that remained the same?

Jason: The initial vision exists to this day. It was always about finding and developing artists who one day might crossover; old-fashioned A&R I guess. I’ve never been that bothered about genre, passing fads or what people think or say. I was brought up with songs, so I love electronic music that expresses emotion and has a purpose.

Leigh: We’ve always had a philosophy of signing music we both like. It might sound obvious, but if either one of us hasn’t really been into a record, then we have tended to pass on it.

What rough patches needed smoothing?  Any bumps in the road that turned into major achievements?

Leigh: I guess the major rough patches were two distributors going bust on us that severely dented us financially, but I think it also made us stronger in terms of developing the business model to move with the changing times. So out of big negatives, you are forced to look at how to make things work to your advantage. We’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way, but that’s how you gain experience, you should never be afraid to make those mistakes as long as they are more calculated risks.

And apparently those risks paid off, as you are currently in the midst of celebrating your 100th release, a long way from your start in 2001. Can you tell us a bit about the tour and how you plan on commemorating your achievements?

Leigh: We are not basing it on or around any one artist. We are opening it up and extending the tour throughout the year, to cater to all our artists who are releasing this year. Our 100th release will actually be from Relation, a band we have been developing for about four years now, and represents a big stepping stone in our development. We will also release a compilation mixed by myself and Jason, which I hope will truly represent what we are all about. There’s still a lot to be confirmed in terms of dates and sponsorship and media partners, but we’re taking in the US, Europe and the UK so far, so it’s shaping up nicely.

Jason: It’s also somewhat ironic that the first date in our tour celebrating our 100th release year takes us full-circle with another Journeys By DJ connection. Nicholas Matar and Willie Graff have released excellent JDJ albums in recent years.

Are there any artists who you consider to be your ‘staple’ artists – the backbone of the label?

Jason: That’s a difficult question and I am pleased to say that there isn’t one with which I can answer this easily. Of course, we have more established artists as well as relatively unheard-of artists. However, what is clear is that there are no guarantees as to success from whichever side of the fence you happen to come from these days, and believe me when I tell you this. We treat every release with the same care in terms of promotion and the effort.

With three artists on your imprint nominated for BMAs, it’s obvious Urban Torque is solidly dedicated to unleashing high calibre talent.  Who do you have your eye on in 2009?

Jason: In terms of next years BMAs, I would have to pick out Stephen Lopkin for leftfield electronic drama and The Diogenes Club for 80’s inspired wizardry.

Leigh: It’s always encouraging to see established artists wanting to work with us. We are excited about adding Tom Middleton and Behrouz to our family. We are extremely proud of what Scope has achieved over the last two years, since we put out his debut single. We also look forward to delivering exciting new music from the master of the deep, Francois DuBois. There is a huge amount of great talent around right now, and outside of Urban Torque, I’m loving Motor City Drum Ensemble, Lovebirds, Vincenzo, Ian Pooley, Kevin Yost—the list could go on and on.

And what’s forthcoming in 2009?

Jason: It’s a landmark year in many ways. We have four album projects, with two from bona-fide bands: Relation and Eat More Cake; our ‘UT 100’ label comp, and an artist album from newcomer Stephen Lopkin. We have tons of singles and EPs from the likes of Tom Middleton, Scope, Behrouz, Neil Quigley, Jay Leblone, Office Gossip, SumSuch, Tone Float, M.A.D., Pezzner, Misfitz, CR-78, Danny Stott, Brabe, Kimouts, Satoshi Fumi plus a few more surprises.

Any advice for aspiring labels just starting out?

Leigh: The main advice I can give is centered around two key points: Release the music you love and care about. A lot of labels seem to have sprung up in recent times, with the sole purpose being to get DJ gigs. This can lead to quality control issues in terms of quality of production, mastering, artwork etc. If you’re not going to put love, care, and attention and be proud of what you do, then just stop right there. Secondly, running a label is 90% administration. Have this part of it organized, or you will fall down at the first hurdle.

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Urban Torque tour dates

You can join in the festivities and catch Leigh at Cielo in NYC on 28th February with Willie Graff, and on the same date at Yello in Belfast, Behrouz and Scope will be behind the decks.

Urban Torque 100 @ Cielo New York – 28 February
Leigh Morgan
Willie Graff

Urban Torque 100 @ Yello Belfast – 28 February
Behrouz
Scope

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