Prog House Champ Shingo Nakamura Drops Monstercat Silk’s Debut Release

Monstercat has announced a strategic acquisition of LA-based imprint Silk Music. Launching under the new name Monstercat Silk, the alliance will bring greater genre-diversity to the leading Vancouver-based label, increasing its output of progressive house, deep house, trance, chillout, and more. Silk Music will now operate as the third brand under the Monstercat banner, alongside the label’s Instinct and Uncaged brands.

To help usher in this new addition to the label, Monstercat Silk has invited Japanese progressive house champion Shingo Nakamura to inaugurate the imprint with his celebratory single, “Glow.”

We caught up with Monstercat Silk Label Director Jacob Henry and Monstercat Co-founder and CEO Mike Darlington to learn more about this new partnership, and what’s in store.

Mike Darlington: When I first got into dance music, I explored every sub-genre and never played favorites. To this day my taste is across the board — from dubstep and drum & bass, to progressive and deep house, to techno and experimental — I love it all. I’ve always felt it’s important to embed that same energy into Monstercat. We’ve had this gap in our catalogue where house, chillout, and trance could live, and bringing that music in through Silk will create a much more holistic ecosystem for us, as well as a more diverse discovery platform for fans.

Why partner with Silk Music for said brand?

MD: Silk has built such a passionate team around their artists and community, and that’s something we really value at Monstercat. Not only do they have a strong ethos, but their music selection is the best I’ve seen in the space. We’ve identified areas where we can help grow their business and vice versa, so it’s a mutually beneficial partnership and we’re excited to welcome them to the family.

Shingo Nakamura will debut the label. Is he someone you were familiar with before launching Monstercat Slik? And who can we expect releases from in the future?

Jacob Henry: I’ve had the privilege of working with Shingo since 2009, when we launched his progressive house tune “Alice In Wonderland” on Silk’s original label (known at the time as Silk Digital Records). We later released Shingo’s debut album, Sapporo in 2011, which reached number one on Beatport’s Progressive House chart and really helped put our label on the map. We’ve shared many great memories over the past decade, including performing together at shows in NYC and SF, so working with Shingo again and releasing his next album couldn’t be a bigger thrill for me, personally.

As a prolific progressive, trance, and deep house artist over the past 10-plus years, Shingo is truly an underground legend, who has established a cult following — on YouTube especially — where his music receives millions of streams each year. In his native Japan, he’s also earned a strong following, given his regular DJ appearances at a variety of Tokyo clubs, including the world-renowned Womb Nightclub.

Forthcoming on Monstercat Silk, we’ve lined up releases by some of the scene’s leading artists, including PROFF, A.M.R, Vintage & Morelli, and Arielle Maren. We also have a single from Kaskade arriving soon after the Monstercat Silk launch, which is especially exciting.