“We want to do something that no other labels are doing right now. We want people to hear the music and go, ‘Who the hell are these people? Where the hell have they came from?’”
It’s your standard rainy UK night in March and 1 More Thing is glued into a lively video call with the Initiative Records crew. At the time of the call their launch release is just a matter of weeks away and Sebred, the most animated member on the call, is excitedly mapping out their manifesto.
“We want to create something special that you can’t get without a label, you know what I mean?” asks the label founder in a signature hearty Lancashire burr. If you’re from the Bolton/Manchester area maybe you might already know Seb and perhaps even Initiative. As a brand, Initiative has existed since the late covid streaming era of 2021 and building up a quiet storm on socials and a few cheeky merch runs and Sebred is the host of the weekly DnB Show on Bolton FM.
“Now all the tools are out there, a lot of people are asking what the point is in actually being on a label these days,” continues Sebred who runs the label with MC Mase and brother Kane AKA Eruptive. “For us, though, we would say we can offer connections and we want to make things happen that just couldn’t happen without us making them connections.”
Even before the label’s debut release, the connections are impressive. In the three-year build-up to the label launch this month, Seb has been linking up producer and vocal/MC talents who would otherwise not be aware of each other.
“We put 10 randomers, vocalists, MCs, producers and whatnot in a room and I’ll say, ‘Right everyone listen to this music an I’ll go make the brews’,” says Seb. “If anyone likes anything then we set it up and set a bit of a deadline and see what happens.”
Literally willing creativity and art into existence; Seb, Kane and Mase has so far joined an impressive amounts of dots between local talents. In some cases, their influences has led artists to explore other subgenres they wouldn’t normally approach. In the case of one particular connection – a renowned respected ballad singer Rachel Crowe who usually performs in stage shows an musicals – prior to Sebred’s linkage, she had never even listened to a drum & bass record.
“I told her she’d love it! Now she can’t get enough,” grins Seb. “See? This is what we want to do… Bring people together who would never even know about each other or about this music. Let’s do something that ain’t being done!”
Initial Steps
Rachel’s cover versions have gone viral on social media in the past, she is expected appear on the label in a few months time and is already working on new drum & bass tracks.Other connections are just as formidable, including label’s launch release: Chasing You / Pop by producer Sherpa and singer/songwriter Karis Jade, another vocalist who had never appeared on drum & bass prior to Initiative’s meddling.
“I saw Sherpa in the pub and played him some of Karis’s vocals on me phone and asked if he liked them,” says Seb. “He said, ‘Yeah, why?’ I told him, ‘I’m gonna get you in the studio together.”
Previously Karis had recorded, performed and toured with highly respected Manchester hip-hop crew The Mouse Outfit and her brother, Superlative. Drum & bass wasn’t particularly on Karis’s radar, but she was confident in Seb’s vision.
“I just chill out, opportunities come to me and I find it hard to say no, especially when it’s someone like Seb who I’ve known since school, saying ‘come up t’studio!” laughs Karis, emphasising Seb’s strong Bolton accent. “But I’ll say this… I’ll only work on something if I feel I can add to it. I want to give gratitude to any collaboration I do. I want to work with it and not just plant myself on it, you know? So props to Sherpa there because otherwise I wouldn’t be able to work on them.”
“It was a really interesting experience, I loved it,” adds Sherpa. “I love working with vocalists and giving them freedom. Not even a track title or anything to influence them. Like a blank canvas and Karis just ran away with it. Both tracks. I’m well happy with them.”
This respectful and organic creative approach has led to two exceptional tracks for the label to launch with. Chasing You is a barbed soul burner where Karis’s dreamy-but-dominant vocals and a solitary piano purr and linger over Sherpa’s growling, tempered beats. Pop meanwhile is a much darker and stripped-back club jam where Karis serves up a provocative spoken word over a deliciously wobbled-out bassline. Both map the parameters of the label and the sound Initiative want to put out into the world.
“Anything dark,” smiles Seb. “Rollers, minimal, neuro. We’ll even have dark 140s. The best way I can describe it is Metal’eadz crossed with Critical Sound and 1985 in terms of influences. Proper dark stuff.”
Dark Times
Dark with depth: if Sherpa and Karis Jade’s launch release is an accurate reflection of what’s to come, then Initiative have an exciting future ahead of them and are already carving their own unique space with an old school approach and a new school twist.
As a collective, they tap into that classic crew spirit that all of the pioneering labels were founded on back in the 90s (Playaz, Virus, Metalheadz, Ram, Prototype, the list goes on) but they’re doing it with a contemporary energy and ideas that are sympathetic to the modern day game.
Their strong nose for connecting people, for instance, taps into the concept and culture of writer camps that labels such as Shogun Audio and Hospital Records have been very successful with in recent years. Another aspect they’re excited about is the line-up options on future Initiative events. “I love a live PA, you know?” says Seb. “Think about the singers and vocalists we’re working with. We can break up the sets with live performances. How mint would that be?”
Whether it’s from a release point of view or a live perspective, Mase points out the importance of community behind their operations. “I thought we’d be doing events straight away but Seb wanted to build up the community first. Now we’ve already got a bit of a following and some energy before we’ve even launched.”
Strength In Numbers
It’s not just a following, it’s a network; almost all artists involved in the label so far are based within 100 miles of each other in the north / north west of England. Other artists forthcoming on the label such as Jinbu, Denver, Maddoc and Sphereix (to name a few) join dots between neighbouring cities Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and towns such as Wigan and their home town of Bolton.
This creates a regional energy that can rally up enough troops to sustainably support events without shelling out bags for big headliners and an IRL connection that adds so much more spice to collabs and sessions. It’s the timeless spice that makes a scene a scene; as we were reminded a few years back in Newcastle with the rise of Skantia, Nectax, Stompz, Kris Castro and others. All of whom have gone on to exceptional things.
While the internet and technology have made global connectivity and creative collaborations so easy, local connections should still be cherished, nurtured and championed. They create spaces for culture where more artists can rise at a much healthier, sustainable pace and be physically present for each other, if there’s any future for real grassroots raw artistic development, it’s in local communities.
Interestingly there’s evidence of it happening in other places of the UK; Recently we’ve spoken to Virtue about the scene in Gloucester and Jayfor about the scene in the east Midlands. The Initiative crew’s story follows on from these conversations. And it comes from a place of genuine love. Another essential ingredient for any type of real authenticity and longevity.
“That’s it mate. We’re not chasing clout or money,” says Kane. “It’s all about the music and we want to do things differently; respect the artists and make sure they get the credit they really deserve with a 70/30 royalty split.”
Again, this echoes other actions happening across the scene. Rebel Music and Halogenix have both discussed their stance on the 60/40 split in recent interviews and are part of a growing movement of community-based labels who prioritise culture over commerce. Initiative have taken this 10% deeper.
“We’re not expecting to make any type of profit from this, and if we do then we’ll put it back into the label,” says Seb, his smile broadening, he gets even more animated as we end the call. “We just want to do something proper sick, you know?”
Sick but strategic: with so many years of creative incubation in the build-up to their launch, Initiative have everything in place for a label to hope to thrive in a very challenging landscape; a firm vision and sound, a community and network of artists and a burgeoning presence both online and locally. The releases will now bring all of this together and can be expected fortnightly for the foreseeable. It starts right here with Sherpa and Karis Jade’s Chasing You. Pop lands in two weeks, watch out for the premiere on 1 More Thing very soon.
To be continued…
Sherpa & Karis Jade – Chasing You is out now
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