Voyeurhythm Records have been releasing some of the best heat on wax at the moment. They also have one of the best names around, in my opinion. We talk to Label head; Tyson Ballard about going digital, travelling the world and what's next for the label.

What was the catalyst for setting up the label, had you run or been involved with other labels?

We created Voyeurhythm as a platform to release our own music. It was also us having the master decision on what would be released and what wouldn't be; not a label chief telling us what was hot and not. We all had tunes that we wanted to get out at the time and we weren’t sure how to do it so we decided to roll up our sleeves and just to do it ourselves. At the time Ben and I were in London so we sent the first record to Serge at Clone for some feedback, he loved it and so the relationship with Clone began. The sound has grown from the first few releases. You learn a lot from each release, I think now we are really starting to hit our straps. I’m really excited about the future –injecting some young blood into the VR roster in the form of Benny Badge - ‘ Freekwency’ has been refreshing and added another dimension to the label.

What’s your proudest moment with the record label so far?

Cutting the first record was a pretty big moment, Bensun and I sat in the mastering room and saw the actual first master VR record get physically cut, it was really gratifying and you couldn’t get the smile off our faces. The buzz we had afterwards is something I doubt we will experience again. To have that record sell out in a matter of days was really humbling also. Besides that there have been some other big moments for us, walking into Fabric in London to hear Bensun’s ‘Salty Tears’ rocking the dance floor, dropping our tunes in different parts of the world through to meeting people that love our music all feeds our enthusiasm to make more and do better.

Salty Tears // VR003 by Ben Sun

There’s and an Adelaide connection for the label, how long were you here for and which artists are from here?

It’s funny, we haven’t planned it that way but all artists that are currently on the label are originally from Adelaide. I grew up just south of Adelaide with Mostyn – ‘Megadon Betamax’. Bensun, and Benny Badge are also from Adelaide, we all met Djing together in the early 00’s. Adelaide is a great breeding ground for artists and has a great history in terms of music culture and its future is bright. Being a small city there’s a lot of genre cross-polinisation that I think you wouldn’t get from a bigger city. This also fuels a drive and competitiveness from the underdog feeling that I think makes us improve and better ourselves. There are some peeps to watch from Adelaide, fresh from Miami George Watts and the House Inspectors I know made a massive impression. There’s also Sid, and the Swiss lads that continue to go in leaps and bounds, and the Carter bros – one word amazing, Tom Cotter, Aaron, Agent 86 and HMC and the list goes on. Recently travelling I also know that for many DJ’s around the world Adelaide is their favourite town in Australia to play. The feedback is that heads really love and understand good underground music- that and we know how to party. I’m really proud to hail form that town and will continue to pay homage and spread the word wherever I go.

How do you do the A+R for the label, is it just friends or do you go looking for other artists to release things from?

In the beginning A&R was less than minimal, purely just a few mates that decided to put a couple of records out. Benny Badge joined the VR team through a recommendation from Jamie Bennett  - Japeye, when we heard the demo we were blown away. We are at a stage now where we are getting sent a lot of music which is fantastic, some of the music has been of a really high standard. Heading to Miami and travelling through South and Central America I’ve been exposed to some amazing talent and we are now in the process of working out if some of this music could fit into our roster. I’m really keen to expand our community but we'll just have to wait and see.

FREEKWENCY - Don't tell me (dub mix) by Benny Badge

A lot of your releases have videos with a cohesive aesthetic. What’s the inspiration behind the videos and who makes them?

The videos are a bit of tongue and cheek really. We’ve all chipped in and made some. We have a friend Andrew Havelberg (Adelaide chap too) who is a great editor so we usually get them to a semi finished state and he waves his magic wand and finishes them off. We plan on doing a lot more with that medium so stay tuned.

Voyeurythm has just had its first digital release. What was the reason for going digital, did you realise you had an audience that was bigger than your ability to distribute a physical copy?

The decision to release digitally was a natural growth step for the label. We never sat down and planned out a 5 year growth strategy but the demand for digital was strong, so we decided to do it. In the beginning I think we would have been stoked if one of our favourite DJ’s even had a copy of our record. We still love that word of mouth and hand delivery approach and will continue to do it, but the label has grown and we have bigger aspirations. One of which is reaching a wider audience that only digital can deliver. We all collect vinyl, it will always be our preferred format but you have to come to the realisation that not everyone these days buy’s it. At present we plan to release vinyl first with digital following a few months after.

What are the difficulties associated with releasing vinyl in this day and age, how is essential is it too have a hook up like Clone for distribution?

For us we haven’t had any difficulties as such in releasing the vinyl. I think there is still a market out there for people who love to have something physical to hold, play and collect. Having Clone as a distributor and ally has been an amazing asset for us, whilst not everyone knows Voyeurhythm yet, a lot of people know and respect Clone both in terms of its tenure as a label but the fact that it has managed to stay at the forefront of new talent. Serge at Clone is a great tastemaker and we often run releases by him for feedback prior to them coming out on VR.

When you're releasing vinyl, I think you spend more time in making sure the songs are right production and structure wise. To press up and release vinyl is not cheap so it’s a real investment that your making. Personally I can hear the difference between tunes that have only a digital release as opposed to tunes that have a vinyl and digital release. For me the songs seem to have more structure, generally the production is better and it just seems like the producer has put more love into perfecting the song.

He Can't Love You (Vocal) by MegadonBetamax (ED: this is a fav!)

You have recently been playing around the world with some gigs in mexico city and new york. Where else have you recently DJed. What’s your take on the “global clubbing scene” and how do you think voyeurythm fits in to it?

Last month Voyeurhythm did a showcase at the ‘Do you wanna boogie party’ at Miami’s Winter Music Conference, it was too much fun. I also played the DJ Harvey party at the Electric Pickle in Miami. After that my Mancurian mate Trus’me and I played some shows in New York, Brazil and Mexico. It was great to get out there and play to some different crowds – the club and underground music scene is strong worldwide. You can notice subtle cultural differences between countries but overall a lot of common interests and tastes, good music will always be good music. For me travelling the world and meeting like minded people is what it’s all about, well that and the food.

What’s on the cards for 2011 for the label?

We just received the test presses for Voyeurhythm 6. The ‘A’ side is an original from yours truly. The ‘B’ side has two remixes one from Adelaide’s prodigal disco genius ‘Sidwho’ and an amazing rework from ‘Bensun’ that made me cry the first time I heard it. We are just working out what the artwork will be, but it should hit the stores in early May.
Freekwency just had a release on Voyeurhythm, the record was really well received so I am really excited to hear what comes next from him. He is an up and coming producer with a work ethic that is hard to match. Bensun is also busy getting together a 12” for VR7. I know a lot of people like me are holding their breath for that one. Megadon Betamax has a 12” planned for VR8, his analogue goodness always comes through so I’m sure it’s going to be amazing. The digital releases will continue to come, stay tuned for free digital downloads when purchasing the vinyl and finally the whole VR crew will be touring Europe in July and August this year, can’t wait to hit the road again with the lads.