Catching up with Play It Down chief Jesse Rose, When We Dip gets the inside scoop on their brand new compilation, which brings together an ensemble of top notch records. The taste-making label combines a sprinkling of classic cuts from the catalogue with two exclusives from release coordinator Brillstein. All you need to know below!
WWD: You’re closing out the season with a brand new compilation on Play It Down. Where did the idea for this release come from?
Well i can’t take any credit for the compilation music, trackless, mix but yes the idea for the series was mine and i did chose Brillstein to start it off. I basically realised I own a catalogue of over ten years of music from front room, made to play, a-sided, made for the night and play it down, literally hundreds of tracks and releases, a catalogue that covers house music from Axel Boman to Adam Port, remixes from Roman Flugal to John Tejada, hits by Oliver Dollar, Riva Starr and Dansson, House legends like Derrick Carter, DJ Sneak, Junior Sanchez to early career joints from Solid Groove (Switch) and a bunch of collaborations i’ve done with people like Henrik Schwarz, the list just goes on. In these times where tracks live for weeks it will be great to see some of this catalogue come back to life.
WWD: Brillstein looks after the mix. Can you tell us something we might not know about him?
We call Brillstein the mayor of LA, he’s had such a massive impact on the cities club scene it’s unreal. He’s a dj’s, dj. His catalogue of music is literally insane, from vinyl to digital if i can’t find something
I’m sure he’ll have it. He’s also one of the nicest, funnest guys you will ever meet. Maybe slightly underrated on the global scene but extremely rated by those that know!
WWD: He does a splendid job. How did he come into the PID crew and what’s his current role?
I literally hounded him to come on board, I knew him as a DJ at first and really wanted him to produce more so we did a couple of collaborations and then he delivered his ‘Back to Bed’ mini album (which
is super dope). He’s a resident on the label and is our LA rep!
WWD: Can you tell us about some of the more recent artists to sign on with the label?
Weiss came on board this year and is killing it, he has a sound that sits in my set perfectly. I think he’ll do three releases by the end of this year. Christian Neilsen has been coming through on the label for the last few years and had a few smashes, Junior Sanchez has been killing it also with his two releases this year and then we have the older residents like Oliver Dollar, ZDS, Dick Johnson, Dansson. It’s a great crew and really reaping a worldwide family vibe.
WWD: Is the sucess of Play It Down something you foresaw? When you founded the label is it current format what you had envisaged?
I always wanna have a label that is true to the music i love and play. Play It Down is there to release tracks we all love and tracks we can all play. I hope that what it creates is a consistent place for people to find great house records, if it has done that then i’m really happy. But to answer the real question it’s not about success it’s about us doing what we love, some years it’s super hyped and other not so much but as long as we’re trying our best it’s all good.
WWD: Labels are popping up all over the place these days. Do you think it’s a smart move for artists to control their own distribution or is it a waste of time without the right channels and structures in place?
Different things work for different people, if you have a great team like Chance the Rapper, you can release your own album, if you are smaller and wanna find a home where you know people will hear your tracks then maybe a label makes more sense.
WWD: Are you still based in California?
Sometimes. Sometimes Barcelona. Mostly in the air.
WWD: Last time we talked, you downplayed the impact of EDM etc on the North American Underground and your show there. Has your experience touring in NA changed in any way in the last year?
No still the same, good house clubs, normally the best – Rhonda in LA, House of Yes in NYC etc. Disclosure have helped i think by bringing people like Claude Vonstroke on tour, which in turn means when he books me we have a few younger folk turning up.
WWD: Your travel schedule year on year is incredibly intense. Are you ever tempted to take a back sit and focus more on the business/label side of things?
Not really, if i have two weeks blocked off for studio work, after ten days i’m getting fidgety… i love to make & sign records then see the reactions when i play em out, it’s a cycle. travelling isn’t always easy but i guess neither is being a builder or a postman in the winter. i do a load of different projects, some other business stuff but my heart is in playing records.
WWD: What keeps you motivated to continue jumping from city to city playing shows?
Good clubs and great crowds.
WWD: Now that the work behind the compilation is all taken care of, what’s next for you?
we’re working on all the next compilations, we got a really exciting list of artists coming up. Myself i’m working on my next album, a new ep is about to drop on Play IT Say IT – Seth Troxler’s label, i just did a release on this and that – Davide Squillace’s label with Junior Sanchez. just keeping it moving.
‘Label Mates’ compilation is out August 26th on Play It Down.