Tektite Recordings /Chalant Music
Label Profile

Style / Profile

Tektite Recordings and Chalant Music are two recent additions to the US roster of quality electronic labels. Though coming from the same stable, these 2 labels cover a fairly broad spectrum in electronic music - Tektite, the first of the pair, has developed into a mainly techno label, concentrating on the more minimal, artistic and at times experimental end of the genre, whilst Chalant covers deeper house grooves, from dark, moody production to more jazzy and ‘techie’ club material.

History

Both labels are the progeny of Merrick Brown, a Texas based DJ and producer. Set up in 1998, Tektites first release was that of Merrick himself, the label being primarily set up as an outlet for his own material. This was followed by a compilation EP featuring the talents of artists as varied as Chris Gray and Stewart Walker – by Merrick’s own admission, it took a certain amount of time for the label to settle down into a particular style…Following the third outputting however (from Merrick once again), it began to take on the minimal, fluid techno feel that would guide it through the next few years. A second release from Stewart in mid-1999 secured this aim, and a quality techno label was firmly established.

Chalant came about through a collaboration in late 2000 between Merrick and co-founder, Russell Evans. Wishing to keep Tektite strictly for the various techno material, whilst nonetheless being able to continue exploring the deeper sides of electronic music, Chalant was from the outset designed as a house label. With somewhat clearer direction than was present at Tektites inception, as well as the experience garnered from that project, Chalant has been able to progress with more determination, reaching it’s fourth release after just 1 year – the first three EPs being put out in consecutive months.

Players / Related Projects

Other than Merrick himself, the names of the artists to grace the labels should be instantly familiar. On Tektite, Stewart Walker is probably the most renowned, the Boston based producer having firmly established himself on labels such as Detroit’s Matrix and Berlin’s Tresor, as well as his own recently introduced label, Persona. Fred Giannelli deserves perhaps even more credit, being responsible for the outstanding late 80’s rock / electronic fusion of Psychic TV. More recently he has been involved in projects such as The Kooky Scientist, and his own label, Telepathic.

On Chalant, Håkan Lidbo is supposedly one of the most prolific artists of our time, his name gracing over 100 records! Far from being generic though, his experimental and soulful production set him aside as one of the finer deep / dubby house producers around today, and his contribution to Chalant is known as some of his more exceptional work. Morgan Page has recorded in the past for Fiji, Nordic Trax and Mother Tongue, and has a full length debut due to be released in the near future. The Australian Ewan Jansen currently has 6 EPs under his belt, including two for his own imprint Red Ember, and one for Brett Dancer’s Trackmode label.