Blog Takeover: Silicone Soul's Decade Of Darkroom Dubs

Ten years ago, Silicone Soul, a pair of stalwart house music purveyors from Glasgow, founded Darkroom Dubs, a label dedicated to the early hours edge of underground house output. Of course they were in good company up that far north and being part of Slam’s Soma family. In fact it was them who gave them their first Darkroom Dubs remixing gig with Silicone Soul imprinting the DD sound on that classic Shatrax tune, ‘Misspent Years,’ back in 2003. This was the first thing that marked the sound of what has now become a solid decade long recording history for the label; a journey that’s taken them through the turmoil of the vinyl downturn of the early millennia and out the other side, with them sharing the Darkroom Dub message miles away from from their home in some of Glasgow’s infamous arches along the way. This year there’s plenty taking place to celebrate the label’s coming of age. With a pair of compilations already slated - one mixed by Nadja Lind and Klartraum and another compiled of exclusive tracks from their label favourites – they both tie in very nicely with our own celebration here on Saturday 10th August where label mates Klartraum and Of Norway will be performing live in Room Two alongside their big bosses, Silicone Soul. So to properly take stock of all that has occurred, SS man Craig Morrison has taken a trip down memory lane for us picking out his top highlights of these happily productive years… 2003: Shatrax - Misspent Years (Silicone Soul's Darkroom Dub) This was the first Darkroom Dub remix from 2003. It was a great privilege to remix a track that we'd loved so much from memorable nights at Slam at the Arches and the Sub Cub. It was also the first time Soma had licensed a track, so along with Funk D'Void we were given the opportunity. In many ways it shaped the early sound of our label. 2003: Darkroom Dubs #1 Our first release on the label. There's a nice little story behind the "I need to freak" refrain. We were enjoying a night out with the H-Foundation guys and we'd tried to record it a few times ourselves but in the end Eric (Hipp-e) nailed it on the mini-disc. For some reason it always sounded better in an American accent. 2004: Early Darkroom Dubs parties By the following year we were organising parties in Glasgow. This was one of our favourites when we teamed up with the Slam crew on a boat party up the Clyde then later that night on to the Renfrew Ferry. 2004: The Spirals We met Fernando & Julian at Basics. They were recording for 2020 Vision as Silver City and then as part of the 2020 Sound System. We ended up releasing three 12" 's and then their album, "Without Control". They're definitely two of the most talented and genuine guys you'll ever meet. It was at this point we felt more like a proper label as they were our first signing but more importantly brought a bit of extra funk to Darkroom Dubs! 2008 - 2009 : Re-launch This period was a kinda re-launch for the label. The previous couple had been fallow as far as releases go, due to all the issues associated with physical distributors going bust and file sharing. It was a difficult time for small labels. However, we did release two albums on Soma in 2005 & 2006 so it was a very bountiful period in terms of our own productions. So fast-forwarding to 2008... we got back on our feet and dusted ourselves down with strong releases from Sei A, Gary Beck, Mirror Music, Jet Project and Freska. This is one of our favourites, Sei A's debut "Dub For". In 2009, we also threw some great summer parties at the Arches in Glasgow with Gary Beck and Jet Project and a DD residency at La Terrrazza in Barcelona with Jet Project, Sei A & Masomenos. 2010: Groovin' Frankly 2010 was one big highlight and a great year for music, including releases from Extrawelt (with later remixes from Robag Wruhme) and the debut EP's from Of Norway and Klartraum. We launched our Limited Edition vinyl series and released the Darkroom Dubs Vol. 2 Mix CD, which received a lot of encouraging words from the dance press. Darkroom Dubs Vol.2 Mixed by Silicone Soul : Mixmag - Compilation of the month Dj Mag - "A spectacular showcase of what Darkroom Dubs has to offer!" Tilllate - "Headphone heaven for underground house fans everywhere!" Time Out New York - "Silicone Soul’s new mix is a gorgeous example of deep house’s dance-floor power!"