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With an ear to the street and an eye to the future, a cutting edge record label was born in Los Angeles in 1992. Having experienced how London's late '80s "Acid House" scene had changed youth culture in his native England, fledgling label owner Steve Levy had a vision: the true cultural explosion of electronic dance music would happen in America and his new record company, Moonshine Music, would be it's principle detonator. Millions of CD sales later, Levy's stated mission - to change American youth culture - is becoming a reality. Call it what you will - techno, electronic dance music, or electronica - what's certainly the most exciting and influential new music being made on the planet has become synonymous with Moonshine Music. Indeed, in an era when record company logos are virtually meaningless to the public, the Moonshine imprint, like the great labels in pop music history, is immediately recognized by both fans and artists as a marquee of excellence, a company with a vision. In short a label that always delivers. And as the scene has broadened, so has Moonshine Music, for not only has the company spawned a number of sub-labels, it has recently expanded into artist management, concert booking, music publishing, and film and television soundtrack licensing. How did Moonshine Music become such an independent powerhouse entertainment enterprise? It didn't happen by accident. The Moonshine Story began in the early '90s in Los Angeles with the underground parties thrown by the Levy brothers, Steve and Jon, Brits who'd spent considerable time in America. Sporting various monikers -- Truth, Orbit, Flash, and of course Moonshine -- their L.A. raves drew thousands who came to experience the propulsively intoxicating European dance music not yet available in the U.S. Well aware that fans of the music could not easily hear it outside the clubs, Steve, somewhat naively, decided to make it available via compilation albums featuring choice cuts by the European performers and djs who had appeared at his events. When Techno Truth, Steve's first compilation, jumped straight out of the racks and sold from city to suburb he brought Jon in to handle business affairs and Moonshine Music hit the floor running, the very first record company to consistently introduce and push electronic dance music in America -- to actually put records in the stores. "We concentrated on compilation albums at first," Steve recalls, "because in America you can't realistically build a business by just selling singles. So we put out albums that contained hit singles by a variety of artists. in the genre." With creative marketing strategies and key distribution alliances, early concepts like Speed Limit 140 BPM and the Psychotrance series sold consistently well. And as this new music grew from a bright and shining rumor to a resounding worldwide phenomenon, Moonshine kept tirelessly ahead of the latest trends. Indeed, in a scene characterized by breathtaking transmutation -- whether jungle, ambient, acid jazz, hardcore, or speed garage -- Moonshine has been the first to market: the first to release rave compilation cds; the first to break dynamic new artists performing original material. Moonshine was even the first record company anywhere to launch into cyberspace with a web site that became the model for all major labels sites. "We can put out an album of the most cutting edge stuff in a matter of weeks," says Jon, "whereas the majors would take months. That gives us a monopoly in the marketplace for a period of time. We're there before anyone else has been there." For example, The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, Underworld and Portishead, long before their chart success and before Trip Hop became a commonly used term, were both featured on Moonshine compilation albums. Taking none of their early success for granted, Steve and Jon realized by 1995 that if Moonshine was to continue to flourish it would have to develop artists who could compose original music and sustain long careers. At first Moonshine did so by releasing dj mix albums -- showcasing the dj as a mixer with a vision, an artist in his own right. Soon the label had put together a superlative stable of performers like Superstar DJ Keoki, Carl Cox, Electric Skychurch, and Cirrus, artists who were encouraged to create groundbreaking, original music. As a result, Moonshine became firmly established as a label that cultivates new talent, a place where artists can grow at their own pace and work to their greatest potential. "We work with the artists that we do, not because we can offer them more money than other labels," Steve explains, "but because they realize that we're longtime fans of this music, we like what they do, and we're the best partners for them." Thanks to a nurturing atmosphere, a deft use of college radio, and a streetwise knack for communicating with the powerful grassroots movement behind the music, Moonshine's artists are connecting with an ever-expanding audience. Since its founding, Moonshine Music has sold well over two million albums, an astonishing success despite no commercial radio play. Steve Levy says there is no secret to Moonshine's ability to maintain its indie credibility while increasing its commercial success: "It's about the challenge of putting out great music. That's what Moonshine has always been about. The minute you start chasing chart success, you're through." Paramount to Moonshine's efforts to break new artists is its commitment to U.S. artists, like Long Beach, California's Cirrus. There's definitely a U.S. electronic sound," Steve says, "and Moonshine is putting forth artists and djs that define it." True to its DIY tradition, Steve and Jon in 1997 established Moonshine Overamerica, an all-star touring package of the label's artists that was, like many of its successes, born out of frustration. It's been a huge success and was a challenge that he and the rest of the Moonshine team enjoyed rising to. Moonshine Overamerica 98 will be going out to more markets and with huge street anticipation. Further label expansion includes EMC (Electronic Music Classics) a sub-label specializing in authoritative retrospective compilation albums that are helping to expose today's techno fans to the seminal tracks and artists who were active in the early days of the rave scene. BOTTOM HEAVY, another Moonshine sub-label, is described by Steve as an incubator, a place to test the waters of experimental artists and their music. "It's a different angle on what Moonshine is about," he says. "No matter what we release, it's music we want to get heard." And finally, as Moonshine is more and more successful at placing the music into other media, the Levy's have established CLANGER Inc., to administer it's publishing interests and address the licensing of Moonshine tracks to feature film soundtracks, commercials, and TV shows. As the popularity and influence of electronic dance music swells to critical mass, Moonshine will continue to stay true to what it knows while eagerly forging into new territories. "Our mission is like it always was -- to get great music out to the public and let them find it," says Steve Levy. "And our goal is to promote our artists, break them to a wider audience, and we have full confidence that we can do it. We're absolutely ready." |
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