Codec Records is not an actual record label, not yet anyway. It's really more of a collection of like-minded producers and the music they have written individually and collaboratively over the last seven years. None of the music under the Codec Records label has ever been published on anything more formal than a limited edition test pressing.
That said, I'm certain that the authors of all of Codec Records tracks would be interested in fielding any inquiries about formal publication on an established record label. Execs, if you hear anything you like don't be afraid to let us know.
A brief history of Codec Records: Back in ancient history (that's generations ago in techno-time, or about nine years ago, in real-time) I used to promote medium-sized parties (typically 1000 to 5000 people, though sometimes as intimate as 300 and sometimes as massive as 20,000) in and around Southern Califormia. As a drum & bass DJ that had recently relocated to Los Angeles from Pittsburgh (Steel City Jungle represent!) I was relatively unknown in LA at the time, I was mostly interested in promoting to get myself booked. Frustrated with the trance-centric focus of the events LA tends to favor, J. Kidd and and I formed a splinter group of the party crew we promoted for (yes, we called them party crews back then) that would be focused entirely on promoting Drum & Bass events and called it Dragonbeats Entertainment.
Dragonbeats attracted the attention of two brilliant an up and coming drum & bass DJs and producers - DJ Anti and Syphon. Though their styles were very different from each other, I hit it off with each of them musically. Syphon and I recorded three tunes under the name Digital Physics before Syphon left California for adventures in another state. DJ Anti and I also recorded a handful of tunes together but an enormous amount of our early music that we recorded individually was heavily influenced by each other.
Eventually the sparkle of the LA party scene faded and I focused entirely on writing music. It seemed appropriate to abandon the Dragonbeats moniker since the group's intent had transformed to significantly. I rechristened the label in my own name: J. Codec (or alternately Code C, Codec, 'Dec and about a hundred other nicknames and spellings people have used over the years). I closed the old website, AIM and email addresses and laid that chapter to rest.
Musically, since the end of the Dragonbeats Era, I've changed too. I hit a brick wall with drum & bass because the genre simply stopped evolving. At right around the same time, electro house started catching my eye because of a lot of the energy, inspiration and innovation I saw in drum & bass ten years ago has migrated there. The net result is that I've diversified my musical horizons. I and my music is no longer strictly about drum & bass. Call it "D&B-Inspired Techno" - that is to say - house music for junglists.
The future of Codec Records: I need to design a new logo, create a new website, and make promo versions of all the new tunes written since the closure of Dragonbeats. When I get around to it, I'll post info here. Until then, take care.
- J. Codec
