Jack To Phono Records

Jack to Phono records was spawned from the naughty Jacques Laverne Empire back in 2004. We are purveyors of quality sound recordings. In our brief history so far we have managed to release some fantastic vinyl and cd albums. We hope you enjoy reading about them on our site. Back in 1999, whilst we were based in Copenhagen, the label was formed because of the number of demos coming in. Jacques Laverne Records were involved in a number of different projects including club nights at Rust, Vega, Stengade 30 and Influx. Influx had a weekly night at the Bloomsday Bar with DJ Malachy and myself. The early releases on JLR were formed from many a guest performance at those messy nights! We began to work with local artists such as Blue Foundation, Ben Horn, The Bass Snatchers and Mamaluke. This was a fantastic time for us in Copenhagen- playing Roskilde Festival and unreal nights with Mr Scruff, Fat City, Quantic et al- to name but some of the highlights. In 2003 Jacques Laverne/Tri-tone was disbanded and Jack to Phono Records rose from the ashes. A move to London led to new influences and new DJ experiences in Shoreditch and even a gig at Sunday Best. Just before JLR finished we had been working with James Starling, DJ-ing at Plan B in Brixton when a demo from a band called Beatphreak arrived at the new Jack to Phono HQ. This was to become the band that would launch the new Jack to Phono label. The Bomblike EP was released in summer 2004 and was instantly a highly successful EP, even going to repress. It was great to have Jason Holmes on board. He is a fantastic DJ and an excellent up and coming producer and has great links with Fat City Records in Manchester. Due to the success of this release Jason quickly followed with the Plunderphonic EP with the mighty smash Gospel Nights re-worked. Again there was an excellent response to this release and now we are proud that Beatphreak have released their first album The Art Of Soul with us. Read more on our artist page about Beatphreak. With all of the demos that we had been sent we have now managed two volumes of the Who Shot Jacques Laverne compilations. The most exciting feature of these albums is the number of different artists from around the world. This signifies how the beats scene has grown from its early Ninja/Mo Wax days. We have established strong links with artists in Italy, Denmark, Norway, Australia and the UK, whilst DJs around the world have been playing the tunes on the radio and in clubs and bars. 2004 also resulted in a move to Kudos Distribution, which has been an excellent place to start the label. Now we were getting great input from the likes of Jon Shepherd and the steady guidance of Danny Ryan. In 2005 we entered the 7” inch market. We love 7” inch vinyl so much we have now produced 3 with another planned for early 2006. We are grateful to Dr Rubberfunk, The Bass Snatchers, Blue Foundation and Mooch in 2005. In 2006 we will be introducing new label signings The Random Heroes. The beauty so far is that as well as our core artists we have also had guest releases from Blue Foundation and Dr Rubberfunk. Our other vinyl release The Pant by Mamaluke was designed to be a summer smash in 2005. We achieved record of the week in HMV Oxford Street. They compared it as the next “Get a Move On”- by Mr Scruff. We were indeed pleased with this and also the remixes from Beatphreak and Flevans. The feedback has been fantastic. We achieved all of this in 18 months and have a new web site worthy of such fine music. My thanks must go to anti limited and welovetheweb for everything they have done! On the gig side we have played at a number of spots around London such as The Big Chill Bar, The Garden House, The Ruby Lounges, The Bedford, 93 Feet East, Nice Up, The Jazz Café and next year we are planning gigs in Budapest and Italy. However now you will be able to keep up with all the latest news in the news section! In early 2006 we joined our first download site at Beathut, and soon offered our tracks for sale on iTunes as well. We have had airplay on national radio stations and specialist shows. We have been charted in DMC world leftfield charts and had great feedback from a number of international tastemakers. Beatphreak have been playing gigs in Cargo in London and Friends and Family in Manchester in 2006. 2006 has seen us release 5x 7" records from The Random Heroes, Mooch, Tombee, Tom Eno and Ch3vy. The feedback on these records has been excellent as we continue to develop the "Jack to Phono sound." 2007 will see Flevans release his first 12" and album on our label, and we are expecting follow up singles from all of the above. We also hope to release a new Jack to Phono compilation. As for the future, well firstly we must first look to the next release but from there who knows: Jack to Phono organic juice? Jack to Phono green airlines? Jack to Phono round the world trips on a scooter? Jack to Phono telepathy helmets? We never rule anything out!