About Jack to Phono
Jack to Phono records was spawned from the naughty Jacques Laverne Empire back in 2004. We are purveyors of quality sound recordings. In our 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, The Mex, Bonobo, Soul Jazz, Blood & Fire 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 (RIP), 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. Beatphreak have gone on to be featured in Entourage, Rabbit Hole and a Milka Commercial!
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 (Nice Up) 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 fromBlue 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 was 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 did!
On the gig side we have played at a number of spots around London such as The Big Chill Bar, The Ruby Lounges, The Bedford, 93 Feet East, The Jazz Café, The Social, The Slaughtered Lamb, Cargo, Plan B, Hoxton Bar & Grill to name but a few..Thanks for the support.
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 saw Flevans release his first 12″ and album on our label. The album was called Unfabulous and we included a 12 called Cold hands with remixes from Rephrase and Lost Idol. A highlight of this year were the gigs at The Big Chill Festival and the roadblock at The newly opened Big Chill House to launch Unfabulous and the Flevans DJ Set.
We moved on into 2008 with fantastic 7 inch releases from the fabulous Random Heroes and Simon Ham’s new project Phase 5 Stero. Along with fantastic releases from Tombee and Tom Eno which saw the likes of Black Grass and Aldo Vanucci remix on JTP. Tom Eno began to develop his first player which brought us into 2009 with a bang.
A license from Hotel Costes enabled us to finish recording Barnstormer by Tom Eno which became our 6th album release on Jack to Phono. There were further 7 inch releases by Dr Stereo from Argentina and a second 7 from the brilliant Phase 5 Stereo. Then came a new chapter in the labels history. A four piece band from Liverpool called The Seal Cub Clubbing Club released their debut album Super Science Fiction and 7 inch single “Dawn Lamb.” For the first time Jack to Phono was picking up regular BBC and XFM plays and had a new batch of followers. Here we were getting to grips with Facebook and Myspace and the emerging social networking that was gripping the world of music.
We have continued to grow our downloads catalogue and 2010 unfortunately saw our first download only release but as times change so must we…although this year saw us develop a second Seal Cub Clubbing Club album with Mike Page in the Combination Of Studio in Manor House, London. Royal Variety was given high praise from the likes of Marc Riley, Gideon Coe, Huw Stephens and Rob Da Bank. It was also made one of the albums of the week on 6 Music. Along with this we released the quite fantastic Mash & Munkee tune “Good Vibe” with remixes from Flevans and Vonobox. This also hit the right note with the Craig Charles Funk Show being voted one of their top tunes of 2010. A collaboration with Tape Club Records with Tom Eno and Mr James Bright working under the moniker Tickler Tea & Magic Fuzz reached the dizzy height of one of the singles of the year in Drowned In Sound. It also became a top 5 tune on John Kennedy’s XFM Xposure show and was played by Steve Lamacq. From our humble beginnings we were now crossing genres and reaching specialist shows we had been aiming for since 2001.
The Final projects of 2010 were a Mark Freegard (of The Breeders) mix of The Seal Cub Clubbing Clubs Made of Magic. We were lucky enough to gig this in Paris and T in the Park, the wonderful Kendal Calling and bizarrely supported Juliette Lewis! Last but not least the fantastic Scott Hendy of Boca 45, Dynamo Productions and Malachai (Domino Records) released his new project Diego & The Dissidents – Contaminated Waters. This record is like a DJ Shadow soundtrack that meets psychedelica! The talented Marc Bessant of Portishead artwork fame provided some stunning artwork along with the fantastic Minton films providing our third video. Contaminated Waters Part 4 also featured in the Banksy film Exit Through The Giftshop. We also provided a chunk of the soundtrack for the highly decorated Asgard Project featuring Leo Houlding by filmaker Alastair Lee.
Well 2012 has started with a bang with Radio play from Steve Lamacq, Rob Da Bank, Andrew Collins & Josie Long, Tom Robinson, Jarvis Cocker and Don Letts and mentions on the Craig Charles Show. Local Radio such as Sean McGinty and Dave Monks have been jamming the airwaves with Jack to Phono. Tom Eno , Bird , Upskiboo , Diego & the Dissidents have all reached shows with special live session by IATM and Ring Ring Rouge. Up and coming releases for 2012 include “Jackknife” by Tom Eno, The Red Telephone EP by Ring Ring Rouge, 8 Track by Phase 5 Stereo. Adele Emmas from IATM was chosen to represent up and coming musicians at Abbey Road studios in January and has been receiving fantastic support from BBC Introducing.
We remain committed to Kudos Records distribution and have a number of publishing partners.
Over & Out
Jack Launer (JTP Director/A&R/Office Gibbon)
Don’t be shy, drop us a line at jack@jacktophono.com. We look forward to hearing from you.
