How does mustard taste?
How does it make you feel when the ratio is a little too heavy?
It’s that screwface, eye-watering, but ultimately satisfying punch that Alex, Kieran, and Luke are looking to supply with their brand new drum and bass label: Mustard Music.
Much like the yellow condiment, the Brighton trio possess strong, sharp and unique principles that will help separate them from the rest. From their tight friendship laying the foundation for an egoless, shared-responsibility of label management. Through to their incredibly deep knowledge and networks in underground drum and bass, allowing them to execute A&R at a high level.
Their top target when searching for tunes and talent is the inexplicable element of funk. The Mustard Music crew grew up on 2000s and 2010s-era neurofunk, techstep, and minimal – all of which have had moments of utter funkiness, but, in some in cases, the subgenres have now slipped into soullessness. Mustard Music want to turn that definition of neurofunk back to what it was when ‘Wormhole’ was the standard. And with their first string of releases from the likes of Brain, Serpnt, Genic, Trakker, L0G1N, and many more – the journey begins now.
Not only do they kick off with a defined sound and loaded schedule, but enlisting the sought-after illustrator Adam Menzies takes their visual aesthetic immediately to a high level – nailing the assignment to bring the distinctive mustard concept to life.
We sat down with one third of Mustard Music, Alex Finney AKA Finstar, to talk turkey on starting a new drum and bass label, and where they want to take it.
What inspired the idea to start a label?
Well we love music, and we thought we’d be good at it. There’s so many labels in the scene now with varying levels of success – and we came to realise there’s an art to it all in terms of branding, artwork, events… There’s so much that comes into play, but we felt confident we knew what we were doing across all those areas.
Confident due to spending so much time in this scene…? What do your experiences look like?
Well for me, I started on rap and grime, which then led me to all the lyricists on drum and bass; Skibadee, Eksman, and stuff like that. This was often on jump-up, but I quickly began to gravitate more to the minimal and underground sound. Andy C’s Nightlife 5 was a massive one for me. It sucked me right into realising how far you push the genre.
That must have been a big one for many – I absolutely loved Nightlife 5.
Yes! Tracks like ‘Strange Science’ and ‘Floating Zero’… it was incredible really. It’s mad to think there won’t be any more Nightlife releases.
It was a golden era for those mix CDs, and for RAM Records…
I remember going to Brixton Academy for RAM New Years Eve, meeting Rene Lavice, and it was such a good night. They used to be the best nights I went out to, and it’s all just completely changed now.
How did you cut your teeth on the business side of label management?
So I used to run a music agency as well. This showed me the good, bad and ugly of the scene to be honest, and it can be horrific. There is a tonne of narcissism in the arts in general – music is not even the worst one you know.
But yeah, you do see that it drives people to be really good music producers or get involved in the scene, some of these people are here for the wrong reasons – but for me, Kieran, and Luke, we know that we’re starting a record label as best mates, and that we’re there for each other until the last breath. We have such a strong group, it’s a beautiful world that we’ve built. We’re all non-judgemental and positive.
It’s rare to have a group like this, and we’ve realised that we’re good with people, which is a useful skill in this label management game.
How did you guys all meet?
So Kieran has always been around Brighton. I grew up in Surrey, so I was always in either Brighton or London, where I’ve explored both scenes deeply. Back in the day I had my first DJ set at Concorde 2, and Kieran was doing the same, so that’s where we met – he was on the vinyl back then. Also, obviously, Volks is a bit of a church to us.
We met Luke at the Steelyard about four years ago. I’ve never met someone so in love with D&B and the scene. He loved the jump up back then, but he started to phase out of it when he started hanging around with me and Kieran.
Me, Kieran, and another friend called Paul ‘Redshift’, we used to go DJing together – and I just thought, we are mustard. We used to tell friends we were a group, and that was our name. Mustard was just such a catchy idea.
So mustard is a word you enjoy?
Yeah, I suppose, in a working-class world, saying something is ‘mustard’ means it’s ‘hard’ or I think it means ‘quality’ or ‘strong’ or ‘large’ or whatever.
Oh, I never realised it was a slang term!
Yeah, it is. And if you think about it, mustard is strong isn’t it – it burns the nostrils. We’re obviously here to release strong music, with a strong brand personality.
How are you bringing that personality out?
So I’m really happy with Adam Menzies’ work on the visuals. I’ve always been a fan of him, and I know Sofa Sound was using him, so I asked DLR for his permission – which he said was fine, so long as it looks different. So we’ve tried to create a bit of a different world with it. The outcome has just been amazing, and it’s a bit of a dream come true having him on board.
I love art, and I’ve always invested in things like prints. I know other labels like Truth Hertz are putting out prints and I really like the finished product. I love it when record labels explore stuff like this, and support other forms of art.
I have ideas of doing similar stuff. Taking the promo seriously. I think if you want your music to be heard and cut through, you’ve got to go big on the marketing side and have a really strong brand. Mustard, fortunately, has had a really good response. I don’t like to talk that way because I don’t want it to be all about the business side, but you do want your label to be successful, and you want these good tunes to be heard.
What’s the vibe you’re trying to get across with the artwork and promotion?
Positivity, funk, and a bit of humour – which I think we’re getting across. Me and my friends, we embrace happiness and authenticity, and we knew that we were ready to start a label. What you see in the brand, and with the label, is just a joyful experience between mates.
Sounds like great foundations there. And definitely some shades of inspiration from Sofa Sound, CIA, Dispatch…
100%. CIA have been absolutely doing it for me in the last two years especially. Every single release has been an absolute banger, and it’s all different types of drum and bass.
Also, I started the Facebook appreciation group for DLR – so he’s obviously way up there for me too! He’s always had a different sound. And his label is, what I would consider, the original neurofunk sound from before the 2010s. I feel like neuro lost it’s funk and became all glitchy or jump-uppy at times. In the 2010s you had guys like Konichi & Decimal Bass coming through, influencing Noisia to start making tracks like ‘Stamp Out’, and I was just watching neuro change into this almost jump-up sound. But guys like Break, DLR, and Dispatch were always keeping it funky.
So you’ve gained influence from those labels – but how are you coming in and differentiating?
One of the areas I look for is when people who were formerly in groups have started doing their own solo work. I also think I have a great ear for discovering artists coming up. For example, Genic was always one of them, and actually, they always used to say to me at The Volks that I should start a label – so they had some influence over me and planted the seed.
Sam Sepnt as well, he’s part of ZeroZero, and when I started to hear his solo stuff, I knew he was someone that was worth approaching. I’m overwhelmed by the stuff we’ve got from him. He’s always bringing the vibe that we want, and I feel the same about Brain. He’s got that original techstep-neurofunk sound. It’s just an honour to release that sound. You’ll hear that on our first release. And I feel like there’s actually not many labels doing that specific sound – outside of maybe DSCI4, and Metalheadz do it a bit too.
Who else have you got coming up on the label?
Crystal Clear has said he’ll do some for us – and for me he can be just as good as it gets. I’ve hit up Dub Head as well. It’s artists like these where I feel like they’re not supported enough. So it’s nice to be able to come through and offer some support, and a place to get their music heard. It’s going to be a completely non-profit thing, whatever we make gets put back into the label.
So do you feel like there’s a surplus of artists and tracks out there within your niche?
I feel like some of the tunes we have coming are better than what’s getting released on some of the labels in this niche for sure. We want people’s best work – and that’s definitely what we’ve got in the release pipeline.
There’s a three-tracker with Brain and Serpnt coming out first, at the start of July. There’s a four tracker from Kalm – one of them sounds like an Ivy Lab tune. We’ve got Genic, Kidsonic, and honestly loads more in the next year. It’s really exciting.
We’ve also got TeeBee on the mastering, who is a legend. His work is perfect, and it’s quite relieving to be working with him and have him on the mastering.
So Mustard seems to have a pretty defined sound. Do you see it evolving during the life of the label?
That’s a good question: Would it evolve…? Because I feel like funk, the funk I’m talking about, Sofa Sound brings that – but we want to bring our own style of funk. We want to be the funkiest label around really. And that’s starting to develop. Artists like Genic, they’ve got serious funk and it keeps getting better. The stuff coming now will absolutely put them on the map if they’re not already.
Funk in drum and bass is very synonymous with Bristol – do you think there’s a synergy with the Brighton scene as well?
Oh definitely. Even people that’ve grown up in Bristol, that are top artists, they’ve probably played more times in The Volks than they have in bloody Bristol! It’s like that, it’s a real home for D&B. So I’ve always been drawn to that club and their nights.
Deep and minimal is also huge here. You’ve got Motive, which is a night that’s been running for over ten years, and it’s always been about that vibe – shout out to Ryan Mains and that event.
There are some good D&B labels from Brighton, but I just feel like there should be more really, it’s such a home for art and culture. It’s such an active scene with something on pretty much every weekend.
You hear only good things about the scene down there!
But that does lead me to a bit of a new tangent of most music events being at night time. Sleeping patterns and routine for humans are so important, I don’t think anyone can deny that. To see the DJs that you want to see, you need to be up all night – which is mad.
Also when you’re going out, you’re going out – there’s socialising, alcohol, and drugs, which are incredibly popular in the scene. Realistically, many people are not sleeping, and losing routine is a massive factor that people don’t consider or talk about enough.
I also personally know so many people who have had problems with alcohol and drugs, and it’s hard to be around it all the time – so there’s a struggle out there. You’re never really going to be able to organise a sober event either – it’s part of the economy of it, drinks make money, and people buy tickets to events where you can buy drinks. You can’t escape it.
For me it’s just a shame that there are not as many day events – they do happen, but I want to bring more of them. They’re so much more appealing.
I tend to get a lot more excited for a day event, because I know I’ll be able to see every DJ I want to see…
Exactly. You’ve got time to grab some food after, go to bed, and then the next day get out for a walk and a roast dinner with your loved ones!
Perfect weekend.
Ok last question for you – what are the checkpoints you guys want to hit for the label?
I’ll be honest, me and the boys, we don’t have grand expectations. But that’s what makes us happy, we just like to be present. We’re happy and we’re authentic.
I’ve been thinking lately about what success really is, what’s ‘being better’? I’ve been embracing just being in the present and living in the moment.
But that said – I mean it would be a huge milestone to have a DLR or Break release on the label. Another one would be to host a club night that has that certain aura. Like when you go to a Sofa Sound or Symmetry night, and every tune that gets played just has a little more meaning. But overall, we’re humble. We’re just going to take it one step at a time and enjoy the process.
