IMPRINTS: Sound Pellegrino

Imprints brings you weekly profiles of the most exciting independent record labels the world over, written by movers and shakers from within their own electronic music communities.

Name: Sound Pellegrino
Vibe: Hyperactive visions of the near future—”Jules Verne sounds”
Founded: 2009
Location: Paris, FR
Claim to fame: They kicked off the Paris residency for international live-streaming sensation Boiler Room.
Upcoming release: New EPs from Eero Johannes and Ben Butler and Mousepad
By the numbers: The label has released seven EPs, four compilations, numerous singles and remixes.
Artists-to-watch: 123mrk, Para One, Jean Nipon

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What’s the Deal:
Sound Pellegrino’s diverse roster of artists and attitudes makes for a multi-pronged attack that is often dismissed as a lack of coherence or direction—a misconception that many have about the French music scene in general. Fans of the label know that this perceived weakness is actually one of its greatest strengths. Co-founder Teki Latex explains, “We build bridges between things that we like and we refuse to see rap and techno as incompatible.” Having grown up on equal parts dance music and hip-hop, its no wonder that France’s newest generation of producers has taken to electronic rap hybrids in the fields of bass, trap, and the “beat scene.” This fusion of cultures and sounds—the blurring of “mainstream” and “underground” distinctions—is exactly what Sound Pellegrino is trying to capture.

Not only do they have a preternatural ability to identify the sounds of the near future, but they’re also discovering new avenues through which a label can connect with its audience. Beyond their antics on the Holy Trinity of social media sites, they have a weekly podcast, super swaggy merch (somebody buy me this shirt please), an iPhone app, and a yearly magazine in which the SND.PE team tries to “predict the near future in architecture, cinema, politics, music, communication, health, and many other fields.” I got on a long-distance call with label founders Teki Latex and Orgasmic so they could give up the goods about the past and future of this inspiring imprint.

THUMP: Explain the name.
Teki Latex: We love San Pellegrino sparkling water and we wanted a name that would pop up in people’s life regularly. Every day people tell us, “Hey, I accidentally ordered a Sound Pellegrino at the restaurant!” So that’s pretty cool. The iconic aspect of the Italian springs was also something we could relate with. And I guess we are “sound pilgrims” of sorts.

Orgasmic: Our first choice for a name was Ibizarre, but it was already taken by an obscure Balearic house label so we had to find something else. Then Teki came up with Sound Pellegrino, which is at the end way better for all the reasons he just mentioned.

Tell us about the scene in Paris.
T: The Paris club scene is a bit fragmented at the moment, but among the many families that comprise it there are two big camps. Half of it revolves around the Social Club, The Wanderlust, and a handful of clubs in the city that push a relatively new generation of labels and artists based in Paris, most of which have evolved from an electro background towards a more house, techno or bass-centered sound. Crews like Zone, Pelican Fly, Marble and Bromance have residencies there and a faithful base of followers, they cater to the younger generation but often manage to push the envelope of electronic music forward. The other half is more centered around a mixture of old guard techno purists—people who used to go to the now defunct club Le Pulp—and a new, very young generation of kids very attracted to the deep house sound and fascinated by the Berlin way of partying. This crew of people hang around La Machine, the Rex Club, and a very successful sunday after-hours boat party called Concrete, as well as a bunch of warehouse parties thrown regularly in secret spots around the city. They’re represented by labels like Kill the DJ, Get the Curse, In Paradisum and many others. Some of them have impressively impeccable taste in music, but a lot of them are too obsessed with turning Paris into another Berlin, rather than finding a singular identity for partying in Paris, in my opinion. Bridging the gap between these two facets of the Paris underground are labels like ClekClekBoom and I guess Sound Pellegrino.

O: We just did a Sound Pellegrino night with Boiler Room, and I think it captured pretty well the diversity of the French scene at the moment. I agree that three or four years ago it wasn’t the case but electronic music listeners out of France have to face that reality! People have to start to consider us as more than disco re-workers cause it’s not like that anymore .

What’s your favorite label that isn’t your own?
T: Probably Night Slugs. Even though they function in a totally different way from Sound Pellegrino (they release work from a defined and limited group of artists whereas SP is more of a home for one-off projects and collaborations) we have a lot in common, notably in the way label bosses Bok Bok and L-Vis 1990 envision curation and A&R as the main element of a record label’s purpose. Their vision is very impressive, and the coherence between the music and the visuals is astounding. We’re very lucky to have collaborated with them on some parties and releases (L-Vis’s Compass EP, Bok Bok & Tom Trago’s Night Voyage Tool Kit EP) and we like to think of them as our UK cousins.

O: Numbers are killing it at the moment, Jackmaster and his team are long time friends, and first of all I thank him for putting back the DJ in the center of things, never compromising, always looking forward like us but knowing where things are coming from too, and not having problems with releasing forward thinking and at the same time poppy (in the real sense of the term which means that everybody can listen to it, understand it) music. Redihno and Sophie synthesize that spirit so well. They’re the ones that have me really excited at the moment .

Listen to an exclusive mix by Orgasmic on THUMP.