I’m receiving word this weekend that things are on the up at Defected right now. My source tells me “there’s real optimism in the air for the first time in a while. Croatia looks to be a go, there’s dates in the diary and Simon [Dunmore, the boss] hasn’t been this cheerful in years”.
My source isn’t the first person to tell me this either. I also notice that Defected have shiny, brand new offices that are due to feature in more of their material in the future – indeed, I understand that many of the staff haven’t even been inside to see them yet, due to them working from home during the pandemic.
Simon Dunmore himself is also keen to push a new slogan forward…
Pop up @defectedstore at @DefectedRecords brand new HQ from Tuesday 27th July. Come see new space, meet DJs & staff…. where the magic happens. #neweramusiccompany pic.twitter.com/YMSdoks2WT
— Simon Dunmore (@SimonDunmore) July 16, 2021
New era music company? What this means isn’t clear yet, but the label is due to shed light on this with a series of events starting on July 27th. Previously, Dunmore has disclosed that the new look premises will include a recording studio, dedicated spaces for recording DJ sets and “songwriting suites”, as he called them.
My source told me “I can’t tell you too much about this, but it basically means Defected will have the facilities you’d expect from a major, and the access to the boss of an independent player. It’s a bit like how Simon operated AM:PM in the 90s before Universal came in. “.
How much of this stuff will be new era? And will the new era look terribly similar to the old era? No doubt we’ll soon find out…
They own a vast amount of samples, I have friends who chucked great tracks because they’d have had to give Defected like 90% of the profits or something… and also release on defected.
So I’m sure he’s happy with the profits.
But he’s certainly no friend to anything you could call “new”, except maybe like the farmer is a friend to the cows he’s milking.