An Interview With Reid Speed Of Play Me Records

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An Interview With Reid Speed Of Play Me Records

• By BassGorilla.com

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How did you get started with DJing?

• I started DJing in high school. Since childhood I
  had made mixtapes for my friends, I was utterly
  obsessed with music. AT 15 I had run away from
  home and ended up at a rave called Eden in
  Colorado, where heard DJ Dan spin. I realized
  there was this medium where you could communicate
  musical stories to large groups at once, and I
  was hooked. Spent all my time money on DJ gear
  and records from that point on.

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So do you remember your first ever gig in a club?
How did you get it?

• I used to shop at Breakbeat Science right when it
  first opened. I would often run into local DJs
  there, and after 6-7 months of this, one of them
  (Christian Bruna) invited me to try out at his
  Hot Fudge Sundays night, he said bring 5
  records, I did, and was offered my first
  residency at Camouflage.
• From there, I caught the attention of Stuck on
  Earth, the largest rave promoters in NYC. I
  became their resident shortly thereafter, and
  then I also later joined up with Direct Drive and
  was a resident of theirs for years.

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Do you get nervous before a DJ gig?

• I did get nervous for about the first 2 years.
  Then it was like riding a bike.. pure joy.

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What makes Play Me different from other labels
releasing similar music?

• What makes Play Me different is that I genuinely
  care about helping artists succeed and make a
  living doing their art. We do not run a factory.
  We try as hard as we can for each and every
  artist and want each and every artist to live
  their dream.

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What do you find are the biggest challenges of
running a label?

• Id say the biggest challenge comes from the
  aftermath of the success we work so hard to
  achieve for artists. We specialize in finding new
  artists who are small and virtually unknown, and
  helping them create a bonafide career of their
  art. We put all of our resources into building
  new artists up, helping them get heard and get
  that career going. But more often than not, once
  relative success has been achieved or they level
  up,  they tend to not just forget the help, but
  actually turn against us. They become egotistical
  and often just plain shady towards us, bringing
  in management to obstruct the workflow and
  attempt to go back on deals they made with us
  before they were known. That to me is so sad,
  because we literally do everything possible to
  help, wanting nothing but loyalty and basic
  respect in return. Neither Alex or I has ever
  taken a dime from the company. 100 of profits
  go right back into helping artists. So when they
  go flipmode on us, often after months or years of
  our tireless work for them, it really hurts.

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What have been some of the landmark releases on
Play Me?

• Some of my personal favorites Im most proud of
  would include the recent Singularity Them Lost
  Boys EPs, DCarls Jump EP, Dirt Monkey, FS, and
  Cyberoptics in general as artists. But taking it
  back, some things I am stoked we had a chance to
  be a part of include Dillon Franciss first
  release, Figures first real solo EP, and also
  helping to launch Bare, J. Rabbit, Nostalgia,
  Dodge Fuski Im super proud of all that.

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How is the health of the EDM scene at the moment
in your eyes?

• The scene is at a convergence right now.There is
  an overabundance of music, and therefore crap,
  but also therefore amazingness. The possibility
  of a new artist to actually make a living off
  their art has never been better. So I am stoked,
  all this mainstream business coming in obviously
  waters it all down, but helps people live.

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where do you think this convergence is heading?

• I cant say. Although I sincerely hope the
  obsession with turning up and molly go away soon.
  I do know that with money comes greed. So, I will
  have to keep hoping for and being the change in
  consciousness I hope to see emerge to all.

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How do you balance running 2 labels and Djing?

• Ha, its very hard, this is why i dont currently
  have many shows, because Ive spent a lot of time
  helping others and didnt have time to help
  myself! But we now have a small Team Play Me and
  that is making it increasingly more possible to
  do both and have neither suffer.

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Resources

• Visit BassGorilla.com at http//bassgorilla.com
  for electronic music tutorials, courses, podcast
  interviews with famous producers and label
  owners.
• Visit Play Me Records at http//playmeofficial.com