SNATCH! Records’ exhilarating progress is firmly in line with that of its founder Riva Starr. The sparky house alias of Italian DJ-producer Stefano Miele, Starr first emerged in 2007 when bass-warbling debut EP ‘Bubble’ was quickly acquired for release by Claude VonStroke’s Dirtybird imprint. Subsequent releases on Southern Fried, TIME and Made To Play (the latter releasing lauded debut album If Live Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade) fuelled his artistic impact and a reputation for swank eclecticism, eventually prompting SNATCH!’s inception in 2010.
Miele is a veteran in the very best sense of the word, predating Starr and SNATCH! by a decade or so with nimble outings under his alias for Neapolitan label Planet and subsequently breakbeat cuts as Madox. His significant experience as producer and performer has been distilled successfully into the latest, dazzling thrusts of his career, which now includes second album Hand In Hand and a fresh swathe of cutting EPs (most of it released via SNATCH!), not to mention pert remixes of Armand Van Helden, London Grammar and Harry ‘Choo Choo’ Romero and, out on the road, a glittering whirlwind of global gigs for the biggest floors.
Last year Starr also released on Defected sub-label DFTD – ‘The Sound EP’ was a conscious, skilfully-plotted countermeasure to the wired loop-da-loops of preceding crossover hit with Fatboy Slim, ‘Eat, Sleep, Rave Repeat’. This element of creative surprise is vital for Riva Starr as he continues to evolve solo and label endeavours that have become more closely-associated than ever. It is an approach that has already brought up SNATCH!’s fifth anniversary, which Riva Starr will celebrate with a ‘best of’ compilation Square Pegs, Round Holes: 5 Years Of SNATCH! – peddling classic and unreleased goodies by the likes of Pirupa, Santos, Tuccillo and, of course, Riva across everything from deep electronica and jack to techno and ragga-edged urban bump – and, in turn, several stellar launch parties.
Stef, how much of an achievement does five years of SNATCH! feel like?
It’s exciting but, to be honest, five years was never my main focus. Simply, SNATCH! was set up as a platform for finding and sharing exciting music. The day running the label feels like a ‘job’ then it’ll be time to pack it in. Of course I want to keep going for 20 years, for more! I love what we’ve achieved so far.
Tell us about the anniversary compilation – was it difficult squeezing five years onto just two mixes?
It was actually a pretty smooth process. We did consider two mixes of unreleased material but it felt like too much. Having so much great music meant having to make some careful decisions about what to include but it also meant we could do a disc of our highlights and then share a few unreleased productions at the same time.
Who’s involved?
Artists from the SNATCH! family and a few others who are close to it. It’s mainly our in-house producers, established artists like Pirupa [dropping the classic ‘Get Lost’ as well as unreleased exclusive ‘Abusive Words’], Ruben Mandolini [2012 shaker ‘Also!’ and newbie ‘Understand’] and myself [unreleased lick ‘1983’ complimenting classics ‘DubLife’, ‘Detox Blues’, ‘In My Soul’, ‘More’, ‘Hand In Hand’ and, with DJ Sneak, ‘In Da House Tonight’]. But then there are friends of the label like Tuccillo [exclusive ‘No Easy’] and several new artists like Nuiton and Upercent [respective exclusives ‘Idealism’ and ‘Spaceman’]. There’s a nice variety of music.
What would you say have been SNATCH!’s highlights so far?
I think the one big highlight has been continually growing support from major DJs over the past two years. That support has been huge for us...really important, and a useful marker for how well we’re doing. The number and type of demos we’re getting now is another highlight for me. They show that we’re recognised and that people understand our personality and style of sound. I’ve always wanted SNATCH! to have a particular character and the fact people know it now is fantastic.
How difficult is to run a dance label in this day and age?
Sure, it’s difficult. I maintain a relationship with all of our producers and oversee what the label does but there’s a label manager and assistant to handle all of the necessary administration and day-to-day calls whilst I’m touring or making my own music. I can’t do absolutely everything myself. We’re an expanding brand, too. We’ve expanded to include a management company in-house and a record promo pool. It’s a good life but hard; you have to be tight on all the small details. We have the party boys in our group but there’s a business focus too. Business is not our culture, so we’ve had to learn about marketing and accounting. It doesn’t belong in our world but we’ve made it belong. That’s been a hard but important journey.
What about SNATCH!’s musical agenda today? Where is the label at right now?
We’re about the love of music. Labels don’t make much money from releases these days unless they’re big chart ones. We’re not about making chart music, so it’s down to our passions really. We like a surprise or two as well...making unusual releases that people don’t always expect or know how to define. If we’re doing all this properly then chart success sometimes comes anyway. Look at our recent releases with Astin [the Sidney Charles remix of ‘Dejected’] and Ruben Mandolini [the 2015 ‘Rework’ of ‘Also!’] - they’ve both scored well with Beatport and the rest of it. I’m really tight with the music we release. Because some people know you they expect you to release their records automatically even though they might not fit the label’s profile. I can’t do this. Not so long ago, I did actually have to tell one close friend of 20 years that I couldn’t just release his new track. But I was happy to do that. I try to be clear and open and, usually, people understand. Ultimately, I have a clear idea of the label’s sound, and the sound of Riva Starr, and I stick to that plan. It seems to work.
Describe the next five years....
I want to separate the sounds of SNATCH! and its sister label SNATCH! OFF. Something like this is not easy so it will need to happen gradually. SNATCH! OFF will become the club brand whilst, as main label, SNATCH! looks more at albums and experimental music. It’ll be wide open - there could be a Black Butter-type thing, or an XL-style release, or just a club tune. A&Ring club music is more time-consuming but I want to try a bunch of stuff – different sounds next to banging club shit. I’ve basically grown up a lot as both Riva and label owner. I’m still crazy with the ideas, which is a good and bad thing. I can’t just make simple DJ tools. I have to have my character in the records, but I look to continually evolve that character. Things are always fresh...what we did last year is different to this and will be different to next. I want to avoid all those arguments about the new kids taking over from the older artists. I don’t want to end up moaning about other people...you just have to get up and do something for yourself.
What’s happening over the next 12 months?
Quite a lot. SNATCH! will be undergoing a brand and website refresh, and there are EPs, albums and compilations planned. We actually have six EPs from up-and-coming artists ready to go over the rest of the year. Personally, I’ve just finished a remix for Hot Since 82’s label [Knee Deep In Sound] and have a few EPs due, including one for Hot Creations in June and another for DFTD in July.
Finally, any good advice on starting up a label today? What’s the key to success?
It’s difficult to give advice because artists and labels want different things from dance music these days. Some judge success by their performance on social media; others judge it by the quality of the music they make. From my point of view the more you can plan and organise before your label launches then the easier everything becomes. Having a number of releases already sorted is important...it gives you time to look at other things, plan the next few months out and avoid possible problems. If you have clear idea of your label’s sound, its concept and next steps then you’ll be in a good place to do well. Good luck!
Words: Ben Lovett
Square Pegs, Round Holes: 5 Years of SNATCH! is out now (digital) on Snatch! Records/Defected - order from iTunes
Riva Starr plays for Defected In The House at Amnesia 25 August - click for full line-up and tickets
