Interviews

Label Focus:
Wisdom Teeth

Posted on 21st July 2020

Label-heads K-LONE and Facta have been on the radar for a solid number of years, tearing up sound systems all over the UK and beyond. Both London-born and exploring the scene together, these artists have resided for a number of years in Bristol and Leeds, gripping the appetites of listeners from all territories. You might predominantly know them for their hefty bottom frequencies, dubstep-rooted, optimised grooves… you may also know them for their primitive, percussive and stellar productions. It is safe to say they have firmly found their slot in the UK scene with every release of their label adding a new dimension to the creativity they have already shown.

Now currently based in London and Brighton, these diligent artists show no sign of letting up. Facta’s latest solo output EP ‘Scales + Measures’ contains three perfectly guided, broken beat and melodic rhythms after a long-awaited return to Wisdom Teeth. Multi-use and versatile, he leaves us craving the next hybrid EP. Next, we were graced with the ritualistic trips on K-LONE’s ‘Cape Cira’ album which received a great deal of praise from audiences from all genres and utterly deserved. Us at Phonica were overwhelmed with this release and can’t quite get enough of it – definitely one of the best of the year! The artistry only heightens as The Falls EP follows on, replicating the ‘Cape Cira’ mood with three hidden tracks from the album sessions and Facta offering his interpretation as well. All Bandcamp proceeds of this EP go to the Amos Bursary.

With devout listeners in the thousands, its obvious the left-field imprint currently have us in their grasp. Next up we have a new face to the already credible catalogue: Shielding. The Swedish producer offers six sprawling tracks, evoking similar Wisdom Teeth tones with an entrancing and hazy approach. The extended EP involves downtempo grooves, polyrhythmic drum programming and elevating loops. This notable shift from dancefloor weight to mesmerising ambience only motivated us to catch up with the label bosses Oscar and Joe and their upcoming plans.

Hey guys, hope you’ve been keeping well throughout the last few months! With the lack of live music, what’s been keeping you motivated throughout this time in Lockdown?

Oscar: Hey! Hope you guys have been well too. Well, world events have been quite overwhelming so I’ve been trying to strike a balance between engaging with that whilst also attempting to remain sane. Outside of that, I’ve been writing quite a lot of music, listening to lots of music, gardening, cycling, working on my ramen recipe.

Joe: Yeah pretty much the same here. I feel like having a few projects on the go whether it’s musical or not has definitely kept me ticking on!

I’d like to kick off by asking how did you both come together and establish the label?

Oscar: We’ve been mates since we were young and got into dance music around the same time so have always done everything in tandem. When it came to wanting to start a label it was a no brainer we’d do it together. I don’t think it was ever even really discussed, it just felt like an inevitability that we’d do it at some point.

Joe: We actually tried setting up another label a couple of years before doing Wisdom Teeth and for whatever reason never got it off the ground, may have been for the better that some of those tracks didn’t come out though haha.

In the store we love the variation Wisdom Teeth has displayed over the years, can you give us some insight to the journey the label has taken from releasing club bangers as well as gorgeous, delicate LPs?

Oscar: Thanks! It’s just the natural process of our listening habits changing slightly over time. I don’t think things have changed massively, but I guess our output has become slightly more melody-focused and less dancefloor over time (although we still also love big dancefloor bangers, and equally would love to hear even the most ambient or downtempo releases on our label played out loud!) We’re also lucky to have slowly acquired a nice group of regular listeners who seem to support us whatever we put out – plus finally (thanks mainly to Bandcamp) a business model that semi-works – so we feel increasingly like we can release what we like and people will listen, which is more than we could have ever hoped for really!

We are witnessing a serious amount of creative, ambient electronica at the minute – Cape Cira is a perfect example! How does the new Shielding release amplify the current focus of the label?

Oscar: I wouldn’t say the label is consciously moving towards being an ambient or downtempo label or anything like that, although the Shielding record does follow nicely on from Joe’s LP in that respect. Both those projects have actually been in the works for a few years, whereas a lot of the records we put out last year were much more dancefloor and were actually more recent signings. Lockdown coincided well with Cape Cira and the Shielding record, but that was just down to chance. It’s all likely to be a bit all over the place, but we think there’s a common thread that runs through it all, so try not to overthink it too much.

What do you look for in a record that makes it Wisdom Teeth worthy?

Oscar: We love good hooks. Even if the tune is quite weird or very sparse, it has to have a bit of a riff. Tracks that are odd and challenging but also moreish and enjoyable to listen to. Aside from that, we love bleeps n bloops, clicks n cuts, nice snares, nice chords. I’d say we both have a slight bent towards clean digital sounding tracks rather than super wet reverby and distorted tracks.

Joe: Yeah I find one of the things for me at the moment is the balancing act between something sounding too cheesy or too cold and mechanical, and I’d like to think we try to sit somewhere in the middle? Also, bleeps n bloops, lots of those.

What have we got to look forward to in future releases?

Oscar: More EPs and another LP too. Some from existing label artists, plus some new signings.

Outside of your home city, where is your favourite place to play in the UK?

Oscar: Well now that I live in London I can say Bristol I think? Or if not, Manchester.

Joe: Yeah I absolutely love playing in Bristol, always feels a bit like coming home even though I’ve never actually lived there.

Can you talk to us about some prime memories that have stuck with you whilst playing out?

Oscar: We played all night in Sheffield and at the beginning of the set a group of teenagers asked if we’d be playing any bassline. We made the mistake of saying ‘maybe at the end’ so every 10 minutes for 5 hours they came up and checked why we weren’t playing bassline yet. Eventually, right at the end, we did and it was the best half-hour we ever played and they were so right and we should really have just done it all night as was politely suggested.

If there were no expenses, no sound restrictions, no lockdown rules – where would be your dream location to put on a label showcase party, and why?

Oscar: Mexico City so I could get a very lovely taco afterwards. Or maybe just Cosies in Bristol.

Joe: If a bit of time travel was also possible, Plastic People before it had the redo would be dreamy, a lot of my early club memories were heading to FWD with Oscar after school each Thursday.

Thanks, Oscar, thanks, Joe!