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Music

King Deluxe Would Have Been Dr. Seuss's Favorite Label

The mastermind behind the Canadian label sheds light on his "calculated attempt to hedge risks."

Name: King Deluxe
Vibe: If Carl Sagan and Dr. Seuss adopted a subwoofer, King Deluxe would be the nursery rhyme they'd read to it every night before bed.
Founded: 2010
Location: Based in Western Canada, features artists from all over the planet.
Claim to fame: The label collected global props for the debut album from Evy Jane and the subsequent video for "Sayso."
Upcoming releases: New EPs from A Thousand Years and Magical Mistakes.
By the numbers: 24 releases strong.
Artists to watch:
Aleph
Jacob 2-2
Alphabets Heaven

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What's the deal?
King Deluxe first popped onto my radar in 2011, when it picked up Aleph, a then-18-year-old beat prodigy living and producing in a remote village in his native Siberia. The narrative of this mysterious musician was enticing, and the quality of his work suggested that snow and isolation are the recipe for genius. When I discovered Aleph's first release, I expected to find a bunch more Russians on the King Deluxe roster, but instead came upon artists from Spain, Canada, Japan, the US, the UK. It seems label head Peter Krahn has tasked himself with finding artists from every country on the map that fit in with the King Deluxe aesthetic. The sound of each artist on the roster has a different personality, but a re-emerging theme throughout the KD catalog is science fiction—a good chunk of the imagery and sonic themes display a fascination with space, future, and interplanetary connectivity.

How did King Deluxe get started?
Peter Krahn: The partners at King Deluxe Brokers were looking to re-invest equity from their liquidity derivative department, in a calculated attempt to hedge risks leveraging vertically integrated creative synchrony within a broad range of selected international markets. Not to put too fine a point on it.

Hah, OK then. Can you explain the name?
I got it from this Bows song. Luke Sutherland has a way with language, both in his music and his writing, and so I scoured his catalog for something that felt right. Thankfully, he gave his blessing.

Your artists come from all over the world. What global scene does King Deluxe contribute to?
Curious intellectuals.

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