IMPRINTS: ALL BLAK

Now more than ever, Toronto has become Canada's hotbed for techno and house DJs of all sizes. The city's explosively expanding musical sub-communities have seen enormous growth in the past three years and given many underground producers the opportunity to showcase their sound to the masses. One of the city's hidden gems, ALL BLAK, are situated in the boutique end of the movement. In a basement underground of Switch Nightclub, the label throws weekly showcases with acts strictly from their roster. Label founders Paul Quzz and Steve Marto were keen to share their experiences in Toronto's underground.

Name: ALL BLAK
Vibe: The sounds of the underground with a touch of blak.
Founded: 2014
Location: Toronto
Upcoming Releases:  ABR007 – Paul Quzz "The Annex" (Single) / ABR008 – City Kid Soul Trippin (EP) / ABR009 – Steve Marto "ID" (Single) / ABR010 – Duke Tran ID (EP) 
Artists-To-Watch: Vocalist Stefanie Maqz, Duke Tran, Steve Marto and Matias Busato

THUMP: Can you explain what the name ALL BLAK means?
Paul Quzz: It started off as a concept of us trying to throw an event. An event that was something different, something that wasn't ordinary. The whole idea behind it was that the name ALL BLAK was up to interpretation, based on who is trying to interpret it. There's no real meaning. As in, there isn't a defined word or definition that can explain what BLAK actually stands for. Every artist has their own interpretation when it comes to music and art. It's what you believe it to be, it's what you [personally] take from it.

Why did you decide to form the label?
P: We started forming it at the end of 2013. That's when we actually created the whole brand. The original concept behind it was that, [for us] noone was giving us a chance to show them our music, or even play a show. We eventually became fed up and thought 'why not give ourselves that chance.' That's what the basis was: a way to give ourselves an outlet to showcase our artistic and creative side

Steve Marto: Everything we do is also in-house. Whether it's art work or engineering as far as the music goes—everything is within the crew itself. It is very much a team effort.

Describe your sound as a label?
P: That is the hardest part. This goes back to our whole point: trying to figure out the meaning behind it. This is what ALL BLAK stands for. Every artist has a similar sound but a very unique sound indivdally. For example, Steve is very bouncy and techy, whereas Matias is very dark and very techno-y but Peter Lavalle has a dub and minimal feel. But when you put the collection of tracks up next to each other, there are similarities within all of them.

S: It's different with every artist. In a way they all work together, but everybody has their own individual style. The similarities come into play when we're playing together. Often times we'll find things out as we're playing back to back with each other, we never really talk about our music selection, it just happens. Almost like a telepathic thing going on.

What challenges do you face running the label?
P: I would say the exposure. Trying to get out there, trying to get the artists and tracks heard and of course, attempting to get the bigger and well respected artists to support the music and label. But at the same time, if you're making good music you'll get the support. All the information you need to get out there is readily available to you, it's just a matter of putting in the work to find it, find the right help and do it.

You throw events hosted by your label on Saturdays—does this help your exposure?
P: I think it's a big help for the label and the artists. There's no better way to be heard than through playing events on a weekly basis. It's the perfect way to showcase our artists and our music. We took the residency on in the middle of the summer and since then we've had a lot of people approaching us. But the idea behind us [ALL BLAK] playing at Switch specifically is more for us to showcase the label artists which comes back to the original concept of the label this year – creating the family.

Are you going to push other artists to join the lineup next year?
P: We will, but we want to keep it tight with the label artists. If you're putting out a release with us or if you've made a remix with us or if you've done anything involving ALL BLAK, then we want you involved in an event.

S: It's also for maintaining a consistency in sound, as well. It helps us grow with our music.

Toronto is extremely competitive. Do you find that the community in Toronto is helpful to an independent project or event like yourselves?
S: Yes and no. We've found people that we work well and people we feel are great. The Downpour guys for example, we really get along with them and think they're really cool guys. At the same time you have these [other] guys that won't lend a helping hand. They have the ability to help but they won't do it because they don't want to see a newcomer take their place.

How have the releases you've put out gone, so far?
P: It started a little bit slower than expected but we're finally moving at a consistent pace now. For this year, we've really been squeezed on time—for all of our artists. Everyone has a full time job that they're worrying about before the label which is tough to work with, but at the same time, I'm confident with the music that we have been putting out and we've been getting a lot of good reception and feedback since our launch.

How far ahead to you plan your releases?
P: We planned everything in the first part of the year up until December. 2014 was planned out accordingly and we are working on next year the same way at the moment.

Which release would you recommend to a new listener?
P: This goes back to what the label's all about—it is all dependent on the listener. If you're into deep house, City Kid Soul's first single, "Haunted" is a great way to get into it. If you like tech house, Steve and I both have releases coming out shortly, Matias has that really dark techno sound, Peter has been putting out some great minimal tracks and Duke will actually be releasing a four-track progressive EP in months time. We're trying to cover all of the genres we support, there's certain sounds we like and attempt to create.

Can you tell us what's in store for next year?
P: We will be expanding internationally and domestically. We have a lot of featured artists joining us from other countries. We have put a big focus on European talent but we're still looking to add more Canadian talent to our roster. We want to really show support for the country and city we're from, but we also want to grow in other countries that we feel our sound will fit. We are also working on building our own studio that will be ready for Q1 of 2015 that we believe will help kick us into a higher gear.

You can follow ALL BLAK on SoundCloud, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Catch their label night events at Switch in Toronto on Saturdays. 

Connie Chan is the Editor of THUMP Canada: @ConstanceChan