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 Ian Betts' resume continues to grow, with his Heat UK commitments and now his new label, i:Vibes.nu sat down for a quick chat with him about what he is up to and all about his new label Six:Thirty Records.
Ian Betts continues to evolve as a deejay, he started out playing many clubs in the London Area of the UK and he was then made Heat UK resident, where he could play to as many as 10,000 Clubbers. His remix career has started to pick up, with various remixes for various artists and now he has decided to launch his own label called Six:Thirty Records, which will highlight the unheard stuff in trance music. So i:Vibes.nu decided to catch up and have a little chat.
i:Vibes: Are you surprised by how much your career has grown in the last few years?
A: Definitely! The last 12 months or so have been a real whirlwind and I still find it hard relating to just how far I’ve come. It’s all been great fun and I love what I’m doing – I have a real hunger for more though and won’t be resting on any laurels just yet!
i:Vibes: What do you attribute your success of late to?
A: I don’t think there is any one thing in particular, it’s been a lot of hardwork, I find myself doing more and more each week. My involvement with HeatUK has been a huge factor – all the guys there work their socks off to put on events like ‘South West Four’, the New Year’s Eve parties and the trips to Ibiza, all of which are unbelievable events to be part of and have helped raise my profile enormously. Their unswaying belief in me along with their constant and total support has given me a huge boost. I’ve also been exceptionally lucky to have a great fan base who follow me around, and I’ve had the support of a large number of people from promotions, labels, agencies and magazines across the industry, not to mention DJs and
producers, and for that support I will always be hugely grateful. And then there’s good old-fashioned luck, being in the right place at the right time!
i:Vibes: Do you think Trance has reached an oversaturation level, with Armin and co. just making the same old stuff for the buying public?
A: Labels such as Armin’s “A State Of Trance” and Above & Beyond’s “AnjunaBeats” are hugely popular across the globe and rightly so as they
consistently release high quality productions for which there is currently a huge demand, but music scenes constantly change and evolve. Personally I feel there is a huge amount of under-heard and completely unheard talent out there from right across the trance spectrum, and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to start my own label; to give that talent an outlet and keep the scene fresh and exciting (which I firmly believe it is). Smaller imprints will struggle to get the same level of exposure to their music as the likes of Armin or Above & Beyond can give to their music, as these guys play their
tracks to massive audiences every week (take A&B’s Essential Mix for example).
i:Vibes: So when did you decide to start your new label?
A: It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I started producing, but I’ve been biding my time until I felt the moment was right and I was confident enough that I could make a proper job of it. Having my own tracks released through other labels has been a real learning experience but I’ve been lucky enough
to deal with people that have taught me a lot about the way things work. I finally feel as though I’ve seen enough to know how to get the best out of a label and so have taken the plunge!
i:Vibes: What's the goal of your new label, what do you hope to achieve?
A: I’d like the label to be a successful outlet for breaking new artists and tracks side by side with productions more established artists (we’ve got
Marcos and Inertia on remix duties for the first two releases) with the emphasis being put firmly on high quality dance music that can be enjoyed on club dance floors by as many people as possible - there will be a real energy to the label; I want to keep things as fresh and exciting as possible. I’m under no illusions that times are tough for labels at the moment, and I’ve had many people question my sanity at starting one up at
all, but I’ve got huge belief in all the artists we’ve got on board and the music they are producing, and so I hope we will be a part the scene’s development and growth.
i:Vibes: How to do you expect to find time to run it, with your hectic deejaying commitments? Is it because most deejays are just plain workaholics? Or
because it was the next obvious thing for a deejays who remixes?
A: There’s no way I will be able to do everything on my own so I’ll be getting some help in running the label, but a lot of the hard work has already been done in getting the initial infrastructure set up. I will be kept busy enough in the studio producing new tracks and remixes for the label, as well as A&Ring our artists (something that I feel is very important and is perhaps not as prevalent in the industry as it should be). I’ve seen a lot of producers setting up their own labels in the last 12 months (and this is a trend I see continuing in the future) and to me it makes a lot of sense – you get to have complete control over your work and are solely responsible for it’s success or failure. You are essentially delivering your music directly to the record buying public, so it’s more daunting and carries more risk but the rewards are ultimately far greater
i:Vibes: So what does 2005 hold for you? More time in Sunny Ibiza, more Heat UK Events? What will you need to achieve to sit back in December 2005 and say I had a good year?
A: I’m already very excited about a lot of the things that are happening in 2005. On the production side of things I’ve got a new track called ‘Polarise’ out on Elevation Records this month, my remix of Matt Darey’s “Liberation” is getting a digital release on Matt’s label through Audiojelly.com, and I’ve got several new projects with scheduled releases over the course of the
year. On the DJing side of things I’ve been confirmed to return to Cream @ Amnesia in June, and I will be making my debut at a very large European outdoor festival in August (I can’t say any more than that at the moment though!). I’ll also be busy with HeatUK again this year, headlining a Full Moon party in Thailand in April, followed by a tour to Australia in May, the South West Four event in August (with a bigger DJ line-up than last year!), as well as a huge 4th Birthday party and another mighty New Year’s Eve event
Anything else to add?
I hope everyone enjoys the label - see you on the dance floor!
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