The label’s popular free downloads series has also put out music from Ghoulish, Daffy, Warwick, Sir Hiss, Papa Nugs, Etch and a host of others through the label’s SoundCloud page, while ec2a’s merch lines can prove as hard to cop as their 50-run dubplates. The sub-label presents classic two-sided dance 12” records, featuring one track per side and cut to 45RPM so it sounds “super chunky in the nightclub”. TWELVEZ started shortly after, in June 2022, with a collaboration between Dominus, Daffy & Riko Dan. Already four releases deep, OPM is used as a vehicle to press “forward-thinking and progressive” garage, showcasing interpretations of the sound by artists that circulate the ec2a sphere. Another nod to Plastic People (a club he says “holds a special place in my heart” after the musical education it gave him at a young age), it featured Main Phase, Bluetoof, Ollie Rant & Takjacob and DJ Crisps. Original Pirate Material (or OPM) - a nod to The Streets’ ground-breaking debut album - started in April last year with the V/A ‘Curtain Road Vol. “Music that’s really: ‘Should you have bootlegged it?’ Probably not, but that’s just the fun of it.” “It’s just stupid shit like that,” he laughs. Releases have included bootlegs of Dominica’s ‘Gotta Let You Go’ and Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’. His Bootleg Banditz sub-label launched in 2021, working on the same release format as the main dubplate catalogue, but is used to press the more “outrageous” edits from the label. “They’ve got a real hunger for it at the minute,” Koudjo smiles. When you take into account vinyl delays, it only makes sense that smaller runs and dubplates are becoming more interesting.” The recent success of garage hitting the charts again means interest in the label is no longer purely underground too, with major labels reaching out to licence ec2a dubs. “I can see the appeal in having a tune that not even Ben UFO has. “There’s always that market for collectible records, and especially dance records,” he continues. With the dubplate scene already on the resurgence when Covid hit, the label created the perfect storm for hype within a dance music community forced to exist online, and every release on ec2a’s main label has sold out since. “So the main ethos was: if I can have shorter lead times on vinyl production, it will enable me to give them that first opportunity.” “A lot of smaller artists were unable to get their music out in a timely fashion,” Koudjo explains. The dubplates built hype around new and upcoming artists during lockdown, at a time when clubs were shuttered, events cancelled, and bootlegging culture seemed to explode. Teasers are shared on Instagram days ahead of release and “if you miss it, then tough shit”. The main dubplate catalogue is 53 releases deep and counting at the time of writing, and runs limited copies of “certified wheel-up wax” with no represses guaranteed. Named after the postcode area of seminal London nightclub Plastic People (which his dad worked at as the manager and Koudjo used to rave at as a teenager), ec2a is now an umbrella for a series of sub-labels and products. “Essentially, everyone’s doing a bit of everything.” “It’s a representation of the raw energy that the youth currently have in music where the lines are blurred,” Dr Dubplate, real name Yanis Koudjo, explains. Starting out in 2020, the label hasn’t been limited to the UKG dubplates it’s best known, putting out dubstep, breaks, jungle, donk, techno and more as part of its often dizzying output. He’s speaking from the label’s office in the St Werburgh’s area of Bristol, flanked by shelves stacked high with freshly pressed records waiting to hit the shops. “I always wanted ec2a to be that voice of the new gen,” explains label founder Dr Dubplate, whose imprint has nurtured a slew of artists including Main Phase, Introspekt, Bakey, Bluetooth and Daffy. Running under the motto “making way for the new wave”, UK-based dubplate specialist ec2a has played a pivotal role in the burgeoning garage and 2-step scene.
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