GET TO KMOW THE FOUNDER OF HABITS RECORDS: BILLY RATH
"We’ve all been in some pretty weird places and we’ve got that track we can relate to..."
After randomly establishing himself as a DJ only two years ago, Billy Rath is now trying to lace the UK’s underground techno scene with his own unique sound. I spoke to him to find out what music means to him, and about his new label: Habits Records.
Despite already making massive moves in such a short time period, the 25 year old from Tamworth told me how he accidentally found himself in the role: “I actually met up with an old friend, I bumped into him at a rave- called Mike. We basically planned from that to spontaneously go to Cocoon In The Park in Leeds. When we were there he just mentioned that he had decks. He was like, I’ll teach you if you want. So I was like yeah cool, and I ended up going round his house like the week later. He showed me and I had a go, and I just thought …this is sick! And I just got obsessed with it.”
Billy, who describes his tracks as ‘darker than the generic house sound’, told me who he most looks up to for music inspo: ““Jamie Jones has played a big, big part in my development and sound ‘cus I just love all the weird stuff he likes. But at the moment, I’ve moved on more to like Enzo Siragusa, Seb Zito and East End Dubs, they’re playing a massive part in my musical development. I’m really tryna push that more minimal fuse sound; skippy, high energy tracks, just raw groove basically.”
With his heart clearly in Ibiza, the DJ/producer, who has already played in Sankeys, tells me that his dream venue to play would be DC10 terrace: “I think that would be so cool just to play there; an ultimate vibe. Or it would have to be Timewarp after going and experiencing it. I love how it gives the artist full freedom to explore whatever sound they want. I think that would probably be the perfect set for me.”
"I do this because I love doing it and it keeps me sane...”
Billy went on to talk about what he’s doing to ignite his success with his 12-month plan: “I’ve got a few labels that I’m targeting. I’m trying to make sure I release on the right ones which will give me the best exposure for my sound instead of trying to release on just any label that wants my music. I wanna make sure that my music fixes with the platform and that the right artists get hold of it.
I’m hoping to push my label habits as much as possible so it’s a respected label. And I also want to push the parties so I want to have my label throwing parties every month, selling out 200 capacity venues where people know if they come down they’ll experience a good vibe and a good crowd.
I just really want to be respected for my work and have my music respected by the right artists. And the only way I can do that is by pushing myself and growing my profile.”
With plenty of music on the way, I asked him about the workload that the music industry inflicts: “I’ve got an EP coming out in March - 2 tracks, an original from myself and a remix from some very good friends of mine (Acid Kids and LA Sam). I’ve been working on it for about 6 months.
There’s also my Habits EP which is the first EP on the label and that will again be out in the spring and that’s also 2 tracks. I’ve been working on about 20 other separate tracks for a long time. When you put that into consideration; stuff takes time. I think a lot of people forget about the background work that goes on and how much goes on behind the scenes. Everyone just thinks that you make a track in a day and then it comes out but it doesn’t work like that. So that will help me to achieve some of my goals this year.”
Billy told me how he plans to commit to music: “I don’t think I’ll ever be done. I do this because I love doing it and it keeps me sane.”
Describing music as his form of rehab, the passion put into his work is vibrant: “If you listen to some of my tracks they will make you feel some sort of emotion, and for me that’s what music is all about. We’ve all been in some pretty weird places and we’ve got that track we can relate to that just makes you feel that something. For me music is all about the emotion and portraying how I feel and that’s what you will hear in my tracks, such as a new one of mine called Rehab. It’s a real deep one for me and that will be released on Habits Records in the near future.”
Look out for upcoming events and music on Habits Records social media pages!
Habits Records:
https://www.facebook.com/habitsrecords/
https://www.instagram.com/habitsrecords/
https://soundcloud.com/HabitsRecords
Billy Rath
https://www.instagram.com/billyrathdj/
https://soundcloud.com/billyrathdj
Charlotte Brown
March 2nd 2018