History · Keep Thinking since 2015
“The Keep Thinking sound is defined simply as original electronic music… nothing more or less.”
Kris Brown, label owner
The imprint was created in 2015, originally with a team of five led by me (Kris, aka Four Candles) and Steve McGrath. We wanted to showcase emerging talent alongside some of our favourite established artists. At the time, we felt there was a new sound emerging from the progressive underground, but the artists spearheading it were underrepresented.
We spent weeks at the start trying to settle on the right name. We must have reeled off over a hundred, and it wasn't until I left our conversation on the very topic with “I'll keep thinking of suitable label names, then…” that one of the team, Ian, shouted “That's the one, mate… isn't it?”. I was like, what? Then it clicked.
The name describes our collective addiction to music: an addiction to discovering new sounds, concepts and ideas that can excite the senses.
Our hello to the world
The first release, Stas Drive's 'Inspired By Her / I Feel Her Butterfly', featured on Hernán Cattáneo's Resident in the first week of promo. It was the catalyst for us believing in what we were doing.
Wilhelm Scream
A huge release from Lee Pennington, with X-Press 2 on remix duties. It was picked up by 8 Day Montreal, Deep House Amsterdam and many more, and had heavy rotation through the summer at Zoo Project in Ibiza. The radio show, then a podcast, started the same year.
“Signing X-Press 2 in our first year was magic. It's not every day you get to represent legendary dance music duos that are also Ivor Novello winners!”
Union
A key milestone for Steve McGrath, who released his album 'Union' on the label, with remixes from Jamie Stevens and Lee Pennington. The same year, we signed a licensing deal with Café Del Mar for Steve's 'From Within'.
Nearly the end
Family commitments, children and changes in personal circumstances nearly ended us at one point. I was unable to give anything personally then, but thankfully co-founder and good friend Steve McGrath was able to steady the ship.
Full throttle
Once I was back and healthy again, I made a decision there and then to leave my career as an aviation engineer and go full throttle with the label, alongside my own artistry as Four Candles.
Calmer waters
Our first downtempo album, 'Mind Body & Soul'. Almost all clubs were closed due to the pandemic, so it made sense for us to head into calmer waters.
The studio and Sean
Keep Thinking expanded to offer hybrid-analogue mixing and mastering for professional artists and labels. Sean Harvey joined the team; he is behind all of our artwork from KT050 onwards.
Fifty releases and a residency
We hit our 50th release, had a visual brand uplift, and the radio show moved to DI.FM. We also started a two-year residency, 'Keep Thinking Presents…', at akēdo in Lincoln, inviting new label artists and friends of the label to DJ each month.
Vertigroove
'Vertigroove' became our most popular record, landing on John Digweed's Transitions three times in six weeks.
“When an artist of John's standing gets behind what you're doing that consistently, release after release, it becomes instrumental in getting our artists' music in front of the right floors and the right ears.”
Ten years
Ten years marked with 'Retrospect', 'Futurespect' and the 'Omnispect' DJ mix. 'Elusive' was a full-circle moment, with Nick Muir remixing on the label for the first time.
“Alongside Anthony Pappa, Nick was one of the first to really take note of my own tracks as I was developing.”
Label of the Month
Electronic Groove named Keep Thinking their Label of the Month. Read the interview.
b_sides social
We return for a new community event, this time in Leeds, UK, bringing together people from the underground. First night: Saturday 28 November at The 212 Café & Bar. See it on RA.
Over the years, the label has evolved, with three of us now operating various aspects. A&R, mixing and mastering currently sits with me, while my wife, Jill Starling, manages the day-to-day operations behind the scenes. We also work exclusively with Sean Harvey, who provides us with the amazing visual art for all of our projects.
“I think we've earned our stripes in the land of ‘boutique underground’, if that's a thing. The direction won't change: backing upcoming artists who take real risks and push the underground sound forward. That's what we're here for.”
Kris (Four Candles)