Heard Medical Mix yet? Blended, weaved and tailored by Joe Syntax, it’s Med School’s first ever label mix. 33 cuts deep, it spans Hospital’s sister label’s six years and tells a deep, melodic tale in the process. There’s always a danger of in-house label mixes being bland and linear, but this oozes character from the opening intro breaths to the very last beat. We thought we’d send Med School label manager Ash Howard a few questions to see how these projects come together…
Please introduce yourself!
“Hi, I run Hospital’s sister label Med School. I make sure that the release schedule is ticking over, that our five artists are working hard on music and everything in between. It’s a really privileged position to be in and I get a great overview of everything from manufacturing to A+R to merchandise to events to promo strategy to artwork. It also means my work overlaps in one way or another with everyone in the Hospital office, without whom I would struggle to keep Med School moving forward.”
What’s the concept of the Medical Mix? And how does it differ from other mixes releases across the Hospital brands?
“Around 2009 we really stepped up our Med School strategy; we began signing artists exclusively, we diversified even further with our music and we began to evolve the formatting and packaging of our products. To me this was a real turning point and we gained new recognition and new fans. Fast forward to now and I think there are a generation that may not know our older material, so I thought it would be cool to re-release some of the highlights in the form of a mix by Joe Syntax together with a bunch of exclusive unreleased remixes and VIPs and so “Medical Mix” was born. This is the first dedicated and focussed mix CD with music right across our six year history.”
Making a mix like this is most budding DJ’s dream. How much creativity do they have/influence does the have when putting it together?
“We own all the content so, unlike the Hospitality compilations on Hospital, there were no licensing issues thankfully. Our back catalogue is incredibly varied in terms of styles and tempos so it was going to be a challenge get it all to fit together, but Joe got straight to work on my shortlist and after a couple of re-takes he nailed the perfect combination of selection, mixing in key and blending. I was keen to give Joe the freedom and creativity to select tracks he felt worked together and make the mix his own.”
You’re a DJ yourself… have you ever been in the awkward situation when a DJ has given you a mix and you’ve had to say ‘come on mate, you can do better than this!’
“Ha. First of all I have to say that we’re fortunate that the Med School guys are really competent DJs, but nobody is immune to some constructive feedback and advise on a mix. The biggest skill is knowing your tunes and that’s something that will never change, regardless of technological advances and new mixing methods.”
What else goes on behind the scenes of a mix project like this which readers may not appreciate?
“Basically a load of boring stuff that I imagine most people never think about when listening to the end product, but that’s the point really and all that matters is that we deliver a top quality mix to our fans. However, for anyone that might be interested what happens behind the scenes, the admin workload on a compilation with loads of individual tracks and a mix like this can be quite arduous. Finalising the licensing/contracts with multiple artists and labels can be challenging, then working out the lengthy label copy credits and metadata. Registering the relevant data with the likes of PRS (for publishing) and PPL (for recordings) can also be more of a challenge. All of that’s in addition to all the usual mastering, distribution, manufacturing, uploading, obtaining mechanical licenses for the product, etc. that we would do for any given release. The one aspect that might actually be easier for something like this is actually promo as you tend to have more artists on hand for interviews and more audio content at your disposal.”
And how long does a mix like this take from the very inception to arrival on the shelf/download store?
“Almost a year actually, but probably about five months of real graft. The initial idea for Medical Mix started way back at the end of last year but, given all the other releases on Med School and Hospital, work on this project started in earnest around May this year.”
Finally, please tell us three mixes which have inspired/soundtracked your life over the years which people really need to check?
“Wow tough question. Obviously there’s a tonne of free mixes, podcasts and things like the Essential Mix, but let’s keep this to proper tangible mix CDs. First of all, Fabric and FabricLive mix series is always worth checking. If I had to pick one I’d say FabricLive 40 by Noisia. The selection isn’t particularly diverse, so if you don’t like Noisia you won’t like this. But if you don’t like Noisia, then you are wrong! Dubstep Allstars Vol 6 mixed by Appleblim on Tempa is definitely a favourite. Last but definitely not least I’d have to pick Taskforce Presents: DJ Louis Slipperz £10 Bag. An awesome mix of UK hip-hop from 2002 with tracks from the likes of Rodney P, Roots Manuva, Phi-Life Cypher, Skinnyman, Jehst, Vadim and Braintax.”
Medical Mix is out now on Med School. Listen and download.