More than 30 years after its first event, revered German house and techno festival Time Warp is launching Time Warp Records. Based in Mannheim, Germany, the label will exist as part of Insomniac Music Group, an arm of Insomniac Events.
The label’s first releases arrive Nov. 20 from a pair of yet-to-be-announced German artists, one of whom, a press release notes, has “a decades-long history with Time Warp.” Releases will encompass house and techno along with electronic genres beyond these two mainstays. A press release on the label notes that releases will focus on “a line-up of established heroes and rising emerging artists, measured against one essential filter. Quality and underground… Genre is secondary.”
Given the predilection for vinyl amongst the Time Warp audience, Time Warp Records releases will all come both digitally and on vinyl. Release strategy, catalog management and digital distribution is being handled by Insomniac’s ongoing partnership with FUGA / Virgin, with physical distribution partners Handle With Care, Word and Sound and Onyx servicing catalog vinyl pressings in Germany, Europe and North America.
The creation of Time Warp Records comes two years after Cosmopop, the Germany-based event promoter behind Time Warp, announced a partnership with Insomniac Events to develop and execute events outside Germany. The Insomniac events calendar currently lists upcoming Time Warp festivals in Mexico City, Los Angeles and New York, along with the flagship festival in Mannheim in April. Previous international editions were held in Miami and São Paulo, with Time Warp also hosting stages at EDC Colombia earlier this month and EDC Las Vegas in May.
“Having started out in the music world with my own record shop, I am especially proud that after more than three decades of events under the Time Warp flag, Time Warp is now launching its own music releases including the sale of vinyls,” Time Warp founder Steffen Charles is quoted in a press release. “It was particularly important to me to create the first release with an artist who has been with us for a very long time, who plays only vinyl and who carries the spirit of Time Warp forward.”
“When our events team partnered with Time Warp, we knew there was a great opportunity to help one of the most respected names in underground house and techno launch its own label and build on its incredible legacy,” adds Insomniac Music Group head Joe Wiseman. “We are really excited to be part of this next chapter and to have the chance to release music from some of the most talented artists in electronic music through Time Warp Records.”
Insomniac Label Group encompasses more than 20 sub-labels, many of them artist-fronted imprints including Max Styler’s Nu Moda, Joseph Capriati’s Metamorfosi, Sidepiece’s Lip Service and Slander’s Gud Vibrations and Heaven Sent. While many of these labels host showcases and events, none are a promoter first and label second, making Time Warp Records a distinct entry in the group as the first label born from a partnered festival brand rather than an artist or genre.