In the crowded electronic music climate, it’s hard maintaining a blueprint that helps you stand out from the crowd but in its short history, Selador Recordings has managed to do just that. the label run by Dave Seaman and Steve Parry has quickly built a reputation as a leading exponent of high-grade house and techno and all flavors in-between.
Now, Selador is celebrating its 10 years of existence with a string of unique, collaborative EPs, Seladoria live shows, and more. EG caught up with Dave Seaman & Steve Parry to talk about this milestone for the imprint.
EG: Hi Dave! Hello Steve! Welcome to EG. It’s a pleasure to have you here with us. How have you been? Where are you based right now?
Dave Seaman: Hello again guys. All is well here thank you. I am based close to Nottingham in the UK. I’m originally from Leeds and then lived in London for 17 years but gravitated back north when I got married and started a family.
Steve Parry: Hello, thanks for having us! I’m in Liverpool, England, I’ve always lived here.
EG: First of all, congratulations on 10 years of Selador Recordings! What a fantastic milestone. What are some of your initial thoughts on this achievement?
Dave Seaman: I think overall, I just wonder where the hell the time has gone! How are we ten years old already?! A whole decade has gone by in a flash. They do say time flies when you’re having fun though, so we must have been having a blast.
EG: Did you ever set out to make it this far when you first started Selador Recordings? How has the label evolved since its conception?
Steve Parry: I certainly hadn’t thought this far ahead when we started out, it was always about releasing music we both love, and it has just continued on that path. 10 years seem to have flown by. We have worked with amazing artists, so we have been very lucky, and it has made Dave and I get back into the studio again more often, and that was always a goal of ours.
EG: Now you guys are celebrating with EPs featuring unique collaborations between some of the label’s most prominent artists. What can fans of Selador come to find here? How long did it take to put this all together? How did the collaborations come to be?
Steve Parry: There have been 3 EPs so far, but there are a few more on the way! It’s been great speaking to our artists, and suggesting these ideas, and sometimes we put the pairings together (mainly so we could see what the musical outcome would be for our DJ sets!), and sometimes the artists themselves suggested people they’d like to collaborate with. We tried to have a selection of the core Selador family combined with some new extended family members. I suggested Hernan Cattaneo to Dave as it seemed like a winning formula to me (and something that I would take notice of as a music lover!) – and ‘Napkin Knowledge’ was born. And then, as a huge fan of Renato Cohen’s music – I’m a little bit obsessed (laughter) – I was delighted when he agreed to make a collaboration with me. Especially as he has never made a collab track before!
Dave Seaman: It’s been a long ongoing process that still continues. A lot of work going back and forth many times with many people, but we persevered, and we couldn’t be happier with the results. Nothing great ever came easy, did it?! Our new release, ‘Selador Decade EP3’, features another awesome foursome with Hannes Bieger x Luke Brancaccio x Gai Barone, Just Her x Smash TV, Rancido x Darksidevinyl, and Stelios Vassiloudis x Just Her all contributing.
“We have a great roster of very talented artists and our Seladoria live events concept is all ready to roll out”
EG: Where is the label going now? Have you given consideration to the next steps? Is there a dream goal you’d like to achieve with Selador?
Dave Seaman: We’re planning to concentrate a lot more on doing our own Selador shows. We have a great roster of very talented artists and our Seladoria live events concept, which is based around bespoke visual content we had made, is all ready to roll out now so it’s really time to get out there on the road with this. Bringing the music direct to a dance floor near you is really what this has all been about. Our rasion d’etre, if you like.
EG: Let’s reminisce for a bit. What are some of your personal favorite highlights from Selador’s catalog over the years? What would you say is the definitive ‘Selador’ sound?
Dave: Funny you should say that. We recently were asked to make a ’10 years of Selador’ chart for Beatport and it really reminded us how much fantastic music we’ve had the pleasure of releasing over the last decade. It was actually quite hard to narrow it down to only 20! Check it out!
Steve Parry: The definitive Selador sound is stuff Dave and I love! And that’s as musically far and wide as you could possibly imagine! We love all sorts, which I think the label reflects. It’s tunes we would play in our DJ sets, and we love Charles Webster to Laurent Garnier, and Doc Martin to Hernan Cattaneo via Dixon.
EG: What’s next for Dave Seaman, Steve Parry & Selador Recordings? What particular milestones are you looking forward to in 2023? Where can your fans catch you next?
Dave Seaman: Our next Selador gig is at Ritter Butzke in Berlin on Wednesday 17th, May. It’s a public holiday in Germany on the 18th so we’ll be celebrating long into the night with myself and Steve joined by Just Her, Bebetta, and Smash TV. It’s been a while since we were last in Berlin and it’s one of our favorite cities so very much looking forward to that.
Steve Parry: I’m also particularly looking forward to my first-ever US tour, centered around a Seladoria show in Denver on the 10th of June at Reelworks for Whirling Dervish alongside Dave and Quivver. Very excited about that one.
EG: Thank you so much for your time, guys! We wish you all the best for the future.
Dave Seaman: Always a pleasure guys. The same goes for you. Keep up the sterling job you’re doing over there.
Steve Parry: Yes, thanks for having us and for your continued support for us. Keep on keeping on!
Selador’s new ‘Selador Decade EP3’ is out now. Purchase your copy here.
The Selador 10th birthday party in Berlin at Ritter Butzke on Wednesday 17th May will see Dave Seaman & Steve Parry joined by Bebetta, Just Her, and Smash TV. Grab your tickets here.
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Follow Dave Seaman: Spotify | Instagram | SoundCloud | Facebook
Follow Steve Parry: Spotify | Instagram | SoundCloud | Facebook
