Mix & In Conversation: Simpler Times

Mix number 35 is a collaborative effort from the heads behind the Sheffield and Manchester based label Simpler Times, packed with upcoming and unreleased tracks, both from their own label and from other producers.

We also had a little chat with them following on from their debut release, 'Wrong Conversation', a limited vinyl only EP which picked up support from the likes of Jane Fitz, Moy, Dark Sky, Molly, Tom VR and Gunfinger Food. Check out the mix here and read on to find out more.

Hey Simpler Times, thanks for having a chat with us. First things first, what’s the story behind the new label?

Hi, thanks for having us! So, there are four of us behind the label, we’ve been close friends since we were teenagers and all got into electronic music together through Archie’s older brother Wilf, who now co-runs Oblique in Sydney. We all started DJing and making music together and used to put on nights and free parties in and around Sheffield when we were younger. The idea behind Simpler Times has been around for a while but we really started to put things into motion this year as an outlet for the music we produce and share with each other.

And what’s the ethos behind it?

The main ethos behind the label is that it’s an outlet for our material; somewhere where we can release the music that we’ve been making either individually or collaboratively.

Have you found it difficult starting the label during COVID?

Obviously, at the moment things have been really difficult for a lot of people in the music industry and throughout society as a whole. When it comes to starting the label, I guess we’ve been lucky in the sense that it’s given us extra time to get the label up and running and to focus on making more music.

I also saw that you named yourself as intimate party throwers. Is this something that has been put on pause for now? What can we expect from your parties once they start?

Yeah unfortunately we haven’t been able to put on any parties yet. We did have one lined up for October in Sheffield and had found a really cool space for it, but obviously with everything that’s going on at the moment that couldn’t go ahead. The main focus for the parties is going to be playing music together in smaller more intimate spaces and locations. Hopefully we’ll be able to invite you down to one next year all being well.

You had your debut release a few weeks back which was a collaborative release with Archie Gray, David and Tys. Can you tell us a bit more about it?

The first release actually happened really organically. We were sending tracks to each other one night and Archie suggested we put them on a collaborative EP. Having one track from each of us pressed to vinyl seemed like a great way to start the label so we took it from there really.

Thanks for putting together a mix for us. What’s your favourite song in your selection?

No worries at all, thanks for inviting us to do it. We had a lot of fun putting it together :) That’s a difficult question, I think it would be too hard to choose one. We’ll let you decide.

What can we expect from the label in the future?

We’ve got a few things lined up so far, our second release is due out at the beginning of next year which is a four-track, vinyl only EP from Tys. We’ve also got an EP from Archie lined up for next year and a collaboration with another label that we are really excited about. As well as hopefully putting on some parties once everything is back to normal.

Listen to the mix here: