Mykki Blanco has launched his own label today. Dogfood Music Group is an off-shoot of !K7 and has an ambitious mission: “to give voices to the underground artists that inspire their communities…and transcend conventional cultural boundaries/constructs.” The live element is also especially important to Dogfood: all the artists believe in the power of “immersive and challenging” performances. DMG's debut release, C-ORE, is due on September 18 (pre-order it here). The compilation project will contain three tracks from each of the following DMG artists: Psychoegyptian, Yves Tumor, and Violence. Blanco will have three tracks on C-ORE as well.
Blanco discussed the new endeavor briefly with The FADER. Read excerpts from the conversation below.
What made you want to start a label?
I'm surrounded by insanely talented people. A lot of times I've found some of the best musicians lack that careerist attitude, which is a good thing, but can make it difficult to have their work shared on a larger scale. For me, I like people who are strong performers. Our digital culture is so disposable—when a musician’s live experience is heightened by quality music, that deserves to be appreciated by as many people as possible, not [stay] lurking forever in the dark corners of SoundCloud.
How did you find all the artists?
I met Psychoegyptian years ago—he was already well known in the NYC art world circles for being a provocateur and a great artist. We were young street rats in the Lower East Side when I first moved to New York. He's literally like my cousin/brother. Yves Tumor I first became aware of through his touring with James Ferraro. I spied him on the internet and thought, ‘this dude's a G!’ A real musical genius actually, to be honest! I approached him about touring together and went on an epic Asian/European tour in 2014. Violence and I met in LA. I think we were both curious about each other, because we had mutual friends. But Sean Bowie actually threw a show at an underground spot and that’s where I saw him perform for the first time. I think he's actually one of the more unique people I've met in a minute—really strong use of lyrics, actual live instrumentation, like a rock n’ roll Buddhist monk from the hood.
How was the compilation put together?
The artists were asked to create original material, 3 tracks each. Those were pieced together to form one cohesive album. Sean Bowie [aka Yves Tumor] arranged and executive produced the album.
