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Mykki Blanco Has Launched A Label

“I’m surrounded by insanely talented people,” the NYC artist tells The FADER of new label Dogfood Music Group.

July 01, 2015

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.

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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?

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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.

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