Conecte - Worn Soul by Chris Fortier

My label Fade Records has been a true labor love for the past 2 decades. What started out as purely an outlet to release my own music in the early 90’s because we simply didn’t know how to contact labels or the process to send demos to anyone, has has become its own living entity. The label has ebbed and flowed over time with output of releases. We released 4 records in the first 3 years and I wasn’t sure there would be anymore. But while on my first UK tour in ’97, I came across a record in a shop, bought it and played it every gig. Soon after I reached out to the label and told them how I was playing it on tour and was getting great reactions every night. I had the thought to license it to Fade and give it new platform. This would be the catalyst and vision to release music from other artists. Fade would continue to grow with the discovery of Steve Porter and Sphere. Along with Kolo, this would solidify the first 20 releases. I was very blessed to build the label on tracks that were each artist’s entry point into the production world scene. I now have a lot of pride in the fact that so many artists began their journeys in the industry with Fade, only to go onto greater things. I have seen the label always at the core as another creative outlet for music. To work with new, young and emerging artists, to be a part of helping them launch and develop their careers has been an honor and truly gratifying. Musically, the label has always been an extension of my own musical sound at the time. I always looked for music that was not cookie cutter or copycat on trend. I signed tracks that I believed in personally and never signed something for sales. Signing a track and going through the manufacturing of vinyl process and promotion, I remained 100% behind a release whether it sold 1 or 10,000 copies with the same passion and belief. The historical roster lineup of the label charts a relevant musical journey through time. Our foundation of the label has been, and is, a collective of artists. I would always refer to the label as “We”, even though I was running things from top to bottom. Without the music and these artists, there would be nothing. Throughout the different eras of the label, there have been different groupings of “We”, but each are viscerally connected. Fade has been hibernating for the last 3 years, moving distribution, re-thinking the way forward, my ears are always open to music which both inspires and captures my attention. We have again, now found that, we have found “The Next We” We feature some new names, new friends and old friends for this 2 part compilation.