It’s certainly not easy remaining at dominate force in the world of electronic music for a decade but it’s safe to say the bass powerhouse Circus Records make it look easy.
Being able to withstand the tests of time being able to adapt to whatever changes in the scene are thrown their way, Circus continues to pump out quality tunes on a weekly basis with a handful of truly timeless tracks thrown into the mix.
With such a rich history and lengthy catalog releases, label founders and bass legends Flux Pavilion and Doctor P took the time to breakdown some of the imprints biggest releases to date.
Check out the complete list of timeless Circus Records’ records below.
Flux: “When I play a set there are certain songs that I look forward to playing, eventually you retire tracks when you just can’t listen to them anymore. This track I retired because It had been in every set for 2 years and even though I didn’t want to, I needed to move on, but still to this day I want to play this track in my set, and when I do, it feels just as great as the first time. A timeless dancefloor record for me. I guess a great track never retires.”
Flux: “It’s hard to state this is a favourite piece of music, because it’s the work of a lunatic. But this track represents what Circus means to me. Every time me and Doctor P work together I always push to make something that no one else has, so we always end up with the weirdest and wildest ideas. Back in the day this track would never have seen the light, but with Circus we have built a place where literally anything is possible, it just has to work. This track for me is inexplicable and that’s what makes it great.”
Flux: “I’m not really so much of a fan of the really hard stuff, never have been. To my ears there seems to be a focus of the ‘hard’ and creativity comes later. FuntCase is like the exact opposite, listening through his whole catalogue it’s like a love letter to hard-core dancefloor music from a creative who can’t help but imagine what else is possible. This track was probably the main track that sits at the start of the world of FuntCase but it’s the whole experience that I’m putting on the list.”
Doctor P: “I Can’t Stop was originally released as track 3 on Flux’s Lines In Wax EP. We decided to put it as track 3 as none of us initially recognised the track’s massive potential, so it was surprising to us all that it went on to become one of the label’s biggest hits of all time.”
Flux: “Feels a bit of an obvious choice but this song was the one that showed me and I think alot of us at the time that the sky was the limit. The track wasn’t made for any purpose other than to be the song it was meant to be, thats how I write all of my music, I hope for something to happen after the fact, but when I’m in the studio nothing matters other than the song being what it wants to. The time I spent alone with I Can’t Stop seems like a dream now, the song has become so much more than just mine, it’s now everyone’s song and what it means to each listener has given it a life bigger than my own, which is a beautiful and truly unique thing.”
Flux: Rusko was the reason Circus existed really. Never have I been more inspired than when I came across not only his music but Rusko himself. I knew the word Punk, but i never quite thought it could and would be fun to be a punk, but Rusko told the world he didnt give a fuck what it wanted him to be, and he did it in his socks. I wanted nothing more than to be able to express myself in a personal and honest way and Circus was built as a place for that to exist. Punk isn’t a sound its more of an idea to me, as such i always looked at Circus as a punk label and to release some music from the man who sparked all our inspiration was an honour like no other.
Doctor P: I made Sweet Shop around the time we were first talking about starting the label, so a lot of my motivations for starting Circus are also reflected in the song; I felt at the time that there was room in the scene for somebody to come and do something totally new and exciting, which I think I managed to do with the track and we also successfully managed to achieve with the label. A lot of people have told me Sweet Shop was their first introduction to electronic music, and it’s the track that undoubtedly launched my career.
Doctor P: Method Man was pretty much top of my list of artists I dreamed of collaborating with, so when it actually happened on The Pit it was incredibly cool. I don’t think any of us at Circus imagined we would be working with artists of that caliber when we started in 2009.
Doctor P: Melody, groove and character are three of our main focuses when looking for music to release, and I think Yow Momma exemplified all of those things. As soon as Cookie sent me the track I instantly loved it and had it stuck in my head for days.
Doctor P: One of the challenges of running a label is staying current and moving with the times. FuntCase’s DPMO compilation albums have been a great way for us to release some really fresh underground dubstep. FuntCase is really in tune with that world, and does a great job curating the albums. Bad Render is definitely the standout track from DPMO Vol 1.
Doctor P: We started the label with the fundamental idea of releasing authentic, uncompromising music that we really believed in. A lot of what we’ve released over the years has been really dancefloor-driven, so I think it’s nice to have had commercial success with a track like Emotional which still fits our core beliefs about music, but doesn’t fully conform to the label’s traditional dancefloor sound.
