One of the most exciting labels of the past decade, at least for anyone with an interest in the origins of electronic music, is San Francisco’s Dark Entries Records, established 15 years ago with a vision to release out of print and unreleased underground electronica and new wave/post punk music from the 70s, 80s and 90s as well as artists paying tribute to these sounds today.
As the label has progressed over the years, it has become synonymous with unearthing lost gems, most notably from the archives of electronic genius Patrick Cowley, whose Menergy, Megatron Man and You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), the latter recorded alongside Sylvester, set the template for uptempo synthpop at the dawn of the 80s.
Cowley may have passed away in 1982, but thanks to the work of Dark Entries founder Josh Cheon, his music lives on, helping to captivate a new generation.
Cheon expanded the Dark Entries imprint to include a record store, located at 910 Larkin Street in San Francisco, which he opened in 2022, and which like the label, specialises in out-of-print electronic, hi-NRG, synthpop and new wave. 909originals caught up with him.
The Dark Entries Records journey started with the re-release of Eleven Pond’s Bas Relief, an obscure (and probably largely forgotten) album from 1986. How did that come together?
I remember asking my roommate, who had a label in the early 2000s, about how to start a record label. He pointed me toward all of these resources for vinyl pressing, mastering, having jackets made, etc. In 2006, I met Phil Maier, who runs the blog called A Viable Commercial. I bought a record on eBay from him, and he dropped it off at my house. We immediately clicked and became friends.
He pushed me to look at his post on Eleven Pond, where one of the band members had left a comment about wanting to make a reissue. I contacted the band, drew up an agreement, and then Jeff Gallea from Eleven Pond drove up from LA to help me silk-screen the first edition.
Eleven Pond – Portugal music video first appeared on MTV 120 Minutes in 1986. The song was written as a breath of fresh air on the emotionally dark Bas Relief album. Driven by a melodic bassline, atmospheric synth washes, and textural guitars https://t.co/rEBKmPkN9s pic.twitter.com/1pPyo4LFdk
— Dark Entries Records (@darkentriesrecs) August 2, 2024
Was it always the plan to launch a record label on the back of that release, or were you just keen to get the record out there?
I had a whole spreadsheet with all my dream reissues. I wanted to do all this stuff, like unreleased Ministry synth-pop and Clan of Xymox, which happened in the end. My original plan was to release a reissue and then a new release, alternating with reissues on odd numbers and new releases on even numbers. This was the way it was with my first release, Eleven Pond, my second, Death Domain, and my third release, Second Decay.
But then I realised that there weren’t enough new artists to release and that I had a dearth of archival material to get to, so I just kept releasing archival stuff.
How does your approach with the label now differ from when you started it?
I don’t think much has changed, except my blinders have come off a bit, and the label’s sound has expanded and grown with me over the past 15 years.
Since I first stumbled across Dark Entries a few years ago, I’ve always associated it with your Patrick Cowley and Sylvester releases – including a huge amount of previously unreleased music. What was the catalyst for that, and did you know there was so much unreleased stuff out there?
In November 2007, John Hedges, former co-owner of Megatone Records with Patrick, bequeathed his record collection, including three boxes of reel-to-reel tapes, to us.
In June 2008, Honey hosted a party with Stefan Goldmann, and we gave him two CD-Rs with digital transfers of the tapes. Stefan was enthusiastic about the Catholic project Patrick recorded with Jorge Socarrás and released it on his label MACRO. To celebrate, Honey organised a record release party in San Francisco on October 19, 2009, Patrick’s 59th birthday. I decided to track down as many of Patrick’s friends as I could and interview them.
At the release party, Chris Njirich, of Hi-NRG group BearEssence, asked if I had found Patrick’s gay porn soundtracks. Bewildered, I did some sleuthing and discovered Patrick was credited on three films by Fox Studio. I tracked down director John Coletti, who was living in LA, and flew down for a meeting. In the Fox Studio archives, I unearthed eight reels of Patrick’s music. Over the next few years, all three soundtracks would be released: School Daze (2013), Muscle Up (2015), and Afternooners (2017).
It must have been fascinating to get to know so many of Patrick’s inner circle over the years – both in terms of hearing the stories from that time, but also to paint a picture of the era in which the music was recorded?
Patrick Cowley is the soul of the label. He was an outsider interested in creating new sounds with the latest pieces of modular equipment. Because of his innovative approach, his music doesn’t have a time stamp on it.
All of the Patrick Cowley releases are special in their own way. I feel like a custodian of his music and am nervous if he would approve of my song selections, so that’s why I bounce ideas off his friends for feedback, as they knew him.
On August 23rd, Dark Entries again shines a spotlight on bathhouse disco don Patrick Cowley with a newly remastered release of "Kickin’ In" a 9-minute cybernetic disco stormer that taps into the essence of Cowley’s hi-NRG sound https://t.co/hWB3FqZs8O pic.twitter.com/itcoqvpqam
— Dark Entries Records (@darkentriesrecs) July 31, 2024
There must have been instances where you stumbled across a proper musical treasure trove, in an attic or tucked away in a dusty filing cabinet – any particular memories stand out?
Some are easier than others, depending on whether the band members are still talking and agree on the details of the reissue. It took over five years to get a response from Jordi Guber of Velodrome, Metropakt and Lineas Aereas.
I was in Barcelona for a week between DJ gigs, renting an apartment on the same street as his business office. I walked five minutes down the block, introduced myself, and we had a coffee. I was in total disbelief that I was finally talking to him.
Much of the music released by Dark Entries is from a time when electronic music was still in its infancy or permeating pop for the first time. When you are remastering it, that must be hugely educational from a production perspective, discovering in real time what producers were trying to do with this new equipment available?
It always amazes me what artists made with the limited equipment at the time and how sounds evolved each year with technology advancements.
Dark Entries isn’t just a retrospective label; you also play a hand in promoting and releasing new music. You cover so many genres; is there a Dark Entries ‘sound’ or ‘attitude’ that you are looking to cultivate?
Yes, I don’t reissue anything I don’t love or am passionate about. I don’t reissue things just for the sake of reissuing them. It has to have a story or resonate with me in order for me to start the journey of the reissuing process, which is sometimes really long and a lot of work.
You recently released a compilation of indie and post-punk Portuguese music from the mid-80s and also delved into the new wave scene in Mexico. What was the inspiration for these compilations?
It has been over a decade. The first time I traveled to Lisbon, my friend in Barcelona gave me a list of Portuguese new wave to look for, and the two Rock Rendez Vous comps were on that list. I found them at Flur Discos and also found a CD version, and that gave me the idea to create a vinyl compilation of the two collections on a single disc. The Mexico compilation was also released on CD in 2005 by Robert from Ford Proco, who asked me to make the vinyl version.
Dark Entries’ wavy wanderlust takes them to a mid ‘80s Lisbon scene of post-punk and mutant Balearic disco budding from the legendary club Rock Rendez Vous, as documented in the Música Moderna Portuguesa compilations. 🇵🇹💕 @boomkatonline https://t.co/qHGhhw0j2S pic.twitter.com/iv74D99JQz
— Dark Entries Records (@darkentriesrecs) July 29, 2024
I read in an interview that you were a big fan of the electroclash scene when it emerged in the early 2000s. That makes two of us. What was a standout record (or artist) for you and why?
I was definitely more into post-punk 80s stuff and was just getting into Italo. A standout for me was the compilation I-Robots’s Italo Electro Disco Underground Classics, which included tracks like Spacer Woman and Klein & M.B.O. It was one of the first comprehensive CDs to come out at that point. I saw Miss Kittin & The Hacker as electroclash was fading out, that was definitely a big homage to all the Italo sounds.
Final question – what do you think Patrick Cowley would have gone on to do musically if he hadn’t passed away at such a young age?
He passed away at the young age of 32, so who knows what would have happened as his sound kept evolving. There’s a mystery there, with questions left unanswered, that the huge response validates.
Thanks Josh for taking to us. Check out the latest releases from Dark Entries Records here. Main photo by Felix Urbe.
Read More: 909originals talks to HiFi Sean about the enduring legacy of Patrick Cowley
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