I had the chance to sit down with Code Red label boss and dance music veteran Marcus Schossow during a break in the action at Amsterdam Dance Event (referred to as ADE). Our chat took place in a houseboat down a quiet Amsterdam side street, with sounds of the canals serenely creeping through the windows along with the crisp, fall air. Mr. Schossow‘s résumé precedes him, of course, and he really requires no introduction. He has been around the scene for years, with massive releases on premier labels like Axtone Records and Size Records. In April 2015, Marcus Schossow embarked on his latest venture as he launched Code Red Music, a record label, blog, radio show meant to connect the industry’s biggest names to its artists. I had the chance to chat with Marcus Schossow on October 22 about how ADE has changed over the years; about the past, present and future of Code Red; house music in the United States, and tons more. We went into depth, but it’s well worth the read. Enjoy!

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How has ADE been for you so far?

First day it was mostly business. Yesterday we did two shows, did the label night for Code Red, then I’m also the frontman for a new concept called Voyeur. They’ve been doing house shows here for five, six years now. And they do shows at the Heineken Music Hall, and stuff. And lately, they’ve been wanting to go into the, you know, the Swedish scene. So, yeah, that’s what I did yesterday.

So, has this year been crazier than years past?

I think, as you get more old and like more used to it, you kind of like know like “Okay, this year we won’t do that and stuff”. So I think each year you get more and more organized, and calmer, and just more effective, basically.

The Code Red project has been something that’s really interesting to watch. How have you managed to keep it as its own entity?

Well, you know, the label management is done by Cloud 9. But, we are our own entity. The label, you know, the direction and how it works, we’re not really a major label. We don’t want it to be that way. And, we communicate with our artists through WhatsApp and through telephone, Skypes, whatever. We don’t really believe in email business. Email was something that was really great three years ago. But when there’s like a couple hundred emails going in and out everyday, you start to lose the personal contact with people. So, I feel that our strength is our group of boys, who are really, you know, a group of friends. And those artists speak day-to-day with each other as well. So, you know, there’s so many people saying its like a family, or whatever, but this is truly a family. We have guys from Turkey, Croatia, Serbia, Russia, Australia, and you notice how much they are alike, but from different spots.

Code Red puts out a wide variety of music, are you trying to make Code Red as diverse as possible?

Our consistency is variety. I think locking yourself into one thing at this very point; it’s too early. I think house is going through a major change right now, where there’s so many sub-genres popping up, dying, and moving on. And since most of my artists are really young, they still have not found their thing, so I let them experiment, then I just host their talent, basically.

Do you enjoy the role of being a mentor to younger artists?

You know, it’s funny because I never saw myself as like a mentor thing. But, over the half-year I’ve been growing as an almost father figure, you know? It’s like, you know, I had that with, for example, Steve Angello. He guided me, and, you know, I could email him and ask him, “Hey, what do I do here?” and stuff. But, there’s artists like Corey James and Years and Will K which are connected to a label. These really young guys sometimes don’t need music help, but just normal life. It’s been growing into a father role, almost. So yeah, it just came, naturally, I guess. Plus, I didn’t want them to do the mistakes I did earlier in my career.

What would you say you learned from the most in your career?

My biggest thing was never to take advice from someone who doesn’t understand what you do. You know, when you choose to do something new and fresh, in the beginning, no one will ever believe in you. You know, when I started Code Red, everyone was like “Oh, another house label.” But, I was like “No, listen. This is a fresh idea. It’s gonna be a group of people.” And everyone was like “Yeah, but there’s Size, there’s Axtone, there’s Refune, there’s so many more, Subliminal, and whatever.” There’s so many great labels, and they’re still doing good. But for me, I wanted to do it my own way. So the best experience is to do what’s in your guts, and just trust it. You know, just go for it.

How do you manage all of the responsibilities on your plate that you have as a performer and producer?

Yeah, well, I have an amazing team, these guys. You know, I have a really great team, and my role is to host the artists, you know? Just like, meet their managers, meet them, and talk to them, like what’s going on with them. The rest of the parties, you know, I have a huge team behind me. So I don’t really have to think about that. The most stressful thing is the guest lists. There’s like 60 emails coming in at the same time, last-minute of course. “Hey man, I’m coming,” so that’s honestly… if there’s some stress, it’s that, or the stress of “okay, is it going to be a success or not?” But, you know, for the last two years, the Code Red show has been doing really, really well. So this year, there was no stress at all, so it was nice.

If you could give me two names of artists that people need to watch for, who would they be?

I will give you one young name, and one older name.

We have a young guy called Marc Volt, he’s going through music education right now, and his music is maturing at an insane pace. A pace where, I think, maybe in five, six years, this guy will dominate, you know? I mean, he’s a really authentic talent, and he understands the business side of it. He also does his own events, so he’s a really driven guy with a sick talent.

Second guy is an old guy called Özgür Can. He used to be doing progressive house back in the day, and now he’s doing a comeback. Again, really great skills and great experience, and it sounds different than everyone else.

Do you think that Code Red and your artists feel pressure to stay away from trendy sub-genres?

I don’t want Code Red to be a trend, because trends die. I know that the big, major labels have to have some trend going on. They have to follow trends because they’re a big machine, and they have to pay people. Code Red is never going to be a trend. We’re aiming at the most timeless music as we can. Of course, you know this takes time to develop, as well, because it’s not something you can go out and state: “Hey, we’re a timeless house label, send us your timeless house tunes.” What is timeless house? Nobody knows! But I think we’re aiming into it slowly. I think the artists are starting to understand it, and I think, this year, we had so many agents and managers giving us material, and this year it was the right material. For the last two years, it was the wrong material, and we were like, “No, that’s not right.” So I think after that whole two-year period, people started to understand what’s going on.

So, when you listen to a demo, what are you listening for?

First of all, I can hear whether a track is good or not in like 10 seconds. We have a guy going through all the demos first, his name is Andrew. He responds to everybody whether we like it or not. Then, the next process is he sends the link to the team, and we all have to like agree on that record. Sometimes, we get a record with a really nice idea, but the production is not really there yet, then we try to pair them up with someone else so we get what we really want from that record.

Is that process how some of your recent collaborations have come together? Like with Jaz von D and Magnificence?

Those two things were just natural things. I’m working on a collab right now with two guys where the idea they sent was really great, but the overall thing was missing that last touch. So I went in, and said, “Okay, let’s do a collab on this. Just send me the project file and I’ll rewrite the chords and stuff and the whole thing.” When there’s a really new artist that we can hear that the guy’s got talent, we try to pair them with someone who is, like, really skilled in the studio, like Corey James or Andero. You know, guys who really know what they’re doing.

Are you the kind of person who schedules out studio time?

No, it’s the feeling. You know, you can’t go in the studio on Monday unless you really feel like going on Monday. I think that way I also keep my stuff fresh, because it’s not forced. I’ve never been into that whole thing where you, like, plan your whole week; that’s not me.

DJ Mag Top 100: what do you think?

Martin Garrix won, right? He deserves it, he worked his ass off. His team is doing an outstanding job. The rest of the results don’t fucking matter, honestly. No one looks at it unless its like a promoter who doesn’t know the music. Unfortunately that’s the case in new areas where there’s opportunity, and those promoters don’t really know the DJs. But, the evolution kind of takes care of that because if you book a DJ to a hall where you have to sell 2,000 tickets and there’s 15 people showing up, you will never forget, and he will lose money, and he goes bankrupt. So, everytime there’s a new market, theres opportunity, things like this will happen. I don’t think the DJ Mag is a bad idea honestly, but you can’t control the factor of what it’s based on. Unfortunately, it’s become a popularity contest. I don’t think DJ Mag intended it to be that way, and I kind of feel for those guys because they’ve been doing great for like 10, 15 years. When it started, it was really skill based, like James Zabiela, Sasha, Paul van Dyk, Tiësto. Back then, it was really a skill contest. So over the years, when the market became oversaturated, their brand has kind of been associated with that, but it’s nothing they should be blamed for.

What has been your favorite performance so far this year?

Honestly, yesterday, Code Red. Not that it was the biggest, or the most packed performance, but it was special because all of my loved ones were there, my friends, and that’s something you do once each year.

If you could collaborate one artist inside the dance music industry and one outside, who would you choose?

Inside the dance music industry, right now, I would choose Jonas Rathsman. Outside, there’s this guy called Charlie May. He’s not really dance music producer, he did some old Sasha records back in the days. He’s more into synths and other stuff, but him.

When you’re performing, what’s your go-to song right now?

Wow… that’s a good question. I never have a go-to song, honestly. I plan my set in pit-stops. I know most DJs try to have full energy the whole way through. I have a different approach where I start with energy, I bring it all the way down, and then I bring it up. It all depends on where I’m placed in the night, of course, but in most cases after half an hour, people want to get a beer, take a piss, and come back, and then they want to go again. Most of the time, people are there when you start, then after half an hour I kind of like bring it down, and then go hard; my kind of hard.

When you’re just hanging out, what are you listening to?

I’m listening to a lot of old records from LeRouge, it’s like Danish melancholic techno. Trentemøller, all that stuff.

As you look ahead to the near future, what are your plans for yourself and Code Red?

For the US, the market there is not really into house right now. It’s going more trap, indie, Major Lazer or hardstyle. Trance is coming back in the USA, we have a few markets where… you know there will always be house music in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles; Texas is also huge with house music. So, I think we will just niche with house music for a bit, and wait for the right shows. I don’t want to do the wrong shows in the USA because you’re being put in Vegas on, like, a Tuesday, and that’s not what I want to do.

I also don’t want to be really associated with what’s going on over there right now. For me, it’s a little bit too much right now about what hat you’re wearing or whatever, you know. I think Diplo is doing a fantastic job trying to keep it real. Also, you have also like Dillon Francis and some really cool techno acts coming out from there. I think the target group that we are talking about is the ravers that caused EDC, and those other people. They’re slowly growing up, so I think we will see drastic change in the USA in a couple of years where there will be less festivals and more clubs. The more knowledge you have about dance music, the more you niche out, and these niches will become a major, major thing in a couple of years. But it takes time, I don’t want to go in there and tell them what to listen to. They have to come to me. That’s the best way.

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About Thursday Thoughts:

At Dance Rebels, we strive to bring our readers as close to their favorite artists as possible. One of the best ways to make that connection is to discuss a wide range of topics with the biggest names in the dance music scene. If there is an artist that you think we need to talk to, reach out to us on Facebook or Twitter!