2000 was the year.
The start of a new millennium was the time to settle down to the serious business of THE FUNK and Jalapeno Records was brought to life by Elliot Ireland and Alex Rizzo better known as Skeewiff. Their quirky and exotic take on funky breaks gave Jalapeno its special flavour and attracted killer talent like the Dutch masters Kraak & Smaak. I took over running the label a couple of years after its birth and have been proud to build on what they started ever since.
Jalapeno is a label that supports artists.
Many of our long-term acts do much of their own A&R and have the final say on exactly what they release. It’s been a formula that works. Skeewiff released 3 albums with us, ephemerals released 4 albums, The Allergies have released 4 albums, Kraak & Smaak released 5 albums and Smoove & Turrell have just dropped their 6th album (our first official UK chart Number 1). Alongside those we have had incredible albums from (deep breath...) Alexia Coley, Izo FitzRoy, Gizelle Smith, Dr Rubberfunk, Flevans, Basement Freaks, Soopasoul, Aldo Vanucci, Featurecast, Radio Trip, Quasamodo and Max Sedgley as well as numerous singles.
I’m exceptionally proud that many of these acts have chosen to stay with Jalapeno Records for such long periods of their careers.
Listen to the 20th birthday radio show with Craig Charles on BBC 6 Music below.
The evolution of the label from sample based high jinks to full band studio recordings and touring bands has been an exciting one. That’s not to say we don’t still love a dancefloor rocker made by a DJ / Producer, but there is something special about releasing and publishing great original music. You know things are going right on that front when your catalogue is sampled for a massive dance hit or selected for an iconic sync placement.
In our 20th year we are still experiencing new highs and getting excited about new music all the time.
So to all the artists who have made the label what it is, the great people on the Jalapeno Team and the fans who have supported the label, by buying records or streaming or coming to gigs - it’s a massive cheers from me.
Trevor McNamee – Owner – Jalapeno Records.