Blank Slate Records is a record label founded in New York City in 2012. The headquarters are now, in the meantime, based in Berlin.

»The label was begun out of the desire, from the far away corner in Ithaca, New York, to contribute something to the global music scene«, Naeem explains. That was shortly after a visit to Europe where the young American experienced a surprise. »I was expecting that everyone else on the other side of the pond was better informed, because dance music is so popular in Europe. At the end of it, I stood out as the nerd, who sat there making notes in the first row.« Not only did he take notes, but rather he also did his homework; the first catalogue number, a house compilation with contributions from producers such as Arnaldo and others, which at the time sold a thousand copies.

Naeem was struck by surprise, even though he was very convinced of the music. »Firstly, we pressed 500 copies and one week later, the distribution asked us for 200 more. One week later, they wanted 300 more.« Naeem upheld the request, since he didn’t believe in artistic shortage. »Sometimes one asks, whether labels have simply forgotten that it is a matter of the music of the artists reaching out to as many people as possible«, he says. That is by all means the declared aim of Blank State. »I don’t know, who said it, perhaps Miles Davis: ‘You will never get to hear 99% of the best music.’ The reason for this is that the majority of music is never produced and distributed. The idea of the label is to put unknown or under-appreciated artists into the limelight, rather than established names.« It not only worked for the first catalogue number, but rather also the releases, which followed. Despite them not exhibiting a signature sound, the music ranging from gentle House-sounds, dubby and experimental Techno acts like Michal Wolski, or the Mexican White Visitation to Afro-Beat designs of the twelve-man Big Mean Sound Machine, they are successful. »If I could sum up my taste in one word, I would not buy so many records«, he bluntly states.

»Tonally, there are already structural similarities between Techno and Afro Beat, however, that doesn’t answer the question.« Wolski and Big Mean Sound Machine for instance know exactly the when, where, why, and how of their music, Naeem explains the connecting elements. »I see the diversity of Blank Slate as a strength«, he stresses. The main thing is that a part of the 99% of unheard music is played to the audience. It has worked this way perfectly since the beginning.