Inner Surface Music

Inner Surface Music is a British record label from Manchester, founded by Tom Dicicco and AnD in 2011. Everything began in the record shop Eastern Bloc; Tom Dicicco brought over his first EP, which the duo Bowen and Poumplidis were immediately fond of. It only took seven months until the label was formed out of the newly established friendship. “It gave us all meaning, because the three of us wanted as artists to begin something of our own and support those, who we love and respect. At the time, Andrew worked in marketing and at Eastern Bloc, it seemed to coincide perfectly”, says the trio, who encountered the amount of work playfully easily with a loose distribution of roles. The three producers never wanted to jump the gun and by no means fulfil dance floor demands alone. You could class the Inner Surface released records as techno, however artists like Eomac and Yves De May also show the experimental aspects of their work on the imprint.

These are freedoms, which are based on a basic trust. “When we scan music for the label, it must already be outstanding. It doesn’t interest us whether it’s techno or experimental, but with each of our artist we must be able to develop a relationship.” If it doesn’t begin in the record shop, then it sometimes originates in targeted recruitment such as Wireman who was recruited for the very first listing via Facebook. A relaxed tone amongst the label operator and the artists is however only one side of the coin; for example a lot of value is placed by Inner Surface on the consistence of the aesthetic appearance. The record covers are digitally edited paintings by Bowen, which should respectively translate the mood of a record in pictures and therefore take the rhythmical and melodious elements of a record as a starting point. Sounds nerdy, but it’s not surprising from the three, who got to know each other in a record shop.