Join us as we celebrate the five-year anniversary of the music label SINFUL MAZE Recordings with an exclusive interview with its founder, the charismatic DJ and visionary Mark Sin.
Mark, who brought together strong personalities and enthusiastic producers into one team five years ago, will guide us through a journey filled with music, laughter, and unforgettable moments.
Greetings to DNBTV.COM, and thank you for the opportunity to have a chat. Easy on that charisma, DJing, and visionary talk, haha.
The craziest moment was definitely when I decided to start the label. After finishing a paper at 3 AM during my freshman year of college, with a bottle of wine as my companion, the word MAZE and the idea of an agency came to me.
However, after our first event in Otrokovice, I decided to focus on recordings. Even though I went into it thinking it would be a ton of thankless work and it wouldn’t bear fruit for about five years, I wanted to remain a part of the Czech electronic music scene after five years of playing Dubstep, Trap, and Basshouse and give something back.
I knew almost nothing about releasing music; I was just familiar and oriented in the production environment, driven by a passion to release great CZ/SK production.
Well, I think the original estimates were a bit harsh, but still, I feel that after five years of development, we’re finally in a form ready to aim further. It’s always been a marathon, building the brand was the first phase, now it’s time to move forward.
I explored the development of the music industry due to technological revolutions of the 20th and 21st centuries for my bachelor’s thesis and always tried to connect the label with the content of my marketing communications studies at UTB.
I consider the label somewhat like my doctorate 😀 The production and release of music have become more democratic thanks to the internet, opening up possibilities for independent operation away from the behemoth, which allowed the entire indie sector to flourish.
However, it remains true that the structure of the most powerful in this business hasn’t really changed throughout its history. Today, Spotify, focusing mainly on major labels and top world-class artists (see: royalties blackboxes), holds the reins.
Music itself has become a promotional tool because monetizing, even in such a niche genre, is relatively complicated and demotivating. Hence, we try to explore new possibilities like Bandcamp, Patreon, SoundCloud, or BitSong (web3).
For me personally, the relationship with music over the last five years has been quite complicated; I hardly listened to music at all last year. Fortunately, I’m now back in balance and primarily see myself as a fan.
The label itself offers unforeseen possibilities and opportunities. It’s our collective child built on hard work and trust. The label pulls me out of my comfort zone daily, and thanks to it, I’ve delved into so many fields that it far exceeds everything I imagined.
Currently, we have a team of ten people, but sometimes DIY solutions are necessary, forcing one to learn new tricks, and that’s what I enjoy the most!
The opportunity to participate in the production of releases, contribute to covers, name releases, write copy for marketing and products. Recently, I had the chance to write lyrics for a track for the first time, which was also a great experience!
To push myself and others, release cool music with friends, the chance to connect with inspiring people and creatively express myself, the opportunity to give a part of me. That’s why.
The foundation was to create a friendly and supportive community of producers. Emphasis on conceptual release creation, diligent work within sound craftsmanship, differentiation in graphic design, scouting undiscovered gems through SoundCloud.
Last but not least, a lot of invisible work in maintaining and advancing the label, networking, good relations with fans, producers, and team members. The outcome of each release should be a satisfied artist who doesn’t feel like their music and time were wasted.
Over time, we’ve released over 100 artists, and I can’t claim we’ve satisfied every single one of them without exception, but this approach eventually bore fruit. Today, our dream producers send us tracks, and we already have a quality roster of artists based on our discography.
We strive to be serious (sometimes too much) while remaining authentic with a touch of mischief. I believe the label serves not only as a distributor and promoter but also as a creative hub within our sinful production and fan community.
Everyone probably has their strategy based on what they enjoy. Authenticity and winning the hearts of fans are perhaps the basics of promoting anything today. Music has become strictly a product for entertainment from a mainstream perspective (harsh but, in my opinion, accurately put), with the brand, emotions, story, and everything around it being most important.
Being in daily contact with fans and purposefully creating hits isn’t for everyone, but there’s no need to despair or throw your self-promotion out the window. It’s essential to find a system that primarily entertains you and doesn’t turn you off.
For example, I’ve only posted ads on social networks about five times in five years; feeding those giants didn’t interest me, so I utilized the community aspect of SoundCloud and its associated service Hypeddit, which allows you to target your audience with a bunch of additional features on top.
Our social media content revolves mainly around releases, for which we have a set system of individual assets and posts. Since we release quite a lot and regularly, this also ensures continuous communication with fans about music releases without having to constantly come up with new content.
Breaking out internationally has been a goal from the start. The label was initially conceived as an agency, but after the first event, I decided to utilize its potential for publishing. The Czech and European scenes are improving from all perspectives. However, the competition is growing. Merely releasing quality music is not enough, and I hope we’ve managed to create an environment for our producers that helps them develop.
In recent years, I’ve been observing the American scene and its increasing appetite for European music, including Drum and Bass, which I find promising.
Dubstep and EDM (yes, DnB is also EDM :D) will probably always dominate there, but thanks to people like FuntCase, Excision, and Shaquille O’Neal, it might work out 😀 😀 😀
Over the last six months, I’ve had the chance to meet our familiar promoters and artists from America at Czech events and festivals, who hype us in the online space and on their turf through their RendahMag magazine and digital platform, for which we are extremely grateful!
Öwlie’s EP. Yeah, that’s how I motivate them, with bossing and public shaming. One of the funniest and most significant stories is probably the one you’re hinting at, and yes, indeed, more than a handful of us were interrogated by the police across the republic due to DJ Andrej Pomeje and tabloid newspapers.
The funniest police interrogation in the history of interrogations 😀 I think SINFUL didn’t even exist yet, but this story had a fundamental impact on our formation and is still interwoven with our destinies.
The best story during our operation involves Moongose. At Smack’s launch of Chimera 2 in Roxy, around 4 AM, Smack thanked him for playing, paid him a rather generous sum, and offered him a spot at A51.
Tomáš gratefully accepted the money, handed it to me, and said something like, “Thanks a lot, but I’m LOYAL to the SINFUL guys.” Smack was a bit confused, and so was I. I told him he wasn’t serious and that he’d let him know the next day. 😀 😀 😀
Can we expect any major projects or new talents on the label? There are plenty of plans, projects, and new talents, as you’d expect. As I say, only now do I consider SFM ready for action. Fortunately, I’m not alone anymore, so I believe the label will live a bit more of its own life from now on, and I’ll be able to enjoy some well-deserved Capri Sun.
We have visions and goals; now, let’s see where the next five years take us.
You’re the best! To everyone who listens and buys our music or cursed merch, attends parties, gives us street credit – thank you all! It’s cliché, but it wouldn’t work without you… AND YOU KNOW IT!
Oh, and if you want, you can give us a like and subscribe on our socks, visit our new website www.sinfulmaze.com, check out the members of our new SINFUL Agency, or take a look at our SINFUL Patreon.
We sincerely thank Mark Sin for his time, energy, and endless source of fun he shares with us and the world through SINFUL MAZE.We wish Mark and the entire SINFUL MAZE team more years of musical successes, innovations, and joy to spread.May your future paths lead to endless possibilities, new discoveries, and, of course, more unforgettable moments to enjoy together.Finally, we thank all fans and supporters of SINFUL MAZE for your continuous support. Without you, it wouldn’t be possible.We look forward to all that the future brings, and to another five years filled with music and laughter!
