In a relatively short time since friskyRecords splat onto the surface of the Electronic Dance Music scene “since there just weren’t that many record labels in EDM,” it has enjoyed countless Top 10 releases, original tunes from artists ranging from Jerome Isma-Ae to Vogelmann to Nemanja Kostic to everyone-in-between including the first mixed compilation from Bedrock artist and friskyRadio resident Pole Folder. Piloting the friskyRecords ship was our Dear Leader Ira Heinichen, who’s uncanny ability to spot trends before they became “trendy” and saw the label enjoying growth and more importantly, releasing amazing tunes that (we hope) dared to challenge the run-of-the-mill dance music genres.

After 4 years of strong leadership, Ira Heinichen is moving on to spend more time with his collection of chia pets. We’re obviously sorry to see him go, but understand how much time and love chia pets require. Taking his place is Jean-Christophe Detrain, better known as Faskil. Ira and I are extremely excited and happy that Faskil has chosen to take on the role of Head A&R and all-round friskyRecords head honcho.

Says Faskil about his new role:

I’m very proud and excited to join the Frisky family as A&R for the friskyRecords label. Since its first release in 2008 (the beautiful Destinations CD mixed by my dear friend Pole Folder), it has remained one of the most groundbreaking label in the electronic music scene, thanks to Ira and his vision. I can’t thank him enough for trusting me in taking over the business and will do my best to live up to his expectations. I only hope I won’t have to deal too often with Faisal ’cause he’s an ass. Just kidding, F., chill. Can’t wait to start!

Ira Heinichen, friskyRecords Label Ninja (2007 - 2011) says:

It’s with the greatest pleasure and excitement that I hand over friskyRecords, a project that’s seen my blood sweat and tears since day one over three years ago, to such a wonderful and talented individual as Faskil. He’s been a pillar of our brand from very early on, and his selection as my successor was a no-brainer. We’re eagerly looking forward to the new direction and inspiration he will bring to the imprint while I am able to move onto other exciting prosepects. friskyFaithful stay tuned: we’re about to explode your mind!

Not to be outdone, Faisal also chimed in with one of his quotes:

Can I get some ice cream now?

Please join Ira and me in welcoming Faskil to the friskyCrew and family!

Featuring the NICK STOYNOFF remix, #1 on the Release Promo Hype Chart, featured on the world-wide broadcast radio shows Fresh Produce and Release Promo Radio. Support from Markus Schulz.

BUY NOW ON BEATPORT

Fady Ferraye returns to friskyRecords with what’s put him on the map: dark moody and brooding progressive. Nick Stoynoff stars here on remix duties with a fabulously airy cut that shouts “chart position.” Mariano Favre glitches it out and fattens the bassline for the tech-crowd, and Vogelmann shows his ethereal expertise with a delicate interpretation. Nemanja Kostic stays in top form with a wickedly bass-driven redux to round out the EP.

About the Artists
Fady Ferraye hails from Beirut, Lebannon and has been featured on some of the most prominent progressive labels on the planet including Baroque, friskyRecords, and Dave Seaman’s Audio Therapy. His music has received support from John Digweed, Sasha, Nick Warren, Dave Seaman, Hernan Cattaneo, and so many others. The Chicago native Nick Stoynoff is a hot ticket at the moment, recently with a hit track off Tiesto’s Black Hole Recordings – his tracks have seen support from Tiesto, Markus Schulz, Sasha, Nick Warren and countless others.

BUY NOW ON BEATPORT

Greetings from Ira - friskyRecords’ Label Manager.

This is super exciting I have to share it with y’all: our next big release at the end of the month, “Am Alive” with newcomers Dr. K & Nii vs. Shiha, featuring brand new vocal sensation Sarah Blacker and allstar remixers Martin Roth, DJ Tarkan & V-Sag, and Tone Depth, has been included on prog trance legend Andy Moor’s newest mixed CD!

Martin Roth’s remix appears as track 03 on the first disc of this 2xCD mixed compilation “Breaking the Silence” and you can check the soundclip here:

You can also early preview all versions of the track at junodownload!

Am Alive releases September 29 exclusively on Beatport.

We’re just about to close out the first year of friskyRecords.  To say that I think we achieved everything we set out to do with the label this year would be an understatement.  Not only did we release the first ever dj mix compilation by a world-reknowned artist, we also smashed charts and ranked consistently in the Top 10 of major record promo pools; not to mention our last 5 releases have debuted straight onto the Number 1 spot of the Progressive House Promo Charts - a feat that is yet unmatched by any other label in the promo pool’s history.

We didnt set out to make friskyRecords into Yet Another Record Label.  There are plenty of labels out there releasing great stuff by some amazing artists - the world did not need another record label.  Yet, I felt where friskyRecords could come in and make a contribution to the world of electronic dance music is to expand on friskyRadio’s core mission over the past 9 years: of introducing great music to the world.  The core frisky brand is about great music and community.  More than egos, names or titles, its about the collective passion of the music that moves all of us.  I don’t care who is playing the music, if its good we will play it on friskyRadio and promote it to share it with our global audience.

I wanted to continue that with friskyRecords.  I believe that if one has the passion and the talent, with support they can be successful.  Thats why we have always taken into consideration not only the person’s quality of work, but their passion for their art.  Because lets face it, making music is an art.  These artists give us a lot of trust by letting us release their work and promote it - so we try to make sure that we work with artists that will be as hard-working and passionate as we are about our work.

Year001

We thought what better way to finish off the first year than with a special treat for our fans. We opened up the entire friskyRecords catalogue of tracks to our friskyRadio residents, artists and community and invited them to create brand new versions and remixes of each track. The result is Year001, an EP and mixed compilation spanning all the material released on the label during it’s first year. Year001 is inspiring, exclusive and reflects the sound from dancefloors both near and far. You can check it out at Beatport now.

In closing I would like to congratulate the amazing roster of artists that we had the pleasure to work with over the past year, the guest DJs that made exclusive dj mixes for friskyRadio (all 300+ of you!), our supporters that subscribe to the friskyRadio Subscriptions, without their generous donations we wouldnt be able to keep the station running, the friskyRadio staff especially our rock star friskyRecords Label Manager Ira Heinichen, friskyRadio web Ninja Giuliano ‘Papigiulio’ Garau, and the ‘Honorary friskyStaff members’ Alexis ‘Shamanah’ Reghas, Ingo Vogelmann and Ben Mautner. But most of all I’d like to thank our fans that gave us tremendous support and encouragement this year and our listeners that tune in from all corners of the world and spend some time with us every day. It is for the fans that we do this, and will keep doing this as long as you keep supporting us!

YOU could be our next friskyRecords superstar! We’re turning to you to send us your remix of Federico Epis’ Sensations track. Here’s your chance to have your name listed in the artist roster of friskyRecords - a label offshoot of friskyRadio that has, in its short history, already had two Top 10 hits on Beatport Progressive House charts!

OK - enough talk. Here’s how to enter:
1. Download the Remix Pack by clicking here.
2. Work your magic!
3. Send us your remix via a YouSendIt or SendSpace link to ira@friskyRadio.com with the subject “Sensations Remix Comp Entry” Entry has to be encoded in at least 192K MP3 and include your name / email address in the ID tags. Or enter your contact info in a text file with your entry.
4. You can check out more information about the track, including clips to hear it here.

CONTEST ENDS 01 SEPTEMBER 2008. BE READY TO SUBMIT WAV MASTERS AS SOON AS CONTEST ENDS AS YOUR REMIX WILL BE RELEASED ASAP.

PRIZES:
1. Grand Prize Winner receives standard recording contract on friskyRecords with the release of their winning remix.
2. Grand Prize Winner will be featured as a ‘friskyRadio Artist of the Week’ and will be offered to host their own show right here on friskyRadio.com
3. All winners gets friskyRadio stuff: T-Shirts, stickers etc etc.
4. Grand Prize Winner receives a $100 store credit from Beatport.com

Good luck and we look forward to hearing your track!

Want your copy of the Destinations CD to be a little bit more personal? Now you can! For a limited time we are offering limited-edition copies of the Destinations CD signed by Pole Folder! Quantities are limited and going fast so act now to secure your very own copy!

As you might have already noticed we have started our advertising campaign for our first friskyRecords release! This ad is now running on larger EDM sites like Resident Advisor. The ad is below:

If you’d like to share the love and support us by posting this kick-ass flash animation on your sites or blogs, the code is below. Just cut-n-paste and enjoy! Thanks for the support!

<object width="312" height="166"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.friskyradio.com/push/friskyRecords_ad.swf"></param> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param> <embed src="http://www.friskyradio.com/push/friskyRecords_ad.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="312" height="166" /></object>

By now Im sure you all have already noticed that the brand-spanking new friskyRecords site is live! Its the result of months of hard work to bring you what we feel is a pretty neat site with all the relevant information about our releases and other stuff. You can find out more information about our debut release, Destinations mixed CD and digital EP by Pole Folder, and find links to buy the release there.

The site is the first stage in a complete top-to-bottom overhaul of the friskyRadio site(s) and we will be making improvements to the site in the coming weeks and months. We will also be adding some really kick-ass features and additions to the friskyRadio site so stay tuned!

I hope you like the design as much as we do.