Rising London label XVI Records has contributed to the latest edition of our Substitute Teachers series, and I asked Josh Byrne – the label’s head – a few questions after listening to their mix.

The impetus behind XVI is to find and release material by some of the UK’s most forward-thinking artists. What forward-thinking artists have influenced you all in the first place?

We love so many different types of music that it’s hard to pin down, but everything from bands like Joy Division and At The Drive In straight through to acts like Floating Points, Arthur Russell, Company Flow, and Theo Parrish (to name a few) influence the sound of the label in a big way. Ultimately we just wanted to work with a group of artists who are carving out a new sound as opposed to paying too much attention to what’s “on trend”.

Is the aim to stay digital? Or do you see yourselves pressing vinyl anytime soon?

We are actually currently finalizing our first vinyl release, we’re all so excited to see our logo on a record! Should be out in the next month or so…

Is there a club night or radio show where we can hear artists on XVI?

We’ve had a lot of great support from a lot of really excellent radio shows, people like Mary Anne Hobbs, Jon Oliver from East Village Radio, Earnest Endeavours, Chrome Kids and Simon Harrison from Basic Soul have had helped us push the sound to a wider audience on their shows. I run a night called Lion Roar in my hometown, Chester where a lot of the artists play. It acts as a great platform for the artists to get their music out there and test out new sounds. The night has been running for 3 years now and we’ve got a really close nit following who never fail to come down and support everything XVI Records represents. We are also planning a few parties around the country.

What releases do you have planned for the rest of the year?

We’ve got some really exciting music lined up for the rest of this year, we’ve got releases from Mau’lin, Jabru, Real, Bambooman, Decyfer and Henry Wu in the pipeline alongside a couple of new additions…

What’s in this mix?

This mix is a sneak peak of whats going on at XVI Records, it’s all previously unheard material that is forthcoming on the label and mixed by Real. It is further showcasing the sound of the label via innovative, down tempo sounds, mixed with more dance floor friendly beats.

Do any of your artists have shows coming up?

We’ve got a label showcase at Imperial College‘s student union and Metric on June 16, where you can hear the sounds of Sun Glitters, Henry Wu and Evermean (check the official event out here). A couple of our artists will be appearing at Mifest, Dimensions and a couple of other festivals over the summer…

Henry Wu – Oxtail Soup (XVI)
Deminai – Lola (Demo)
Mukes – Pilot (XVI)
Real – Sunrise (XVI)
Mukes – Take Off (XVI)
Mau’lin – Because (XVI)
Jabru & MTD – Homeflame (XVI)
Decyfer – Mariana Trench Dub (XVI)
Bambooman – Moters (XVI)