"Talkin Loud was founded in 1990 by Gilles Peterson. The label aimed to sign and develop artists coming out of club culture's alternative quarter. The label was named after the Sunday afternoon club session at Dingwalls in Camden, which in turn was named after the James Brown song 'Talkin Loud and Saying Nothing' [reversing nothing with something].


It must be noted that club culture started way before the 'summer of love', in 1988. Talkin Loud was just a development of a dance music scene that had been mushrooming steadily around DJs, building up, underground movements in small, backrooms all around the United Kingdom. Influential heads of the time, included people such as Paul Murphy, Chris Bangs, Bob Jones, Hewen Clarke, Colin Curtis, Baz Fe Jaz, Richard Searling, Chris Hill and as Gilles notes, underground pirate radio stations, in particular - Radio Invicta and radio shows by Robbie Vincent [Radio London] and Greg Edwards [Capital Radio].

In those days the only media for this scene came courtesy of Black Echoes, Blues & Soul and fanzines such as Groove Weekly. In essence these are the DJs and roots of a scene that has in one sense given birth to such bastard sons as Dario. G in one sense & Tricky in another. Evidently the key catalyst to dance music being as successful as it is in 1998, is a love and passion of Black Music by DJs such as the above going back to the pre-Disco era of the 1970s.

Having set up the label in 1990, Gilles invited Norman Jay to work along side him and sign the first crop of Talkin Loud artists.


The first signing was Galliano [Galliano also being the first signing to his previous label Acid Jazz] followed by the Young Disciples, Incognito and Omar. These early years of the label proved challenging as the first batch of signings was one of the first to be worked through a major record label, more used to the music of Metallica, Bon Jovi and Elton John. However the music was strong, the bands were real, the critical acclaim inevitable as the label made a true impact on a music industry dominated by cliche 80's pop.

With the label suprising even the greatest of cynics, Norman and Gilles still actively working as Djs in parallel, a solid third party was necessary to stabilise the operation. His name was Paul Martin who has since become a vital if less high profile partner of the Talkin Loud operation. As Gilles comments, Talkin Loud would be dead and over if it were not for Paul's passion, skill and dress sense!

In the coming months Paul and Gilles will reflect on the individual years of the labels existence, bringing you rock'n roll stories such as the day James Lavelle of Mo'Wax applied for a job, and close signings that the label never made. Watch this space! and welcome to the Talkin Loud Website."



Record Label, www.talkinloud.com