Fusebox

One of the hottest Dutch breakbeat labels. In 1997 it was voted one of the best trip hop labels besides Mo'Wax and Wall of Sound by Dutch dance magazine Update. In the same year it was voted one of the best five Dutch dance labels.

Fusebox started in May 1995 with the first release by Morning Star with lots of dubby soundscapes. This release was followed with abstract and instrumental hip hop by artists like ...In The Meantime (Gent, Belgium) and DJ Alien (Rotterdam). Two tracks from the DJ Alien 'In Your Space' EP (Blood & Bones - with DJ Donotask, Get Down Roff) were used for the soundtrack of the Dutch cult film 'Zusje' by director Robert Jan Westdijk.

Another milestone was the first release by JMX in 1996. JMX is an alias of the Belgium guitarist and producer Jean-Marie Aerts, well known for his work with TC Matic, Urban Dance Squad, Jo Lemaire and Arbeid Adelt. This release was followed by 'Free' from Sentral Station. This was a collaboration between two producers (Dean & de Groot) and singer Pieter Both who became well known as the leadsinger from Dutch reggaeband Beef.

During late 1996 and early 1997 the sound became more uptempo with chemical/big beats from new acts like Opex (Nijmegen), TDLC (Rotterdam) and Energizer (Utrecht). More acts were performing live and had shows at festivals like Noorderslag, Drum Rhythm Festival, Lowlands, Metropolis, Solaris and New Frontier.

In 1998, after exactly three years, the label had to stop due to financial problems and therefore closure of the mother company Props Records. This was not long after they had signed a distribution deal with Roughtrade/Zomba for the CD releases.

In those three years Fusebox released 17 twelve inches and one CD. That CD was by the Belgium artist mAGIK BALLET ENSEMBLE. A few titles never had an official release:

FB 004 - Eboman - Multitrax EP (never pressed, although the release sticker for the EP was already printed)
FB 017 - DJ Alien - Sexyfunk (limited white label of 50 copies)
FB 019 - TDLC - Diggin' EP (never pressed).

Another release that never saw the light of day was the first 12" on Vaporware. Vaporware was planned as a sublabel of Fusebox. This release was an EP by Sir Henry:

Vapor 001 - Sir Henry - Gambafunk (limited testpressing).

Artwork for Fusebox was done by the following artists:

Fusebox logo and first 14 labels: Sander 'DeLuxe' F. van Hest
Fusebox labels from 15 on: Maarten Wolzak
Fusebox press photos: Michel Mees.