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Artist of the Month: Vester Koza
House | Tuesday 19th August 2014 |
Vester Koza couldn't get signed to any labels so he decided to start his own - Maslo. Just one year and three EPs later he's now rejecting labels he has described as "pretty big". Why? Because he doesn't want anybody to think of him as the label he's signed to: he wants to remain totally independent, making whatever he wants, only playing and sending music out to where he wants.
This ethos has clearly paid off - despite not exactly going through a meteoric rise to the top, Vester's name is now on the lips of everyone who matters. Describing his first release, the Vester Koza EP, Ben UFO said on Rinse FM "its quite rare that I hear something by someone completely brand new that takes me by surprise like this 12-inch does... 4 great tracks on there".
Koza followed this first release up with Out of the Blue and the untitled Maslo 003 EP, both of which received rave reviews on Resident Advisor. Whilst often described as "deep house", Koza's productions have an entirely unique, unplaceable finish to them - somewhat ethereal, dusty and dark, his tracks at times seem to fuse elements of techno, garage or dub to create music that's "interesting, but simple enough to work in a club".
However, it would be unfair to describe Vester Koza as a complete novice in the music world - he first started playing with turntables at the age of 13, studied commercial music at the University of Westminster, played guitar and keyboard, and went on to teach music technology at a college, His music career only kicked off, however, when he quit working full-time and aquired a loan from the Prince's Trust to start his label.
Now he's finally launched and getting recognition, expect to hear a lot more innovative tracks from this exciting producer - but you'll have to look hard to catch him playing live, as Koza will only take certain gig offers - he doesn't want to compromise on what he wants to play.
In today's increasingly commerce-minded electronic music industry , Vester Koza's approach is a much-needed breathe of fresh air which is clearly paying off in his favour.
@MiriamEJohnson
