My label Fade Records has been a true labor love for the past 2 decades.  What started out as purely an outlet to release my own music in the early 90’s because we simply didn’t know how to contact labels or the process to send demos to anyone, has has become its own living entity.

The label has ebbed and flowed over time with output of releases. We released 4 records in the first 3 years and I wasn’t sure there would be anymore.  But while on my first UK tour in ’97, I came across a record in a shop, bought it and played it every gig.  Soon after I reached out to the label and told them how I was playing it on tour and was getting great reactions every night.  I had the thought to license it to Fade and give it new platform. This would be the catalyst and vision to release music from other artists.  Fade would continue to grow with the discovery of Steve Porter and Sphere. Along with Kolo, this would solidify the first 20 releases.  I was very blessed to build the label on tracks that were each artist’s entry point into the production world scene.  I now have a lot of pride in the fact that so many artists began their journeys in the industry with Fade, only to go onto greater things.

I have seen the label always at the core as another creative outlet for music.  To work with new, young and emerging artists, to be a part of helping them launch and develop their careers has been an honor and truly gratifying.  

Musically, the label has always been an extension of my own musical sound at the time.  I always looked for music that was not cookie cutter or copycat on trend.  I signed tracks that I believed in personally and never signed something for sales.  Signing a track and going through the manufacturing of vinyl process and promotion, I remained 100% behind a release whether it sold 1 or 10,000 copies with the same passion and belief.

The historical roster lineup of the label charts a relevant musical journey through time.

Our foundation of the label has been, and is, a collective of artists. I would always refer to the label as “We”, even though I was running things from top to bottom. Without the music and these artists, there would be nothing.

Throughout the different eras of the label, there have been different groupings of “We”, but each are viscerally connected.

Fade has been hibernating for the last 3 years, moving distribution, re-thinking the way forward, my ears are always open to music which both inspires and captures my attention.

We have again, now found that, we have found “The Next We”

We feature some new names, new friends and old friends for this 2 part compilation.

Fade Records Presents The Next We pt. 1

pMar - Reboot (Dub Edit)

Known Unknown - But I'm Feeling Better Now

Kimball Collins & Rudiment - Cosmic Voices

Issac - Can Control

Issac - Back To The East

Dan Snow - Everlast

Chris Fortier ft. Guardian Ghost - Wilderness

Brookland - Deep In

There are few individuals within the underground dance music industry able to match Chris Fortier for both influence and achievement over the last two decades. With a mandate predicated upon the deceptively simple notion of "constant musical evolution", the founder and owner of the globally renowned Fade Records, is not constrained by boundaries, reflected in both the music he plays and creates.

An extensive list of achievements is testament to such elevated ideals, perhaps best showcased by the iconic 2005 "Balance 007" compilation; a groundbreaking CD at the vanguard of a fresh, innovative and underground sound movement, that history would later record as an aural blueprint for the worldwide dance music explosion that followed in the subsequent decade and beyond. A further eight commercially released mix albums would also contain the Chris Fortier DNA.

As a production artist, Fortier's portfolio of skills have been crafted and honed through an intimate 20-year knowledge of clubs across the globe's dance-floor capitals – from Tokyo, Melbourne, Mexico City to Budapest and Buenos Aires to residencies at the legendary AAHZ in Orlando in the early 90’s through to New York's Twilo and London's The Cross. Always in demand and prolific in output, a continually rising 400 plus Beatport production credits tell only half of an impressive story. Fortier's remix of Delerium's "Silence", was the first and original remix and sold in excess of one million copies worldwide; while work for John Digweed's Bedrock imprint further cemented an ever-growing reputation alongside the full-length album, "As Long As The Moment Exists" and its follow-up remix album on behemoth Australian imprint, EQ.

Never one to rest on his proverbial laurels, Chris' productions have seen him take on the mantle of highly regarded modern producer with releases spanning the underground sound including most recently on Bedrock, Selador, Balance, Mooseeka, Tulipa, Maya, Manual, Ground Factory, Maktub, Mindwarp and his own imprint Fade. His remixes and collaborations since 2009 tell their own tale, as Chris remains as integral, relevant and at the leading edge in the Underground as ever. With an innate and immaculate sense of what makes the industry tick, built upon longstanding personal experience, Fortier's musical evolution shows no sign of extinction.