Diffrent Music is a British independent record label exploring the experimental realms of Jungle / Drum & Bass music and beyond. Established in 2010, and run by London based DJ/Producer Chris Dexta, with the help from Ben Funks, Chris Conduct, Ed Priest & Jenn Lehwald.
The early days
Diffrent Music was launched in 2010 by Chris Royle (Dexta) & Jamie Schildhauer (Hunchbak) as a place to put out music that they truly loved, rather than just music manufactured to make sales. Things kicked off with an introductory free download release (50 Hurts / Depths) and the first of a series of Podcasts (The GiraffeCast), which featured tunes by mainly unsigned talent with a forward thinking approach on the D&B scene.
Evolution of the Giraffe
In 2013 Dexta & Hunchbak decided to take their own separate paths and the label moved forward with the ‘Evolution of The Giraffe’ album compilation, curated by Dexta, with the aim to showcase artists and style from the past, the present and the future. This was the second physical release which was all sourced in house as part of the labels D.I.Y ethos.
GiraffeStep
By the start of 2014 there was already a long list of talent signed to the label and music was building up fast. The decision to start up a new sub-label series ‘GiraffeStep’ was a natural progression, which not only created a platform for new unsigned talent and their music, but left room for the core artists to experiment on bigger EP releases and collaborations. This sub-label has already built up a strong catalogue of work and been a key part of the development in the label.
SweetBox
Back in 2015, Dexta teamed up with Crypticz & Lakeway to setup and launch a covert sister / sub label of Diffrent Music, in attempt to reach a different audience, featuring works from new artists outside the camp, and explore other tempo’s and genres. Each release title, sometimes loosely, is linked to some kind of edible treat, with tasty artwork to match – which has helped easily build it’s own identity, theme, style and branding. Three years down the line, at the start of 2018, it seemed like a perfect time to officially announce and merge the SweetBox imprint with Diffrent Music to help give the sister label the support network, fanbase and use the opportunity to extend the family even more than it currently was. Moving forward, expect further experiments outside of the Drum & Bass realm from acts from within the family and beyond, no holds barred!
Are We Really Alone?
April 2018, we started sending out unidentified transmissions which have been captured from around the universe. Unidentified experimental music with a truly unique character and vibe. A new series, platform for truly experimental ‘different’ music. Perhaps made by aliens living amongst us, perhaps not.
Ten Years of Diffrent / Lockdown
This period from 2019-2022, which saw us head into and out of the global pandemic / lockdown period, personal family expansions, and a whole shift of how the world worked – it was a bit of mad rush, and certainly not a normal period.. We’d just signed BrandNewTrumpets to the label Lakeway had returned home to his spirit label, AWRA was pumping out transmissions and the team headed by Chris Dexta with the aid of the three musketeers – Ben Funks, James Hillah & Rob Vanden – were firing on all cylinders.. 34 releases were published, many vinyl releases, and a brand new classic T-Shirt was released.. The brakes were put on at the end of 2022 due to personal commitments, but the spirit remains…
Revolution Of The Giraffe
The current phase – collectively looking inward and channeling all of our inner giraffe spirit, the label is now loaded up on all bases and we’re starting to get the music back into circulation – Chris Dexta, Ben Funks, Chris One-Ten, Ed Priest & Jenn – make up the label squad. A REVOLUTION IS COMING ~ JOIN THE REVOLUTION!
Big ups
All the artists, DJs, MCs, Vocalists & Musicians that’ve passed through at one point or another since the start: Amir De Bois, Amoss, Andy Pain, Arkaik, Atlas, Axon, Becca Jane Grey, Bokeh (NZ), BrandNewTrumpets, Bredren, Chills, Clima, Cocktail Party Effect, Codebreaker, Coma, Conduct, Constrict, Crypticz, Cuelock, D-Los, D’TCH, Dakosa, Dan Marshall, Dave Owen, Dexta, Digid, Direct Motion, Dominic Ridgway, Dusty Ohms, Ethos, Esthetic, Fade, Fathom Audio, Fearful, Fixate, Flunkie, Frederic Robinson, Fybe:one, Gaunt, Goron, Graphs, Greazus, HØST, Howitzer, Hunchbak, Hyroglifics, Illiad, Itti, Iyer, James Bless, Jekyll, Joe Syntax, Justice, K Super, Kije, Kolectiv, Lakeway, Lowquid, LSN, Lucent, Lynx, Luke Sentric, M-Zine & Scepticz, Mani Festo, Mauoq, MCXL, Medika, Mtwn, No Nation, Noh Vae, Pepsi Slammer, Philth, RaptorHandz, Reac-Zo, Sense MC, Shaded, Sheba Q, Shiver, Slekk, Soul Defiance, Spaja.C.E, Stanza, Still, Squane, Tightrope, TYPE, Whu, Z-Connection, Zero T – without you lot, this label would have no sound!
Note from Dexta
Massive shout to the label team – Ben, Chris, Rob, Ed & Jenn – thanks for getting on board and helping keep things evolving & pushing things forward! Bob Macc (Subvert Central) – Thanks for all the advice, the great mastering and for the bread sessions, many more to come I hope!, Shane The Cutter (Finyl Tweek) – Thanks for looking after all our early digital mastering and for cutting our first few records nice and crisp! Big love to my brother Mauro for being a good friend to me, and for putting up with my mad ideas!! Massive thanks to Sense MC for being the guy you are, you really helped out with GiraffeCast turning it around and shape it up for the future! Shout out to brother Leano, you’ve been a part of the operation since early-ish and helped me out in many ways, so thanks for being there for me! One love to Yeti for all your passion, support and feedback, will never forget our ‘Booze Cruise’ for the 4th birthday, legend!! Thanks to all the distributors along the way, ST Holdings, Triple Vision, Unearthed for getting the records in the racks, and for trusting in our music! Love to Alexandra, Gareth, Liv, Naomi, Sarah for lending your helping hands at events and with stuff behind the scenes, the best assistants I could have ever asked for! Thanks to James Hillah for your help on the admin side – big up! Out to the website crew (Adam Biggs, Ben Jones, Tom Hayes & Constaintine Zmin) for the help getting the website up and running! To all the kind and friendly people out there who’ve helped me in one way or another with little bits and bobs, it means a lot! Big ups to the many people I’ve undoubtedly missed out, give me a smack and knock some sense into me so I get you on here!!! Finally, big love to my wife, Theresa, for believing in me, and supporting me through this whole journey!