Soma Quality Recordings

The origin of the label goes back to 1991 when there was very much a DIY ethos back at the tail end of the 1980s. In that time, electronic music became more dominant in the music industry, with a greater reliance on synthesizers and the adoption of programmable drum machines and the advent of affordable music technology. A lot of enthusiastic group founders of people such as Soma founders that were passionated about music created a lot of well-known labels that are still existing nowadays. So there was the DJ and music producer duo called Slam, consisting of Orde Meikle and Stuart McMillan who met in 1986 in Sheffield, where former was studying geography at university and later was working in a bar. They did try to get some help from the rock infrastructure that existed in Scotland and sell the idea to a couple of people involved in the music industry, but they failed. So they decided to go to a small studio to make their first couple of tracks with Rejuvenation—duo from UK, consisting of Jim Muotune and Glenn Gibbons and press 1,000 records of the techno EP entitled "Eterna / I.B.O.". Jim and Glenn were the sound engineers for the release. They phoned record shops to ask if they would like to buy 10 or 15 copies, with the profit used to fund pressing of another 1,000 copies. Soma is most known for releasing the original vinyl version of Daft Punk's track "Da Funk" in 1995. It contains an uncredited beat sample of "Bounce Rock Skate Roll" performed by Vaughan Mason & Crew and drum break sample of "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Babe" performed by Barry White. This is what label's manager says about them in his interview to Fabric: On 31 March 2017 they turned 25 years old and to celebrate their anniversary, Soma enlisted Jeff Mills, Robert Hood, Adam Beyer and many others to contribute to a special box set Soma25, which includes their long-lost remix of Daft Punk's "Drive". The label took part in a Boiler Room session in Glasgow showcasing its artists and local favourites. Soma Quality Records continues to be one of the UK's leading techno labels. ==List of artists==