The !K7 collective is adding a new label to its family in the form of Zehnin—and the first release comes in the form of a two-tracker from Lucy.

According to the collective, the label will range from “experimental music to ambient and techno,” and “promises to encourage artists to step outside their comfort zone; to challenge themselves and follow new creative paths that lead into the musical unknown.” It will invite producers to assume new monikers and new musical personalities and give them the creative freedom to try things that run perpendicular to their usual output. Though driven by 12” singles, artists will also be enlisted to remix each other and again explore atypical sonic ground.

The first release will come from Stroboscopic Artefacts’ Lucy, who has evolved his sound by reconciling the deeply personal with the esoteric, and by harmonizing the spheres of technology and biology. Cips of his upcoming EP are streamable below.

Tracklisting

A / 1. The Hermit
B / 2. The High Priestess

After this fine EP starts the label in style, a remix EP from Blawan will follow, as will a concept LP from an established artist under a new guise.

Ahead of the first release, XLR8R spoke with Leigh Montague, label manager of !K7 and the person behind Zehnin.

Can you tell us about Zehnin? What does it mean to you and what made you decided to launch the imprint?

2017 will see my 10th year in the music industry and I decided to celebrate a decade by launching my own label imprint, by taking everything I’ve learned along the way and throwing it on its head a little. Zehnin isn’t planned to be an output to just release music but to encourage and excite exploration beyond an artist’s normality. Audio, visual, and artistic installations will hold key to some very exciting projects this year.

The motif of the label is “to encourage artists to step outside their comfort zone,” exploring genres “from experimental music to ambient and techno.” What about these genres incite interest in furthering experimentation?

I feel there is an opportunity to push new boundaries within electronic music and there are a lot of stones unturned. I’d like to offer a platform to artists where there are no holds barred, no specific sound or direction, but a place where producers and performers can find new ground within themselves. This, to me, is very exciting.

Lucy will be the first “sonic adventurer” to release on the label. What are the elements that you appreciate from his music that made him your first choice? Blawan will also collaborate on the imprint remixing Lucy’s tracks. How did this come about? 

I’ve followed Lucy for a long time. His Self Mythology release from last year is definitely one of my favorite pieces of work from Luca, the dynamic range between dramatic and delicate tones combined together with his use of percussion is intelligent and breathtaking. I’m also a huge fan of the way he uses machines to create music, and for me, that captures the spirit of what I’d like to achieve working with artists on Zehnin. Blawan was an obvious choice for me to hook up as a remixer as I knew their music would really compliment each other; they both use a lot of percussion and machines in extraordinary but very different ways.