Label News – Page 7

Get to Know: Kaixo

July 11, 2022

Where did you Grow Up?
I grew up, and still live in Zutphen, which is an overall boring but historically rich city in the east of The Netherlands.

Current Location:
Still located in Zutphen.

DAW:
When I started producing in 2014/2015 I used FL Studio, but I switched to Ableton back in 2019.

Hardware or Software?
I have some hardware, but practically never use is in any tracks. And I’ve been surviving on mostly stock plugins as well.

Day Job:
I am currently jobless, but studying Computer Science at university.

Dream Collab:
Obviously would love to work with Klayton at some point. But if we’re talking non-FiXT artist, then it’d be awesome if I could collab with MUZZ.

Favorite Video Game:
I’m not much of a gamer, but I’ve played Doom Eternal a lot, mainly because of the OST. And recently played through Alien: Isolation, which I definitely recommend if you like horror games.

A Non-Music related Hobby:
I absolutely love coding.

What have you enjoyed most about working with FiXT?
The thing that truly stood out to me is the dedication of all the staff, and the overall positivity. It’s such an uplifting environment that’s also visible in the entire FiXT community.

Follow / Connect with Kaixo:
Follow Kaixo

We’re All In “Danger” From The Plague

June 7, 2022

Label News

Artist Signing, FiXT Artists, FiXT Music, Label News, new artist, The Plague

FiXT Signs The Future Punk Pioneer
Resurrects Hope For The F.U.T.U.R.E.

FiXT is proud to announce the signing of future punk act The Plague. After working together in 2017 for The Plague’s remix of “Embracing Entropy” from FiXT-label-owner Klayton’s project Circle of Dust, a friendship was born and has led to a new multi-album deal together.

“Celldweller and FiXT have been an important influence on The Plague’s music and attitude,” states The Plague. “I am so excited to see where the collaboration takes us!”

Trailblazing and fierce, The Plague was created to spread a message of hope, and to rebel against growing self-destructive ideals. The Plague’s post-apocalyptic themes portray the struggles of being human, encouraging people to break free of the superficial and to know they are not alone.

“Those of you familiar with my project Circle of Dust may recognize The Plague from his remix of “Embracing Entropy,” states Klayton (Celldweller, Circle Of Dust, Scandroid) “I couldn’t be more excited to announce his signing to FiXT. His songs are heavy, electronic, extremely infectious, and top-notch from the songwriting all the way down to the vocals, guitar riffs, and electronic sound design. If you don’t believe me, check out “Danger” and you can thank me later.”

With the announcement of the signing comes the re-release of the debut album Hope For The F.U.T.U.R.E. with brand new art, mixing, and mastering, plus some bonus tracks/remixes, throughout 2022, ahead of a new album coming in 2023. The Plague’s debut single with FiXT, “Danger”, is a turbulent vision of the world around us. Featuring driving guitar riffs, a powerful vocal performance, and thought-provoking lyrics, “Danger” is a warning call to wake up to the reality surrounding us.

“David has been on a short list of artists we’ve wanted to work with for several years and I’m glad the timing finally came together for us to make it happen,” states James Rhodes (FiXT, VP & Co-Founder). “We want to help bring his music to a much bigger audience and get him the recognition he deserves!”

“Danger” is out now from independent multi-genre music label FiXT.

The Plague is the brainchild of producer/engineer David Adam Monroe, a pioneer of Future Punk. The Plague’s post-apocalyptic themes portray the struggles of being human, encouraging people to break free of the superficial and to know they are not alone.

David has been playing music from an early age, highly encouraged by his parents, he received an electric guitar at age ten and took off emulating his favorite bands at the time; Greenday, Smashing Pumpkins, and other 90’s rock bands. His career took off at age 16 when a promoter got his high school band on the Van’s Warped Tour.

As a producer/engineer, David has produced records with many artists including Glen Matlock from the Sex Pistols and multi-platinum engineer Earl Cohen. As a musician, he has toured internationally–including 4 years on Van’s Warped Tour– and has played with bands such as Tony Levin, My Chemical Romance, Story of the Year, NoFx, The Used, Yellow Card, Three Days Grace, and many more. The Plague’s debut album Hope For the F.U.T.U.R.E. was released independently in 2017.

In 2018 The Plague remixed Circle Of Dust’s “Embracing Entropy” (feat. Celldweller), through artist-owned record label FiXT. The Plague eventually signed to FiXT in 2022, and is re-releasing the debut album with remastered tracks, new art and bonus tracks throughout the year, ahead of a new album coming in 2023.

“My goal with The Plague was to make futuristic Christian rock, when I was producing bands in Boston, my assistant showed me Celldweller and said, “This guy is dope and reminds me of you!” I chased Celldweller’s blend of synths and guitars, and that exploration process helped me discover my own sound. When I finished the record I emailed James (FiXT Manager) with the spirit of a little brother and said, “Hey James, look! I self-produced a futuristic rock record that I’m releasing on my label! You guys inspired this!” By some wonderful miracle he was excited too!” – The Plague

Follow The Plague!
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify | SoundCloud | Website

FiXT Expands Executive Team, Welcomes Heather Johnson As Label Manager

June 1, 2022

Label News

FiXT Music, Heather Johnson, Label News

FiXT, the artist-owned, independent record label, publisher, and merch company from artist/producer Klayton (Celldweller, Scandroid), has added Heather Johnson to the company’s executive team as the company’s Label Manager.

Reporting to FiXT’s VP & Co-Founder James Rhodes, Heather brings a wealth of industry knowledge and relationships along with her passion for artist development.

“Since 2019, James at FiXT has been one of my most valuable mentors in helping me navigate the music industry. Over the years of getting to know James, I’ve come to recognize FiXT as a label with immense integrity with a team who has a genuine passion for growing and developing a positive and engaging artist community. I am incredibly excited to join the FiXT team and continue to learn from them while sharing my experience, knowledge, and passion for music and tech to their expanding roster and community.”
– Heather Johnson

Heather is moving to FiXT from her role as Director of Owned Music at Songtradr and joins FiXT as an active board member of A2iM, and the CEO of EDM label Ninety9Lives. Prior to entering the music industry, Heather’s background was on the Tech side of entertainment, with terms of service at Mixer and Apple.

“Congratulations to A2IM Board member, Heather Johnson on her appointment to the position of Label Manager of FiXT. Heather has contributed an incalculable amount of knowledge to the benefit of the entire independent community with her deep experience in gaming, licensing, and her representation of independents on the Standard Technical Measures roundtables.”
– Dr. Richard James Burgess MBE (President & CEO, A2iM)

As Label Manager at FiXT, Heather will be working closely with the team’s Distribution, Publishing, A&R, and Marketing teams. Heather brings expertise in rights management and complex future-music tech licensing issues, that will lead the company into the expanding Web3 landscape.

“I’m incredibly excited to have Heather joining the FiXT Team. This has been a multi-year relationship in the making, and we’re proud to give Heather a home to utilize her full skillset in supporting artist development and representing the rights of the catalog we’ve built over the past 16 years.“
– James Rhodes (FiXT Vice President & Co-Founder)

Heather will be working closely with FiXT’s executive team to build out both the company’s internal Sync program while expanding the number of external Sync partners. She will also be working to maximize FiXT’s direct relationships with several DSPs as well as leveraging DSP deals and relationships through FiXT’s MERLIN membership.

“We’re excited to welcome Heather to the FiXT family. Her experience in music rights and tech at companies like Songtradr, Ninety9Lives, Mixer, and Apple make her a huge asset to the future of FiXT.”
– Klayton (FiXT President/Owner)

Connect with Heather on LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.

Get to Know Our Staff: Michelle Steer

May 15, 2022

Label News

Get To Know, Michelle Steer

• Current Location:
Burlington, Iowa

• Favorite Band When you were in High School?
I’m probably going to age myself a bit here, but back in my High Schools days was the era of the Columbia House penny CD specials which helped expand my CD collection a lot! I had quite the range of favorite artists as I still do today, depending on my mood. LOL! In High School you could find me listing to Nirvana, Green Day, AC/DC, Smashing Pumpkins, The Cranberries & Tim McGraw…. Yes, I like Country! Sorry!

• Who was the first FiXT artist’s Music You Heard?
After my first stint in college I landed a job managing our local f.y.e. (music & movie store for those abroad) back in the early 2000’s and my first introduction to a FiXT artist was Celldweller by none other than James Rhodes. Whenever he was in the mall, he would always stop by to say hey & to see if we had any Celldweller CD’s on the shelf. If we didn’t have any at the time of his visit, I would always place a special order for it so that we would always have some in stock.

• Interesting Fact About Something You Do or Have Done that is non-music related:
Outside of work I am a very active volunteer! I am part of our local Pheasants Forever Chapter which focuses on conservation & getting youth outdoors. I also am very passionately involved with the Elks which gives back to youth & Veterans through various programs. I am currently serving the Elks in a position assisting our Grand Exalted Ruler who oversees all of the Lodges in the country and I was also recently installed as Lecturing Knight Division Chair at our Spring Convention, where I will help oversee, train, and guide Lodge Officers and several of our State committees that are dedicated to serving our Veteran & Americanism programs. One of my favorite Elks sayings is “The influence of a good deed, honestly & promptly preformed will continue forever.” Which is something that I try to live by & incorporate into my daily life.

Favorite Sport or Sports Team:
Iowa Hawekeys Football season is THE BEST!! I love either going to games or getting together with family & friends to watch them on tv!

A Non-Music related Hobby:
When I am not volunteering, you can find me spending time with my husband, Scott and our two dogs, Maverick & Jetta. We like to go out boating on the Mississippi in the summer, doing home improvement projects & refinishing old furniture to make it new again.

• What is one of the biggest successes you’ve enjoyed being a part of working on at FiXT?
One of the biggest successes I’ve been a part of was the FiXT Store re-launch. I got to know and work with several more of our awesome team members throughout the project that I don’t normally interact with & it really felt amazing knowing how much team effort was going into getting the re-launch completed. The positive response & feedback from the fans after the re-launch was the icing on the cake!

Closing Message:
I have thoroughly enjoyed being back working at FiXT and getting to know and work with all of the Artists and Team! I am excited for the future of FiXT and all of our Artists & Team and I am proud to be apart of such an amazing group of people all working together to achieve our goals!

Follow Michelle:
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
LinkedIn

Get to Know: Cassetter

May 10, 2022

Label News

Cassetter, Get To Know

Grew Up: I was born in Warsaw and I live there now.

DAW: FL Studio
Hardware or Software: I recently bought an analog Minilogue xd synthesizer, but I feel more comfortable with software synths – it suits my workflow better.

Dream Collab: Vitalic

Favorite Sports:
Boxing & Football

Favorite Video Games:
Pro Evo Soccer series, Might & Magic series, GTA

A Non-Music Related Hobby
Boxing (I was an editor of a boxing site for several years)
Football
Computer & Board Games
Clubbing
Yerba Mate

What have you enjoyed most about working with FiXT?
I enjoy the balance which FiXT has when it comes to passion & profitability. It still works as a company but consists of people who are not there by accident. I like that FiXT wants to push things forward and not to copy trends. FiXT is always enthusiastic when I try new things / blend genres and it helps me develop as an artist. I am also grateful for staff members for always being very responsive, available and acting pretty fast in all situations.

Follow / Connect with Cassetter:
Twitter / Facebook / Instagram

Get to Know Our Staff: Alex Smolyaninov

May 2, 2022

Label News

Alex Smolyaninov, Get To Know

Title: Russia/CIS Promo & Marketing Coordinator
Current Location: Saint Petersburg

Favorite Band From High School?

Pendulum

Who was the first FiXT artist’s Music You Heard? Where/How?

Celldweller! I grew up during 00s, I think many teenagers across Eastern Europe worshipped Need for Speed: Most Wanted back at the time, and its gorgeous soundtrack especially (we even shared pirated tracks via infrared interface in our cellphones back then haha). I was blown away by the furious nu-metal sound of “One Good Reason” and “Shapeshifter”, and years later was blown away again when discovered that it’s all a one-man band with the massive catalogue and the like-minded music family across the FiXT label.

Dream Collab You’d Like to See a FiXT Artist Work On:

The Anix x Comaduster would be a very exciting thing to see! I love how Brandon manages to break boundaries when he collaborates with other artists, yet still sounds like The Anix.

Favorite Thing To Collect:

I’m a vinyl addict. During the times when everything is digital and easy-accessible, having physical music artifacts is something else. It lives with you during good and bad times. You can cherish it, explore the details of the artwork, spin the records which sound a little different every time, enjoy the ritual of the music playing, not just ordinary clicking on it in Spotify (which is still a great achievement of humanity nonetheless).

Video Game(s):
Portal (both games)

Favorite Movie or Movie Genre:
Cyberpunk and sci-fi with philosophical questions across the plot.

Non-Music Related Hobby:
I’ve been crocheting plush toys since late middle school. They’re small, usually adorable, and are amazing mood boosters: both as gifts, and during the entire process of making them.

What Have You Enjoyed Most About Working With FiXT:

It feels like a safe space for my tastes in art and culture and it’s rad to realize when something you treated as a hobby can transformed into work that helps spread the word about the great music we all enjoy.

Closing Message:

Always stay true to your inner self, I’m sure that’s the key to the world!

Follow Alex!
Facebook | Instagram

FiXT Signs Concept-based Electronic Rock Band CANTERVICE!

April 12, 2022

Artist News, Label News

CANTERVICE

FiXT is proud to announce the exclusive signing of CANTERVICE, an American concept-based electronic rock project, its core concepts being centered around a future dystopian world, plagued by a government that has assumed control over all technology and information. The signing kicks off with a re-release of two of CANTERVICE’s earlier singles “Void” and “The Machine” ahead of new original material and a multi-album deal.

“Initially we were intent on never signing with a record label,” states CANTERVICE. “With our experience and the experiences of our peers, we’ve developed a bit of a bad taste with them and wished to keep CANTERVICE independent indefinitely. FiXT offered us more than a simple record deal, but a partnership. This partnership would allow us to accelerate our output and help us spread our message further and faster than before, and without sacrificing our authenticity. This is only the beginning, and we are truly eager to find what the future holds for us and FiXT.”

“Void” and “The Machine” are out now from independent multi-genre label FiXT.

“FiXT is proud to add CANTERVICE to our roster of genre-pioneering future-rock artists. Our reputation as an artist-friendly home with industry recognized artists like Celldweller and The Anix, opened the door to working with CANTERVICE as they were already fans of the label and some of our roster. That led to a very synergistic convergence and we can’t wait to see where CANTERVICE will go in the next several years!” – James Rhodes (FiXT VP & Co-Founder)

Stream/Purchase “Void”:
https://outnow.io/t/void

Follow/Support CANTERVICE:
Facebook
Instagram
Spotify
SoundCloud

Get to Know Our Staff: Chantal Holmes

March 15, 2022

Label News

Chantal Holmes, Get To Know

Title: Metadata Manager
Joined FiXT: 2019
Current Location: Somersworth, New Hampshire

Favorite Band From High School?

I think I listened mostly to Front Line Assembly, but my old high school CD case was equally loaded with Metallica, Disturbed, Good Charlotte, and Black Eyed Peas. The look on people’s faces when they saw “Monkey Business” next to assorted Metal for the Masses albums was priceless every time.

First FiXT Artist You Heard?

Even though it wasn’t part of FiXT at the time: Circle of Dust. Sometime around 2005, a buddy of mine had stopped by the local second-hand store (Toys from the Attic. Yes, it’s an Aerosmith reference) and told me he’d found something he’d thought I’d like. He hand-delivered it in the school library the next day, saying “it has you written all over it” – and it did: it was completely wrapped in post-its with the word “You” Sharpied on them. Under that magnificent wrap job was a limited edition remaster of the Mindwarp version of Brainchild. It turned into my go-to CD for the trips to, from, and during the bus rides to and from school pretty quickly.

Dream Collab You’d Like to See a FiXT Artist Work On:

Someone hit up Irving Force sometime, pretty please?

Favorites:

• Thing To Collect: At the risk of sounding super morbid: decorative skulls. I currently have a total of nine of them. Eight are chilling in my office with me: one solid acrylic, two with octopi, a small steampunk one and his non-steampunk brother, something that I think is supposed to be a goblin, a gold ”Aztec” one (even though most of the symbols on it are Mayan), and this really cool purple and blue one with light-up eye sockets. The ninth is a pumpkin with a raven on it, but I haven’t found a way to safely fit him on the shelf yet.

• Video Game: Fatal Frame

• Movie: I’m terrible at choosing favorites, but the two that tie for “closest to favorite” would probably be Event Horizon or The Fallen.

• Non-Music Related Hobby: I’ve been crocheting plush toys since late middle school. They’re small, usually adorable, and are amazing mood boosters: both as gifts, and during the entire process of making them.

• What Have You Enjoyed Most About Working With FiXT: Having come from the dreaded Cubey Land: I’m working with actual human beings instead of human-like number crunch machines, and it’s amazing. Everyone here’s so talented and supportive of one another, a combo I didn’t think could coexist with the working world.

Closing Message:

The journey from being a fan and follower of the label and its roster, to actually being a member of the staff, has been absolutely crazy. I feel both flattered and honored to be able to be here, and to work with all of the insanely talented and hard-working folks who’ve played a huge role in keeping my own creativity going for years. Don’t you guys ever stop being awesome.