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Kitty-Yo Records

Location: Germany
Type: small indie
Link: Kitty-Yo Records

Raik Hölzel and Patrick Wagner met in 1993 at Raik's weekly radio show. Kitty-Yo was born. A first 7" with Patrick's band SURROGAT was released and soon after the next two bands with 7"es: WUHLING and KEROSIN. A hype starts in Berlin and 250 people showed up to the first concert ever.

SURROGATS's first longplayer "Unruhig" (now sold out) has a hard time: not too much interests and no distribution deal. But John Peel played it in his show and Albini quite liked the band.

Suddenly a band called TO ROCOCCO ROT wanted to release their first record under Kitty-Yo's name. Why not? It worked quite well...

A band from Hamburg was coming up, GO PLUS. They recorded with "La Montanara" an extraordinary Popalbum. But still, there were no marketing ideas and no distribution.

SURROGAT record "Soul", the press went crazy and Kitty-Yo finally found a distributor. TARWATER (from the same background as To Rococo Rot) release the first purely electronic record on Kitty-Yo - we don't want to be a rock label ! Principal: Openmindness - not Style - but quality in music matters.

Meanwhile Patrick Wagner, Singer from Surrogat joined the label.

Then two amazing postrock backgrounded bands appeared at Kitty-Yo: COUCH from Munich and KANTE from Hamburg created some international recognition.

Through COUCH Kitty-Yo gets in contact to the whole Weilheim scene (Kollaps / Payola / Hausmusik) and a constant colleagueship starts to flourish. "Weilheim" and Kitty-Yo mutually release the sampler "Einigen Wir Uns Auf Die Zukunft" ("Let's agree upon the future") and similar projects begin with the bands Couch and SCHWERMUT FOREST Kitty-Yo CD, Kollaps/ Payola LP.

Kristof Schreuf from BRUELLEN, one of the most brilliant personalities in the german music scene wants to release the vinyl version of "Schatzitude" (Buback) on Kitty-Yo. An honour!

Meanwhile records are being sold in the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, England, USA, Japan, Italy, Spain, Portugal,...and everybody's happy, always to meet the right people (and especially artists) at the right moment.

As for example LAUB, who besides our admiration for their music, also had a statement character: We don't wanted to be the 'oh-that's-very-interesting-post-rock-label'!

In 1998 Constanze Brockmann coming from Hamburg and Antye Greie - Fuchs (from Laub) permanently join the Kitty-Yo team.

In March '98 four bands take off to the US, to SXSW and to the Knitting Factory. Tarwater and Laub tour the UK in August...and new bands and records are on the scene. The new Go Plus longplayer "Largo", is being licensed to V2, and the results are pleasant. Slowly, the interest in electronics grows. A new Tarwater record "Silur" was out in September `98, a delight for Kitty-Yo... now they show up in the NME charts of the year '98 and record exclusive radio sessions for John Peel, Coldcut and Gilles Peterson (Talkin' Loud)... and new acts: as PREED and STOL, going from big beats to minimal- improvisational- electronics were being released in october 98... Laub remixes by Phoneheads and Console...

A two days festival in Berlin's beautiful "Volksbühne" took place at the end of November '98, an event presented by Kitty-Yo and City Slang: 3 days, 3 stages, 1 passion, 20 acts, 7 nations ! M U S I C !!! During this time the distribution switched to EFA, which made Kitty-Yo hopeful of the times that are to come. Kitty-Yo, better than ever!

1999 starts out with new records of COUCH & SCHWERMUT FOREST in cooperation with Kollaps. A new LAUB longplayer followed and the summer got sweeted by a jazzy PREED 12". This website started to appear with great input from GOSUB COMMUNICATION - THANKS FRIENDS !

In august of '99 we released the 5-years Kitty-Yo-compilation "FREISCHWIMMER" with following tours and by the way ...lots of thanks to all they supported us !

The Laub Remixalbum featuring Clifford Gilberto, Pole, Schneider TM finished '99. Kitty-Yo seemed to go well in public relation, but the crew was somehow burnt out. After 5 years working 10 to 16 hours a day and we still couldnt make a living out of it and we had a hard winter not to give up. But then things came a little bit easier. We met Marcel Marek who startet to give us consulting support in financial and business ways... And new artists entered the scene.

With the year 2000 a new period began with most promising RAZ OHARA and his apprechiated debut "Realtime Voyer", and then we found GONZALES followed by fabulouse PEACHES ! Martin Freese from the famouse local Underground Gallery "Berlin- Tokyo" joined permanently the label and brought in crazy JEANSTEAM, which rang the bell with "Ding Dong".

SURROGAT re- animated "ROCK" and teased major support by Motor Music/ Universal. At the same time GONZALES entered UK Single Charts with "Lets groove again" and he put an amazing Hip Hop record "The Entertainist" on top of it. RECHENZENTRUM joins the label with an outstanding impressive debut made of minimal techno. Meanwhile Peaches teached us entertainment and she still blowes everybodies mind alongside the planet.

Kitty-Yo developed recognition all over the world and we moved in a new office, bought us reasonable computer and some basic equipment to be a professional record label. In this time Robert Klamann (before V2, EFA) started working at the label and he draged KANTE's beautiful second album "Zweilicht" in German Album Charts.

2001 ! Since than again some new artists join the label. MAXIMILIAN HECKER was found by Patrick g.a.G. Wagner in a dirty Berlin corner covering Oasis songs. TAYLOR SAVVY followed his two countrymates PEACHES and GONZALES to Berlin and is now on Kitty-Yo and just recently we got into working with LOUIE AUSTEN, an amazing Singer and Entertainer who doubles the age of every single of us ...

Soon we have to move in a new office... then meanwhile some supergirls start to practical "run" the label like Nina Kazda, who used to be intern and now takes care of the things, Sandra Passaro (also ex - intern) is taking over all print and press promotion for Germany and Desi Vach, who is doing everything basically expand the label with lots of need.

Next year 2002 will be crazy shit again... lots of great records expected from GONZALES, SURROGAT, TAYLOR SAVVY, LAUB and so on ... how much did i forget to mention ? please remind !

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