Banshee Worx was founded in May 2003 some 2 months after the closing of Lightning Records which was the company that took care for the Bonzai brand and imprint since 1992 until early March 2003. Now things changed and Banshee Worx was formed by Fly (owner and founder of the Bonzai trademark), Marnik (former International and A & R from Lightning Records) and 2 artist/producer/dj’s who were also part of the Lightning Records artist roster, namely: Yves Deruyter, Belgium’s number one dj with huge, already considered classic, clubhits such as Calling Earth, The Rebel and Born Slippy. Last but not least there’s Laurent Veronnez aka Airwave, without a doubt a man leading the electronic dance market with superior quality music. Remixing many of his colleagues and deejaying worldwide he is the Caterpillar of the musical bulldozers out there.
So, nothing much has changed, a new entity has been formed and the same driving forces behind the succes of the Bonzai imprint will continue to serve the universe with the greatest trance music with artists like Airwave, Yves Deruyter, Push, Plastic Boy, Quadran, Lolo, DJ Fire, Fire & Ice, Solar Factor, Cape Town, Philippe Van Mullem , … and many new ones to come.
Many years have passed since the launch of Banshee Worx and we are still expanding, dedicated and secure, our little group of labels and artists. With the continuously descending physical music market we have been devoting a lot of time in developing our on-line activities. Not only do we keep a weekly updated webstore running (including customized soundcarriers) but also launched the Bonzai Digital Network, where we offer all cd- and vinylreleases + digital only releases for digital download at fair rates both via our own downloadshop powered by Audio Jelly and a range if digital download partners including the number one worldwide downloadshop iTunes Music Store, Beatport, ID & T Dance-Tunes, Track It Down, Deeep.Net, …
In addition to support the wide range of labels we handle, with an average of 2 physical releases a month and additionally all releases in digital format + exclusive digital only releases, we have created the iPOOL, a dedicated website that delivers both promotional music and the iPool Supreme Membership that delivers music via a unique podcast link.
What would the use be of all these investments without……NEW ARTISTS ! Since the company start we have signed a bunch of new and old talents such as, Paul Edge, Andy Tau, Arto Kumanto, Joost Glazenburg, Eddie Sender, Ville Lope, Audiophox , … Undoubtfully this list is incomplete and unfinished taken in consideration the amount of good stuff that’s rocketed our direction, withroughly 500+ demos every month no need to say this is titanic. The continuous flow of new good tracks offered to us and the increase of young talented producers out there obviously had it’s influence on the number of labels currently residing under the Banshee Worx umbrella. First there’s the fully owned labels which are 100% controlled by ourselves such as all the Bonzai trademark imprints, Green Martian, Camouflage, Progez, Nemesis and a dozen more. Then there’s the labels we run in collaboration with label managers such as Piston Recordings (Rogerio Martins), Subtraxx (Miika Kuisma), J00f (John ’00’ Fleming), Tripomatic (Pete Miskelly), Real Music (Andrew Parsons), Troia (Pedro Goya),… Last but not least we have labels that joined the Banshee family for digital distribution purposes such as Missile, Neuroscience, Wonka, Warehouse, Dj-International, Strictly Rhythm Benelux,..
2010…a year of change, major changes. The company has been split up in 2 divisions each running entirely independent from each other. On one side we have the Bonzai Progressive set up which will have it’s focus on House – Tech House – Techno – Deep – Chill and Lounge. Obviously these changes had a big influence on the labels remaining in the BP division, slowly but surely styles and sounds have been converted and shaped in what it is today. New labels have been launched such as Eyepatch Recordings (Deep Techno/Deep House), Mint & Mustard Recordings (Tech House/Funky House) and more recently Howz Choonz (Tech House/Funky House), these imprints have been exceptionally well received over the last months and have positioned themselves amongst the already established labels in those genres. This department is under
management of Fly.
On the other side there is the Subtraxx division which is a docking station for all trance & dance related labels Camouflage, Nemesis and Subtraxx itself. Management here is with Ville Lope.
Furthermore there is the digital distribution which has been growing enormously over the last 2 years and has without a doubt become a highlight for us in today’s insane music biz. With labels such as Renaissance, Azuli, Gusto, Deviant, Dance Opera and a few dozen others joining the Bonzai family it’s needless to say this has become a huge part of today’s business. With a few other big signings in the pipeline we can only nod that this department has done well over the last years under the careful management of Marnik.