Fool’s Gold Draft Picks 2014
The Brooklyn label drops the label comp 2.0, featuring the newest signees to their roster.
A label made for fans; built by artists. That’s the vision of Fool’s Gold Records co-founders Nick Catchdubs and A-Trak. It’s working. What started as an idea seven years ago, is now a record label-lifestyle brand hybrid boasting a roster of superstars, influencers and rising artists who defy genre titles. Keep the sub-genre titles to yourself — this is Fool’s Gold and it’s just really fucking good music.
“It was important to present Draft Picks as a single package, and BitTorrent was a perfect way to go about it.” – Nick Catchdubs, co-founder of Fool’s Gold Records
To introduce the latest signees to the Fool’s Gold roster, the group is releasing Fool’s Gold Draft Picks 2014, a BitTorrent Bundle highlighting the best of / next of FG. We recently had the opportunity to chat about the label and this year’s Draft Picks with co-founder Nick Catchdubs. Listen up.
BitTorrent: Your approach to building Fool’s Gold has always been curatorial — it’s a label that sounds like a set list; a real (and awesome and weird) place. What are you looking for, when you look for Fool’s Gold artists?
Nick Catchdubs: That’s definitely what we are shooting for, so thank you for noticing! It’s curated for sure: the music we release is a direct reflection of the musical tastes of A-Trak and myself. But as far as signings go, we’re not on a hunt for “Fool’s Gold artists” so much as staying on the lookout for songs and acts that not only distinguish themselves in their scene, but also resonate with us personally. If you have those qualities, you’re going to fit right in.
BitTorrent: Fool’s Gold Draft Picks brings back the idea of the classic compilation mixtape. Why was this important for you? Why did you decide to release it as a BitTorrent Bundle?
Nick Catchdubs: We realized that we had just signed a bunch of new artists to the label at once, and wanted to come up with a vehicle for music fans at large to share our excitement (and on a practical level, associate them with FG.) There’s SO much free music out there, so we conceptualized a package with a real identity.
Half of that is the name, the art, the “basketball cards,” and the other part is the more macro concept of these artists as a new, unified force within FG. Our “class of 2014” if you will. They all have their own vibe and have done things on their own, but united together, they represent a genre-less sound that stands apart from the crowd and feels very much like Fool’s Gold.
It was important to present Draft Picks as a single package, and BitTorrent was a perfect way to go about it. It’s not a mix, it’s a true release! We just decided to make it free so as many people as possible could hear it.
BitTorrent: What can we expect from this round of Draft Picks?
Nick Catchdubs: There’s definite dance music fatigue setting in, on both a pop EDM level and an underground one. But the music on Draft Picks feels refreshing. There’s a lot of guys making festival volume trap tunes at the moment, but nobody is flipping it quite like TroyBoi or gLAdiator. I don’t even know what to call the kind of insane stuff Shash’u comes up with, I’m just amped to help get it out there!
BitTorrent: Fool’s Gold has been hugely influential when it comes to how we hear (and share) music: driving new genres; building out the label as lifestyle. How do you see music changing? What are you listening to and looking forward to?
Nick Catchdubs: It would be very arrogant to presume to know what musical styles are going to prove popular. But that’s never really been a concern of ours in the first place. Since starting FG in 2007, we’ve seen more musical fashions come and go than I ever could have predicted (to say nothing of the “next big thing” artists who followed right along).
A-Trak and I are now a little older than many of the artists we work with… as much as you want to stay skeptical of trends, we have a lot conversations about remaining tuned into what’s actually happening in all these young scenes springing up. You can’t write anything off, you have to really and truly engage. Artists jump from fan to practitioner faster than ever, and it’s our job to figure out the standouts and superstars who don’t know it yet. We’re thinking about the Draft Picks of NEXT.
Check out the Fool’s Gold Draft Picks 2014 Bundle to get exclusive new tracks from Salva, Hoodboi, Giraffage, TroyBoi, High Klassified, gLAdiator, Brenmar and Shash’U. You’ll also get the Fool’s Gold Draft Picks 2014 trading card set and Fool’s Gold artwork. Want more? Enter your email to unlock an exclusive merchandise discount. Download the Bundle now and get familiar with your favorite team’s new draft picks.
Fool’s Gold Draft Picks 2014 X BitTorrent Bundle Content:
01 Fool’s Gold Draft Picks 2014 8-track Compilation Album [Audio]
02 Draft Pick’s Digital Booklet [Art]
03 Draft Picks Wallpaper [Art]
04 Fool’s Gold Draft Picks Trading Cards [Art]
05 Exclusive Fool’s Gold Store Discount Code [Art]
About BitTorrent Bundle
BitTorrent Bundle is an alpha project made with and for the web’s creative community. Our mission is to help artists connect directly with fans, inside the content they share.
Each BitTorrent Bundle allows artists to distribute content directly to the Internet. And each Bundle comes with a key. Fans can unlock artist content with an email address. The idea is to make each song a storefront, and each file more valuable, every time it’s shared. Got ideas for the next BitTorrent Bundle? Hit us up.
