TOP LABELS: MFS

 TOP LABELS: MFS

German label.

MFS (Masterminded For Success) was created in 1990 by Mark Reeder. It was the first Techno / Trance record label and was initially based in East Berlin. Originally supported by Deutsche Schallplatten Berlin (the former state owned label AMIGA), it became fully independent in 1994.

MFS released throughout the nineties some of the finest Trance records of a genre that was soon to become the global Trance phenomenon. At the end of the 90's Reeder created a new label : Flesh. MFS was the early home of Trance superstar Paul van Dyk, but the label was put on ice in 2007, when Reeder decided to return to music production, writing and remixing.

Torsten Jurk was a second member of the label with Mark Reeder, as stated on the 'Special Thanks to' section from the artists The Visions Of Shiva, back side of sleeve of their 1993 release, 'How Much Can You Take ?', as well as Mark Reeder & Torsten Jurk GbR, publishing company of the two members, appears on the 1995 'Neurostyle Vol. II' cd compilation ('licensed from' company).

Sublabels:

Club European, 

Flesh, 

Mark Reeder & Torsten Jurk GbR, MFS Berlin, 

Telemetric

In 2019 Mark said:

***I decided to reactivate MFS after working with a Chinese band STOLEN.

In early 2017, I saw this band of working-class kids perform at the Morning House open-air festival in Chengdu, the capital of southwest China’s Sichuan province, where I was invited to DJ and show B-movie: Lust & Sound in West-Berlin. STOLEN were the headliners of our night and they were magnificent. I was blown away by their energy and the thrilling feeling from the excited crowd, I felt I was witnessing something special.

A few weeks before my China tour, I had been sent a couple of demos that STOLEN were working on. They explained that they wanted to move in a different direction musically, asked me for my thoughts and suggestions, I realised from seeing them perform live that their demos reflected nothing of their stage presence. They seemed like two different bands. I wanted to help them, not only to move up musically but also to be able to translate the thrill of their live shows on record.

We went into a small recording studio in downtown Chengdu, only to find there was no technician to help us, and the receptionist barely knew how to turn the power on. After recording some drums and the vocals, we decided to relocate to the bands’ home-studio set-up and record the rest there. This demo eventually became the first EP we recorded together.

STOLEN were determined to come to Berlin to record their second album. They wanted to feel the electronic vibe of the city, and so embarked on a tour that would take up most of their year. In early 2018, they finally came to Berlin to record FRAGMENT with Micha Adam and I. During the production of this album, I couldn’t help wondering what will these boys do with these recordings once we have finished? They obviously knew what would happen to their album in China but in the West? Who knows? Maybe a label might like it and eventually pick it up? Maybe…

This is a mixture of Rock, Psychedelic and Techno sound with an Oriental edge, and all sung in English. I confess, I was concerned and thought, probably no label would understand just how dedicated and determined these lads are to putting China on the musical map. 

I remembered that I had originally created MFS in 1990, as a platform for all those young Eastie kids whose Techno potential had, up to that point, not yet been realized. MFS was there for them because no Western label was really interested in what was coming from the East. They were only interested in selling their stuff to the Easties.

Eventually, I stopped MFS in 2008 because I got bored. I put MFS on ice, and went back into remixing and music production and said to myself I would only reactivate MFS if ever I found something really worthy…

Suddenly, here was something that was really worthy. STOLEN’s music touched me and I felt I was back where I started. I felt extremely privileged. There is a new and exciting music scene emerging in China, a new wave that wants to create an imprint of originality and not just a copy of Western music. They have a difficult struggle ahead, remember, they live in a Communist country, all music and lyrics still have to be first approved by the authorities before it can be released in China. Yet such obstacles only make STOLEN more determined to succeed. We also have to take into account, we in the West have had a 50 years musical head start, and for young Chinese, the access to a wide variety of music from all genres is available for the first time, but they are all optimistic and the music that is being produced by STOLEN reflects that.

I have just produced an album by what I believe is a great band from Chengdu, a band that is spearheading a new generation of music fans and I felt compelled to reactivate my label just for STOLEN from China.

As for MFS, I wanted to leave the restrictive Trance-label image of the 20th century and change the concept of MFS entirely for the 21st, only releasing electronic music that I have personally been involved with, either as a producer, remixer, musician or songwriter.***

The long history of the label continues, with a long break in activity, but not for trance music fans...

https://mfsberlin.com/