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DJ Huwston spins a tune at the Creative Vibes 10th Anniversary Party -The Loft, Sydney 2/12/04. To see more photos from our 10th Anniversary Party click here

The phenomenon of DJ's meeting in a record store and starting a 'group' or company together has amazed and baffled many seemingly intelligent folk for some years now. But think about it! Where else would you get three DJ's standing still and having a meaningful conversation apart from in a record store? Likewise, it is accepted form to start a something up in ones lounge room. But really! You love records. You spend all your money on records. You think you've got money to set things up all fancy from the get go?

So really it just makes sense that Gordon Henderson, Peter Pasqual and Heidi Pasqual became friends meeting over stacks of 12" singles and in the beginning of 1994 started a label and distribution company in a Neutral Bay lounge room. The rumours that they met in sci-fi circles are totally untrue and are to be vehemently denied at all times. The three funkateers had established a solid friendship based on music, food and humour well before attending even their first Star Trek convention together.

Creative Vibes was largely started because these three knew that if they were to get as much music as they wanted, as fast as they wanted, they needed to be part of the supply chain. They needed to be pushing music to others in order to keep themselves in records. At first Gordon kept his day gig as a Computer Programmer Analyst and worked nights in the Vibes. This was a good idea because it enabled him to continually pour in his wages as well as his spare time. Pete got a night shift in the local video store and Heidi got the early morning shift stacking shelves in a supermarket. By day it was the magic and excitement of convincing music shops to take a chance on a bunch of music they'd never heard of; acid jazz, hip hop, urban grooves, electronic dance, great music but all by (then) unknown artists on unknown labels. By night it was the magic and excitement of convincing overseas labels to deal with the fledgeling Creative Vibes. Once these wheels were turning, a 'scene' was developing, people in media and shops were getting it and the music lovers were getting it, they were able to start phase 2 of the plan, which was signing some of the local guys and slotting their releases in amongst the overseas stuff they were distributing. DJ Soup (the first artist signing) and the first volume of Evolutionary Vibes series shook things up!

It wasn't really the fact that the loungeroom and bedroom had completely disappeared behind shelves of CDs that brought about the first location change, rather, it was the several flights of stairs to be traversed with boxes of stock. Warehouse number two was above a shop in Spit Junction. This office, decorated in pink, had apparently previously been a suburban brothel. Clientele who didn't know the previous business had moved were quite surprised when a member of the CVibes crew answered the door. The Spit Junction office had less stairs than the original place but it was still the top floor of the building. Gordon, Pete and Heidi realised what extraordinarily lucky people they were, that despite being on the top floor, Creative Vibes got completely flooded out and a whole lot of records and CDs were lost.

Not quite done with stairs they moved into a cool, downtown place in the middle of York Street in Sydney city, which had 4 flights of stairs over 3 levels. A side effect of having so many stairs was the entire Creative Vibes staff had buns and thighs that would put the World Team Aerobics Champs to shame. Whenever a freight truck pulled up in the no-parking zone out the front of the building, the warehouse, sales and promo men and women all dropped what they were doing and schlepped boxes upstairs in a rare and admiral community spirit that should be heralded as an example for the rest of the music industry to follow.

Realising that buns of steel are totally overrated, the entire CVibes staff decided to try a space with no stairs and so moved to an industrial estate just outside the city. Vibes buttocks are more flaccid now, and the local coffee is so bad it would kill a brown dog, but Creative Vibes Label and Distribution now occupies a fabulous open space that offers organised warehousing for the CDs and Vinyl, suitable accommodation for A & R, Product and Promo departments and enough room to play indoor cricket should that become popular again in this part of the world.

In the meantime the team is always looking for great music from Australia and around the world, and looking for ways to reach people with that music. Creative Vibes was nominated for Best Independent Label all four years of the Australian Dance Music Awards (DMA's) and took the award home two of those four years.

For some people music allows them to dance, for others, it lets them be still. Whether it's Jazz or Funk or Glitsch or Electro or Hip Hop or Chillout or Lounge, Music is the Soundtrack to Life.....and that's how life is at Creative Vibes.

Sydney, August 2005

 

 

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