In the past six years, Fool's Gold Records has grown way beyond your average music label to one of EDM and hip-hop's most stylish and forward-thinking tastemakers. Starting off primarily as a record label, their headstrong DIY-attitude has helped develop into a multi-faceted brand for music releases, artist development, quirky and quacky apparel and merchandise, and creating live events such as 'Fool's Gold Day Off' and 'Fool's Gold Clubhouse' along with individuals tours for artists
On the music level, they release music that has a timeless and pro-party aesthetic to it. Their biggest success stories this year has been the revival of Detroit based rapper, Danny Brown whose album, Old is one of the hottest success stories in hip-hop this year. He and label head A-Trak embark on a short mini west-coast tour starting tomorrow.
This Sunday, they take over The Shrine in downtown LA for the latest edition of Fool's Gold's Day Off featuring the likes of Freddie Gibbs, Anna Lunoe, Travi$ Scott and many more.
The Weekly caught up with co-label head and founder, Nick Catchdubs to give us the dish on the latest from the label, Duck Sauce's highly anticipated album and reveals Danny Brown's secrets.
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OC Weekly (Rishabh Bhavnani): Fool's Gold's formula for promoting themselves blurs the lines between old and the new. Could you tell us how this has worked for you over the years?
Nick Catchdubs: One of the cool things about Fool's Gold is that it is a DJ label. A-Trak and myself are both active DJs and our sensibilities really inform what we do on the label side of things. There are tons and tons of old records and I think if we can expose that to our younger fan base we're doing our job. On the lineup side of things, we'll throw someone like DJ Quik who's been in the game for so many years with a bunch of other artists. For us there really isn't a difference between old and the new, it's either dope or not dope.
The latest promo package for Duck Sauce's, Duck Tape Mixtape features a cassette-tape and clothing. Do you think that people will be listening to cassettes five years from now?
The funny thing with the whole cassette resurgence is that I don't think anyone is listening to them. It's a cool item to have, a conversation piece nowadays. Back in the day, previous generations would buy a coffee table book, now they might buy a Duck Sauce cassette. It's something to have on your desk and if someone notices it they're like, 'ooh you like this disco stuff? Me too!'
Danny Brown and A-trak are playing three shows in the SoCal area, including a day party, which we are really excited for. Should we expect something similar to the Fool's Gold clubhouse events you guys throw?
Whenever a Fool's Gold event is happening, it's a party with a capital P! I think whether it's at a festival stage, the day off parties or tour events, it's a way for us to connect with our fans on a visceral level. I feel like the more house party intimate feel we can bring to our events the better experience we provide. The idea is to make any venue party environment feel like a basement.
What is the status on Duck Sauce's new album and when can we expect it?
The album is done and it's called Quack. They're shooting a new video in New York for the new single, “Radio Stereo,” so things are moving in Duck Sauce world. It's only a matter of time before it releases.
Tell us one secret about Danny Brown that no on else knows?
He loves Beverly Hills Cop because he's referenced the movie in his lyrics, he's taken pictures wearing Eddie Murphy's leather jacket from the movie. So when it comes to Southern California, there is a secret Beverly Hills Cop fan in your midst.
Watch the video below from the New York Day Off party to get a taste of what to expect. VIP Tickets for the day party are still available here and for the Afterparty at Sound Nightclub here.
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