SofaBurn started in 2006 in Chris Mueller’s basement, all with the aim to find new ways to promote and push two bands he was in. Things worked out to get the music “out there”—literally. It led Chris to move to an office in downtown Dayton, Kentucky, and to sign more acts such as R.Ring, Ampline, and Jeremy Pinnell. A dream collaboration opened even more doors for the label: teaming up with skateboarding legend Mike Vallely to provide all music for a feature-length skate film by the former Powell-Peralta pro.
With part of their catalog on Tracklib, they now see how the art of sampling fits in with SofaBurn. “While our artists don’t frequently use sampling in their music, I think SofaBurn, as a non-genre specific label, has a lot to offer the sampling world from many different corners of the music spectrum,” explains Chris about this new endeavor.
So even though samples aren’t an integral part of the work of most of SofaBurn’s artists, Chris still sees a common ground: “I think there is room for sampling in all genres of music. A good hook is a good hook. A good melody is a good melody. If an artist wants to use and honor another artist’s work by using it in an appropriate way through the right channels, I say ‘go for it!’”
That invitation to producers fits in with SofaBurn’s aim to cross genres. And to Chris, Tracklib is a way to connect those dots: “Tracklib provides a service to artists that can expose them to several talented artists that maybe they would not previously be exposed to.”
