Over a million records sold in fifteen years. That’s what Pedro Winter, founder of Ed Banger, roughly estimates his success to be. Granted half of these sales come from Justice alone (who sold 500,000 copies for their first album,Cross), but how many independent labels can boast such figures? In 2003, when he decided to let Daft Punk, the band he was managing at the time, take control of their own destiny to launch his own label, Pedro Winter couldn’t have hoped for better results. Fifteen years later and Ed Banger is a reference point without operating in a niche, as it has diversified with the noisy electro of Justice and Mr Oizo, the rapped Pop of Uffie, Breakbot ’s disco and Afro-funk-punk band 10LEC6. “We managed to brand Ed Banger in a way that it became as strong a brand as some artists”, explains Pedro Winter. “My biggest challenge was creating a trust based relationship between us and our fans, telling them: trust us, we’ll take you on a long 15-year journey. If you like Justice great, but you’ll also discover Feadz, Mickey Moonlight, Mr Flash, Boston Bun, Borussia, etc. It’s a rollercoaster in terms of style, but I’ve always put an emphasis on musical open-mindedness, just like the British label Mo'Wax that was releasing Hip-Hop, Trip Hop, Rock…”
This diversity is apparent on the label’s first record from March 2003, Mr Flash’s Radar Rider and its Rock instrumental scattered with Electro sound effects, complemented by a lo-fi B-side composed by Philippe Zdar under the alias A Bass Day (F.I.S.T.). Three months later, Justice’s legendary We Are Your Friends came out, a remix of Simian’s Never Be Alone. Pedro Winter signed the group onto the label after a dinner at Gaspard Augé’s house, one half of the duo. While the first few years were characterised by the hype surrounding Justice (who released their first album Cross in 2007), Ed Banger also had success with the 2006 release of Lucky Boy. This first album from DJ Mehdi, a key member of the team, combined Hip-Hop and House music with a rare dexterity and finesse. As the producer for the Hip-Hop group Ideal J, led by Kery James, from 1992 (as well as the likes of Booba, IAM and MC Solaar), DJ Mehdi perfectly embodied the inter-genre hub that Ed Banger had become. He composed for Baltimore-based electro rapper Spank Rock, collaborated on the decks with versatile Canadian DJ A-Trak and was part of the electro outfit Carte Blanche alongside British producer Riton, who started off with Manchester label Grand Central Records.
The label gained an international reputation, thanks in particular to the artistic direction of So-Me, who put emphasis on album covers, t-shirts and clips. “It was the mid 2000s, graphics were super meticulous and digital, and we were there with drawings done by hand” recalled So-Me, who won an award for the We Are Your Friends video in 2006 at the MTV Music Awards. Kanye West, having lost, got up on stage in protest (he did the same thing ten years later with Taylor Swift), before hiring So-Me one year later for the Good Life video featuring T-Pain…
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