London based producer/DJ, Boston Bun, holds a unique position within the Dance music scene. A close friend and collaborator of the renowned record label, Ed Banger, Boston Bun is often cited as one of the most exciting modern-day underground Dance producers, bringing a disco-house sound that has widely been described as French Touch 2.0 (remember the glory days of the early-00s club scene!).
The underground hit ‘Missing You’ marked his breakthrough in 2017 with strong support from Annie Mac, Diplo, Mark Ronson, Zane Lowe and Martin Solveig, to name a few – no pressure then!
Alongside the release of ‘Missing You’ he launched his own imprint Circa ’99, signing contemporaries, friends and promising producers from all corners of the world. From Canadian native Ryan Playground to London-based Flaurese, Irish techno producer Monaco and fellow Frenchmen Samaran, Boogie Vice, You Man, Jerge, David Spinelli and DEVOTED.
After three years and 13 banging releases, today sees the label release their debut compilation which is also available on vinyl. Boston says: “Everything started in 2017. I just finished my track Missing You. I was so excited that I couldn’t wait any longer to release it. It had to be now. So, I created my label in one week. I called it Circa ‘99 because I wanted to share that strong and candid emotion, we all felt in electronic music back in the early 2000s. I released Missing You in June 2017, promoting it with just a couple of emails and Instagram posts. Then I waited...a couple of months later, around august 2017 or something, I started to receive reactions from Annie Mac, Diplo, Mark Ronson and a lot of other people. Suddenly it was becoming a thing. I was super gassed because it’s always great to see a track receive love from other DJs but this time it was different. I was like “wait a minute, this shit is on my own label!”
The distinctive grey vinyl features stunning comic-inspired artwork drawn by artists, Tavan Maneetapho and Louis Faucher. Tavan explains, “The brief was to work on a compilation album cover that would bring across the 90’s aesthetic that Circa ’99 was trying to convey. With the difficult year we’ve all had, I felt the need to create an illustrative world/universe that wasn’t spoiled by the virus. As a comic artist, I naturally drifted towards putting these scenarios into a narrative. The comic can be read in many different ways, it is a hazy and aimless sequence, much like most of our night outs before the pandemic!” Louis adds: “I really enjoyed having a true collaboration experience, taking elements of Tavan’s work. Seeing something go from a scanned pencil work to exporting a full PDF that looks so different really warms my heart.”
So, what’s
the common thread of the Circa ’99 signings? Hedonism boosting dancefloor
fillers that boast a positive and nostalgic vibe, even in your living room. You
could say the timing of this release in the current world climate is almost too
perfect.
STREAM HERE