Binary brings the best

When people consider the future of electronic music, the electro-movements currently thriving in France, Germany and other European nations come to mind much more often than the one in Los Angeles.

Binary Entertainment hopes to change that.

The music collective, founded by USC graduates Josh Legg (class of 2007) and Kyle Petersen (class of 2006), aims at providing a wide array of services for its clients, from recording to promotion. The label released its first album Oct. 13 — a compilation record featuring the seven bands currently signed to the label. They celebrated this landmark with a free show at the Echoplex Tuesday.

Focusing on electronic music was not Legg and Peteren’s original plan when they entered the music business.

“I had a job at a music publishing company,” Petersen said. “Josh was doing research work at the time, and he brought up the idea of music management. I had the knowledge in the field and we elaborated on it. At first we weren’t looking to be an electronic record label.”

“We were coming from an indie rock background,” Legg added. “What got our attention was more of a byproduct of when we saw Daft Punk in their live tour in Las Vegas and that was a big moment; it opened our eyes into what you could do with electronic music. You can really incorporate a lot of things from genres we like, like rock and pop and indie rock.”

What sets Binary Entertainment apart from other record labels is its unique business model that enables Legg and Petersen to stay connected with their clients while also allowing them to work with other labels.

“We’re a management company first of all, and our general business model is that we have record deals with each artist,” Legg said. “Since we are a management company, if another record company wanted to do a deal with one of our artists, we could arrange that. For instance, Alfa [one of Binary’s artists] released an album with system recordings in New York.”

“The idea in doing record deals with other companies is part of the umbrella stream, different revenue streams with different artists,” Petersen said. “We’re able to outsource different revenue streams to different companies.”

Binary’s business model came from months of planning on the founders’ part.

“Starting with Napster, things started to fall apart for the record industry. It was obviously crumbling, so we thought, ‘What would a new look like?’” Legg said. “We’re basically not going to make any money on records anymore, so we want to make revenue on everything an artist is doing. It makes sense; an artist is a multifaceted industry.”

Binary’s seven artists, while all unique, share a common musical thread: a new style of electronic music, which Legg and Petersen have dubbed, “dreamwave.”

“Dreamwave came out of a big search on MySpace in terms of finding new musicians,” Petersen said. “We were scouting and looking around, and we found ourselves in a community of electronic artists. We found some that incorporated a lot more melody and vocals that was just different from a lot of the electro music we were hearing. It was a breath of fresh air. We kept listening around and it became clear it was a trend.”

Legg added, “As for the name, we were joking, just coming up with fake band names. We said dreamwave and it was one of those big laugh moments, but 20 minutes later we just started using it, to the point of over-saturation, and it just stuck.”

While Legg and Petersen share a passion for electronic music, they believe the genre has been given an unfavorable stereotype in recent years.

“A lot of people hear electronic and think of raves, glow sticks and ecstasy,” Petersen explained. “But the whole theory behind dreamwave and ’80s sound is it’s all about nostalgia. It’s about peaceful times, innocent times, youth. It’s great music for hanging out with friends and having some drinks, feel good music.”

Keeping with its goal of showing people electronic music can exist outside of the rave scene, Binary selected its seven artists from Los Angeles to move the awareness away from the genre’s traditional home of Europe.

“We want to see these artists as the artists who represent Los Angeles,” Legg said. “In LA high schools this is the most popular music. The unfortunate thing about LA is that there are very few electronic artists they can rally behind and say, ‘This is my city.’”

The company’s debut release, Binary Presents: LA Lights, captures a wide array of styles, all electronic yet distinct in sound. Featuring two songs from the label’s seven artists, the music ranges from the energetic, poppy lyrics of LexiconDon’s “SWMG” to the more ethereal sounds of Keenhouse’s “The Rendezvous.”

Although no two artists on the album sound the same, there is a certain cohesive thread throughout the tracks. All the songs feel perfect for the dance floor, especially Fabian’s “Galourni” with its nonstop beats, and Legg and Petersen’s band NightWaves’ “Blue Dress,” which perfectly encapsulates the dreamwave idea.

“Our motto online that people tend to quote is that we try to bring great songwriting back to the dance floor,” Legg said. “Bands like Depeche Mode and Petshop [Boys] from the ’80s produced great music for dancing. We’re hoping we can do the same.”