In 2007, I got handed the EDM stage at a small festival in Illinois with zero experience running one. We coordinated sound out of Alabama, lighting out of Wisconsin, and flew in talent from as far as New Zealand, on a budget that wouldn’t cover most bands’ rider today. We pulled 800 to 1,600 people a night. We also made a few enemies. Apparently we didn’t fit in.

That stage is where MK837 started. My friend Kevin Oneel and I talked about starting a label right there, between sets. We brought in Chris Reiche that September, split the work three ways, and launched in January 2010 with $750 and a lot more ambition than budget. We were three producers who knew exactly what it felt like to have nobody give us a shot. So we built the place we wished had existed for us.

The name comes from Mark 8:37 — “For what can a man give in return for his soul?” It’s not a Christian label, though that’s where it started, and the verse still shapes how we run things: quality over shortcuts, artists paid fairly, no selling out to look bigger than we are.

It hasn’t been a straight line. We lost Kevin suddenly a few years in. He’s the reason our sound got as diverse as it did, and somehow, despite falling asleep in half our meetings, the one who kept me pointed in the right direction. Chris moved on a while after that to start another label. I’ve run MK837 solo since 2017.

Fifteen years and 500-plus releases later, the job hasn’t changed. Unique house and techno for your soul, the way we’ve always said it. We take on artists before they’ve built an audience of their own, because somebody has to be the place where that happens first. It’s the reason we’re smaller than we could be. It’s also the reason we’re still here.

Some labels are built to be the story. We’d rather help you write yours.

Dave Richards
Label Owner
MK837