The phenomenon of DJ's meeting in a record store and starting a 'group' or company together has amazed and baffled many seemingly intelligent folk for some years now. But think about it! Where else would you get three DJ's standing still and having a meaningful conversation apart from in a record store? Likewise, it is also accepted to start something up in one's lounge room.
So really it just makes sense that Gordon Henderson, Peter Pasqual and Heidi Pasqual became friends meeting over stacks of 12" singles and at the beginning of 1994 started a label and distribution company in a Neutral Bay lounge room. Creative Vibes was largely started because they knew that if they were to get as much music as they wanted, as fast as they wanted, they needed to be part of the supply chain. They needed to be pushing music to others in order to keep themselves in records.
At first Gordon kept his day job and worked nights in the Vibes, Pete got a night shift in the local video store and Heidi got the early morning shift stacking shelves in a supermarket. By day, it was the magic and excitement of convincing music shops to take a chance on a bunch of music they'd never heard of; acid jazz, hip hop, urban grooves, electronic dance, great music but all (then) unknown artists on unknown labels. By night. it was the magic and excitement of convincing overseas labels to deal with the fledgling Creative Vibes.
Once these wheels were turning, a 'scene' was developing, people in media and shops were getting it and the music lovers were getting it, they were able to start phase 2 of the plan, which was signing some of the local guys and slotting their releases in amongst the overseas stuff they were distributing. DJ Soup (the first artist signing) and the first volume of Evolutionary Vibes series shook things up!
Even though the lounge room and bedroom had completely disappeared behind shelves of CDs. it was the flights of stairs that needed to be traversed with boxes of stock that called for a change of location. Warehouse number two was above a shop in Spit Junction. It had less stairs than the original place but it was still the top floor of the building.
Then, not quite done with stairs they moved into a cool, downtown place in the middle of York Street in Sydney city, which had 4 flights of stairs over 3 levels. Whenever a freight truck pulled up in the no-parking zone out the front of the building, the warehouse, sales and promo men and women all dropped what they were doing and schlepped boxes upstairs in a rare and admiral community spirit.
Finally, the CVibes staff decided to try a space with no stairs and moved to an industrial estate just outside the city. Creative Vibes Label and Distribution now occupies a fabulous open space that offers organised warehousing for the CDs and Vinyl, suitable accommodation for A & R, Product and Promo departments and enough room to play indoor cricket.
In the meantime the team is always looking for great music from Australia and around the world, and looking for ways to reach people with that music. Creative Vibes was nominated for Best Independent Label all four years of the Australian Dance Music Awards (DMA's) and took the award home two of those four years.
For some people music allows them to dance, for others, it lets them be still. Whether it's Jazz or Funk or Glitsch or Electro or Hip Hop or Chillout or Lounge or Blues or Rock, Music is the Soundtrack to Life.....and that's how life is at Creative Vibes.
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