Anetha’s career as a whole, in fact, is modelled on such a mindset. If there’s a gap, it’ll be filled – she doesn’t enjoy empty space. Look no further than her label, Mama told ya, founded in 2019, and sublabel Fané.e founded in 2023.
While Mama told ya has been taking the techno world by storm with its 13 releases in total, including records from the labelhead herself, UFO95, Alex Wilcox, and Mac Declos – and V/A compilations featuring artists including drazzit, Elise Massoni, Boo, Peachlyfe, Zoe McPherson, Vel, LDS and Boys Noize – Fané.e follows an ephemeral approach.
“Mama told ya is a beautiful label and grows super fast. But because it has physical releases the deadlines are crazy, I felt like there was a lot of music good enough to release, but there was not enough time to release it all.” She questioned contemporary consumption habits of digital music, and therefore introduced a “seasonal approach” in which with the turn of every new season comes a new release. At season’s end, the release fades – ‘fade(d)’ being the English translation of Fané – and all traces are removed from streaming services, promotional lists and so on. “It leads to less deadlines and it’s cool, it’s fresh,” she grins.
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The imprint’s debut release featured two tracks from Benjamin Damage, although is now unavailable to access. Currently available is a two-tracker from X CLUB., remaining public until June 19. And looking forward? An intimate festival-like concept has been mentioned, but any further divulgence would disrupt Fané.e’s cryptic illusion.
“I almost did burnout in 2019 before COVID from touring too much,” she recalls, as we move onto her agency Mama loves ya. “I felt really stressed. All the people were working around me and I felt that I didn’t control anything; I felt really bad. COVID came and we had a lot of time to rethink everything.” Having worked with Jules, her manager and partner of 10 years, and booking agent of six years Joy, the trio decided to launch their own agency to regain control and help other emerging artists. Mindful of the experiences Anetha went through, they intended to create a family-like atmosphere. “It’s with a small number of artists, we don’t want a big agency,” Anetha explains. “We want something organic.”
