60 seconds with Owen Howells/Carousel
Owen Howells has performed every where from Fabric to Dommune over the past few years, all to sell out audiences. Facilitating his dream within production and DJing has been well achieved however his latest project Carousel tests fresh boundaries from him personally and professionally. An idea of an independent record store is always a difficult plaform to acheive in any right so EQTV.co.uk decides to delve into the mind of Owen on this fascinating outlet.
Tell us about Carousel and your concept and the idea behind starting up the project?
The idea behind Carousel is to open a small independent record store, mirroring the soon to launch online shop, stocking predominantly electronic music and hosting events such as EP and album launches, alongside a weekly stream. Hopefully connecting people on a local and international level.
And why the name Carousel?
A spinning disc, a rotating platform, why not!
The funding process must be a difficult and drawn out procedure, how is that going so far?
It is, and learning about crowd funding has been a massively enriching experience. I mean, if people can potentially get a small business off the ground, without relying on the big banks, it’s right up my street. The campaign itself has taken loads of planning and preparation, at the time of writing this we’ve got about a fortnight left and i’m hoping to hit our next goal of 10% very shortly! One step at a time.
When do you envisage the store to open and what do you have in terms of styles of records you will be selling?
The online store launches this month, with a small, curated collection of electronic music. And I would like to see the physical space take shape before the end of the year. Music wise, It’s predominantly club based stuff but not restricted to that.
You’ll also be creating a community space also, tell us more about that?
Yeah the plan is to find the perfect 2 room venue, with a smaller room that can be utilised as a community space from exhibitions, live music & film. I like the idea of it being a place where people can connect in the name of art and its various forms.
As a DJ, you’ve played everywhere from Fabric to Dommune in the last couple of years, what dates have you got coming up we should know about?
- 21/08/2015 – London – Hoxton FM guest mix
- 21/08/2015 – London – Submit @ Bussey Building Peckham w/ Dark Sky & Pedestrian.
- 22/08/2015 – London – Subterrania after hours, London
- 12/09/2015 – Berlin – Beitola Open Air & Warehouse party @ IPSE
Check out more on Carousel here – http://www.carouselrecords.net/
