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Pedro “Busy P” Winter literally wears his influences on his sleeves. Decorated with Metallica, Beastie Boys, Powell Skateboards, and Neckface tattoos, Winter’s inspirations are clear.
The founder of iconic Parisian label Ed Banger Records, Winter collaged these inspirations — metal, hip-hop, skateboarding, and graffiti — into a cultural ecosystem that for 20 years has soundtracked everything from the darkest clubs to the world’s biggest stadiums and the runways of fashion houses.
With a roster that includes Justice, Mr Oizo, Uffie, SebastiAn, Breakbot, Myd, Busy P himself, and the late DJ Mehdi, whose hip-hop influence was instrumental to Ed Banger, no two artists on the label are alike. A long line of clubbers came for the techno and heavy metal-inspired distortion of Justice’s Waters of Nazareth and left humming the glittery earworm that is Uffie's Pop the Glock. Best outlined by their series of compilations, Ed Rec Vol. 1 - 3, Vol. X, Ed Banger 100, Let The Children Techno, and their newest Best Of (ideal places to start if you’re new here), the label’s output is as broad as Winter’s own influences and it was the sheer diversity of Ed Banger Records’ sound that captured the Paris Groove.
The label’s records defined a wave of electronic music that became today’s pop culture, and their fan base includes everyone from the late Virgil Abloh to Tyler, the Creator and Frank Ocean, whose last records featured production from SebastiAn and a remix by Justice. One of Coachella’s surprise headliners this year, Skrillex, recently stated at a Parisian festival “if it wasn’t for Busy P, I would not exist on this stage. None of us would be here. I was over [in the USA] in 2008/2009, watching what you guys were doing in Paris”
Chatting to me from an office that, like his skin, is graced with artifacts that could fill infinite galleries with music, fashion, and street culture retrospectives, Winter is refreshingly humble and eager to give his peers their flowers — shouting out everyone from James Lavelle to J Dilla, to Marc Jacobs, Sarah Andelman, and DJ Hell amongst countless others.
This gate is not kept and much of our conversation comes across like Daft Punk’s 1997 classic Teachers, almost three minutes of non-stop shout-outs to their own influences — which makes sense considering Winter was manager for the Parisian robots from 1996 - 2008.
This personability, openness, and passion for what he does with his crew for 20+ years are arguably the defining factors why Ed Banger Records is still thriving. Or, from Winter’s perspective: “I believe we were lucky and we were at the right place at the right time.”
Indeed, Paris in the 2000s was a belle epoch for anyone with an interest in electronic music. An era revered by everyone from nostalgic TikTokers to indie sleaze revivalists, pre-youtube and at the dawn of file-sharing, the scene relied on word of mouth and chance meetings.
The story goes that after having only released one record, Mr Flash’s Entroducing-esque Radar Rider in 2003, Winter was approached at a raclette party with a demo of Justice’s remix of Simian’s Never Be Alone, a generational anthem that would go on to define the era.
For Not In Paris, we worked with Ed Banger Records to release a hoodie highlighting the label’s impact on the so-called ‘Paris Groove’ — something they indisputably helped shape. While merch and music labels go hand-in-hand today, Ed Banger Records were early pioneers of crossover collaborations and the drop model which are the norm today, but Winter’s strategy for releasing product came naturally.
“It's interesting, especially talking to Highsnobiety about merchandising,” Winters says, remembering that: “back then in the early 2000s it was an insult, especially in the electronic underground scene where like, "wow, you're selling T-shirts? You're doing merch? You’re a sell out.”
And sell-out they did. From in-house labels, Cool Cats and Club 75, to collaborations with everyone from Stüssy and BAPE, to Carhartt and Colette, anything Ed Banger Records released was extremely hard to get your hands on.
“My background is with skateboards, so I'm coming from this culture,” Winter says. “Playing with logos, playing with brands, doing T-shirts. I took all of this influence and put it on my label. For me, doing a T-shirt wasn't about making money, it was about expressing myself.”
There’s no better example of this self expression than the label’s 2008 collaboration with Nike, which sees a meta conversation between Busy P and the label's prolific art director So Me about sneaker design illustrated across a black Air Force One, upon a rainbow outsole. A favorite of Pharrell’s, the release was a highlight from the 1World campaign, which saw partnerships with KAWS, CLOT, and more, and now fetches four figures on the secondary market.
But it wasn’t just the rising street culture that noticed the label’s cultural impact, very soon French fashion houses were filled with Ed Banger’s unique brand of French house.
Dior Homme's 2008 show was set to the backdrop of Justice’s Planisphere, SebastiAn soundtracked Saint Laurent’s runways from 2017 - 2021, and also in 2021 the label curated a vinyl release for Chanel titled Chanel Electro, featuring 6 Ed Banger tracks. Now, as we celebrate Paris Fashion Week SS24, Winter just DJ’d the afterparty of Pharrell’s debut runway show, sporting an early Phriends & Phamily ‘LoVers’ varsity.
Somehow, Ed Banger Records managed to simultaneously navigate pop culture and the underground whilst remaining authentic, speaking of how natural this has been Winter states, “we never run after it… we are just a bunch of punk kids from Paris playing together, enjoying what we are doing.”
“Most important for me rather than being cool is being real. For me what matters is the longevity,” he says. “Today I'm running Ed Banger exactly like I used to run it 20 years ago. I didn't change. We have been in the same office for 20 years now and it's very selfish but I'm making the best out of it to have fun myself. As a big brother, this is what I will share to the younger crowd, do it for yourself.”
Always looking forward, in addition to a series of anniversary parties, re-pressing classic records and releasing a Best Of compilation, the label’s 20th anniversary introduces their newest signee Varnish La Piscine whose debut once again sees the label evolve.
“He brings something to Ed Banger we've been missing since DJ Mehdi. He's the hip-hop link, and that's very precious for me. I've been chasing him for years but he was hidden in the Swiss country doing his thing, and now I think it's time for him to shine. And the feedback I have, from Pharrell, from Tyler or from other guys is proof that there is definitely something special going on with him. There is definitely more coming from Varnish on Ed Banger, I can tell you.”
With upcoming releases also confirmed from iconic signees Justice, Breakbot, and Mr Oizo, there’s never been a better time to discover Ed Banger Records, or rediscover your love for the Paris Groove.
