Courtesy of the Financial Times, of all places, this is a great read about Defected Records. They’re a label that are frequently mentioned on this blog, and I’m the first to accept that what I write about founder Simon Dunmore is very mixed indeed.

I believe that, as one of the mainstays of house music from its early days, he has a duty to speak out about the scene when things are going right and when things are going wrong. And typically, he does do that.

Kudos, for example, has to be given to Dunmore over his comments following the death of Erick Morillo. His initial words significantly downplayed the sex abuse allegations against Morillo. He did, however, acknowledge this criticism and apologise.

This was in stark contrast to the likes of Harry Romero, Yousef, Pete Tong and numerous others who have refused to apologise for not even acknowledging the dark claims against Morillo at the time.

Credit also has to be given to Defected for still being around now. Pretty much all the labels that were big in house music in 1999 have now disappeared. Only the likes of King Street and Nervous remain, and they have – with the greatest of respect – gone down very different paths to Defected.

I hope Defected continues to thrive in the future. I also hope that Dunmore uses his powerful, influential position in house music to drive the scene forward – and this means doing more than signing dull tech house records by England rugby players…