When speaking about Defected, all the sources who have provided this blog with information and insights on the label are united in one – they all say Simon Dunmore is probably the most hard-working man in house music today. Which is why as much as I sometimes question the label he runs, I’ve never doubted his work ethic.
Sources tell me it originates from his days working at a senior position at AM:PM Records and the first few years of running Defected. But as he sits down this Friday evening for his dinner, he might be forgiven for believing he’s had a busy few weeks.
The year started with Dunmore announcing his decision to walk away from the world of a touring DJ this year. Since then, Defected has been on a major publicity drive to showcase some of their forthcoming releases over the next few months – I’m reliably told that Dunmore himself takes personal oversight of these promotional campaigns.
They’ve also announced they’re going to be in Brazil this summer, the lineup for Croatia has been announced in full and now, the two giant egos of Simon Dunmore and Sacha Lord have now met – and the result is Defected appearing at Lord’s own Parklife…
Finally, it’s happening… 👀
— Defected Records (@DefectedRecords) January 20, 2022
Defected 🤝 Parklife 2022
For the first time, we take over a stage at Parklife!#HouseMusicAllLifeLong pic.twitter.com/0cCPGnJtOS
Defected’s plan to expand the events side of the company not only appears to include new countries, it also turns out it involves the London-centric company heading out of the capital. And there are few other ways Defected can get into Manchester, given the iron grip which Lord holds over clubbing in the area.
So let’s face it – this was always more of a matter of when rather than if it would happen. Let’s just say that Dunmore has more than earned any BBQ he might have this weekend…