Nature Sounds and High Times magazine are coming together to form a new record label. The relationship makes sense in that both brands exude quality: one in music and the other in journalism. Devin Horowitz, founder of Nature Sounds, has a history with the magazine as he spent 10 years working for them in a journalistic capacity. This is a true partnership that reaches beyond Hip Hop and focuses on good music irrespective of genre. I had the opportunity to talk with Devin who shared the vision of High Times Records and the exciting projects due out soon on the new label. See what he had to say.
What’s the story behind the new partnership with High Times?
We’re partnering with High Times Magazine to launch High Times Records. Smoke DZA is the first artist we’ll be releasing an album with. Also, we’re in talks with many big names in music that have championed the marijuana movement. Marijuana is going mainstream now with the medicinal aspect and we want to be at the forefront, musically speaking.
Is it solely artists affiliated with weed smoking that you are putting out?
No. It’s more about the music and culture than just the novelty of smoking weed. It’s about creating content that appeals to the typical High Times reader. The High Times readers are interested in music, politics, art, religion, and, of course, weed.
Explain the impact of High Times magazine and their impact on Pop culture.
They were one of the first magazines in the U.S. to put Bob Marley on the cover, the first to put Cypress Hill on the cover. They’ve been in existence since 1974 and had contributors like Charles Bukowski, Hunter S. Thompson, and Andy Warhol. They have a great history and their readers love music. High Times is more about the counter culture than anything and this has been their focus since their inception. Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg were writers for the magazine at one time. It’s similar to Playboy because it’s a brand that people respect but with an emphasis on quality and impactful journalism as well.
What brought about this relationship?
I worked at High Times for 10 years and come from a journalism background. They’re in the magazine business, the marijuana business; they’re experts at that. They’re not in the music business and don’t want to be. We feel we could be a valuable partner with them since we have an expertise in selling music. We both understood that the High Times readers love music
Why now?
This is the first time High Times has been approached by a company with more than 10 years experience in the music business. They have maintained strong name recognition for almost 40 years by not cheapening the brand with haphazard partnerships. They have a million readers a month! Their fanbase is pretty fanatical reaching all walks of life. Now, they can cater to their vast readership that is passionate about music. That’s a large base to tap into. It makes sense now as much as ever to do this label.
Most of the readers are familiar with Nature Sounds. What’s the direction of this label?
Everyone in the Hip Hop world has come out of the woodwork for this. Hip Hop understands the importance of teaming with a label with the brand recognition of High Times. We have the Smoke DZA project coming out first, but the label is more than Hip Hop. We’ll focus on Rock, Dance, Psychedelic, Blues, etc. We’re going to be doing compilations and provide the readers with content to satisfy the diverse taste of the readers. High Times has readers that are 80 years old and we have to be cognizant of that. We, at Nature Sounds, want to retain our identity for our label and at the same time use this new label to facilitate the wants and needs of High Times.
Building of the diverse projects in the works, please explain to the readers about the Sex Pistols documentary that is in development.
The original founder of High Times, Tom Forcade, did a documentary on the Sex Pistols in the late ‘70s. It was their only U.S. tour and it led to their eventually break up. There’s a lot of great footage from the NYC Punk scene as well as great live audio. People will be surprised how much amazing content High Times has in their archives. We plan to utilize those assets to the fullest.
Can you give more detail on Smoke DZA’s High Times’ debut?
It’s a full-length and it’s produced entirely by Harry Fraud featuring Curren$y, Action Bronson, Domo from Odd Future, Schoolboy Q, Sean Price, ASAP Twelvyy and some others. Harry is a big weed head, so it’s a good connection with him and Smoke DZA. Musically, the record is amazing. He’s been touring with Big K.R.I.T. and has a lot of different things going on now. Readers may or may not know that Smoke DZA is part of Curren$y’s Jet Life team. We think he’s positioned to be the next one to break out from his camp.
Thanks to Devin and Matt at Nature Sounds (@naturesounds) and High Times magazine (@HIGH_TIMES_Mag) for making this article possible. Much success on your future endeavors. GOD BLESS –Allindstrom.com
