Tom “Diepvries” Schaek is the Belgian multi-man behind the Flexx record shop, label, blog and mix provider, investing italo electro-disco with the status of very much cult and still in-demand. With a now solid reputation built upon re-releasing the likes of Crazy Gang, Ozo, Pinneaples, Mr. Master, Twilight Ritual and Bobby Davenport, among others, Flexx hails from the small town of Turnhout, a mainly residential spot that is not exactly part of the Belgian three-city basic dance music circuit, which includes Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent.

Although the 26-year-old only started releasing records in 2005, it was 2002 when the idea of opening a shop like Flexx first stroke a then tired Tom, bored of doing a job he didn’t care for. “This was something I always wanted to do and I noticed Belgian record shops only sold ‘new’ music, so I wanted to fill the gap. It was just before the italo and disco revival over here”.

Licensing

Seeking vintage talents and labels with a similar taste did require some special efforts, though. “We’re always happy to find that the original artists still own the license to their songs. Usually when you have to deal with a major the project ends because for them the administrative burden in terms of obtaining the necessary consents, issuing parts etc. need to be weighed against the income likely to be generated by the licensing deal. In most cases, it’s not worth it for them, which is sad because there are lots of good tracks owned by majors that will never get pressed on vinyl again”, he declares.

Even so, a respectable bunch of endeavors went well and have been paying off for both the shop and the label. Records by prestigious sought-after imprints such as Environ, Permanent Vacation, Radius, Versatile, Clone, Dissident and Rong have all started to be sold by Flexx. Classics usually sell better, says Schaek, but it’s also all a matter of availability. “Some tracks are very popular but are only pressed in few quantities or are old original dead stock that you can only find once”, he explains. “Take Strafe’s ‘Set It Off’ for instance. It’s not that well known but we’ve been selling it since 2002 and it’s still sold quite regularly. I think we must have sold a couple of hundreds of that one by now”.
Semi-forgotten, fully-remembered

When it comes to Flexx the label, Tom cites Pineapples’ “Come On Closer” and the split releases with Ginny’s “Can’t Be Serious” and Clive Stevens’ “Mystery Man” as the most in-demand records he put out. “I believe the latter sold more since it was quite popular in Japan”, he points out.

Initiatives such as Tom Schaek’s tend to gather new steam for gifted semi-forgotten producers who do not always realize that comebacks sometimes can be fruitful. Just think of Salvatore “Casco” Cusato and Maurizio “Robotnick” Dami for example. “It seems the attention that acts like these get now inspires them to be very creative in a way that adds a new touch to their old sound or vice versa. Black Devil Disco Club’s ‘28 After’ is a good example”.

Diepvries

Simultaneously, Schaek is also busy committing to his DJ career under the Diepvries persona, meaning “freezer” in Dutch. “DJ names are generally far-fetched and ridiculous, so ‘Diepvries’ was one of the most stupid names I could come up with. The English quite frequently mix it up with Deprives, which is something completely different”, he laughs. Several Diepvries mixes can be downloaded on Flexx, served along a vast list of sets recorded by DJs from countries such as Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, USA, Russia, Germany and United Kingdom. Schaek’s criteria for selecting mixes are very simple. “We get mixes from customers and friends all the time, so if we like it we’ll add it to the mix section”. Wanna have a try? Get it on.

Flexx releases coming up in 2008 are not entirely confirmed yet, but Schaek is working on getting Klein & MBO tracks released, plus investing in new disco artists and going forward with a series of 3-track compilations. Tip of the day: dip into Flexx and enjoy.

Diepvries’ random disco top 5
Azoto – Anytime Or Place
Video Club – Lost Time
Sabrina - Boys
Bent Boys – Walk The Night
K.I.D. – Don’t Stop