Label Focus – Hell Yeah

150 releases and rising…

WHAT’S THE NAME OF YOUR LABEL, AND WHO RUNS IT?

My Name is Marco Gallerani and I run Hell Yeah Recordings. I’ve been involved in dance music and record labels for 30 years now. I’m a music selector but I do not make my own music.

WHEN & WHY DID THE LABEL START?

Hell Yeah Rec started in 2006. At the time I was working as A&R for historical Italian indie label Expanded Music. The electronic/house/dance sound was starting to get segmented in so many different sub-genres.  The main label I was taking care of, Mantra Vibes, had already two subsidiaries, Mantra Breaks for the breakbeat sound and Mantra Smiles for “Acid House”… I was feeling that uplifting melodic/minimal/ German sound that producers and labels like Oliver Koletzki, Get Physical, Systematic, Rekids were releasing at the moment and we felt the need to start a label to represent that sound… so the first releases by Oliver Koletzki, Luca Baldini, Radio Slave, Florian Meindl, Santos…

In 2008, in the boom of digital revolution,  Expanded Music decided to stop investing into new music, so my position wasn’t needed anymore but they have been kind enough to let me keep Hell Yeah alive if I wanted. It seemed the only right thing to do so I took control.

As a DJ, I like many genres but I’m not a specialist of any, so I followed my instinct and  went the “expect the unexpected” route… the ambitious goal of the label was and still is to serve the most open-minded DJs out-there with the best new music I could possibly find. As the years go by, it was a moment to become a genuine “Balearic” label, I guess.

GIVE US A BRIEF SUMMARY OF WHAT YOU’VE RELEASED SINCE THEN….

We had more than 150 vinyl releases so far… ambient, electronica, avant-rock, downtempo, house, italo, nudisco, tripped-out beats, Balearic, Balearic Gabba and occasional dancefloor killers… Mainly from Italian producers but it got more and more international trough the years. In 2026 Hell Yeah turns 20 years old!

WHAT QUALITIES ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN THE MUSIC YOU RELEASE?

I still do not know. I have basic needs.

It needs to rock me out if it’s made to dance to or it needs to fly me away if it’s meant to chill. If I get somehow surprised in the meanwhile, bingo!

WHAT KIND OF VISUAL IDENTITY DOES THE LABEL HAVE (ARTWORK, VIDEOS ETC) ?

I’ve always tried to work with a visual artist taking care of all label releases, or as many as possible. Until Covid happened I’ve been working closely with a couple of Italian heavyweights, Neverending aka OKRocco (who designed the logo) first and then with the mighty Andrea Amaducci for many years. Nowadays due to some drastic logistics changes, I work with different designers release by release, album by album. PlanetLuke has just donated us a 12” label jacket that will be used for the 12” singles featuring his artwork in the next months.

WHAT’S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST SELLING RELEASE TO DATE?  TELL US A BIT ABOUT IT AND WHY YOU THINK IT WAS SO POPULAR.

The ‘Coast 2 Coast’ EP released in 2013 is definitely the biggest selling 12” record.

It’s a classic double A-side, a bass-driven west coast Doc Martin remix of Florian Meindl’s Fashmob plus Justin Vandervolgen’s edit of Alexander Robotnick’s majestic “Undicidisco”… an Italo-disco sure player for every DJ/dancefloor. HIT

NAME ONE RELEASE THAT YOU THINK DESERVED TO GET MORE ATTENTION THAN IT DID               

Tough one, I Have a long list. If you really need to know one, I’ll go for last year Luminodisco’s comeback 12”, the ‘Adults’ EP.

DJ feedback was enormous but sales wise didn’t work the same.

One of my mottos is “you might not like it now, but you will.”

IF YOU COULD SIGN ANY ARTIST, ALIVE OR DEAD, WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?

I’d love to A&R an album by a living dream team composed of my fave DJ/producers/musicians people like Bjorn Torske, Calm, Jimi Tenor, Gary Irwin aka The Vendetta Suite, E-The-Hot, My Friend Dario, DJ Shadow, Dan The Automator, Action Bronson, Loredana Berté, Sade, Erobique… Let’s force them into an highly stoked studio/villa somewhere hot but without too many distractions and handle what happens.

WHICH OTHER LABELS DO YOU ADMIRE AND WHY?

When I grew up I was looking at Wall of Sound and Mo Wax. Those were the labels I was buying every release. I was there, right crossover of music and style. Nowadays I don’t have many labels I feel that way about, but Stones Throw is probably my favorite label out there. They did the full process. For new labels, Wax’o Paradiso from Australia had a strong strike from the first one onwards.

WHAT CAN WE LOOK TO FROM YOUR LABEL NEXT?

Second volume of my File Under Balearic Gabba series is about to be released soon. Aura Safari & Jimi Tenor’s classic in the making ‘Sensory Blending’ gets re-released after that on a transparent green edition.

For the summer we have album format releases by Berlin’s Nathan Dawidowicz, Naples Pier Paolo Polcari (Almamegretta) and Tokyo legend Calm. New 12” singles are coming from Belfast’s The Vendetta Suite, Melbourne pubwave-maestro Dawn Again, and Aegean chillouters Bonnie & Klein….

I’m pretty sure I’m forgetting something…yes, Italian DJ producer Verdo’s debut album.

Check, buy and pre-order Hell Yeah releases by clicking here