Spurred on by his frustration with the lack of British support and knowledge of the music that he was into at the time, Tortured Records was launched in January 1997 by label owner, Billy Nasty. Techno was going through a particularly bad spell in the late nineties, and especially in the UK. Many of today's highest profile producers and DJs were just beginning to establish themselves, whilst many of the artists and DJs involved with the scene since its infancy had either become disillusioned with the music or were keeping a relatively low profile. Adam Beyer had just recently launched his Drumcode label, now one of the most popular outlets for club-based techno, but you would have significant difficulty highlighting other major developments during the same period.

Tortured has developed into one of the best British techno labels, and is hugely respected worldwide. The label seeks to champion new talent alongside already established global stars. Over seven years, the label has consistently released quality 12inches from artists including: Adam Beyer, Cari Lekebusch, Umek, Steve Rachmad, Gaetano Parisio, Thomas Krome, Marco Carola, Marco Bailey, The Advent, Space DJz, Bryan Zentz, Stanny Franssen, Joel Mull and Jel Ford. The labels releases have also been given the remix treatment by: Oliver Ho, Ben Sims and Dave Angel. Billy himself has produced releases for Tortured under the aliases: Barb Wired (with Richard 'Cherry Bomb' Brown), Pom-e-granite and Kamaflarge.

Profile courtesy of Tortured Records.