Black Book Records

Black Book Records is Chris Lake's label, co-founded with his creative partner Ian Massoth. the founding year is genuinely disputed, and we're printing both sides rather than picking one quietly. dj mag states 2017 twice, independently, once by name and once by counting six years back from a 2023 piece, and a direct 909originals interview from 2020 backs the same year. the label's own about page says 2016. weight of independent press favors 2017, so that's what we're leading with, with this footnote attached.

the sound spans tech house at its core, Cloonee, Walker & Royce, Green Velvet, out to dance-pop crossover collabs, Grimes, Four Tet, Bonobo, Kelly Lee Owens. in 2020 the label signed a worldwide distribution deal through Astralwerks/Caroline, and Ian Massoth became Head of A&R as part of it, in Lake's words: "I felt like Astralwerks was the team best able to help me do that." it wasn't a sale or a rebrand, bigger crossover singles since then just carry combined "Black Book Records/Astralwerks" branding, the 2023 Aluna collaboration "Beggin'" among them.

We work really hard to make everything we do be creative, artistic, and cohesive. We want to develop artists, music, and sounds.

Chris Lake, 909originals, august 2020

the flagship series is Black Book ID's, numbered VA compilations past chapter nine, and the label throws its own showcases under the Black Book name, Black Book on the Pier in Brooklyn and Miami Music Week takeovers among them, over 300,000 tickets sold across North America per its own site. 35 artists we track have released on it, listed below. Lake's own debut solo album, Chemistry, came out august 2025.