Repopulate Mars

Repopulate Mars is Lee Foss's label, founded in 2016. it is not, as we'd first assumed, a Hot Since 82 project, we found nothing anywhere connecting the two, and Hot Since 82 runs his own separate label, Knee Deep In Sound. Foss is sole founder and label head, Discogs' own profile reads "US label founded by Lee Foss." it grew out of an existing "Repopulate Mars" event series with a cosmic visual theme, and Foss started it, in his own words to DJ Mag, as "a great way to offer an alternative to Hot Creations which is so popular that we simply can't release more than a fraction of the songs that we like." Hot Creations is the tech house label Foss co-runs with Jamie Jones.

on the label's A&R approach, Foss told Beatportal: "on the label side, I'm just looking to tell the story of my favorite tunes. I try not to get bogged down in genres. I try to find the stuff that grabs my ear and interests me." and on the sound he gravitates to: "I'm a big fan of basslines that are either the lead melody or just ripping and big and strong. for me, that's what I hear first." the debut release, Detlef's "Swagon EP" (2017), sampling Soulja Boy's "Turn My Swag On," is credited by Beatportal as the release that broke the label internationally.

Foss is based in the US, Discogs and a 2021 interview place him in Topanga, California, originally from Chicago. the label's own bandcamp page lists "London, UK" as its location, which conflicts with every other source we checked and looks like stale or default metadata rather than a real base, we're flagging it rather than repeating it as fact.

53 artists we track have released on it, listed below. two sister labels have spun off it, South Of Saturn (2019, "a rawer sound," per Foss) and North Of Neptune. the label also runs a recurring touring club-night series across New York, Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles, and a "Repopulate Mars Radio" mix series on its own soundcloud. DJ Mag's 2018 "Best of North America" feature named it in its Breakthrough Label category.