Darling Records was recently founded, the first Dutch label – department of a record company – for ‘queer’ artists. Internationally, Darling Records is not the first label for people from the LGBTQ community, but it is the first founded by a major record company, Sony Music.
Initiator Peter van Vught and Sony want to stimulate ‘openness’ in the music industry. “For a long time it was common for artists to be told by a record company that they should keep their orientation to themselves,” says Van Vught. “Think George Michael or Ricky Martin. The opposite applies to us: show it above all.”
Darling Records has released one song so far, by Van Vught himself, under the stage name Darling Peter. He produced a new version of “It’s Raining Men” by The Weather Girls, a classic of gay nightclubs. Van Vught changed the lyrics: drag queen Envy Peru and British singer Vula now sing ‘It’s Raining Men! them! Femme!’ and refer to the ‘queer’ identity.
party organizer
Van Vught (39) grew up on a farm in Brabant. At the age of 24 he came to Amsterdam and discovered the nightlife. He has organized queer parties for pop venue Paradiso, he was a founding member of the Milkshake festival and organizes events around Pride, the week of honor for the LGBTQ community that starts July 30. Van Vught is also a DJ and producer.
When he said ‘It’s Raining Men! them! Femme!’ had recorded, he received cooperation from Sony, which wanted to start a label for lgbtq artists. According to Van Vught, who selects the artists, the ‘dna’ of Darling Records still needs to be developed. “I organize parties where everyone can experiment with gender identity, with clothing, with each other. It is a form of education, people discover something about themselves. I want to continue that idea in Darling Records, we are still going to work out the concrete approach.”
He sees a lot of talent in the Netherlands, but does not focus exclusively on his own country. He also does not only choose artists who themselves belong to the LGBTQ community, ‘supporters’ are also welcome. “Think of singers like Kylie Minogue or Jessie Ware. They are committed to people of different orientations, they belong to the scene we focus on.” Sony Music already has the internationally famous Lil Nas X under contract, one of the first openly gay rappers. “We want to become a ‘community’. It’s not about quantity, but about people who suit us.”
As a DJ, Van Vught visits European regions where LGBTQ rights are less well regulated than in the Netherlands. Does he intend to offer artists from those countries a chance? “I will soon be playing at the Sziget Festival, in Hungary, where the rights for LGBT people have been severely curtailed. Sziget has had a queer stage for 22 years, so there’s plenty of talent out there. I am curious which artists I will meet there. Who knows, there may be someone I would like to invite.” For Van Vught, this job is a dream come true. “As a child on the farm I fantasized about two things: making music myself and releasing music from others.”