In 2004, prior to the founding of the label, Ian Hicks of Mordant Music liked and released an early Shackleton track entitled "Stalker". The track later appeared on Rough Trade Records "Best of 2004" compilation. Around this time, Shackleton was becoming more familiar with the dubstep sound, through regular visits to the "ForwardÂ»" nights run by Ammunition Promotions. He especially identified with the sound later associated with the DMZ nightclub, citing Loefah's "Horror Show" and Digital Mystikz "Conference" as key early influences, and started thinking about forming a label to release similar ""interesting bass music"" and ""interesting percussive stuff"".