[TSS Interview] Valentino Khan Gives the Scoop on His New Label, His Extra Maina Tour, Goldrush Set & More

Valentino Khan has been a staple in the electronic music scene for over a decade now. The eclectic DJ and producer has bounced all around the music spectrum from dark house beats to the bassier side of things. He has collabed with the biggest names in electronic music as well and has cemented himself as one of the most well known names in the industry. Recently, Valentino Khan announced the launch of his Label Extra Credit along with the re-launch of his wrestling collaboration tour Extra Mania. Valentino has been on the road as well and we were able to catch him during his recent festival stop at Goldrush in Phoenix to ask him about all of these things and more.

TSS: I just want to start off with your new label, Extra Credit. So how did that come to be?

Valentino Khan: I think for many years I told everybody I would never want to make a record label because I know that there comes a lot of responsibility with that. But I think it’s about time that, like, you know, we really, as a scene and a culture, get back to focusing on people that are pushing boundaries and making some cool, interesting things. I think as dance music continues to exist, it’s very easy to get formulaic with that and, you know, everybody replicate each other and become some cookie cutter stuff. But the thing that always appealed to me about dance music, especially from the beginning, was that, like, I love the records that push boundaries and sounded like nothing else and had a unique component to it. So I want to champion those things, to be a platform for those things.

TSS: So how do you feel you have done that so far with your label and especially your own couple of releases that you’ve had on the label, “Stimulation” and “Nasty?”

Valentino Khan: Yeah, we’re signing demos right now at the moment, so I haven’t really been able to launch it with other artists yet. It’s in the very near future, but with my own records, like, I still want to champion that spirit. It’s like, yes, I’m making this version of house music, but I feel like it’s very unique to me and it’s very, you know, different than you might hear at your typical event, your typical TikTok, or social media posts that people are making because they try to replicate a sound that currently exists. I want to do something that’s unique to me.

TSS: Yeah, cool. I’ve noticed over the past few years you’ve kind of started off with bass and the bass house sound with like Jauz and all them, and you kind of diverged into your own sound. Got a little bit bassier, but now you’ve kind of gone more to the house down again. Would you agree with that?

Valentino Khan: And I’ve always been a really versatile artist. People always, I think, try to fit me in a box and it just makes it a lot less fun for me. I think at the current moment, I think especially with the way just the nature of the game is, I’ve really wanted to focus on one particular sound. And like, kind of my bread and butter has always been this weird, interesting, dark, sexy house music. And that’s really what I’m locked in on right now, and I’m gonna keep putting out records that are in that lane.

TSS: Oh, yeah,, I’m a house guy, and  I saw your set at Decadence. I saw you maybe 10 years ago when you played at LED New Year’s Eve in San Diego, and then I caught you at Decadence, a couple years ago here. I was like, “Whoa. This sound is kind of off the wall.” You went more housey and, back then . I saw you as a bass guy, so it was really cool to see that evolution as a house guy. So what kind of artists are you looking for with your label and the sound you’re going for?

Valentino Khan: I mean, right now, I say right now, I’m looking for a lot of four on the floor music. A lot of house music between anywhere, like 126 to 145bpm, let’s just call. It can be a little bit faster. You know, I just want things that sound unique, and I feel like that’s one of the genres where we need a lot more originality at the moment, and hopefully I can continue to find people that really embody that.

TSS: That’s a vibe. So speaking to that, who are current artists you’re looking up to,  and you’re like, “all right, that artist is the sound that I want to sign to my label.”

Valentino Khan: I love what Chris Lorenzo is doing. I love what Odd Mob is doing. I love what Omnom is doing, too. I mean, there’s so many people that I’m happy that there is a large group of people who are doing something that’s original to them, and that’s really, you know, if anything, on a broader scale, what I want to focus on with the label and even my own records, too.

TSS: Yeah. Sick. I love it. Those are all artists who are pushing that kind of boundary and sound with the bassier side of house. Not the tech side, which has been popular for years now and doesn’t seem like it’s slowing down. So it’s cool to see people still in this lane that you are in.

Valentino Khan: Yeah, people will find a happy medium. All these genre labels are very rigid. Some people even would consider what Odd Mob is doing slightly tech house. I don’t know if it is. Maybe it is, but, like, whatever it is, it doesn’t even matter because he’s making something cool that resonates to him and we all play his records in our sets.

TSS: Making music that resonates to you because that’s how you’re going to make the best music instead of chasing the trends.

Valentino Khan: It’s been around for a while. The categorization system is  just a way to give people an idea about your music. Maybe we started doing it because SoundCloud forced you to put a genre on your Beatport. But it doesn’t matter at the end of the day. What matters is, are you doing something that really represents you the best, you know?

TSS: Yeah, that’s what matters. Making music that represents you and what you like. So now, switching gears I know you’re big into sports and wrestling.

Valentino Khan Yeah.

TSS So I hear you have been doing things with wrestling. Extra Mania.

Valentino Khan: It’s not with WWE, but I’m doing my own fall tour called Extra Mania. It’s the combination of live DJing and pro wrestling at the same time. I’ve done a couple of these shows before. If you’ve never been to one, it is the most sensory overload you could possibly go to. The first one I did, I didn’t even know if it was gonna work. And then like we just did it and saw it in action. Like everybody got crazy lit at the show. They couldn’t stop talking about it and I wanted to do more. But then the world shut down. There was Pandemic, if you remember. And now it’s back, so it’s pretty cool. I’m doing a lot of large venues. San Francisco, Louisiana, Seattle, Utah, Dallas and yeah, it’s gonna be a lot of fun. It’s gonna be very unique to anything else you see. I want you to go to those concerts at the end of the year. Hopefully it was impactful enough to you that you can point to that and be like, “that was a really, really, like a core moment of my show going year.”

TSS: Explain it a little bit more for the people out there. It’s like a wrestling match with music curated to it or?

Valentino Khan: You know, I find that the music is not always necessarily in sync with it. Personally, it’s kind of hard, but in many ways it does become insignificant. Because I do notice the wrestlers that are working the events and put on their matches actually will respond to the music and they’ll kind of time their moves to like go along with the build ups and the drops and all that and like hit a big move on a drop. So like, they really do respond to the overall, like flow of the sets a lot of times.

TSS: Really sick. So do you curate more to the wrestlers or the wrestlers more curate to you then?

Valentino Khan: It’s a little bit of both. I try to think what is going to go off in the setting. This is a crazy show like that. But I think they also like music that  hypes them up and they’re extremely stoked to do it and extremely happy to not necessarily choreograph what they’re doing to the music, but they respond to the music and that’s really, really cool. Like give and take to see, you know.

TSS: Are you promoting local wrestlers or is it traveling?

Valentino Khan: It’s a lot of independent wrestlers.

TSS: Awesome. That’s really cool. Now switching gears just one more time to the festival here at Goldrush. So how would you explain to the people who weren’t at your set tonight what they missed?

Valentino Khan: It was a lot of dark, sexy house, and a lot of unreleased music that was played. And then we get to do the afterparty too, which is gonna probably be even darker and sexier, honestly.

TSS: Yeah, I was gonna ask.

Valentino Khan: There’s only one direction to go from there.

TSS: You knew what my follow up was. I was gonna say, how do you go from a set at a main stage to an afterparty where the vibes are going to be a lot different?

Valentino Khan: People are always a little bit tired during the after party, but they’re still down to like turn up. And I think you’ve got to play some weirder and it’s cooler that you don’t necessarily get to play in your average set.

TSS: Yeah, that’s how I feel. It’s like I want to turn up, but it’s maybe a different vibe.

Valentino Khan: For sure.

TSS: So to wrap up, any final thoughts that you wanted to add?

Valentino Khan: Shoutout to everybody that I’ve met just doing this crazy, weird career. You guys have always just shown me so much respect and love. Go check out Extra Credit. You know, we’re gonna really be doing some cool things with the label in the coming months. And I’ll see you in your town. I’m not stopping anytime soon. Very blessed to still be out here.

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