# MFS (label)

MFS (Masterminded For Success) is an independent electronic dance music label from Berlin, Germany. Founded by Mark Reeder in 1990, it initially ran until 2008, when Reeder put the label on ice to concentrate on his own music production and remixer career. Reeder reactivated the label in 2018, specifically to release the album Fragment by Chinese band STOLEN.
The label was originally founded by "Deutsche Schallplatten Berlin" the former GDR record company, which made it the very first independent dance music label of East Germany, until the DSB closed down in 1993. After which, Mark Reeder and his partner Torsten Jurk took MFS and carried on as a fully independent label, to launch the careers and release music by some of electronic dance music's seminal artists.
MFS is considered to be one of, if not the first trance label, as it was to be the first to coin the term "trance music", and today, is seen by few as a traditional underground label due to its commercial success. Its main focus from the beginning was trance music, but soon started to release a wide variety of different music within the electronic genres. MFS helped to start many now famous artists at the early stages of their careers such as, Paul van Dyk, Harald Blüchel (Cosmic Baby), Johnny Klimek, Ellen Allien, Dr. Motte, Mijk van Dijk, Humate (Gerret Frerichs, Oliver Huntemann), as well as many others.

## History
### 1990s, MFS - Masterminded For Success

In December 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the communist state-owned ex-Amiga record label aka Deutschen Schallplatten Berlin (DSB) followed Mark Reeder's suggestion in founding an electronic music record label "Masterminded For Success". Reeder had already built up a working relationship with the AMIGA/DSB, during the recording of the album "Torture" for East German indie band, Die Vision in East Berlin while the Berlin Wall was still up. The name "MFS" was actually taken from the initials of Ministry for State Security(German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, MfS), commonly known as the Stasi in East Germany. The label was originally started by Reeder and the distribution was run by Mirko Withfield. Reeder brought in Torsten Jurk and Matt Graver, who shortly after left the label to become the manager of Atari Teenage Riot. After the collapse of DSB and the sale to BMG in the late 1993, Reeder and Jurk secured all the rights on the label name and catalogue, which had originally been funded by the DSB.
The first artist to be signed on the label was Rocky, followed by VOOV, Paul Browse, and Johnny Klimek known as "Effective Force" and Gaby Delgado from DAF and Saba Komossa's "2 German Latinos", and "Neutron 9000". MFS soon started to gain a "trance" profile and in early 1991 soon signed Mijk van Dijk, Cosmic Baby, Humate and Paul van Dyk. Reeder's vision to create a melodic, uplifting and positive sounding version of Techno was eventually to be realised by Cosmic Baby. One of the most known projects under MFS was, "The Visions of Shiva", a collaboration by Cosmic Baby (Harald Blüchel) & Paul van Dyk. Together they released, "Perfect Day" & "How Much Can You Take?" before going their separate ways in 1993. Another one of MFS more well-known releases was "Love Stimulation" by Humate in 1993, along with a remix by Paul van Dyk.
Taken from the previous years releases, MFS released the first ever Trance compilation in 1992 called, Tranceformed From Beyond which became a milestone and set the standard for others to come. The album was sequenced and mixed by Cosmic Baby & Mijk van Dijk. A year later, MFS asked Paul van Dyk to make a mix for their second compilation album, a soundtrack for an early computer graphic video which they called "X-Mix 1 - The MFS Trip" this was a collaboration with the video label K7!.
Some of the more well-known albums from MFS were, "Stellar Supreme"(1992), "Ki"(1993) by 030/Dr Motte, "Afreuropamericasiaustralica"(1994) by Mijk van Dijk and Paul van Dyk's "45 RPM"(1994) and "Seven Ways"(1996) albums. Both PVD & Cosmic Baby became MFS main artists, but in 1994 Cosmic Baby left the label, allured by promises of stardom from the major record company BMG.
Reeder started signing more underground artists and tracks, while Jurk focused on Paul van Dyk artist development and implementing a booking agency and publishing into the label work. During the mid-late 1990s, Paul van Dyk would later become a huge commercial success for MFS. He released his first two albums and stayed with MFS up until 1997, when Reeder and Jurk parted away.
Reeder who continued the label later faced a lawsuit with Paul van Dyk over his third studio album, which turned out to be "Out There and Back" which was eventually released on Rob Deacon's Deviant Records UK.

### 2000s, Discontinuation

After 1999, the dance scene was starting shift into a new direction, most importantly trance was as well.
MFS later had trouble releasing other kinds of records other than trance and because of the change and rise of many trance labels at the end of the 20th century. Reeder decided he wanted to distance himself from trance and focus more on other genres, mainly techno and a new deeper, sexier sound he had devised and created with Corvin Dalek, which he called Wet & Hard. In 1999, MFS created two sub-labels called, "Flesh" and "Telemetric". The focus on the "Flesh" label was Wet & Hard and "Telemetric" was mainly techno, including some deeper trance releases.
The "Telemetric" label was very short lived (after the suspicious murder of the labels A&R Carlos Heinz in late 2001) and therefore never reached commercial success.
Label "Flesh" however, went on to release some great and highly controversial tracks by artists like Corvin Dalek (who Reeder worked together on many remixes with for artists such as New Order, Destiny's Child, Da Hool, or Faithless), "Mr Sam", "Eiven Major", "Klang" and "Jan Kessler". "Flesh" records are rare and most sought after these days and are easily recognised through their distinctive "HotKunst" (hot art) artwork style which Reeder and Dalek created and which frequently caused controversy, one CD "Assorted Lovetoys was even banned in Switzerland.
The "Flesh" label released some classic club tracks, such as "Young People", "Pounds & Penz", "Pornoground", "Crystal" or "I Like It 69", culminating in a series of "Flesh" Wet&Hard compilations ("Wet&Hard", "Flesh For Fantasy" or "Feel") and Corvin Dalek's album "I Am A Dalek". With this album, Mark travelled the world together with Corvin Dalek, from Colombia to China, USA, Mexico and UK and almost everywhere in between.
Sadly, due to the demise of many of the main European vinyl distributors in 2000, label owner Reeder decided to put MFS and his sub-labels on ice and ceased all label activity in 2008. He wanted to return to making and producing electronic-rock music again.

### 2018, Reactivated

After releasing two albums FivePointOne (2011) and Mauerstadt (2017), Reeder's reworks with Blank & Jones for Reordered (2008) as well as numerous remixes for bands like New Order, Depeche Mode and the Pet Shop Boys. In the Spring of 2017, Reeder undertook a two-month tour of China with his documentary film "B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West-Berlin", a movie made up of original 80's footage, about his early life in the walled-in city. During this tour, he was introduced to STOLEN, a young Psychedelic-Techno-Rock band from Chengdu. Impressed, they recorded a demo together and the band decided they would like Reeder to produce their second album. STOLEN then embarked on a 32-week tour of China to acquire enough funds for their stay in Berlin.
Together with Reeder and his studio partner Micha Adam, STOLEN recorded the album FRAGMENT in 2018. It was after this recording session, Reeder decided to reactivate MFS, especially for the release of this album.
Reeder originally starting MFS as a label platform for new and enthusiastic Eastern European artists, he had now moved his search for interesting artists in the Far East.