With floor-filling releases and a DIY energy, CHAOS are the record label shaking up the UK dance scene from the inside out.

Founded on instinct, community and a spark of unpredictability, CHAOS have fast become one of the most exciting forces in UK dance music. Their motto? “Chaos by name, chaos by nature,” and they definitely mean it. Since launching in 2023, the label has built a stacked roster, featuring Aussie party starters Confidence Man, UK bassline heavyweight NOTION, and tech house groover Rossi, who just released his collaboration ‘High On Me’ with Jazzy. If it sounds good on a packed-out dance floor at 3 am, the chances are that CHAOS are probably behind it.

 

The idea for the imprint was born out of a shared frustration with how many major labels operated. While working within Polydor’s dance roster, the team saw how other big players stuck to outdated models. They didn’t just want to sign artists, they wanted to build something bigger: an ecosystem that put culture first, where instinct trumped formula. That vision became CHAOS. Not just a label, but a growing community complete with parties, podcast episodes, merch drops and a regular series of in-house artist mixes.

 

Their first signing, Irish house DJ and vocalist Jazzy, set the tone. Discovered through grainy club footage online, the team flew out to meet her and signed her shortly after. Her debut single, ‘Giving Me’, made history, hitting No.1 in Ireland and making her the first female artist to top the Irish charts in 14 years. “We looked at her and thought she was a star,” says Silas Howison-Waughray, General Manager of CHAOS. “I know it sounds corny, but there was something about her,” interjects Paddy McLean, General Manager at Polydor and former CHAOS co-manager. Jack Duckworth, Head of A&R at CHAOS, adds: “For a lot of female DJs, there’s pressure to have another producer on the track, but we wanted to make the point that she’s an artist in her own right and can do it on her own.”

 

Since then, CHAOS have added names like rising 4/4 favourites Prospa and Josh Baker. It’s a line-up that doesn’t chase trends but follows instinct, one that feels less like a brand strategy and more like a scene being built in real time. With momentum building and the community growing louder, CHAOS is showing that club culture isn’t dead; it just needs a shake-up.

 

We caught up with Jack Duckworth, Paddy McLean and Silas Howison-Waughray to talk rule-breaking, risk-taking taking and why taking the obvious choice is never going to be the CHAOS way.

Let’s go back to the start. How did CHAOS come to be? What was the moment you knew this had to happen?

Paddy: All three of us have worked together for nearly eight years across the dance roster. For us, we wanted to turn a collective frustration into something positive: we noticed that major labels could be better at developing and fostering artist development within the electronic space. We felt like there needed to be more support and community to help artists develop.

 

Jack: There are a lot of labels in those major ecosystems lacking culture. I think we wanted to try and make a label that was more relatable. There are a lot of amazing labels that artists run themselves, but there’s a lack of labels that come from their own space. All of us at Polydor are ravers. We go out and have fun, that’s how we all became mates, so it felt natural to do something together.

What gap in the dance and electronic space were you trying to fill? And why did it need CHAOS, specifically, to do it?

Silas: There’s two main things we’re trying to do. Firstly, we’re focused on delivering amazing artist development, which is key at any label. Secondly, we want to build a culture and community around the label. If you look at heritage labels like Houndstooth or Metalheadz, whatever came out of them, whether events or merch, I’d be all over it because the label felt important to me. That’s why we are doing pop-ups, launching a merch line, and hosting podcasts, as we want to build an ecosystem around the label that’s centred on community. 

 

Jack: Our ethos is chaos by name and chaos by nature. We’re all big fans of different sub-genres across dance music. We never wanted to pigeonhole ourselves into one specific sub-genre. It’s always been about signing the most exciting artists and making our roster as eclectic as possible.

You’ve mentioned signing artists from across a range of sub-genres, and each one seems to tap into a different corner of the dance music universe.  How intentional is that diversity?

Jack: They have to be absolute stars. I remember going to see Confidence Man at the Roundhouse a few years ago. We saw the show and thought it was one of the best we’d ever seen, so we instantly wanted to work with them. We don’t sign a crazy amount of talent.

 

Paddy: Diversity is important because it’s fun to work with so many different subcultures within the scene. Launching the label with Jazzy as our first signing, the roadmap for a female electronic artist from Dublin isn’t very clear. Helping build her platform has been amazing. At CHAOS, we want to work with people who aren’t the obvious choices.

Speaking of Jazzy, how did you come across her? And what made her the best artist to launch CHAOS with? 

Silas: We worked with her when she was on a Belters Only record called ‘Make Me Feel Good’, which made it to No.3 in the UK. Jack stumbled across her via that record; we thought she was a star.

 

Paddy: Jack sent me a video of her performing in a club in Dublin. It was super grainy and of bad quality. She had her sunglasses on and was singing, then the beat dropped and the spotlight suddenly shone on her. I know it sounds corny, but there was something about Jazzy. She seemed so interesting. 

 

Jack: After she featured on ‘Make Me Feel Good’, I flew out to Dublin. The track was charting in Ireland, and she was still working in the Tesco bakery, listening to her song being played on the radio. I waited until she finished her shift, and then we went to a pub. I said my pitch, but she told me to “do one!” I had to stay another day to convince her that we were really serious and wanted to get involved. 

Her rise has been stratospheric, with half a billion streams on Spotify as well as playing at Glastonbury. Did you ever expect your first artist to make such an achievement?

Silas: When you go into these artist projects, where you’ve got incredible music and an artist who’s really up for it, you never know where it’s going to go. But the key thing for us is collaboration. We have an incredible relationship with Jazzy and her team, and there is trust on both sides.

 

Jack: No one was expecting ‘Giving Me’ to do what it did. I remember she called me two weeks in when it was charting and was like, “What the fuck is going on?” She was obviously happy, but she went from the girl next door in Dublin to everybody in the city knowing her name. At the same time, it’s tricky for an artist to have such a big hit so early on in their career. There are a lot of artists who have a flash-in-the-pan moment, but for Jazzy, we’re trying to build her something that she can have long-term success with.

Is that close relationship that you have with artists paramount to what you do? Is that how you make an artist feel like one of your own?

Paddy: I feel like a lot of our real-world activations, like our parties, podcast, and merch line, foster a relationship with the artist. For example, having a dedicated Rossi party is our way of showing the artist that they’re part of this team and we’re here to help them achieve anything. 

 

Jack: I like to think that the artists that we’ve signed wanted to sign because they could feel the passion from us, and not feel like it’s another data signing. 

 

Silas: We’ve worked together for so long that I think the enthusiasm and relationship between us bleeds out into the wider team, the label and into the artists as well. If you’re running a label and trying to build a community around it, but don’t know your colleagues very well, it’ll probably go in a completely different direction.

In just two years, the label has generated over a billion streams. Beyond numbers, what do you think has allowed CHAOS to accelerate at this pace?

Silas: Ask anyone who’s heard our bigger tracks, like NOTION’s remix of Chrystal’s ‘The Days’, and chances are, they wouldn’t even know it was released by CHAOS. I think the brand is being accelerated by smart A&R moves from Jack. We’ve got a Rossi and Jazzy record out next week. Rossi is one of the hottest DJs on the circuit right now. Previously, we had Josh Baker, Prospa and all these DJs who have risen through the ranks and are now super successful.

Are you trying to bring back the cult following around labels again?

Silas: I think that is definitely the goal, and we’re starting to see it play out. We threw a Sammy Virji x Skepta pop-up a few weeks back, which was part of Capitol Records. Sammy isn’t signed to CHAOS, but we’re part of the same team that threw the party together. There were loads of kids wearing CHAOS merch from our last party. I think people are starting to associate these events with CHAOS, which is exciting and helps to foster that cult following. 

 

Paddy: The biggest buzz is seeing people wear our merch. It’s like a badge of honour.

 

Jack: Building that following is one of the hardest things to do at the moment. But I think it’s down to the A&R and the events. It’s all about pushing the CHAOS name. We don’t have big egos; it’s the artists that we care about. Hopefully, if we continue to put out good music, we will see the hard work pay off. 

Where do you see the future of CHAOS? Any long-term goals you’re looking to tick off?

Silas: In terms of brand development, we would love to host bigger events, festival stages, and expand our merch range. Of course, bigger numbers across socials can drive more people towards the content we’re creating for the artists. One day, we may have a CHAOS festival, who knows!

Finally, in 10 years, what impact do you hope CHAOS will have had on the industry, on culture and on dance floors everywhere?

Paddy: Looking through the lens of an artist like Jazzy, we want to help establish pathways for artists who represent something new. She’s resonated with a whole new audience, and I’m sure she will leave a positive mark on club culture. She has set a blueprint for a new generation of artists who can follow in her footsteps. If that’s what we can achieve with Jazzy and CHAOS, then I think we can all hopefully walk away and know that it was worth it.