The history of Warp Records can be summed up by a tale of two record shops. One a Sheffield enterprise from the late 1980s, the other a pop-up opened towards the end of last year in London.
The former was known as FON Records, the Steel City’s number one destination for all things indie and industrial. Run by Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell, the shop was revamped as the pair soon realised a new form of dance music was forming on their doorstep. Originally to be renamed as Warped Records, it ended up being called what everyone was mishearing it as down the phone when speaking with the pair, Warp.
The shop soon became the outpost of Sheffield’s ‘bleep’ scene as rave and techno took over the country, leading to the label’s birthplace in 1989 as Steve and Rob began to put out the tracks being given to them by friends and customers.