Discover Records

Discover Records was founded in 2001 in South London by John Askew together with Pablo Gargano and Steven Lo Presti, as a focused platform for the harder, faster, more technically sophisticated end of trance — the sound that mainstream EDM was about to leave behind, and that needed dedicated institutional support to survive. Through the mid-2000s the label became one of the most important UK trance imprints, releasing material from John Askew himself, Simon Patterson (whose 2009 "F-16" became a defining tech-trance moment), John O'Callaghan, Activa, and many other artists working at 138+ BPM. Discover's curatorial discipline has been unusually consistent: rather than chasing trends, the label has stayed committed to peak-time, drive-forward trance with technical and emotional depth. The Discover Trance compilation series and Discover Dark sub-imprint extended the catalogue across the spectrum from full-on uplifting to harder tech and hard-trance material. Discover's most consequential second-order legacy was John O'Callaghan's parallel work on the imprint that grew into the standalone Subculture brand in 2008 — meaning Discover sits at the genealogical root of much of the modern 138 BPM scene. The label remains active and respected by the harder-trance connoisseurship that it helped to build.