It was back in 1993 that Rave ad salesman Simon Berry (Art Of Trance) began work on the label, from his flat above his favourite EastEnd brothel. Realizing from his neighbours that the world of prostitution had its ins-and-outs, he opted to throw his energies into creating a stable outlet for the music and artists he loved. Simon's love of electronic music had been fired up by an early purchase of a low quality synthesizer from a bloke with a beard out of Fairport Convention. It was a life changing moment (for Simon, less so for the synthesizer seller presumably). Riding on the vibe of the music he ended up a regular at clubs like Troll, Drum Club and Chemistry. Fired up, the first Art Of Trance record 'Deeper Than Deep' launched the label, immediately identified by a certain quality and depth of production. Indeed this still continues today. It was with early records such as the Union Jack 'Two Full Moons And A Trout' and Poltergeist's 'Vicious Circles' that resulted in Platipus standing out head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. The quietly successful and prolific label was rocked however in 94 by the release of a certain record called 'Children' by the then unknown Robert Miles. It was later in the 90's that trance became synonymous with a more banging, European style of production. Although contributing to this scene with the anthemic Ferry Corsten production of Art of Trance's 'Madagascar' (an update of the earlier Cygnus X remix), Platipus weren't about to compromise the label philosophy to follow the more 'production line' vibe of the new sound. Tracks like Libra's 'Calling Your Name' and Oliver Lieb's various guises maintained the consistent quality of the labels releases. Platipus artists began to look to a new generation for the sounds of the future, Swiss youngster Moogwai's euphoric but subtle sound and Pob's highly advanced progressive tracks being fine examples of the labels philosophy in action.