Labels We Love: Potions Music

Our Labels We Love series shares the story record labels we’re excited about. This month highlights Potions Music, a label born from lifelong obsession, instinctive taste, and the joy of giving overlooked sounds a second life.

For Andrew Brearley, running a record label feels like the natural end point of a lifetime obsession. “When I was three years old, I would tell my parents I wanted to be a drummer,” he says. By the time he got a drum kit in seventh grade, he was already living inside rhythms - making loops in his head, beatboxing nonstop, and annoying family and friends with the sheer overflow of beats running through him.

High school pushed the obsession further. Freshman year brought hip-hop. Sophomore year, turntables. By 17, he was making beats, passing out tapes, and DJing wherever he could. Moving from Rockford to Chicago at 18 gave him access to the city’s underground rap scene, and he threw himself in completely, producing for local MCs, working with the label Galapagos4, and steadily carving out a reputation as a beatmaker (he stills makes beats today under his Meaty Ogre alias).

But even then, hip-hop was only part of the story. The real fuel was the hunt: digging for soul, jazz, funk, psych, and far-flung “exotic” records to sample and chasing that feeling of finding something nobody else had touched. “We had a little crew in Rockford, and it was always some friendly competition to find samples other people had used,” he recalls. That competition spiraled into a career of buying and selling records, amassing an encyclopedic ear, and developing the instinctive taste that would later form the backbone of his own label.

Before Potions, Andrew co-ran Cherries Records, a modern funk and disco imprint, with his former partner, Sheila Hernando (DJ Shred One). The label earned a reputation for impeccable taste, but when Andrew and Sheila’s relationship ended, so did the label. Out of that personal and professional split came the next chapter: Potions Music. The name, Andrew says, came from an image of mystical, slightly “thugged-out” wizards and witches stuck in his head, and once the logo was sketched by Ryan Doherty, the label’s identity snapped into place.

What makes Potions different is its refusal to be boxed in. It isn’t a funk label, or a hip-hop label, or a jazz label. It’s simply a reflection of Andrew’s taste, honed over decades of listening to and dissecting music from across the spectrum. His background as a beatmaker taught him to chase vinyl samples across the stranger corners of music. That search wired him to trust instinct; when he hears something he loves, he knows it, and Potions exists to give those sounds a physical home.

Andrew’s process for releasing music on Potions is refreshingly low-key. New albums often come through friends, word of mouth, or late night dives on YouTube and Bandcamp. If Andrew hears something compelling that hasn’t yet made it to vinyl or tape, he reaches out to the artist directly. There’s no grand A&R strategy, just gut feeling and a desire to put out good music that deserves more love. “I’m not super aggressive looking for records to release on Potions,” he says. “Most of the releases come across my way through happenstance.”

Some of those happenstances have left a mark. The first Harry James record on Potions, Buy The Numbers, captured the mood of COVID-era isolation so well that it found a wide audience and introduced new fans to the label. Still, Andrew resists the idea of a single defining sound. “The label itself isn’t as important as every individual release,” he says. Each project builds its own little world, its own niche following.

A few tracks do stand out as touchstones: Boss by Songs for Gods, Kid Icarus by Harry James, and Crime in the City by Mike Wallace are three that Andrew points to when asked to define the labels’ sound. Together they sketch the edges of the Potions aesthetic - eclectic, searching, and always a little unexpected.

Equally distinctive is the way Potions approaches physical media. Most releases are limited runs, often gone as quickly as they arrive. It’s partly practical; Andrew lives in a small NYC apartment, works full-time as a school teacher, and doesn’t want to be buried in boxes of unsold vinyl. But it’s also intentional - a small-scale operation that values intimacy over expansion. Potions isn’t trying to be a major label, it’s trying to stay nimble, personal, and sustainable.

That balance makes sense when you consider why Andrew keeps the label going at all. Potions is his way of keeping a hand in music while balancing the demands of a teaching career. It’s an outlet, a community, and a reminder that physical music culture still matters. “Potions is really just a way to get my head out of work mode,” he says. “It connects me with people who like this kind of music too, and appreciate having good music on physical formats.”

As for what’s next, Potions has more releases from Mike Wallace and Harry James in the works, along with a few surprises pending responses from artists in Andrew’s inbox. The future isn’t mapped out in five-year plans and is instead more about staying open to discovery.

That openness is the essence of Potions Music. Each release is like a small spell - once it’s gone, it’s gone, but while it’s here, it has a way of sticking with you.

Where to Start with Potions Music

Songs for Gods - Boss
The record that started it all for Potions. Uptempo electro femme funk. 

Harry James - Kid Icarus
Beautiful instrumental from self-taught pianist Harry James. A standout track from his 2021 album, Buy The Numbers.

Mike Wallace - Crime In The City
Noir-ish library music instrumental, like a soundtrack for a movie that doesn't exist.

Gerald Bailey - Mo Helia
A lo-fi dub jazz standout track from Chicago trumpeter’s stellar 2025 album, Gross Means.

Meaty Ogre - Grenades!
Andrew’s own output. Boom bap beats with plenty of swagger.