Eye Q Records was founded in 1990 by Sven Väth, Matthias Hoffmann & Heinz Roth.
It was distributed via WEA Musik GmbH Neue Medien Und Elektronikvertrieb and "Eye Q Musikproduktion GmbH".
Some later logos are just Eye Q.
The company was first registered in Frankfurt / Main as EYE Q Records Musikproduktion GmbH (March 21st, 1991 - June 10th, 1992), changed in June 1992 to Eye Q Musikproduktion GmbH and then to Eye Q Music GmbH. The german company was dissolved in August 1997 due to financial problems caused by their US division "Eye Q USA".
The UK division of the label continued to release records using a new label design just featuring Eye Q and changing the musical style quite severely.
EYE Q Records combines artist-orientated music with the energetic, pulsing rhythm of urban reality. Acts like SVEN VÄTH, EARTH NATION, STEVIE B-ZET and even RAINALD GOETZ are anything but "middle of the road" with their repertoire. Coming to grips with sounds, emotions and moods, together with song-based arrangements, are the priority here. 12" vinyl singles serve as the basis in the clubs, in order to demonstrate the central role of the clubs with their wealth of colours and unique fascination.
Harthouse was founded in 1992 by Heinz Roth (and Matthias Hoffmann (Brainchild) & Sven Väth) in Frankfurt.
It was distributed via "WEA Musik GmbH" and "Eye Q Musikproduktion GmbH".
In 1997 Sven Väth and Matthias Hoffmann left Harthouse and the label moved to Berlin in early February. On June 9th 1997 Harthouse had to declare insolvency.
The UK office continued operating and released a couple of records during the rest of 1997 with a totally different logo.
In 1998 UCMG Germany bought the licences to some Harthouse releases and the rights for the use of the label's trademark. Oliver Bondzio of Hardfloor became the new A&R and the "Retrospective"-compilation along with some new releases were published. After the bankrupcy of the UCMG Germany in 2003, Harthouse was discontinued for the second time.
In 2004 Daredo Music took over the rights of the Harthouse brand. The label is now called Harthouse Mannheim, but the old design is kept intact. Since November 2017, the label Harthouse, now just called "Harthouse" belongs to UCM.One.
Before Eye Q Music opened an office in London they had a licensing deal with Rising High. Releases with a catalog numbering scheme using HARTUK should be put under Harthouse U.K.
In its present state, HARTHOUSE has a strong affilation towards the feelings and instincts of a whole generation. Within the EYE Q family, it plays the role of an "idea tank" for new, unknown talents. With its 12" releases, it is mainly aimed at the DJs and clubs in the musical underground. Acts like HARDFLOOR, RESISTANCE D, THE AMBUSH, PULSE or SPICELAB have released 12" singles on HARTHOUSE for years and have grown beyond the club/rave scene. The HARTHOUSE albums of these acts, however, demonstrate different aesthetics in their way of working with sounds and sequences that are also effective outside of the clubs. Here we also find ALTER EGO whose goals are the production of "advanced home listening music". HARTHOUSE offers open-minded young artists a playing-field for creativity and experiments that do not necessarily originate from the Techno/House scene.
The Omen, a club in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, was founded in 1988 by Sven Väth, Michael Münzing and Matthias Martinsohn. Originally the club was founded in 1983 as club Vogue. In the Omen the German techno was more or less born and after it's opening in 1988 the club became very popular and a center of the global techno scene.
Big names like Sven Väth, Carl Cox, Frank Lorber, Toni Rios, Gayle San, DJ Dag, Chris Liebing and Jeff Mills played at the Omen
What was often announced happened on October 19, 1998, the Omen closed its doors. The last track played at Omen was "The Day After" from "Astral Pilot". Three closing parties were held in the last week: On monday, wednesday and finally on the last one, which started on Friday and lasted till monday morning. On Sunday the number of people was so large that a speaker was placed on the street and hunderds of people were dancing in the street in front of the Omen. The police did not intervene, but closed the street for through traffic for a couple of hours
For many, the Omen was a second home. Weekday school or work and at weekends Omen Frankfurt. It was initially inconceivable that the "institution" Omen suddenly was not there anymore.
In order to remember the great time, held every year in October, the so-called Omen Memorial Day (OMD).