 In addition to WestCom, its owner also operates NovaTekk and Euromedia.Headquartered in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.In 1999 Stefan Herwig, A&R manager at Off Beat, left the company over differences in promotion, to join forces with Eskil Simonsson (Covenant), Johan Van Roy (Suicide Commando), Bryan Erickson (Velvet Acid Christ) and Ronan Harris (VNV Nation) to form a new label, dependent (which opened January 1999).