Big Scary Monsters Recording Company (often known simply as Big Scary Monsters or BSM Records) is an

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

based in Oxford, England, UK. Its releases include

La Dispute :''This is for the Marivaux play, for the band, see La Dispute (band).'' ''La Dispute'' is a prose comedy written by Pierre de Marivaux, shown for the first time on 19 October 1744 by the Théâtre-Italien in the Hôtel de Bourgogne. The story i ...

Beach Slang Beach Slang was an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in May 2013. The band underwent several line-up changes, with lead vocalist/guitarist James Alex serving as the band's leader, figurehead, chief songwriter and sole orig ...

Modern Baseball Modern Baseball (MoBo) was an American emo band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania consisting of Bren Lukens, Jake Ewald, Sean Huber, and Ian Farmer. The band formed in 2012 at Drexel University and released their first album, ''Sports'', on Lame-O ...

Minus The Bear Minus the Bear was an American indie rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 2001, and comprising members of Botch, Kill Sadie, and Sharks Keep Moving. Their sound was described as " Pele-esque guitar-taps and electronics with sophisticated ...

mewithoutYou MewithoutYou, usually styled as mewithoutYou, was an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band consisted of Aaron Weiss (vocals), Michael Weiss and Brandon Beaver (guitars), Greg Jehanian (bass guitar), and Rickie Mazzotta ( ...

Kevin Devine Kevin Devine (born December 19, 1979) is an American songwriter and musician from Staten Island, New York City, who is known for his introspective and political themes. He is a contemporary member of the underground indie rock and indie folk m ...

Caspian Caspian can refer to: *The Caspian Sea *The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea *The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea *Caspian languages, collection of languages and dialects of Caspian peopl ...

, yndi halda,

Gnarwolves Gnarwolves were a British punk rock band, formed in 2011 and based in Brighton, England. The band consisted of vocalist and guitarist Thom Weeks, bass guitarist and vocalist Charlie Piper, and drummer Max Weeks. History Formation, and early ...

The Fall of Troy The Fall of Troy is an American rock band from Mukilteo, Washington. The band is a trio consisting of Thomas Erak (guitars, vocals, keyboards), Andrew Forsman (drums, percussion) and Tim Ward (bass, screamed vocals) who was later replaced by Fr ...

Andrew W.K. Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier (born May 9, 1979), known professionally as Andrew W.K., is an American conceptual performance artist, rock singer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor. Raised in Michigan, Wilkes-Krier began his m ...

Tall Ships A tall ship is a large, traditionally- rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. "Tall ship" can also be defined more specifically by an organization, such as for a race or fe ...

Into It. Over It. Into It. Over It. is the indie rock solo project of the Chicago, Illinois-based musician Evan Thomas Weiss. It is considered one of the top acts in the emo revival scene of the 2010s. History Evan Weiss grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. His ...

Toe Toes are the digits (fingers) of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being ''digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being ''plant ...

Pulled Apart By Horses Pulled Apart by Horses are an English alternative rock band from Leeds. They formed in early 2008. The band were signed by Transgressive Records in 2009, and released their debut self-titled album ''Pulled Apart by Horses'' on 21 June 2010. In ...

Meet Me In St Louis ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' is a 1944 American Christmas musical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Divided into a series of seasonal vignettes, starting with Summer 1903, it relates the story of a year in the life of the Smith family in St. Louis ...

Cursive Cursive (also known as script, among other names) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionalit ...

Joyce Manor Joyce Manor is an American punk rock band from Torrance, California, formed in 2008. The band consists of lead vocalist/guitarist Barry Johnson, guitarist Chase Knobbe, and bassist/backing vocalist Matt Ebert. Since their formation, the band hav ...

, Bear vs. Shark,

American Football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

, Axes,

Delta Sleep Slow-wave sleep (SWS), often referred to as deep sleep, consists of stage three of non-rapid eye movement sleep. It usually lasts between 70 and 90 minutes and takes place during the first hours of the night. Initially, SWS consisted of both St ...

, Tangled Hair and

Talons A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or tarsus ...

amongst others.

History

Big Scary Monsters was established in 2001 by Kevin Douch whilst still in

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

. In Autumn 2006 BSM launched its first sub-label,

Alcopop! Records Alcopop! Records is a British independent record label, run by Jack Clothier and Kevin Douch formed in 2006 when the pair lived together in East Oxford. The label works with the likes of DZ Deathrays, Johnny Foreigner, Fight Like Apes, Anamana ...

. Alcopop! began working with bands such as

Johnny Foreigner Johnny Foreigner are an indie rock four-piece from Birmingham, UK, consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Alexei Berrow, bassist and vocalist Kelly Parker (née Southern), drummer Junior Elvis Washington Laidley, and guitarist and visual ar ...

Anamanaguchi Anamanaguchi is an American chiptune-based pop and rock band from New York City. The band has four members: lead songwriters and guitarists Peter Berkman and Ary Warnaar, bassist James DeVito, and drummer Luke Silas. Anamanaguchi combines dig ...

, Fight Like Apes and others. On 7 September 2010, the label celebrated its 100th release. ''Partied Hard'' was a DVD/CD compilation featuring over thirty promo, live and bonus videos from the label's history. It was only available between 7 September (the day after BSM099 came out) and 24 October 2010 (the day before BSM101 was due out). In April 2011 BSM co-founded Pink Mist with fellow indie labels

Holy Roar Holy Roar Records was an independent record label run by Alex Fitzpatrick. The label began in January 2006 and put out its first release in June 2006, the Phoenix Bodies album, ''Raise the Bullshit flag''. Fitzpatrick originally joked that the ...

and Blood And Biscuits. A 12" compilation was released on Record Store Day to mark the launch. Pink Mist is an East London-based collective releasing records, promoting regular live shows and blogging about up and coming new bands. In 2012 it was nominated for Best Small Label at the

AIM Awards The AIM Independent Music Awards, hosted by the Association of Independent Music (commonly abbreviated to AIM), began in 2011. It is established through a collection of independent record labels and providing service and support to independent and s ...

. Kevin Douch was featured as a speaker at AIM's Indie Con event in 2017. Big Scary Monsters announced new albums from

Lemuria Lemuria (), or Limuria, was a continent proposed in 1864 by zoologist Philip Sclater, theorized to have sunk beneath the Indian Ocean, later appropriated by occultists in supposed accounts of human origins. The theory was discredited with the di ...

, Yndi Halda, Nervus and Tangled Hair for 2018 as well as a vinyl reissue of Hell Is For Heroes' 'The Neon Handshake'. From 2007 to 2016 BSM hosted an annual

five-a-side football Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper). Other differences from football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals, and a reduced game duration. Matches are ...

tournament at Wembley Powerleague, with bands, labels, magazines, shops and other music industry teams competing.

Pop-up stores

In December 2016 the label announced that they would be opening up a pop-up Store in Hackney

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

from January 23 to February 4 in 2017. This two week period was eventually catalogued as BSM200 and was a celebration of the label's 16th birthday. During the pop up there were in-store performances from

and more. There were also other non-music based events including, a-bring-your-dog day, a screen printing day with

Awesome Merchandise Awesome may refer to: Music * Awesome (band), a Seattle-based American band * ''Awesome'' (The Temptations album) 2001 * ''Awesome'' (Marc Terenzi album), 2005 * "Awesome", a song by Veruca Salt from ''Eight Arms to Hold You'' * '' A'wesome ...

, and a cocktail bar run by the band

Tiny Moving Parts Tiny Moving Parts is an American rock band from Benson, Minnesota. Formed by brothers William and Matthew Chevalier, and their cousin Dylan Mattheisen, the band has released eight studio albums since their 2008 formation in junior high. Their epo ...

. In March 2018, BSM announced that they would be opening their second pop-up store in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. The in-store featured performances from UK based signings

Jamie Lenman Jamie Edward Lenman (born 9 November 1982) is an English musician and illustrator. He was the lead singer, guitarist and main songwriter for British alternative rock trio Reuben, from 2001 to 2008 whilst also working as an illustrator, which up ...

, Orchards, Nervus, and US band Slaughter Beach, Dog. In 2019, BSM continued its run of form and announced their pop-up store would be coming to Glasgow in Scotland. Over their time there the label hosted in store performances from

We Were Promised Jetpacks We Were Promised Jetpacks are a Scottish indie rock band originally from Edinburgh, formed in 2003. The band consists of Adam Thompson (vocals, guitar), Sean Smith (bass) and Darren Lackie (drums). Stuart McGachan (keyboards, guitar) was a mem ...

and in store talks from prominent Scottish music figures.

Reissues

Over the last few years BSM have continued to reissue classic yet niche releases from the early 00's. -

The Gloria Record The Gloria Record was an American rock band from Austin, Texas, a side-project of former Mineral vocalist Chris Simpson and bassist Jeremy Gomez. The group was formed it in 1997, together with guitarist Brian Hubbard and drummer Matt Hammon. They ...

- A Lull In Traffic - 2020
Released to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the EP's original release. -

And So I Watch You From Afar or AND may refer to: Logic, grammar, and computing * Conjunction (grammar), connecting two words, phrases, or clauses * Logical conjunction in mathematical logic, notated as "∧", "⋅", "&", or simple juxtaposition * Bitwise AND, a boolea ...

- ASIWYFA - 2019
A 10th anniversary reissue featuring a remastering of the original record and a live recording of the band performing their debut record all consisting in a 4LP box set. - Hell Is For Heroes - Neon Handshake - 2018
A celebration of the band's debut album turning 15 -

Reuben Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Rúben in European Portuguese; Rubens in Brazilian Portugue ...

- In Nothing We Trust - 2017
Less of a reissue and more of a first press. To coincide with the final Reuben album turning 10 BSM pressed In Nothing We Trust on White vinyl. - Bear vs. Shark - Right Now, You're in the Best of Hands. And If Something Isn't Quite Right, Your Doctor Will Know in a Hurry - 2011

Current bands

Bands currently releasing music on the Big Scary Monsters record label. *

Alpha Male Tea Party Alpha Male Tea Party are a British math rock band from Liverpool, England, formed in September 2009. The band currently consists of Tom Peters (vocals, guitar), Ben Griffiths (bass, vocals), and Greg Chapman (drums). History Alpha Male Tea P ...

Antarctigo Vespucci Antarctigo Vespucci is an American indie rock band, formed in 2014. The band is composed of punk musicians Chris Farren and Jeff Rosenstock. The band explains their name as a joke: " Amerigo Vespucci is the guy who discovered America so it stan ...

* Cassels *

* Cultdreams *

Gulfer Gulfer is a Canadian rock band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They formed in 2011 and are composed of David Mitchell (bass/vocals), Vincent Ford (vocals/guitar), Joe Therriault (guitar/vocals) and Julien Daoust (drums). Their sound makes use o ...

* Hell Is For Heroes * Honey Lung * InTechnicolour * Lakes *

Martha Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness to ...

Meat Wave Meat Wave is an American punk band from Chicago, Illinois, United States. Their music is described as post-something, melancholic and aggressive. They have released four albums.https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/meat-wave/meat-wave-share-what-wo ...

Me Rex Me Rex, often stylised in all capitals, is a British Indie rock band formed in London by songwriter Myles McCabe. Initially a solo endeavour it has now expanded to a full band. The current lineup is Rich Mandell ( Happy Accidents), and Phoebe Cr ...

Mom Jeans Mom jeans is an informal term for high-waisted women's jeans that were first fashionable in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the late 1990s and 2000s they were mainly worn by adult American women and considered "old" by younger women. High ...

* Nervus *

NOBRO NOBRO is a Canadian garage punk band based in Montreal, Quebec. The band was formed by vocalist and bass guitarist Kathryn McCaughey (formerly of Uncle Bad Touch), vocalist and guitarist Marianna Florczyk, and vocalist and drummer Martha Rodrig ...

* Orchards *

Owen Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born. Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...

Pedro The Lion Pedro the Lion is an American indie rock band from Seattle, Washington, United States. David Bazan formed the band in 1995 and represented its main creative force, backed by a varying rotation of collaborating musicians. In 2006 Pedro the Lion wa ...

* Pkew pkew pkew * Proper. * Prince Daddy & The Hyena *

Single Mothers A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include divorce, break-up, abandonment, becoming wid ...

Slaughter Beach, Dog Slaughter Beach, Dog is a rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania formed by Jake Ewald in 2014. Initially starting as one of Ewald's solo projects away from Modern Baseball, the group was realized after an indefinite hiatus of Modern Baseball w ...

* Tangled Hair * Terrible Love *

The Get Up Kids The Get Up Kids are an American rock band from Olathe, Kansas. Formed in 1995, the band was a major player in the mid-1990s Midwest emo scene, otherwise known as the " second wave" of emo music. Their second album ''Something to Write Home About' ...

* The Winter Passing *

* Totorro * Tree River * Tricot *

Vinnie Caruana Vinnie Caruana (born September 25, 1979) is an American singer. He is the vocalist for Long Island punk band The Movielife and lead singer/songwriter for the indie/post hardcore band I Am the Avalanche.

* Woahnows * yndi halda

Previous bands

Bands who have previously recorded for the label include: *

Adebisi Shank Adebisi Shank were a three-piece instrumental rock trio from Wexford, Ireland consisting of guitarist Lar Kaye, bass guitarist Vincent McCreith and drummer Michael Roe. The band was signed to Richter Collective in Ireland, before the record lab ...

* Axes *

Blakfish Blakfish was a mathcore band, also described as 'death pop' by the NME, The band from Birmingham, England formed in the year 2000 after meeting and becoming friends at school, contrary to their frequent fabricated claims that they all met in j ...

* Boom in the Diamond Industry * Cats and Cats and Cats * Chariots * Colour * Crash of Rhinos *

CSTVT CSTVT, originally known as Castevet, was an American emo band from Chicago. The band was founded in mid-2007 by lead vocalist and guitarist Nick Wakim, guitarist Will McEvilly, backing vocalist and bass guitarist Ron Petzke and drummer Josh Snad ...

* Days Ago *

* Doe * Econoline * Face for Radio *Gender Roles *

Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly Sam Duckworth (born 1986) is an English musician who performs as Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. He is also sometimes referred to as ''Get Cape'', ''Cape'', ''GCWCF'' and ''Slam Dunkworth'' (the latter title apparently first coined by Emmy the Great ...

* Grown Ups * Hiding With Girls * Hold Your Horse Is *

Hop Along Hop Along is an American indie rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formerly known as Hop Along, Queen Ansleis. History Hop Along began as an acoustic freak folk solo project known as Hop Along, Queen Ansleis in 2004, during Frances Quinl ...

House of Brothers House of Brothers is an English indie pop band founded by Andrew Jackson. It was originally a solo project by Jackson, whose first EP ''Deadman'' was released in 2007.Dillon, Jared W. (23 October 2007).House of Brothers – ''Deadman''" ''Sputnik ...

* Itch *

Jairus The raising of Jairus' daughter is a reported miracle of Jesus that occurs in the synoptic Gospels, where it is interwoven with the account of the healing of a bleeding woman. The narratives can be found in Mark 5:21–43, Matthew 9:18–26 a ...

Jeniferever Jeniferever is a band from Uppsala, Sweden formed in 1996. Their music could be described as ambient indie rock or post-rock; it is slow-paced, melodic, and frequently building to an orchestral-like climax. Their sound has been compared to bands ...

Meet Me In St. Louis ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' is a 1944 American Christmas musical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Divided into a series of seasonal vignettes, starting with Summer 1903, it relates the story of a year in the life of the Smith family in St. Louis l ...

* Mimas *

* Mountain Men Anonymous * My Awesome Compilation * My Favourite Co-Pilot *

Pet Symmetry Pet Symmetry is an American emo band from Chicago, Illinois. The band formed in 2012, and they are currently signed to Storm Chaser Records. The band's name is a play on words taken from Stephen King's novel ''Pet Sematary''. History Pet Symmet ...

* Pictures Paint Words *

* PWR BTTM * Querelle * Richard Walters * Secondsmile *

Shoes and Socks Off Shoes and Socks Off was a musical project by Tobias Hayes, based in Brighton, England, and active from 2007 to 2012. History After leaving Meet Me in St. Louis (band), Meet Me in St. Louis in 2007, Hayes began writing songs for an acoustic ...

* Sleep Kit * Sparks Lights and Flames * Stories and Comets *

* Teflon Monkey * The Campaign for Real Time *

The Caretaker ''The Caretaker'' is a play in three acts by Harold Pinter. Although it was the sixth of his major works for stage and television, this psychological study of the confluence of power, allegiance, innocence, and corruption among two brothers an ...

* The Dudley Corporation *

The Fall Of Troy The Fall of Troy is an American rock band from Mukilteo, Washington. The band is a trio consisting of Thomas Erak (guitars, vocals, keyboards), Andrew Forsman (drums, percussion) and Tim Ward (bass, screamed vocals) who was later replaced by Fr ...

* The Next Autumn Soundtrack * The Remarkable Rocket * The Tupolev Ghost * Thin Lips *

This Town Needs Guns TTNG (formerly known as This Town Needs Guns) are a British math rock band from Oxford, formed in 2004, and currently signed to the American label Sargent House Records. Following numerous departures, the band went from being a four-piece to a ...

* Through Silence *

Tubelord Tubelord were an English alternative rock band, formed in 2006 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. In 2009, the band signed a record deal with independent label Hassle Records and on 12 October 2009 they released their debut album ''Our First Am ...

Walter Schreifels Walter Schreifels (born March 10, 1969) is an American rock musician and producer from New York City. Career In the late 1980s, he played in many New York hardcore bands, most notably Youth of Today and Gorilla Biscuits, where he was also th ...

* Written From Negative *

You Blew It! You Blew It! was an American emo quintet based in Orlando, Florida. The band was formed in 2009 by Tanner Jones, Timothy Flynn, and Matt Messore. History In 2012, the band released their debut LP, ''Grow Up, Dude'' under Topshelf Records. Prior ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Record labels established in 2003 British independent record labels