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 ...
New Brunswick, New Jersey music scene
New Brunswick is a city in and the seat of government of Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
The label is best known for developing artists like
Screaming Females
Screaming Females is an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey comprising Marissa Paternoster on guitar and vocals, Jarrett Dougherty on drums, and Mike Abbate on bass. They released their debut album ''Baby Teeth'' in 2006. The band h ...
,
Mitski
Mitski Miyawaki (born Mitsuki Laycock; September 27, 1990), known professionally by the mononym Mitski, is a Japanese-born American singer-songwriter. Mitski self-released her first two albums, '' Lush'' (2012) and '' Retired from Sad, New Caree ...
,
Waxahatchee
Waxahatchee is an American indie music project, formed in 2010 by American singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield (born 4 January 1989), previously a member of P.S. Eliot. The band is named after Waxahatchee Creek, in Alabama, where Crutchfield g ...
,
Laura Stevenson
Laura Anne Stevenson (born April 25, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter from Long Island, New York, and formerly a keyboard player for the musical collective Bomb the Music Industry!
Biography
Stevenson was raised in Nassau County, New Yo ...
, and
Moor Mother
Camae Ayewa, better known by her stage name Moor Mother, is an American poet, musician, and activist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is one half of the collective Black Quantum Futurism, along with Rasheedah Phillips, and co-leads the grou ...
, as well as fostering a geographically diverse community of artists, including Mal Blum, Native American Music Award “Best Artist” winner
Keith Secola
Keith Secola (born 1957) is an Ojibwe- American musician who plays rock and roll, folk rock, folk, and reggae. A singer-songwriter, he also plays guitar and flute.
Secola was born in Cook, Minnesota . He is married and has 2 children. In 1982 h ...
,
Holy Modal Rounders
The Holy Modal Rounders was an American folk music group, originally the duo of Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber, who began performing together on the Lower East Side of New York City in the early 1960s. Their unique blend of folk music reviva ...
founder,
Peter Stampfel
Peter Stampfel (born October 29, 1938, in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin) is an American fiddle player, old-time musician, and singer-songwriter.
Stampfel is best known as a member of the Holy Modal Rounders, a psychedelic folk band that he founded with ...
Swamp Dogg
Jerry Williams Jr. (born July 12, 1942), generally credited under the pseudonym Swamp Dogg after 1970, is an American soul and R&B singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. Williams has been described as "one of the great cult figures of ...
,
Alice Bag
Alicia "Alice" Armendariz (born November 7, 1958) is an American punk rock singer better known as Alice Bag. She is the lead vocalist and co-founder of the Bags, one of the first punk bands to form in Los Angeles in the mid-1970s. Her first bo ...
, and comedian Chris Gethard.
Steinhardt and Gajewski started the label while playing in bands and attending college at
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
where the two met. After graduation they moved to
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
, where Steinhardt was from, in order to make the label a full-time operation.
In 2016, Steinhardt launched the New Alternative Music Festival.
The label has been vocally critical of Record Store Day and streaming music as well as other social issues within the music industry.
In 2020 the label relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Roster
Artists such as
Screaming Females
Screaming Females is an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey comprising Marissa Paternoster on guitar and vocals, Jarrett Dougherty on drums, and Mike Abbate on bass. They released their debut album ''Baby Teeth'' in 2006. The band h ...
,
Moor Mother
Camae Ayewa, better known by her stage name Moor Mother, is an American poet, musician, and activist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is one half of the collective Black Quantum Futurism, along with Rasheedah Phillips, and co-leads the grou ...
,
Mitski
Mitski Miyawaki (born Mitsuki Laycock; September 27, 1990), known professionally by the mononym Mitski, is a Japanese-born American singer-songwriter. Mitski self-released her first two albums, '' Lush'' (2012) and '' Retired from Sad, New Caree ...
,
Laura Stevenson
Laura Anne Stevenson (born April 25, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter from Long Island, New York, and formerly a keyboard player for the musical collective Bomb the Music Industry!
Biography
Stevenson was raised in Nassau County, New Yo ...
,
Waxahatchee
Waxahatchee is an American indie music project, formed in 2010 by American singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield (born 4 January 1989), previously a member of P.S. Eliot. The band is named after Waxahatchee Creek, in Alabama, where Crutchfield g ...
,
Bad Bad Hats
Bad Bad Hats is an indie pop band formed in 2012 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is composed of Kerry Alexander (born July 1990), Chris Hoge, and Connor Davison. The band is named after a trouble-making character in ''Madeline''.
The band has toured ...
,
Sammus
Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo (born March 20, 1986), known as Sammus, often stylized as SΔMMUS, is an American underground rapper, former teacher, and record producer.
Early life
Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo was born in Rhinebeck, NY to an Ivorian mother ...
The Ergs!
The Ergs! are an American punk rock band formed in 2000 in South Amboy, New Jersey, by three high school friends: drummer/lead vocalist Mikey Erg (Mike Yannich), guitarist/vocalist Jeff Erg (Jeff Schroeck), and bassist Joey Erg (Joe Keller). T ...
,
Swamp Dogg
Jerry Williams Jr. (born July 12, 1942), generally credited under the pseudonym Swamp Dogg after 1970, is an American soul and R&B singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. Williams has been described as "one of the great cult figures of ...
,
Priests
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in p ...
,
Tenement
A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...
Jeffrey Lewis
Jeffrey Lewis (born November 20, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and comic book artist.
Early life
Lewis was born in New York City and grew up on the Lower East Side. He attended State University of New York at Purchase, graduating i ...
,
Peter Stampfel
Peter Stampfel (born October 29, 1938, in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin) is an American fiddle player, old-time musician, and singer-songwriter.
Stampfel is best known as a member of the Holy Modal Rounders, a psychedelic folk band that he founded with ...
, Worriers, and Lavender Country as well as comedian Chris Gethard have released records on Don Giovanni. The label has also published books from authors
Larry Livermore
Lawrence Hayes (born October 28, 1947), better known by his stage name Larry Livermore, is an American singer, musician, record producer, and author, best known as the co-founder of Lookout Records.
Biography
In 1977, Hayes began to attend pun ...
List of record labels
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Lists of record labels cover record labels, brands or trademarks associated with marketing of music recordings and music videos. The lists are organized alphabetically, b ...
*
DIY ethic
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...