Indianola Records is an American

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 ...

that mainly focuses on

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

Overview

Indianola Records was founded in 1999 with the release of Life Before's "Reflections on Tomorrow". The label quickly gained worldwide recognition in 2001 with the release of Evergreen Terrace's '' Losing All Hope Is Freedom'' and subsequent releases. Indianola is run by its two active owners, John Giddens and Matt Shelton.

Early history

Originally envisioned as a studio and record label; Matt Shelton, Bo Barber, Michael Gibbs and Jeff Davis built a small studio into a family farm house of Shelton's in 1998. During this time they did demos for several

Valdosta, Georgia Valdosta is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Georgia, Lowndes County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of 2019, Valdosta had an estimated population of 56,457. Valdosta is the principal city of the Valdosta Metr ...

bands under the name Black and Blue Studios, one of these bands was Life Before, an early wave melodic hardcore band fronted by John Giddens and guitarist Judson Parker (also of Cinema, Another Dying Friend, and French Connection fame). The demo, simply entitled "Summer Demo", quickly led to ramping up the record label side of the idea with Giddens and Shelton wanting to put out a full-length record for Life Before. Geographically, the farm house was located on a stretch of family land that had been in Shelton's family since the Civil War, it was called Indianola. With the Life Before project gearing up, a name for the record label was needed and Indianola Records was chosen. During this time, the studio side of the project was abandoned and Indianola Records released 3 albums: Life Before "Reflections on Tomorrow", Wisenbaker "Contemplating Whether or Not to Tell You, I Love You" and a compilation of artists entitled "Somewhere Between Glory and Despair". John Giddens became heavily involved with these releases and was made a co-owner. Two demo tracks from

Evergreen Terrace Evergreen Terrace is a five-piece American metalcore band from Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 1999, they are named after the street inhabited by the Simpsons. The band's sixth and latest studio album '' Dead Horses'' was released on Decembe ...

appeared on "Somewhere Between Glory and Depair".

Exclusive distribution

With the release of '' Losing All Hope Is Freedom'' and the ''Evergreen Terrace vs. xOne Fifthx'' albums by

, along with records from A Jealousy Issue, Sleeping by the Riverside and This Runs Through, Indianola Records reached an exclusive distribution agreement with Lumberjack Distribution. "A Tragedy in Progress" by

Across Five Aprils ''Across Five Aprils'' is a novel by Irene Hunt, published in 1964 and winner of a 1965 Newbery Honor, set in the Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim o ...

was the label's first exclusive release. This period saw the release of such bands as

A Day to Remember A Day to Remember (often abbreviated ADTR, and previously known as End of an Era) is an American rock band from Ocala, Florida, founded in 2003 by guitarist Tom Denney and drummer Bobby Scruggs. They are known for their amalgamation of meta ...

Casey Jones John Luther "Casey" Jones (March 14, 1863 – April 30, 1900) was an American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train at Vaughan, Mississippi. Jones was a locomotive engineer for the Illinois C ...

, Glory of This,

Life in Your Way Life in Your Way (also known as LIYW) is a Christian hardcore band from Connecticut. History Origins (1999-2002) The band was formed by two childhood friends Josh Kellam and Todd Mackey. Jeremy Kellam joined the band to play bass after the ...

, Odd Project and many more. Michael Gibbs and Bo Barber left active participation with the label during this time to pursue other career goals, Jeff Davis died, Sleeping by the Riverside's ''A Breath Between Battles'' is dedicated to him. By the end of 2007, John Giddens struck a distribution deal with Koch Distribution. Koch was later sold and rebranded as E1

Entertainment One Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...

, Indianola is currently distributed by E1.

Roster

Alumni

(

Fueled By Ramen Fueled by Ramen LLC is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by 300 Elektra Entertainment. The label, founded in Gainesville, Florida in 1996, is now based in New York City. History John Janick conceived of the l ...

) *A Jealousy Issue (ex-members of Poison the Well; disbanded) *A Prisoners Dilemma * A Tragedy in Progress riginal Across Five Aprils line-up*Acirema *

(

Victory Records Victory Records is a Chicago-based record label founded by Tony Brummel. It operates a music publishing company called "Another Victory, Inc." and is the distributor of several record labels. It has featured many prominent artists including Thur ...

; disbanded) *And Then There Was You *Apparitions *Bombshell *Boys No Good embers of Casey Jones*Caldwell *

(members of Evergreen Terrace and

Loma Prieta Loma Prieta (from Spanish ''loma'' -hill, ''prieta'' -dark) is high and is the highest peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California. Although the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was named for this mountain, the actual epicenter was fi ...

) *

(currently on Rise Records) * Forgiven Rival *Glory of This Disbanded) Related Artists – Ambush!, Young Hollywood*

Gunmetal Grey Gunmetal Grey was an American thrashcore band that was formed in 2002 as a side project of some San Francisco Bay area hardcore veterans. It was formed by Stephen Lauck (of Hoods) and drummer Brandon Thomas (of S.E.E.D.). They currently have ...

(disbanded, vocalist now in

Suicide Silence Suicide Silence is an American deathcore band from Riverside, California. The band was established in 2002, and has released six studio albums, three EPs, and nineteen music videos. They were awarded the ''Revolver'' Golden God award for "Best ...

, ex-

All Shall Perish All Shall Perish was an American deathcore band from Oakland, California, formed in 2002. The band was signed to Nuclear Blast and have released four full-length albums through the label. Their final album, '' This Is Where It Ends,'' was releas ...

) *HeartCakeParty *Honour Crest (Disbanded) *Life Before (the first Indianola band) *

(Come&Live) *Lokyata *Monday in London *Mercury Switch * Odd Project (disbanded) *

Oh, Manhattan Oh, Manhattan is a post-hardcore band from Georgia. Previously signed to Indianola Records History Oh, Manhattan originally formed in 2009 in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, by members of various local acts. The name "Oh, Manh ...

*Provoke, Destroy *Scream Out Loud (currently on

Luxor Records Luxor Records is an American record label located in Los Angeles, California. Background Luxor Records was co-founded by Aaron Bridgewater (lead vocals) and Nick Morris (lead guitarist), of As They Sleep. The label was created to release the ba ...

) * Sleeping by the Riverside *Strateia *The Year Ends In Arson *This Day Will Tell *This Runs Through (disbanded, members currently in

Underoath Underoath (stylized as Underøath or UnderOath) is an American rock band from Tampa, Florida. It was founded by lead vocalist Dallas Taylor and guitarist Luke Morton on November 30, 1997, in Ocala, Florida; subsequently, its additional memb ...

and

To Speak of Wolves To Speak of Wolves is an American metalcore band from Greensboro, North Carolina, formed in 2007. The band has released three full-length studio albums, ''Myself Is Less Than Letting Go, Myself < Letting Go'', ''Find Your Worth, Come Home'', an ...

) *The Midnight Life *We Are Action *Wealth In Water *When Cities Sleep *Words Like Daggers (currently on Third String Records) *Your Eyes My Dreams

References