Lil' Chief Records is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

–based

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the pr ...

formed in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

. Operating from the

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

suburb of Mt. Eden, it was founded on releases by

The Tokey Tones The Tokey Tones are a band led by Scott Mannion, formerly of Auckland indie pop bands Polaar and Plasticene. The Tokey Tones are primarily a studio-based band, the other long-time key member being Li Ming Hu, who is more widely known for her role ...

and

The Brunettes The Brunettes were an indie pop or twee pop group from New Zealand formed in 1998 to 2009. The band consists of core members Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield, with additional contributions from part-time members such as Ryan McPhun and Ch ...

. The label's roster now includes a collective of pop artists such as Jonathan Bree, Princess Chelsea, The Ruby Suns, and Edmund Cake.

History

Founding

Lil' Chief Records was founded in New Zealand by indie pop musicians Scott Mannion and Jonathan Bree in 2002. The two men had met that year in Marbecks Record Store in

, where Bree was working at the time. They discovered they were both bedroom recording artists who shared a number of influences. Likewise, both were having difficulty finishing their respective albums and finding a label, particularly since the trend in New Zealand at the time was towards guitar-based rock bands. They decided to form their own label to focus on "100% orchestrated pop music from the New Zealand music scene," citing

Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Duru ...

, Flying Nun, and

Creation Records Creation Records Ltd. was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Alan McGee, Dick Green, and Joe Foster. Its name came from the 1960s band The Creation, whom McGee greatly admired. The label ceased operations in 1999, although ...

as inspiration. Lawrence Mikkelsen, a friend of Mannion's and an early supporter of the label, volunteered as the label's "post master general" and archivist.

Initial releases

The label's first release was the debut LP of Bree's band

. Released October 2002, '' Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks'' was a joint release with EMI New Zealand. The album received a glowing review from

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

, as did the label's second release, The Brunette's 2003 '' The Boyracer EP''. Bree produced both albums. The label soon set up its headquarters in the Auckland flat of Gareth Shute, a local writer and musician who had befriended Scott Mannion. Dubbed 'The Ghetto,' the large flat's rooms and graffiti-lined garage became a regular rehearsal space, as well as a recording studio for many of the label's future releases. As of 2013, it continues to be the location of operations. The next two albums on the label were released simultaneously in 2003. ''

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sy ...

'' and ''

Butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group compris ...

'' by

both featured and were produced by label founder Scott Mannion. Members of The Brunettes guested on some of the tracks, and when playing live The Tokey Tones have since relied on a revolving cast of musicians from other Lil' Chief Records bands, such as The Brunettes and The Ruby Suns.Sendra, Tim. ''

'' ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspape ...

'' stated "There has been nothing quite so tasteful, fully realized or confident in Kiwi pop," about the releases. Later that year indie pop band The Nudie Suits released their album '' Songbook'' on the label. Frontman Mark Lyons was both Bree's cousin and had been a mentor in Bree's formative years.

Development

In 2004, the band The Ruby Suns was formed when Ryan McPhun moved to Auckland from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and started playing in The Brunettes and The Tokey Tones. In 2005 Edmund Cake released his solo album '' Downtown Puff'' on the label, which was followed by Shaft's debut LP ''

Open Sesame "Open sesame" (french: Sésame, ouvre-toi; ar, افتح يا سمسم) is a magical phrase in the story of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" in Antoine Galland's version of '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It opens the mouth of a cave in whi ...

'' and releases by

Alec Bathgate Alec Bathgate is a New Zealand musician who was a key member of The Enemy and Toy Love, as well as being one half of the Flying Nun Records act Tall Dwarfs, alongside Chris Knox. In addition to playing guitar in these bands, he also releas ...

and The Ruby Suns. The label's community of musicians also formed a cover band called Disciples of Macca, which focused on solo

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

and

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

material.

Also in 2005 the label released '' Now We Are Three!!!'', its first compilation, which featured tracks pulled from its previous catalogue. The compilation was positively received with a review stating "Lil Chief Records is a label to keep on eye on." A second compilation, ''Greetings From New Zealand,'' followed in 2007. By 2006 the roster had expanded to include artists such as

Lawrence Arabia Lawrence Arabia is the musical guise of New Zealand artist and composer James Milne. In 2006, Lawrence Arabia released his self-titled debut album and the debut album from his band The Reduction Agents, ''The Dance Reduction Agents''. Both al ...

and his band

The Reduction Agents The Reduction Agents are a New Zealand band fronted by James Milne, who also records under the name Lawrence Arabia. In 2006 the band released their debut album ''The Dance Reduction Agents''. In the same year, Milne released his debut solo albu ...

Shugo Tokumaru is a Japanese singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who debuted in May 2004 in America with his album ''Night Piece''. He creates every aspect of his music, including the lyrics, music, arrangements, recording and mixing. He is known for ...

, and the band

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did a feature on the label in August 2006, when Andrew Clifford visited their Auckland headquarters. In 2008 the label was written up in the UK's ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' in the article ”New Zealand, pop Mecca? A new wave of bands is set to expand your horizons”. Also that year The Ruby Suns were named among the "best new music" in ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

,'' while Lawrence Arabia toured with Feist. In May 2012 the label released the compilation ''These Shaky Isles'', with tracks going back ten years in its catalogue. As of 2013 label continues to release indie pop bands, such as the all-girl project The Gladeyes and Princess Chelsea.

Artists

The following artists have released albums through Lil' Chief Records as of March 2019. *

* Jonathan Bree *

* Cool Rainbows * Edmund Cake *The Gladeyes *

*Little Pictures * The Nudie Suits *Pie Warmer *

Pikachunes Pikachunes is the sad pop musical project of Miles McDougall (i.e. Miles G. Loveless), a songwriter, musician and producer based in Melbourne. Trained in jazz, for McDougall "a typical track features one or two synths, a '70s analog bass line, and ...

* Princess Chelsea *

* The Ruby Suns * Scott Mannion * Shaft *

Sheep, Dog & Wolf Daniel McBride, better known under the moniker Sheep, Dog & Wolf, is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and composer based in Auckland, New Zealand. McBride released his first EP under this name (created in his bedroom) independently in May 20 ...

*Wet Wings

Discography

The following list is organized by catalog number, which is a roughly chronological number system established by the label.

References

External links

*
Lil Chief Records
on MySpace
Lil Chief Records
on

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Lil Chief Records
on

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Visit to Lil Chief Records
(August 25, 2006) - 25'12" {{Authority control New Zealand independent record labels Record labels established in 2002 Pop record labels 2002 establishments in New Zealand