Rice Is Nice 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

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

that takes its name from

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

band

Mclusky Mclusky (often stylized as mclusky), originally known as Best, are a Welsh three-piece post-hardcore group formed in Cardiff. The group originally consisted of Englishman Andrew Falkous (vocals, guitar) from Newcastle upon Tyne, Geraint Bevan ...

's 2000 single "Rice Is Nice". The label aims to promote artists that are unique and whose music will have longevity, rather than being based on popularity. Rice Is Nice is run by Julia Wilson and Lulu Rae.

History

Rice Is Nice was formed in 2008 by Julia Wilson and Ben Shackleton. Wilson worked as a photographer and publicist in the music industry for the Australian labels

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival Mu ...

and

Popfrenzy Popfrenzy is an independent record label and touring-events agency created by Chris Wu based in Sydney, Australia. They began in the late 1990s, putting on various underground parties/nights. Between 2000 and 2006, they booked such Sydney clu ...

and used her knowledge to release SPOD's "Aminals" 7" as the label's first release in mid-2008. Since then, Rice Is Nice has signed and released the works of a number of Australian artists, the

musical genres This is a list of music genres and styles. Music can be described in terms of many genres and styles. Classifications are often arbitrary, and may be disputed and closely related forms often overlap. Larger genres and styles comprise more specifi ...

of which vary greatly. In 2018, Rice Is Nice celebrated its tenth birthday, with a showcase at Melbourne Music Week and performances from SPOD, Sarah Mary Chadwick, Summer Flake,

Richard in Your Mind Richard in Your Mind are an Australian psychedelic pop band from Sydney. They were formed in 2006 by then house-mates Richard Cartwright and Conrad Richters and expanded in 2008 with Pat Torres and Jordy Lane and later adding Brent Griffin (aka S ...

, Straight Arrows and Rebel Yell. Being interviewed by LNWY in the lead up to the anniversary, Wilson said of the Rice Is Nice catalogue, "Everyone on the label is different, and they’re all doing what they do really well. That’s what I want to encourage and continue to do – to find people who are doing something really, really well". Julia Wilson has a long-standing friendship with

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rolli ...

, who is a vocal supporter of Rice Is Nice. Rollins has featured Rice Is Nice's catalogue of artists on his radio show on

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programm ...

, and in August 2015, invited Wilson to co-host and curate the program with him.

Artists

*Angie *Darts *Den *

Donny Benét Donny Benét (born Ben Waples) is an Australian recording artist, based in Sydney. He is notable for his anachronistic musical style, borrowing heavily from 80s post-disco sounds. In 2011, he released his debut studio album ''Don't Hold Back'' thr ...

*Frowning Clouds *

Good Heavens ''Good Heavens'' is an ABC comedy anthology series produced by Columbia Pictures Television that aired between February 29 and June 26, 1976. It ranked #17 in the Nielsen ratings during the 1975-76 television season. The main character was Mr. ...

* The Laurels *Le Villejuif Underground *Lia Mice * Lowtide *

*Rebel Yell *Sarah Mary Chadwick *

Seekae Seekae was a Sydney-based electronic music group. They formed the group under the name Commander Keen in reference to the early-'90s MS-DOS video game series, later changing the name to an elongated version of Commander Keen's initials (CK) a ...

* Seja *Shady Lane * SPOD *Straight Arrows *Summer Flake *You Beauty

References

{{Authority control Australian record labels