Spartan Records was founded by John T. Frazier in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

in January 2007. It is currently home to the bands

Schematic A schematic, or schematic diagram, is a designed representation of the elements of a system using abstract, graphic symbols rather than realistic pictures. A schematic usually omits all details that are not relevant to the key information the ...

, Barren Womb, Ourlives, Shy, Low, and several others. Prior to founding Spartan, Frazier was the director of marketing at several preeminent independent record labels including

Tooth and Nail Records Tooth & Nail Records is a Christian rock record label founded by Brandon Ebel in California in November 1993. The label later moved to Seattle, Washington where it is situated today. It is home to many well-known musical acts, including Underoat ...

Solid State Records Solid State Records is a Christian metalcore record label, an imprint of Tooth & Nail Records. Unlike Tooth & Nail, Solid State signs hardcore punk and heavy metal bands. Like Tooth & Nail, Solid State is primarily a Christian label. However, ...

, and

Drive-Thru Records Drive-Thru Records was a California-based independent record label owned by siblings Richard and Stefanie Reines. The label was partially responsible for popularizing the pop-punk/emo merger sound of the early to mid-2000s. After facing financi ...

. The label has been a full-time operation since January 2013. Spartan Records is known for its creative pressing of colored vinyl variants.

Background

Formation

John T. Frazier has stated that Spartan Records got its inspirations from the mail-order record labels he bought from while growing up. He worked in college radio and received an internship at the major record label

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

and worked as part of the street teams for several other labels. He started his career working for a small indie label called crank!. After working with several other labels including

and

, he founded Spartan Records in 2007; eventually leaving Tooth and Nail Records in December 2012 to work exclusively with Spartan Records.

Destination: Beautiful

The most successful release by Spartan Records has been their pressing of Mae's '' Destination: Beautiful''. Their first pressing in 2012 involved a mix of 500 vinyl LPs including 200 white, 200 navy blue/white swirl, and 100 180 gsm black discs. After completely selling out the first pressing in 2012 they announced another pressing of 500 in 2013 on teal (100), white teal splatter (200) and Teal/white Swirl (200) these also sold out. Due to the popularity of this pressing they released another pressing of 500 copies on glow in the dark vinyl through

Hot Topic Hot Topic, Inc. (stylized as HOT TOPIC) is an American retail chain specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming ...

and that pressing sold out quickly as well. In 2014 a fourth pressing of Destination: Beautiful was released as a part of Record Sale Day 2014 on Transparent Blue and gold vinyl. It was limited to 500 copies and has sold out as well. As a result of continued popularity of each successive pressing Spartan Records announced mae week. The week of May 19, 2014 spartan records announced that a fifth pressing of 500 vinyl copies would be sold 100 per day on 5 different variants. In addition to the daily release 25 sets of all five variants sold out on the first day. Over the course of the week 100 Gold/White Swirl with Silver Splatter on the first day, 100 gold sold out on the second day, 100 blue white and clear LPs sold out on the third day, 100 copies on Milky Clear with White Splatter sold out on the fourth day and 100 White / Aqua Blue / Double mint Tri-Color discs sold out the fifth day. In total all 500 in the fifth pressing sold out during the course of mae week. In addition re release of a style of mae shirt was sold as an extra to the vinyl. A sixth pressing of the vinyl is currently for sale on the Spartan Records website. Additional mae records have been sold through Spartan Records such as ''The Everglow'', the (m)(a)(e) anthology and most recently ''Our Love is a Painted Picture.''

Releases

Artists

This is a partial list of artists who currently, or have previously recorded for Spartan Records. * American Opera *

Anchor & Braille Anchor & Braille is the recording alias for American singer and songwriter Stephen Christian, known for fronting the alternative rock band Anberlin. Originally conceived as a side project for Christian, Anchor & Braille became his primary vehicl ...

* Assertion * Barren Womb * Daisyhead * Dearist * Demons * Fallow Land * Florida Man * Giants Chair * Hidden Hospitals * Honey and Salt * Kiska * Lights & Motion * Lucky Scars * Mae * Man Mountain * Mountain Time * My God, It's Full of Stars * NYVES * Over the Ocean * Ourlives * Reader * Renaissance Fair *

* Secret Stuff *

Sense Field Sense Field was an American post-hardcore band from Southern California, formed in 1990. Originally consisting of vocalist Jon Bunch, guitarist Chris Evenson, guitarist Rodney Sellars, bassist John Stockberger, and drummer Scott McPherson, the ...

* Shy, Low * Sky's the Limit * Square Peg Round Hole * States * Subways on the Sun * Sullivan * Sundressed * Surprises * The Darling Fire * The Farewell Bend * The Foxery *

Trace Bundy Trace Bundy is an American acoustic guitar player who lives and performs in Boulder, Colorado. He is known to fans as "The Acoustic Ninja" for his legato and tapping, finger tapping skills. Bundy's guitar playing style is percussive and harmonic: ...

* Trespassers * Unifier * Unwed Sailor * VAR * Waypoint * Young Fox

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spartan Records 2007 establishments in Washington (state) Alternative rock record labels American companies established in 2008 American independent record labels Companies based in Seattle Hardcore record labels Post-hardcore record labels Record labels established in 2007 Rock record labels