The Militia Group is an independent record company based in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

History

The Militia Group was founded in 1998 by Chad Pearson as a booking agency, booking for artists such as Slick Shoes,

Craig's Brother Craig's Brother is an American punk rock band. They have released three full-length recordings internationally, two on Tooth & Nail Records and one self-released. History Foundation and ''Homecoming'' (1995-2001) In 1995, singer and guitar pla ...

Dogwood ''Cornus'' is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous trees or shru ...

twothirtyeight Twothirtyeight was an American indie rock band from Pensacola, Florida. They were active from 1995 to 2003, though they have reunited for performances in the years since their disbandment. Formed in 1995, Twothirtyeight released three independen ...

, Acceptance, and Element 101. Pearson and Rory Felton partnered in 2000 to turn the booking agency into a record company. Both Pearson and Felton had previous experience with independent labels and artists: Pearson in Seattle, WA working at

Tooth & 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 Undero ...

, and Felton in Kansas City co-operating Arise Records with Jason Irvine in Louisville, KY. Arise published

The Juliana Theory The Juliana Theory is an American Rock music, rock duo from Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Greensburg and Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, United States. They signed to Tooth & Nail Records, and later to Epic Records for the release of the ...

's first CD, a split album with Dawson High; and other bands: Tijuana Crime Scene, The National Acrobat, Reflector and Recess Theory. In 2000, Pearson teamed up with Felton to turn the agency into an independent record label based out of Huntington Beach, CA. By January 2001, the label had signed

Rufio Rufio was an American rock band from Rancho Cucamonga, California, United States, in 2000. They released four studio albums: ''Perhaps, I Suppose'' (2001); ''MCMLXXXV'' (2003); ''The Comfort of Home'' (2005); and'' Anybody Out There'' (2010). ...

, The Lyndsay Diaries, Tora! Tora! Torrance!, Veronica, and

Noise Ratchet Noise Ratchet is an alternative Emo Rock band originating from Southern California. Noise Ratchet began as a pop punk/ska band in February 1997 in San Diego, California. In 1998, they released their first independent album, ''Never Going Back'', ...

. Within the next year Copeland,

The Rocket Summer The Rocket Summer is the solo-project of Bryce Avary, a multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and record producer based in Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas. He writes and produces every song on his records, and plays every instrument on them. H ...

The Beautiful Mistake The Beautiful Mistake is a rock band from San Diego, California. Formed in 2000, the band has released two full-length albums: the 2002 debut album, ''Light A Match, For I Deserve To Burn'', and 2004's ''This Is Who You Are''. They have also releas ...

, and Acceptance joined the fold. By 2002, the label had sold its first 100,000 albums with its first release:

's '' Perhaps, I Suppose...'', and was operating out of offices in Anaheim, CA. By 2004, as the label moved operations from Anaheim, CA to Garden Grove, CA. In early 2007, Pearson left TMG to start a company called P Is for Panda. 2007 saw albums released by Denison Witmer, The New Frontiers, Chase Pagan, and We Shot The Moon. By 2008, the label had sold over 1,400,000 albums. The label may be best known for developing the artist

Cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...

, for whom The Militia Group released ''

The Ransom EP ''The Ransom EP'' is the debut EP by American rock band Cartel. The recording was originally released independently, but was soon picked up by the record label, The Militia Group. They re-released the EP with two extra tracks, "The City Never Slee ...

'' and '' Chroma.'' The 'Chroma' title has sold over 1,030,000 singles, 255,000 albums (according to Soundscan) and was acquired by Sony Music's Epic Records. The Militia Group stopped releasing new music in 2012, though its back catalogue is still in print.

Distribution

Distribution is handled on a territory by territory basis by: United States: The Orchard

Roster

Current artists

* Backseat Goodbye *

Chase Pagan Chase or CHASE may refer to: Businesses * Chase Bank, a national bank based in New York City, New York * Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturing company * Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in England * Chase Co ...

Denison Witmer Denison Witmer is an American singer-songwriter from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. His first release, in 1995, was a cassette titled ''My Luck, My Love''. He has since released six studio LPs; two live albums, a cover album (''Recover ...

Driving East Driving East is an American pop punk band from Fairfax, Virginia. History Driving East formed in 2002 after numerous line-up changes. Jon Jester, the original drummer, had moved to Los Angeles to work with his friends in the South African band J ...

Jill Cunniff Jill Cunniff (born August 17, 1966) is an American musician and artist, best known as the lead singer of the band Luscious Jackson. Cunniff was born in New York City and attended college in San Francisco. After returning to New York in 1991, she ...

* Jonathan Jones * Lakes * Let Go * Mercy Mercedes *

Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

* One for the Team * The Panic Division * Sights and Sounds *

Tahiti 80 Tahiti 80 are a French indie pop band from Rouen. The group was founded in 1992 by Xavier Boyer, Pedro Resende, Médéric Gontier and Sylvain Marchand. History Singer and guitarist Boyer and bassist Resende formed the pop combo as students at t ...

* The Urgency

Former artists

* Acceptance (Active, currently on Rise Records) *

The Appleseed Cast The Appleseed Cast is an American rock band from Lawrence, Kansas. The band was founded in the early days of emo by singer-guitarist Christopher Crisci and drummer Louie Ruiz. The Appleseed Cast has steadily evolved over the release of eight ...

* Anadivine *

* Big Collapse * Blueprint Car Crash *

Brandtson Brandtson was an American rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. History The band formed in 1996 and first recorded for a Stead Fast Records compilation entitled ''Radiowaves and Gibberish'' in 1997. Soon after the group signed with Deep Elm Records, a ...

(Disbanded 2008) *

(Active, currently on

Wind-up Records Wind-up Entertainment was an American independent record label founded by Alan and Diana Meltzer in 1997. It was based in New York City and was distributed by BMG Distribution. Wind-up's best-selling artists worldwide were Creed and Evanesce ...

) * The Class of 98 (Active, currently without a label) *

Controlling the Famous Controlling the Famous was a Los Angeles, California-based indie rock band formed in 2001. After signing with The Militia Group, the band recorded the album ''Automatic City'', which was released on May 16, 2006. The band split up in 2007. Histor ...

(Disbanded 2007) * Copeland (Disbanded 2010, reunited 2014) * Everybody Else * Fielding *

The Jealous Sound The Jealous Sound was an American band based in Los Angeles that, as of August 2012, consisted of vocalist and guitarist Blair Shehan (formerly of Knapsack), guitarist Michael Richardson, bassist Jeremy Tappero, and drummer Bob Penn. In 2012, Ri ...

(Active, currently on Rise Records) *

Juliette and the Licks Juliette and the Licks is an American rock band led by actress and singer Juliette Lewis. Other band members have included guitarist Craig Fairbaugh and guitarist Emilio Cueto, bassist Jason Womack and drummer Ed Davis. Their popular songs include ...

(Disbanded 2009) * The Holy Fire (Active) *

The Lyndsay Diaries The Militia Group is an independent record company based in Long Beach, California. History The Militia Group was founded in 1998 by Chad Pearson as a booking agency, booking for artists such as Slick Shoes, Craig's Brother, Dogwood, twothirtyei ...

Lovedrug Lovedrug is an American alternative/indie rock band formed in Alliance, Ohio, United States, in 2002 by singer/guitarist Michael Shepard. History Lovedrug released their first EP, the ''Lovedrug'' EP, with the follow-up EP, the ''Rocknroll'' ...

* Man Alive (Active, currently on B& Recordings) *

* The New Frontiers (Inactive) *

Quietdrive Quietdrive is an alternative rock band based in Hopkins, Minnesota, USA, that was formed in 2002. Quietdrive released their first album, ''When All That's Left Is You'', on May 30, 2006, on Epic Records. In April 2008, Quietdrive left Epic Records ...

(Active, currently with Aviate Records) *

Reeve Oliver Reeve Oliver is an American pop rock band formed in 2000 in San Diego, California. They have released two albums and several EPs and have toured with larger acts such as The Vandals, Yellowcard, and Switchfoot. They have been locally recognized a ...

(Active, currently on Apple Danish Records) *

Ronnie Day Ronnie Day (born Ronald Guglielmone Jr.; January 18, 1988) is an American songwriter from Redwood City, California. By the age of 16, Day had sold over 10,000 copies of his bedroom record, ''Nine Sleepless Nights''. After being tested for profic ...

(Active, currently on Simplify Music) *

The Summer Set The Summer Set is an American rock band from Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. The band consists of lead vocalist Brian Logan Dales, guitarist John Gomez, bass guitarist Stephen Gomez, and drummer Jess Bowen. The Summer Set was signed to The ...

(Active, currently on Fearless Records) * Tora! Tora! Torrance! *

Umbrellas An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally use ...

(Active, currently without a label) * Veronica * We Shot the Moon (Active, currently on

Afternoon Records Afternoon Records is a record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The label was founded by Ian Anderson and Michael M. Sandstedt in 2003, the year Anderson graduated from high school. He wanted to create a platform for his high school band An ...

)

References

Rory Felton Interview

Chad Pearson Interview

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Militia Group American independent record labels Record labels established in 1998 Alternative rock record labels