Timberyard Records was a pioneering

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 produ ...

in the

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 ...

independent music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...

movement of the 1980s. Timberyard Records were established in 1985 in

Newtown, New South Wales Newtown, a suburb of Inner West, Sydney's inner west, is located approximately four kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, straddling the Local government areas of New South Wales, local government areas of the City of Sy ...

by Michael Danias. Initially releasing prominent underground

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 ...

acts such as Box the Jesuit,

Candy Harlots Candy Harlots were an Australian band from Sydney, active between 1987 and 1995. They also released material as Helter Skelter and The Harlots. According to rock music historian Ian McFarlane they were, "an unashamedly macho, decadent lot, wi ...

, The

Dubrovniks The Dubrovniks were an Australian rock band which formed in August 1986 as The Adorable Ones. Early in 1987 they changed their name to The Dubrovniks in acknowledgement to the birthplace of two founding members, Roddy Radalj, and Boris Sujdovi ...

, Girl Monstar, Johnny Teen and the Broken Hearts and the Zen Genies. In 1989 the label released a Christmas

compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products *Compilation thesis M ...

, ''Rockin' Bethlehem'', which featured a number of bands from the label, including The

Ratcat Ratcat are an Australian indie rock band from Sydney who formed in 1985. The band is fronted by mainstay vocalist and guitarist, Simon Day. Their combination of indie pop song writing and energetic punk-style guitar rock won them fans from bo ...

, Girl Monstar,

Steve Kilbey Steven John Kilbey (born 13 September 1954) is an English Australians, English-Australian singer-songwriter and bass guitarist for the rock band The Church (band), the Church. He is also a music producer, poet, and painter. As of 2020, Kilbey h ...

( The Church),

Damien Lovelock Damien Richard Lovelock (21 May 1954 – 3 August 2019), known familiarly as Damo, was an Australian musician, sports broadcaster and writer. He fronted the hard rock band The Celibate Rifles from 1980 as their lead singer-songwriter and later ...

(

The Celibate Rifles The Celibate Rifles were an Australian punk rock band which formed in 1979 with a line-up that included mainstays Dave Morris on rhythm guitar and Kent Steedman on lead guitar, within a year they were joined by Damien Lovelock on lead vocals. T ...

The Jackson Code The Jackson Code are an Australian rock band, formed in Perth in 1989. Biography 1989-1991: Formation The Jackson Code were formed in 1989, following the breakup of Mark Snarksi's earlier band, Chad's Tree. For the band's debut album, Snarsk ...

and

Lime Spiders Lime Spiders were an Australian punk rock band which formed in 1979 with Mick Blood on lead vocals. He was later joined by Tony Bambach on bass guitar, Gerard Corben on guitar, Richard Lawson on drums, and David Sparks on guitar. Their debut ...

. Proceeds from the sales of the album went to the Camperdown Children's Hospital. In 1990 the label released a second Christmas compilation album, ''Rockin' Bethlehem - The Second Coming'', which featured

The Falling Joys Falling Joys are an Australian alternative rock band formed in Canberra in 1985. The original line-up included Suzie Higgie on lead vocals and guitar and Stuart G. Robertson on bass guitar. By the end of 1988 Higgie and Robertson, now on guita ...

Painters and Dockers Painters and Dockers are a rock band formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1982. Paul Stewart, singer-songwriter and trumpet player, Dave Pace (vocals and trumpet) and Mick Morris (vocals and sax) are all original members in the band which was nam ...

Ed Kuepper Edmund "Ed" Kuepper (born 20 December 1955) is a German-born Australian guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded the punk band The Saints (1973–78), the experimental post-punk group Laughing Clowns (1979–85) and the grunge-like Th ...

, The Screaming Tribesmen,

Archie Roach Archibald William Roach (8 January 1956 – 30 July 2022) was an Australian singer, songwriter and Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal activist. Often referred to as "Uncle Archie", Roach was a Gunditjmara and Western Bundjalung people, Bundjalu ...

and Paul Kelly. Also that year

You Am I You Am I are an Australian alternative rock band, fronted by its lead singer-songwriter and guitarist, Tim Rogers. They formed in December 1989 and are the first Australian band to have released three successive albums that have each debuted ...

signed with Timberyard, with the label subsequently releasing the band's first two EPs, ''

Snake Tide ''Snake Tide'' is the debut EP by You Am I You Am I are an Australian alternative rock band, fronted by its lead singer-songwriter and guitarist, Tim Rogers. They formed in December 1989 and are the first Australian band to have released ...

'' in May 1991 and '' Goddamn'' in May 1992. The band then signed to Ra Records, a sub-branch of

rooArt Records rooArt was an Australian independent record label, founded in 1988 by INXS's then-manager, Chris Murphy. The label's roster included several well-known Australian bands and artists such as Crow, Ratcat, Screaming Jets, You Am I, Wendy Matthews ...

. Timberyard took an extended break for many years before becoming active in the mid-2000s, with releases from Melbourne bands,

Ripe Réseaux IP Européens (RIPE, French for "European IP Networks") is a forum open to all parties with an interest in the technical development of the Internet. The RIPE community's objective is to ensure that the administrative and technical coo ...

Cosmic Psychos Cosmic Psychos are an Australian punk rock band which formed in 1982 as Spring Plains. Founding members included Ross Knight on bass guitar and vocals; Robbie Addington on guitar and vocals; and Steve Morrow on vocals. Australian rock music hi ...

and Damn Arms as well as Sydney artists Warhorse, Circle Pit and Atrocities. In 2004 the label started working with

Teenager Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...

, a band composed of

Nick Littlemore Nicholas George Littlemore (born 6 May 1978) is an Australian musician, record producer, singer and songwriter. As a musician, he is the frontman of the electronic duo Pnau, an ex-member of the art-rock band Teenager (band), Teenager and one pa ...

from

Pnau Pnau ( ) is an Australian dance music trio originating from Sydney. The trio, a duo before 2016, consists of the musicians Nick Littlemore (vocals, production), Peter Mayes (guitar, production) and Sam Littlemore (production), with the latter j ...

and

Empire of the Sun ''Empire of the Sun'' is a 1984 novel by English writer J. G. Ballard; it was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Like Ballard's earlier short story "The Dead Time" (published in the anthology ...

and Pip Brown known as Ladyhawke, on an art rock album titled Thirteen. It was recorded in many countries in collaboration with many artists. The album was released in 2006. The first single from the album was titled "Pony".

References

Australian independent record labels Alternative rock record labels {{Australia-company-stub

See also

References