Holy Roar Records was 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 ...

run by Alex Fitzpatrick. The label began in January 2006 and put out its first release in June 2006, the Phoenix Bodies album, ''Raise the Bullshit flag''. Fitzpatrick originally joked that the name was derived from a vision he had whilst on the hallucinogen

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

. According to Fitzpatrick, the name “Holy Roar” was derived from a Torche song with the same title.

History

Holy Roar Records was formed at the beginning of 2006, when Alex Fitzpatrick moved to London. After previously trialling out “thecommunion” with friends in Birmingham during his university days, he and his girlfriend at the time, Ellen Godwin decided to start up a record label. Utilising a loan, they released and promoted

Rolo Tomassi Rolo Tomassi are an English band from Sheffield. Their name is taken from a dialogue in the film '' L.A. Confidential''. The band is known for their strong DIY ethic and chaotic style and performances. They are currently signed to MNRK Heavy ...

(their first “proper” EP), Phoenix Bodies (a grind/punk crossover band) and a split between the bands,

Kayo Dot Kayo Dot is an American avant-garde metal group. Formed in 2003 by Toby Driver after the break-up of ''maudlin of the Well'', they released their debut album ''Choirs of the Eye'' on John Zorn's Tzadik Records that same year. Since then, Kayo ...

and

Bloody Panda Bloody Panda is a doom metal band based in New York City. History Formation (2003-2004) The band was formed in 2003 by Yoshiko Ohara, an established visual artist based in Osaka, Japan, who "decided to spend her savings on a trip to New York C ...

. In 2007, Holy Roar Records released records by

Gallows A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...

, Chronicles of Adam West ( tech-metal) and Chariots ( screamo). The label was still a hobby at this point, but Fitzpatrick decided to throw in his day job and take the label on as a priority. Holy Roar Records curated a stage at

Offset Festival Offset Festival was a musical festival held at Hainault Forest Country Park, just outside London, from 2008 to 2010. 2008 The first event aimed to join the dots between cutting-edge, new artists and their influences, with 8 stages covering art ro ...

(2014), hosted a stage at Incubate Festival (2014), partnered with

Shock Records Shock Records (now part of Shock Entertainment) is an Australian independent record label. History The three founding members had all previously worked in music retail or distribution: Williams for a Melbourne distribution company called "Musi ...

, partnered with

ArcTanGent Festival ArcTanGent Festival (also known as ATG) is a three-day British rock festival held annually at Fernhill Farm in Somerset, England since 2013. It is the most popular British summer festival for math rock, post rock, progressive metal and experi ...

(2015) and curated a stage at

The Great Escape Festival The Great Escape Festival is a three-day music festival held in Brighton and Hove, England every year in May. It is operated by MAMA Festivals and showcases new music from a variety of genres. The festival was founded in 2006 and roughly hosts ...

in 2016. Holy Roar Records had over 150 releases and nominations by Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards for “Best Independent Label” and the AIM Independent Music Awards for "Best Small Label" in 2016. In September 2020, Fitzpatrick was accused by two ex-partners of sexual assault/rape across social media. The allegations were denied, no formal complaints were made and no charges were brought. As a result, several staff members left the label. Consequently bands such as

Apologies, I Have None Apologies, I Have None are an English melancholic, punk-influenced quartet from London, England. History Apologies, I Have None started off as a two piece drums and guitar band, consisting of Dan Bond and Josh Mckenzie. In 2007 they released t ...

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and Renounced made statements on Twitter that condemned Fitzpatrick's alleged actions.

Other activities

In 2016, Holy Roar Records established a monthly subscription service to allow for fans of the label to keep up to date with new releases on a tier basis. Since April 2015, Holy Roar Records have been producing podcasts hosted by Mario John Gambardella featuring different guests and their perspectives on the UK music scene. Since 2010, Holy Roar Records has been a member of Pink Mist, a London-based promoter and label collective alongside

Big Scary Monsters Big Scary Monsters Recording Company (often known simply as Big Scary Monsters or BSM Records) is an independent record label based in Oxford, England, UK. Its releases include La Dispute, Beach Slang, Modern Baseball, Minus The Bear, mewit ...

and Blood & Biscuits. The idea behind this collective was to create an alliance whereby resources were pooled in order to promote their bands to a wider audience. Their first release was a pink and white 12" vinyl limited to 300 copies and released in April 2011 on

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

, "Hello Pink Mist". It consisted of 12 exclusive tracks (4 from each label) in which Holy Roar Records contributed tracks from run, WALK!, Hang the Bastard, Grazes and Bastions. Later that year, Tangled Talk joined the collective to complete the current line-up. In 2012, they released a download-only free compilation "Hello Pink Mist Volume 2" to coincide with the launch of their new website and in this same year, they were nominated for the

Association of Independent Music The Association of Independent Music (AIM) is a non-profit trade body established in 1998 by UK independent record labels to represent the independent record sector, which in 2016 constituted approximately 23% of the UK market. Its members incl ...

Awards for "Best Small Label". In 2013, Pink Mist announced a pop-up shop in

Boxpark Boxpark is a food and retail park made out of refitted shipping containers in Britain. It was founded by Roger Wade, who described it as the "world's first pop-up mall". The first Boxpark was launched in Shoreditch in 2011, another was built ...

, East London where they sold records and had in-store sessions and in 2014 they collaborated with Relentless (drink) to set up another pop-up shop at No.5 Denmark Street featuring live performances. Pink Mist was also listed in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

's "The 10 British Record Labels Defining the Sound of 2014". Pink Mist has become a looser entity over time as its initial founders went off in their own directions. However an extension of the brand is still active and currently operates via Pink Mist live gigs which are run by the promoter, Ross Allmark ( DICE FM). In honour of Holy Roar Records' tenth birthday, Pink Mist presented the Holy Roar X (HRX) show, hosting bands at The Dome and The Boston Music Rooms in London on Saturday May 21, 2016. The line-up featured

Svalbard (band) Svalbard are a British post-hardcore band from Bristol, England. Formed in 2011 by co-lead vocalists and guitarists Serena Cherry and Liam Phelan with drummer Mark Lilley, the band's line-up has featured bassist Matt Francis since 2021. Primari ...

, Hang The Bastard, OHHMS and more. Pink Mist is now predominately a live event promotion company. In 2015, Holy Roar Records launched a new sister label, Truthseeker Music, headed up by Holy Roar intern Alex Leat.

Artists

* A.A. Williams * Abolition * Antares * ANTETHIC *

* Baptists * Bastions * Black Mass *

* Body Hound *

Bongripper Bongripper is an American doom metal band from Chicago, Illinois, United States. History In 2006 Bongripper self-released their first album titled '' The Great Barrier Reefer'', which is composed of a single 79-minute piece created with the int ...

* Boss Keloid * Bossk *

Brontide Brontide was a British instrumental rock band formed in 2008, featuring members who were also members of I Was a Cub Scout, La Roux, Rolo Tomassi, and Dua Lipa's band. They released two albums before splitting up in 2017. History Formed in 2008, ...

Brutality Will Prevail Brutality Will Prevail (sometimes abbreviated BWP) were a Welsh hardcore band founded in Cardiff in 2005. They have toured Europe and Asia and have made festival appearances at Reading and Leeds, Download and Ghostfest. They have also been ...

* Burning Vow * Calm the Fire * Chariots * Chronicles of Adam West *

Coliseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world t ...

* Conan * Conjurer * Crocus * Crossbreaker * Cthulhu Youth * Cursed Earth * Cutting Pink with Knives * Daggers *

Dananananaykroyd Dananananaykroyd was a Scottish six-piece, self-dubbed 'Fight Pop' band formed in 2006 in Glasgow, Scotland. Their name is a play on the name of Canadian-American actor Dan Aykroyd. They announced via Facebook and Twitter on 29 September 2011 ...

* Desolated *

Devil Sold His Soul Devil Sold His Soul are an ambient influenced post-hardcore band from London, formed in 2004 and signed to Nuclear Blast. Three members of the band used to be in Mahumodo. They released their debut studio album '' A Fragile Hope'' on 18 June ...

Down I Go Down I Go are an experimental hardcore band from London. Their music combines complex song structure and rhythmic patterns with both melodic and screaming vocals, as well as frequently marrying these features with orchestral instrumentation ...

* Dream Boats * Easy Hips * Eisberg * Elephant Tree *

Employed to Serve Employed to Serve is a British heavy metal band from Woking, England. History Employed to Serve was formed in 2011 by current members Justine Jones and Sammy Urwin. In July 2020, several members of Employed to Serve and Renounced released a ...

* Enabler * End Reign * The Ergon Carousel * Eulogy * Fall of Messiah * Full of Hell * Gallops *

* Garganjua * Giants * Giver * Goodtime Boys * The Ghost of a Thousand * Grazes * Group of Man * HAAST * Hang the Bastard * Helpless * Holy Fawn * Holy State * Human Future * IDYLLS * Ithaca * Jackals *

* Kerouac * Last Witness * Le Swing * Livimørket * Lonewolves *

Make Do and Mend Make Do and Mend was an American post-hardcore band from West Hartford, Connecticut, that formed in 2006, who relocated to Boston, Massachusetts. They released 2 EPs on Panic Records, a split with Touché Amoré and three full-length albums. Whil ...

* Manuscripts * Maths * MINE * Minors * Modern Rituals * Møl * More Than Life * Monolith * Narrow Head * The_Network * Never Again * Nibiru * OHHMS * Pariso * Phoenix Bodies * Pijn * Portrayal of Guilt *

Pulled Apart By Horses Pulled Apart by Horses are an English alternative rock band from Leeds. They formed in early 2008. The band were signed by Transgressive Records in 2009, and released their debut self-titled album '' Pulled Apart by Horses'' on 21 June 2010. I ...

* Rend * Renounced *

* Rosa Valle * Rough Hands * Run, WALK! * Self Loathing * Sirs * Slabdragger * Slow Crush * Strife *

* Talons * This is Hell * The Tidal Sleep * Throats * Throes * Tortuga *

Touché Amoré Touché Amoré is an American post-hardcore band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2007. The band consists of vocalist Jeremy Bolm, guitarists Clayton Stevens and Nick Steinhardt, bassist Tyler Kirby, and drummer Elliot Babin. Among othe ...

Trash Talk Trash talk is a form of insult usually found in sports events, although it is not exclusive to sports or similarly characterized events. It is often used to intimidate the opposition and/or make them less confident in their abilities as to win ...

* Up River * We Lost The Sea * We Never Learned to Live * We'll Die Smiling *

Will Haven Will Haven is a noise metal band from Sacramento, California. Formed in 1995, the group issued albums through many labels and have toured with acts such as Deftones and Soulfly before going on a hiatus in 2002. They would regroup in 2005 and con ...

* Witch Cult * Wren * Years Of Abuse * Young Legionnaire *

Youves Youves are an English dance-punk quintet from Nuneaton, formed in 2003. The band consists of lead vocalist Stephen Broadley, guitarists Michael King and Alex Wiezak, bassist Luke Neale and drummer Paul Wechter. The band's sound is an energetic ...

Releases

Albums

Compilations

For Christmas 2007 Holy Roar Records released a limited edition cassette tape compilation, "Happy Holy Roar!" featuring 20 previously unreleased/ self-released only songs by a variety of bands including some Holy Roar artists. Since then, Holy Roar Records have released the following via cassette: *Happy Holy Roar Vol.2 *Happy Holy Roar Vol.3 *Happy Holy Roar Vol.4 *Happy Holy Roar Mega Box and the following via digital release only: *Spring '09 Sampler *Holy Hell Summer Sampler 2011 *Winter Spring 2013 Sampler *Holy Roar Bitter Autumn 2014 Sampler *HRX: Holy Roar Sampler 2016 In 2016, Holy Roar Records contributed an exclusive song to the

Alcopop! Records Alcopop! Records is a British independent record label, run by Jack Clothier and Kevin Douch formed in 2006 when the pair lived together in East Oxford. The label works with the likes of DZ Deathrays, Johnny Foreigner, Fight Like Apes, Anaman ...

Record Store Day release "Sensible Record Labels" Volume 2 compilation.

References

;Footnotes ;General references Interviews with Alex Fitzpatrick of Holy Roar Records
Rockmidgets.com (31/07/08)

Mint Magazine (22/05/10)

Already Heard (21/04/12)

SWNK (21/05/12)

Deadpress (17/01/13)

Louder Than War (18/06/13)

Endless Wave Dynamics (25/04/15)

New Noise Rock Show (02/10/15)
{{Authority control British independent record labels