Run for Cover Records is an American independent record label based in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts. Founded in 2004 by Jeff Casazza at the age of 17 with a $1,000 loan, the label functioned as a small one-person bedroom operation in Brighton, until Casazza graduated Suffolk University in 2010. Known for working with undiscovered young bands from all over the world, RFC can be credited for helping launch the careers of

Tigers Jaw Tigers Jaw is an American rock band from Scranton, Pennsylvania, formed in 2005. Their first album, ''Belongs to the Dead'', was released in 2006. They released a 7-inch single, "Spirit Desire", in 2009, on Tiny Engines. They released two more ...

Modern Baseball Modern Baseball (MoBo) was an American emo band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania consisting of Bren Lukens, Jake Ewald, Sean Huber, and Ian Farmer. The band formed in 2012 at Drexel University and released their first album, ''Sports'', on Lame-O ...

, Title Fight, Citizen, Turnover, Pinegrove, Basement, and many more, as well as working with already notable acts like Alex G,

Camp Cope Camp Cope are an Australian alternative rock trio formed in 2015 in Melbourne, Victoria. The group consists of lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Georgia "Georgia Maq" McDonald, bassist Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich, and drummer Sarah "Thomo" Thomp ...

mewithoutYou MewithoutYou, usually styled as mewithoutYou, was an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band consisted of Aaron Weiss (vocals), Michael Weiss and Brandon Beaver (guitars), Greg Jehanian (bass guitar), and Rickie Mazzotta ...

, Teen Suicide, and Nothing.

History

2004–2010

RFC was largely operated out of multiple apartments while Casazza attended Suffolk University. Releasing only 7-inch EPs and singles up until 2009, in 2010, the label released eight LPs, mostly from bourgeoning northeastern rock bands like

Balance and Composure Balance and Composure was an American alternative rock band from Doylestown, Pennsylvania. They formed in the winter of 2007, after the breakup of two local Doylestown bands. The band's music was often suggested having similarities to Title Fig ...

The Wonder Years ''The Wonder Years'' is an American coming-of-age comedy/drama television series created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black. It ran on ABC from January 31, 1988, until May 12, 1993. The series premiered immediately after ABC's coverage of Super ...

, and

Hostage Calm Hostage Calm was an American punk rock band from Wallingford, Connecticut, United States, formed in 2007. Hostage Calm released two extended plays, four full-length albums, and a split with punk band Anti-Flag. The band announced their breakup o ...

. The label started gaining traction quickly due to the rising

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

music scenes along the East Coast, most notably northeastern Pennsylvania, where Title Fight, Balance and Composure, Tigers Jaw, and other bands are from.

2011–2013

In 2011, the label moved into a downtown

Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and t ...

apartment rented by Kevin Duquette, owner of

Topshelf Records Topshelf Records is an American independent record label started in Peabody, Massachusetts and as of 2015 is now based in San Diego, California. Topshelf Records has been profiled in the ''Pittsburgh City Paper'', ''San Diego Reader'', ''San D ...

. At this time, the label officially hired its first employees, label manager Tom Chiari and high school friend Taylor Sullivan to handle mail-order. Later in the year, the label released Basement's debut LP '' I Wish I Could Stay Here'', eventually hiring guitarist Alex Henery in 2012. Also in 2011, RFC released the ''Mixed Signals'' compilation consisting of exclusive material from RFC artists, as well as friends and affiliated acts, including songs from

The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die is an American indie rock band formed in Willimantic, Connecticut, in 2009. Following the release of several EPs and Split album, splits featuring original lead singer Thomas Diaz, t ...

The Menzingers The Menzingers are an American punk rock band from Scranton, Pennsylvania, formed in 2006. The band consists of Greg Barnett (vocals, guitar), Tom May (vocals, guitar), Eric Keen (bass) and Joe Godino (drums). To date, the band has released se ...

, and Tigers Jaw. The album was sold in hundreds of stores across the country for $4.99. In 2012, RFC signed Citizen and Turnover, the first bands to officially sign 3 album deals with the label. The first release with the label for both bands was a split 7-inch EP that quickly became the label's fastest-selling release at the time. The label started a subscription vinyl singles series in 2013, consisting of split 7-inches featuring Code Orange,

Pity Sex Pity Sex are an American alternative rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan. The band formed in 2011, and released two studio albums – ''Feast of Love'' (2013) and ''White Hot Moon'' (2016) – prior to their split. The band combined elements of in ...

, Adventures, Hostage Calm, The World Is a Beautiful Place, Tigers Jaw, and more.

2014–present

In 2014, RFC parted ways with distributors

Revelation Records Revelation Records is an independent record label focusing originally and primarily on hardcore punk. The label is known for releases by bands such as Youth of Today, Warzone, Sick of It All, Quicksand, Side By Side, Chain of Strength, Sh ...

and Cobraside Distribution, signing a worldwide deal with Alternative Distribution Alliance,

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

's independent distribution arm. Later that year, RFC won "Record Label of the Year" from renowned Boston publication '' The Improper Bostonian''. 2015 saw the release of Turnover's sophomore LP ''

Peripheral Vision Peripheral vision, or ''indirect vision'', is vision as it occurs outside the point of fixation, i.e. away from the center of gaze or, when viewed at large angles, in (or out of) the "corner of one's eye". The vast majority of the area in th ...

'', which would go on to

SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

over 100,000 copies. RFC launched Something In The Way Festival on December 14, 2016, selling out all three rooms of

Webster Hall Webster Hall is a nightclub and concert venue located at 125 East 11th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, near Astor Place, in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. It is one of New York City's most historically significant ...

in New York City, and the Royale in Boston. The festival featured artists and friends curated by the label, including

, Basement, Citizen, Turnover,

, Pinegrove, Nothing, Alex G,

Elvis Depressedly Elvis Depressedly are an American experimental pop project from Asheville, North Carolina. The band consists of former Coma Cinema frontman Mathew Lee Cothran and various collaborators. They have released eight records and several EPs. Their mu ...

, Teen Suicide, Nicole Dollanganger,

Crying Crying is the dropping of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state, or pain. Emotions that can lead to crying include sadness, anger, and even happiness. The act of crying has been defined as "a complex secr ...

, Horse Jumper of Love, and Petal. Their

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel, which features songs and videos from artists on their roster, has 145,000 subscribers and over 117 million views (as of May 25, 2022). In 2019, RFC joined Captured Tracks, Sacred Bones,

Dead Oceans Dead Oceans is an American independent record label formed in 2007 and based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Dead Oceans is part of Secretly Group, which also ...

Ghostly International Ghostly International is an American independent record label founded in 1999 by Samuel Valenti IV and currently headquartered in Brooklyn, New York City. Chief artists include Matthew Dear, Dabrye (a.k.a. Tadd Mullinix), Com Truise, Tycho, Go ...

and Jagjaguwar at Secretly Distribution.

Current artists

* Advance Base * Another Michael * Anxious * The Berries *

* Citizen *

* Fiddlehead * Field Medic * Fury * Glass Beach * Healing Potpourri * Horse Jumper of Love *

Katie Dey Katie Dey is an Australian experimental pop musician. Career Dey released her first album, ''Asdfasdf'', in 2015 with the label Orchid Tapes. Dey attracted the attention of Orchid Tapes founder Warren Hildebrand after Mat Cothran of Elvis Depres ...

Makthaverskan Makthaverskan are a Swedish post-punk band from Gothenburg, formed in 2008. Led by vocalist Maja Milner, the band combines post-punk with elements of dream pop, jangle pop, gothic rock and shoegaze. History Makthaverskan began in 2008 with the re ...

* Mini Trees * Narrow Head * One Step Closer * Petal * Portrayal of Guilt * Sadurn * Self Defense Family * Spencer Radcliffe * Sun June * The Berries * Teen Suicide * Turnover * Varsity * Waveform* * Westkust * Wicca Phase Springs Eternal * Young Guv

Past & affiliated artists

* Adventures * Agent * Alex G *

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

* Basement * Bridge and Tunnel * Camera Shy *

Captain, We're Sinking Captain, We're Sinking is an American punk band from Scranton, Pennsylvania. They released three full-length albums. Singer Bobby Barnett is the brother of Greg Barnett who is one of the two singers in The Menzingers. Former drummer Mike May, form ...

Cloakroom A cloakroom, or sometimes coatroom, is a room for people to hang their coats, cloaks or other outerwear when they enter a building. Cloakrooms are typically found inside large buildings, such as gymnasiums, schools, churches or meeting halls. ...

* Coasta * Creative Adult *

CSTVT CSTVT, originally known as Castevet, was an American emo band from Chicago. The band was founded in mid-2007 by lead vocalist and guitarist Nick Wakim, guitarist Will McEvilly, backing vocalist and bass guitarist Ron Petzke and drummer Josh Snad ...

* Death Is Not Glamorous *

Fireworks Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices ...

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...

Little Big League ''Little Big League'' is a 1994 American family sports film about a 12-year-old who suddenly becomes the owner and then manager of the Minnesota Twins baseball team. It stars Luke Edwards, Timothy Busfield, and Dennis Farina. The film is direct ...

* LVL UP *

Man Overboard "Man overboard!" is an exclamation given aboard a vessel to indicate that a member of the crew or a passenger has fallen off of the ship into the water and is in need of immediate rescue. Whoever sees the person's fall is to shout, "Man overboa ...

* Memorial * Mockingbird Wish Me Luck *

* Nicole Dollanganger * Nothing * Pinegrove *

* Seahaven * Shook Ones * Sinking Ships * The Sun Days *

Superheaven Superheaven (formerly known as Daylight) is an American alternative rock band from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, a borough outside of Philadelphia and within the Philadelphia metro area. Their music has been described as reminiscent of 1990s grunge a ...

* These Days * This Is Hell * This Time Next Year *

* Title Fight * The Tower and the Fool *

Transit Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world * ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...

* Vinnie Caruana * Whirr * Young Statues

References

{{Authority control Record labels established in 2004 2004 establishments in Massachusetts Companies based in Boston American independent record labels Indie rock record labels Punk record labels Alternative rock record labels Post-hardcore record labels Record labels based in Massachusetts