Labels to Watch in 2016

As Ones to Watch artist lists glitter the internet in the lead-up to 2016, TMN looks at the oft-unsung hero of the local industry, the independent label sector.

Below are seven home-grown indie labels who are not only achieving great success under the constraints of small financial margins but are experts in convincing us to pay for music by artists we’ve often never heard of.

Milk! Records
– by Poppy Reid

Perhaps it’s the co-operative operation model that makes Milk! Records so exciting, or perhaps it’s the fact it’s run by performance poet, visual artist and Grammy nominee Courtney Barnett.

In fact, the label stemmed from a hand-drawn logo of spilt milk on the back of Barnett’s self-released debut EP. She later put her passion where her pen was and formed Milk! in 2012, but back then it was a place holder of sorts for her own releases.

Now, with a modest roster of seven (including Barnett), the label is internationally known, and each of its artists are each kicking all sorts of goals. Jen Cloher, who also runs the label had her 2013 albumIn Blood Memorywas shortlisted for the year’s Coopers Amp and this year celebrated the 40th anniversary ofPatti Smith’sHorses with a tribute show alongside Barnett, Adalita and Gareth Liddiard(The Drones).

Meanwhile, Fraser A. Gorman was named Double J’s Pick of the Week in TMN last Friday for power-pop nugget Skyscraper Skyline Blues. Gorman has also been endorsed by the UK’s NME and Guardian, as well as US publications Pitchfork and Rolling Stone.

While Milk! already has four ARIA Awards up its sleeve thanks to its co-founder Courtney Barnett, 2016 could be its most potent yet with debut album releases slated for The Finks and Fraser A. Gorman plus a six-track compilation EP titled Good For You set for Valentine’s Day.

Flightless Records
– by Daniel Respall

Started up by Eric Moore (King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s drummer), Flightless Records has fast evolved from just a platform for the band to release their music from to a fully-fledged independent label with a small yet unique roster of artists.

Starting out incredibly DIY, burning CDs and making tapes, the label which is now synonymous with the King Gizzard name – the band are heavily involved with the running of the label. The band itself has garnered the respect of music lovers both locally and abroad. Most notably, inking deals with John Dwyer’s (of Thee Oh Sees fame) Castle Face Records to release King Giz in the States The deal includes latest album Quarters, which was nominated for the Best Jazz Album ARIA earlier this year.

The group’s (Moore has described Flightless and King Gizzard as the same thing) relationships with various international touring artists such as Mac Demarco have proven to be an incredibly strong point for the label as well, who have taken on the reigns for Mac DeMarco’s upcoming ‘Chunder Down Under’ tour which is close to selling out.

With plenty of forthcoming releases on the table from Flightless draw cards such as King Gizzard – who have recently claimed the album will be an infinitely looping prog-rock record – and The Murlocs amongst others, 2016 is set to be an important year for the label.

Elevnth Records
– by Poppy Reid

After 14 years with Platinum-selling, arena-filling, ARIA #1-charting band The Amity Affliction, co-founder Troy Brady left the band in October 2014, sending jaws to the floor on both sides of the Pacific. Nine months later, in a move which was as sincere as it was ambitious, Brady launched his own label Elevnth Records.

The Brisbane-based company now boats seven local and international acts (Ratking, Red Beard, Void of Vision, Elegist, Paper Lions, Pave Paradise, She Cries Wolf), who signed on predominantly for Brady’s pay-it-forward business model. Brady acts as the conduit for distribution, publishing, marketing, recording and technical strategy resources, all while working within a band’s financial borders, which means that when royalty payments do come in, the band gets full dibs.

Brady told TMN back in June: “I’m kind of treating it like a band in a way. There’s a certain aspect of music which is exciting but it doesn’t have to be ’PG’ all the time. You’re allowed to do things which are controversial.”

With a new release from Pave Paradise out this month, a Northlane support tour for She Cries Wolf slated for 2016, and five-band strong tour which will see Void of Visions join Stray From The Path, Hellions and Antagonist A.D, you can expect a more refined presence and plenty of caustic neck jerks from this label.

Mistletone
– by Poppy Reid

This Melbourne-based gift to the local scene launched in 2006 with none other than the release of House Arrest by Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, simultaneously with the group’s debut Australian tour.

Since then, Mistletone has promoted more than 50 tours for artists including Beach House, Kurt Vile and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. It even had its own stage at this year’s Laneway Festival, staging revisionist sets from POND, Courtney Barnett, St. Vincent and Future Islands.

Under its label banner, it’s responsible for the Australian releases of over 70 titles from its healthy label roster, which includes Panda Bear, aka Noah Benjamin Lennox, aka the founding member of seminal experimental pop band Animal Collective, US indie pop producer Toro y Moi and lauded dream-pop journey band Beach House. Four of its acts also featured in Pitchfork’s 50 Best Albums of 2015 (Julia Holter, Kurt Vile, Beach House and Jenny Hval).

As it rounds out its first decade of existence next year, Mistletone Records is set to continue its tactile approach to connecting artist and fan with releases on the cards from Spanish artist El Guincho and New York’s The Julie Ruin, aka Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre.

Sureshaker
– by Daniel Respall

What originally started as a management platform working with artists such as the relatively unknown (at the time) Newtown band called Sticky Fingers has fast grown into one of the most notable up and coming labels, Sureshaker.

Now the music company has grown, a lot, and is functioning more and more like a label as time goes by. Currently under its roster are Sticky Fingers, Bootleg Rascal, Boo Seeka and Lyall Maloney, all of which have seen their fair share of success this year.

Sticky Fingers rode into the year hot off the success for their critically acclaimed sophomore record Land Of Pleasure, and subsequently toured both the country and overseas, having dates in both the US and in various parts of Europe. Locally, the group sold out their national tour in January with not a single word of promotion from the band or label, feeding purely off of the hype from their fans. Similarly, they sold out another date at the Enmore Theatre recently, also without a single bit of promo.

Bootleg Rascal have also enjoyed various sold out dates throughout the country this year whilst also hitting up Europe. It seems like Boo Seeka has been biggest success story out of the smaller acts on the roster however, only forming in December last year, the group saw huge airplay and support from triple j right from the get-go. The duo’s single Deception Bay actually ranked at the top of Alex Dyson’s (of triple j morning’s with Matt & Alex) top tracks for the Hottest 100.

Spinning Top Music
– by Poppy Reid

Just a year-and-a-half old and Spinning Top Music has already pocketed a WAM Award for Best Independent Label.

Launched mid-2014 in partnership with Warner’s ADA Australia, the label stemmed from Spinning Top, the management company behindGrammy nominees Tame Impala. Now, its linchpins Jodie Regan (Director) and Garth Carwardine (Label Manager) are running both out of Fremantle, Perth. With 13 artists signed to the label roster, including three psych-rock projects from Tame Impala’s ex bassist Nicholas Allbrook, Spinning Top has gone from unassuming micro-label to taste-driven establishment.

Last month, Spinning Top Music received a fresh fund injection of $5,000 from Australia Council; the music industry is taking notice, and with ambitious releases from Gunns, Fascinator, Rabbit Island, Cameron Avery, Nicholas Allbrook and Peter Bibby slated for 2016, fans of curated collections and pie-in-the-sky concepts are in for a treat.

Haus Trauma Records
– by Daniel Respall

Still incredibly new on the label scene is newly formed Melbourne independent Haus Trauma Records. Created by Sebastian Chesney, the labeloperates as a multifaceted music company with a focus spanning between experimental and pop.

Chesney launched the label earlier this year with the help of some friends; it’s now home to various budding artists including Hospital and shoe gaze hopefuls Seasloth.

2016 looks to be a formative one for Haus Trauma with a lot more shows in the works for early next year as well as a much larger scale event yet to be announced. A potential forthcoming Seasloth EP ought to garner the band and label plenty of attention should the single Marshmellon be anything to go off. Meanwhile, the label tells TMN its acts Phonetticut and Hobo Komodo in particular are worth keeping an eye out for.