Label Spotlight: Courtney Barnett’s Milk Records

Courtney Barnett is undoubtedly one of the biggest breakthrough artists to come out of Australia in the last two years. Off the back off just two EPs the Melbourne-bred singer-songwriter and her band – aptly named ‘The Courtney Barnetts’ – have managed to tour Australia, Europe and the US exhaustively, landing spots on festivals such as Coachella and Lollapalooza to name a few. Ahead of the release of her debut LP Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit today, Barnett chats to TMN about the new LP as well as her own independent label Milk Records.

"I guess I was kind of a control freak and scared of the thought of someone trying to tell me what to put on the front of my album or stuff like that. It seemed like the best fit for me.”

Barnett created Milk Records with fellow artist and girlfriend Jen Cloher in 2012 as a way to denounce the rigid structures and plans put in place by large label system. Barnett even chose the name as a dig at those companies.

“We’d been joking about how record labels milk you for everything you’re worth. We were listening to Milk It by Nirvana and it just seemed like a good idea […] The old fashioned idea of what a label is, we’re not really that interested in. We’re more interested in making art so I guess that makes more sense.”

Barnett, though a large driving force behind the label, still takes on plenty of work on the road when touring. The burden is usually shared however with her label mates and friends Jen Cloher, Jen Sholakis and The Finks vocalist Sarah Farquharson who make up ‘team Milk’. The release and campaign process is a bit different this time around however, with Remote Control coming into the picture to help with the launch of the first full length, Barnett’s Sometimes I Sit… of course.

“Remote control have been awesome. They pretty much just do stuff for my albums. Everything else on Milk is a case-by-case basis. Some people don't need so much distribution. […] They helped get it into stores and that kind of stuff. Some of our other artists just aren’t ready for or keen for that.”

Aside from Sometimes I Sit… the majority of the releases on Milk are still very much DIY. The label signees currently consist of Barnett, Jen Cloher, Fraser A. Gorman, East Brunswick All Girls Choir, The Finks, Royston Vasie and Dyson Stringer Cloher. Barnett says the next release will be from country tinged singer-songwriter Fraser .A Gorman followed by albums from Jen Cloher, The Finks and a Milk Records compilation.

Barnett also uses the label to sell the kind of quirky, endearing merchandise that shows off her other creative skill, line drawing. One piece that seems to always stir a conversation is the official Courtney Barnett tea towels.

“They are one of my favorite things to do," she says. "[…] It's funny, when we went to America they went ‘What the fuck are these?’, 'It’s a tea towel' and they would say 'What the fuck is a tea towel. Like a dishwasher rag?' And they would say 'Oh… a dish rag'."

Courtney Barnett’s Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit is out today.