Twelve L.A. indie labels you should know: a primer
A consensus seems to be growing that Los Angeles is in the midst of a renaissance for independent music. In a recent Sunday feature, we set out to discover just how it is that while the major labels continue to suffer layoffs and severe sales losses, this city’s scrappy, savvy, taste-driven indie imprints have, in fact, been thriving. As a corollary to that, we’ve spoken to and profiled 12 of L.A.’s most active young labels, from artist-owned black metal powerhouse Southern Lord to chart-climbing indie rock outlet Danger Bird to progressive hip-hop imprint Anticon. Here’s hoping they’ll all end up in a GZA song some day.
Sargent House (Echo Park)
Longtime talent manager Cathy Pellow started Sargent House in 2006 with one artist: Seal Beach prog-punk band Rx Bandits, who were ready to call it quits after selling around 150,000 records through MCA/Geffen and, according to Pellow, "never seeing a penny." Today, her stable comprises "a middle class of awesome musicians," also proggily inclined, able to live off their earnings. She also manages a sister label co-run by the Mars Volta’s Omar Rodriguez Lopez.
IAMSOUND (Mid-City West)
With artists as diverse as British electro-popper Little Boots, Midwestern screwgaze trio Salem and L.A.’s own Afro-pop ensemble Fool’s Gold, IAMSOUND is as diverse as it comes, offsetting a tasteful, if broad, curatorial instinct with learned business knowhow. Founded in 2006 and run by video director Niki Roberton and online marketing expert Paul Tao, the label also understands community, evidenced by its ongoing “L.A. Collection” vinyl series, featuring a genre-hopping set of local up-and-comers.
Stones Throw (Mt. Washington)
Founded in 1996 by DJ/producer Peanut Butter Wolf, a.k.a. Chris Manak, Stones Throw moved to L.A. from Northern California a decade ago in order to be closer to its flagship artist, the cult-beloved and highly prolific Madlib. With a winning catalog informed by his playful, jazz-steeped compositions (see MF DOOM’s "Madvillainy" and J Dilla’s "Donuts"), plus a rising tide of vital new acts, the label is positioned to become the hip-hop equivalent of a major indie like Sub Pop.
Hydra Head (Los Feliz)
Hydra Head’s holdings include roughly half of the metal and metal-adjacent bands currently making waves in music, from “black ambient” artists such as Alhambra’s Xasthur to Seattle sludge kings Big Business to Providence mathcore act Daughters. Isis frontman Aaron Turner co-owns the label with Mark Thompson, who can be found most days of the week at their Sunset Junction-situated record shop, Vacation Vinyl. "Music is my life’s blood," Thompson said.