Wilco forms own label, severs ties with majors
Wilco took another step Wednesday toward becoming a self-contained music company when the Chicago band announced it was forming its own label, dBpm Records.
The label will be based in Easthampton, Mass., and run by the band's manager, Tony Margherita. Distribution will go through Anti- Records, an offshoot of Los Angeles punk powerhouse label Epitaph. In recent years Anti- has released albums by a wide range of acclaimed artists, including Tom Waits, Neko Case and Mavis Staples.
Staples’ 2010 album, “You are Not Alone,” was produced by Wilco singer Jeff Tweedy, who expressed his admiration for the label in an interview last year with the Los Angeles Times’ Todd Martens: "I think they’re pretty smart. I think they’re music lovers. I really respond to it. It’s very similar to the way I am. It’s a lot more like the way the world exists now than when I was growing up. There are less lines drawn in the sand between genres."
The move severs Wilco’s ties with the major-label system. All of Wilco’s previous albums since its 1995 debut, “A.M.,” have been released by labels affiliated with Warner Brothers: Reprise and Nonesuch. By creating its own label, Wilco brings virtually all facets of its operation in-house.
"Wilco's independent streak is well documented and nothing new," Margherita said in a statement released by the band, "and this is the culmination of what we've been working towards for the last 15 years. As we reached the end of our last deal, it felt like it was time for a change and the one thing we were certain we did not want to do was to sign another traditional recording agreement. Our discussions with Anti-, coming on the back of a great experience working with them on the Mavis Staples record, led us to thinking we might be able to come up with something quite different from the norm that could potentially be better for us and, frankly, a lot more interesting.”
The sextet is working on its next studio album in its rehearsal space on Chicago’s North Side. No release date has been set. The band’s 2011 tour dates include an appearance at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and a reprise of its Solid Sound Festival in North Adams, Mass., on June 24-26.
greg@gregkot.com