Darla Records is an
independent record labelAn independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
founded by James Agren (in October 1993) while he was in New York. Darla Record's first release was a 7-inch by Grifters, an
indie rockIndie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
/lo-fi band from
MemphisMemphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
.
Background
The music of the artists on the label includes
electronicaElectronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
, indie pop and rock, and
AmericanaAmericana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
. Darla is currently focused on
ambientAmbient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
. Darla is a label, distributor and online retailer. Darla Records is home to over 200 exclusively distributed labels including Ad Noiseam, Audio Dregs Recordings, Ici d'Aileurs, Elefant,
LTMLTM Recordings is an independent record label founded in Britain in 1983, and best known for high quality, well-packaged reissues of artists and music from 1978 to the present day, as well as modern classical and avant garde composition...
,
Le Grand MagisteryLe Grand Magistery is an independent record label operating out of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan since 1996. They have been home to a number of artists including A Cuckoo, A Girl Called Eddy, Always, Baxendale, The Blood Group, Cinéma Vérité, Computer Perfection, Flare, Kahimi Karie, Le Concorde,...
, Matinee, Ohm Resistance, Siesta and Words On Music.
The label created a series, known as Bliss Out. The series' moniker is a reference to
Blissed Out: The Rapture of Rock — a tome authored by
Simon ReynoldsSimon Reynolds is an English music critic who is well-known for his writings on electronic dance music and for coining the term "post-rock". Besides electronic dance music, Reynolds has written about a wide range of artists and musical genres, and has written books on post-punk and rock...
, a notable
rock musicRock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
critic based in Britain. The Little Darla Has A Treat For You semi-quarterly compilation series features artists and labels Darla Records works with closely and is very popular. This series was named after the Little Debbie snack treats.
The label's moniker is not a reference to
Darla HoodDarla Jean Hood was an American child actress, best known as the leading lady in the Our Gang series from 1935 to 1941. She was born in Leedey, Oklahoma, the only child of James Claude Hood and Elizabeth Davner...
, the little girl from the
Our GangOur Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
comedies (known as
The Little Rascals on television), but comes from a yet-to-be-acknowledged bit of Americana. James noted while record collecting that many regional independent labels in the '50s had women's names and national hits: Laurie, Paula, Sue, Tamla, etc. In the '80s and '90s there were popular indie-pop labels Sarah and Harriet.
Since 1993 Darla has been a label and distributor. Darla became an online retailer in 1996. in 2009 Darla began offering digital downloads from their own website. James Agren and Chandra Tobey run Darla Records from a 1250 sq ft (116.1 m²) barn on their avocado and cherimoya farm in the hills of
north San Diego countySan Diego County is a large county located in the southwestern corner of the US state of California. Hence, San Diego County is also located in the southwestern corner of the 48 contiguous United States. Its county seat and largest city is San Diego. Its population was about 2,813,835 in the 2000...
.
Acts on label
Since its inception, Darla has been host to several notable acts. Musical outfits whose recordings have been released by this label include:
- Aarktica
Aarktica is a musical collective based in New York City which was initially a pseudonym for Jon DeRosa, the collective's principal member.- Origin :...
- Alsace Lorraine
- American Analog Set
- Amp
Amp is an electronic space rock band formed in London by Richard F. Walker in 1992, after collaborating with David Pearce on the The Secret Garden and the Distance projects...
- Auburn Lull
Auburn Lull are a five-member dream pop/shoegaze band from Lansing, Michigan, which formed in 1995.-Biography:The band consisted of guitarists Sean Heenan, Jason Kolb, Eli Wekenman, Ron Gibbs and drummer Jason Wiesinger...
- Bright
- California Oranges
- Desario
-History:Desario formed in early 2004 when John Conley, Michael Yoas and Jim Rivas, who had played together previously in various other bands including Holiday Flyer, got together and started writing songs. The intention was to veer away from the poppier songs that they produced in their earlier...
- Flare
Flare Acoustic Arts League — a.k.a. Flare — is an experimental pop band formed by guitarist Damian Costilla and singer LD Beghtol in New York in 1996.-History:...
- Flowchart (band)
- Follow The Train
- Füxa
Füxa was a space rock duo, consisting of Detroit musicians Ryan Anderson and Randall Nieman . Füxa was created in 1994 and their music has been described as psychedelic and experimental...
- Hammock
A hammock is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two points, used for swinging, sleeping, or resting. It normally consists of one or more cloth panels, or a woven network of twine or thin rope stretched with ropes between two firm anchor points such as trees or posts....
- Harold Budd
Harold Budd is an American ambient/avant-garde composer and poet. Born in Los Angeles, he was raised in the Mojave Desert, and was inspired at an early age by the humming tone caused by wind blown across telephone wires....
- Holiday Flyer
Holiday Flyer were a Roseville, California-based indie pop band formed in June 1993 by siblings John and Katie Conley. In this incarnation, Holiday Flyer released their debut long-player, Try Not to Worry, in 1995...
- hollAnd
- I Am Robot And Proud
Shaw-Han Liem, better known by the alias I am Robot and Proud, is a Canadian indie electronic artist from Toronto, Ontario. He has released albums under the labels Darla and & Records.-History:...
- ISAN
Isan are an English electronic music duo. The name was initially explained as Integrated Services Analogue Network - a play on ISDN, reflecting their preference for analogue synthesisers....
- Japancakes
-History:Rhythm guitarist Eric Berg formed the band with the idea of putting ten musicians in a band without any rehearsal, and performing a D chord for 45 minutes . He continued performances with numerous instrumentalists before releasing their first recording If I Could See Dallas on Kindercore...
- Junior Varsity KM
- LD & the New Criticism
LD & the New Criticism was an American experimental pop bandformed by songwriter/producer LD Beghtol. Designed by Beghtol to showcase his less dour songwriting efforts—and to be a highly portable, essentially 'live band,' unlike his other studio-based projects Flare and moth wranglers—the outfit...
- Lowlights
- Mahogany
- Manual
Manual is the performing name of electronic musician, Jonas Munk, from Odense, Denmark. Manual's music is considered to be in the styles of ambient dream pop and indietronica. His sound tends to contain a mix of software synthesizers, guitars , and various digital signal processing effects...
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- Maquiladora
A maquiladora or maquila is a concept often referred to as an operation that involves manufacturing in a country that is not the client's and as such has an interesting duty or tariff treatment...
- Mirza
Mirza , is of Persian origin, denoting the rank of a high nobleman or Prince. It is usually translated into English as a royal or imperial Prince of the Blood...
- My Morning Jacket
My Morning Jacket is an American rock band from Louisville, Kentucky.The band consists of Jim James , Tom 'Two-Tone Tommy' Blankenship , Patrick Hallahan , Carl Broemel , and Bo Koster .-History:My Morning Jacket was...
- New Radiant Storm King
New Radiant Storm King is an indie rock group formed at Massachusetts' Hampshire College in 1990.-Biography:New Radiant Storm King have released eight studio albums on six different labels...
- Pale Horse and Rider
Pale Horse and Rider was a short-lived collaboration between Jon DeRosa and Marc Gartman. Their recordings featured a variety of performers in supporting roles, including Alan Sparhawk , Charles Newman , Paul Oldham and Mike Pride....
- Photon Band (band)
Photon Band is an American indie rock band formed in Philadelphia, PA in 1994. The only constant member is Art DiFuria. Key members have included Simon Nagle and Jeff Tanner...
- Piano Magic
Piano Magic is a musical collective formed in the summer of 1996 by Glen Johnson, Dominic Chennell, and Dick Rance in London, England. Their sound has been described as ambient pop, post-rock, indietronica, coldwave, dark wave and ghostrock...
- Robin Guthrie
Robin Guthrie is a musician best known as co-founder of the Cocteau Twins. During his career Guthrie has played guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums and other musical instruments, in addition to programming, sampling and sound processing...
- Rumskib
- Saloon
Saloon were an English indie musical group from Reading, who formed in 1997 and disbanded in 2004.-Formation:Saloon was formed originally formed in late 1997 by Adam Cresswell and Michael Smoughton , with the final line-up of five people completed in early 1998, which added Alison Cotton Saloon...
- Sisterhood of Convoluted Thinkers
- Sprites
Sprites are an independent new wave/indie pop music group from Maryland, USA. Their lineup is ever-changing, with only the founding members staying constant...
- Superdrag
Superdrag is an alternative rock band from Knoxville, Tennessee. The band had a hit with its 1996 single "Sucked Out" off their album Regretfully Yours, for which a video clip was broadcast regularly on MTV...
- Steven R. Smith
Steven R. Smith is an American musician, instrument-builder, and printmaker often associated with the Jewelled Antler collective. Born in Fullerton, California and based in San Francisco and, more recently, Los Angeles, his musical output began in the mid-1990s and continues on at the present...
- Sweet Trip
Sweet Trip is an experimental ambient pop/shoegaze act from San Francisco, California.- Background :The group was formed in 1998, and its mastermind is producer and songwriter, Roberto Burgos...
- Tomorrowland
- Tullycraft
Tullycraft is an indie pop band from Seattle, Washington who formed in 1995. They have been associated with the genre of twee, in fact, they are considered to be one of the forefathers of the American twee pop movement alongside Black Tambourine, Tiger Trap, Lois, Honeybunch, and Beat Happening...
- Voxtrot
Voxtrot was an indie pop band from Austin, Texas, USA. Their first recordings were released in 2003 and their final shows were in June 2010.-Biography:Voxtrot was formed in Austin, Texas by singer/songwriter Ramesh Srivastava in the early 2000s...
- Windy & Carl
-Overview:Cited as "A leading light of the Michigan space-rock scene" by Allmusic, the minimalist group formed in 1993 around the core husband-and-wife duo of guitarist Carl Hultgren and bassist/singer Windy Weber...
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DARLA
From San Francisco to Sacramento and finally rural San Diego
Before long, Darla outgrew its one-bedroom apartment and 350 sq ft (32.5 m²). ground floor office space. James and Chandra relocated Darla to
Sacramento, CaliforniaSacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
in October 2000. Darla moved in October 2002 to rural
north county San DiegoSan Diego County is a large county located in the southwestern corner of the US state of California. Hence, San Diego County is also located in the southwestern corner of the 48 contiguous United States. Its county seat and largest city is San Diego. Its population was about 2,813,835 in the 2000...
. Darla Records is now in the least populated part of coastal southern California; known for its quality surf, palm and fruit tree nurseries and the best avocados in the world --
Vista, CaliforniaVista is a city in north San Diego County, California. It was incorporated January 28, 1963 and became a charter city on June 13, 2007. Located just seven miles inland from the Pacific Ocean in northern San Diego County, the City of Vista has a Mediterranean climate...
.