Brisbane, Australia’s indie record labels join forces to celebrate the sound of the city

Brisbane’s proud DIY music scene is being supported and celebrated through a unique initiative that promotes the city’s booming independent record labels – soundslikebrisbane.

Believed to be a world first, soundslikebrisbane (SLB) is bringing together the city’s indie labels under the one banner - already 13 local independent labels are represented with more to join the fold soon.

That first batch includes prominent local labels: Plus One Records, Mere Noise, Dew Process, Turkeyneck, Room 40, Someone Good, Pinnacles Music, SUGARRUSH, Lofly, El Nino El Nino, Red Tape Entertainment, Starving Kids, and Valve Records.

Covering every genre from hip-hop and jazz, to garage rock, country and pop – the labels define the creative melting pot that Brisbane has become. Together these labels work with dozens of artists, promoting close to 100 releases each year.

Among them are some of the country’s most exciting new artists including Last Dinosaurs, The Gin Club, The Optimen, The Medics and Jackie Marshall; alongside veritable music legends like Blowhard and Regurgitator.

Project coordinator Craig Spann said Brisbane’s indie labels were also opening up global networks by representing Brisbane artists overseas, and releasing some of the world’s most exciting new music in Australia.

“There’s no doubting that right now Brisbane’s indie labels are the engine room of the local music scene and the contribution they make should be celebrated and supported,” he explains. “Despite the fact these labels are often a one or two-person operation, they are ensuring the Brisbane builds on its reputation as one of the world’s most exciting music cities.”

More than a collective marketing initiative, the long term initiative will develop and deliver a range of projects aimed at not just supporting current indie labels, but ensuring a new wave of labels emerges to continue supporting the city’s music scene and artists.

The focal point of the new project is the soundslikebrisbane.com website which features label and artist profiles and a range of exclusive content to be rolled out over the coming months. The site will be promoted to music fans and the music industry – both in Australia and abroad – as a one-stop location for those looking for Brisbane’s most exciting artists and labels.

Celebrating Brisbane’s Music Heritage

The SLB project also aims to celebrate Brisbane’s proud indie music history with some of the city’s finest writers looking back at why the city has emerged as such an indie music stronghold.

The site goes live this week with a special contribution from Brisbane music historian and Pig City author Andrew Stafford who looks back at the independent path blazed by iconic local artists The Saints and The Go-Betweens. He writes:

“The making of (I’m) Stranded was seminal to the development of music in Brisbane for a number of reasons other than its sheer magnificence. (Playing it right now, the 7” single still roars from the speakers in a way the LP cut doesn’t quite.) It was the fact that it existed AT ALL, and that the band had made it themselves. They owed no one. This, combined with the bone simplicity of punk, represented a democratisation of music-making that horrified the majority of radio programmers and record labels but emboldened anyone with sufficient drive to emulate the Saints’ move. As the Go-Betweens’ Robert Forster told me, “I think we all felt brushed by the Saints’ wings.”

Find out more online now at www.soundslikebrisbane.com