Drag City (record label)
Encyclopedia
Drag City is a Chicago-based independent record label
Independent record label
An 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:...

. It was established with a Royal Trux
Royal Trux
Royal Trux was an American alternative rock band from 1987 to 2001, founded by Neil Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema .-History:...

 release in 1990
1990 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990.-Events:*January 21 – MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with British band Squeeze...

 in Chicago, Illinois by Dan Koretzky and Dan Osborn.

Drag City specializes in experimental indie rock
Indie rock
Indie 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...

 acts. Among the bands that have released material on Drag City are Cave
Cave (band)
Cave is a psychedelic drone band based in Chicago, Illinois consisting of keyboardist Rotten Milk, guitarist/organist Cooper Crain, bassist Dan Browning and drummer Rex McMurry. The band was formed in Columbia, Missouri in 2006, and has released two full-length albums, Psychic Psummer and Hunt...

, Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom is an American harpist, pianist and singer-songwriter from Nevada City, California.- Early life :Newsom grew up in the small town of Nevada City, California...

, Pavement
Pavement (band)
Pavement is an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. In their career, they achieved a significant cult following, and they were called the best band of the 1990s by prominent music critics Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine...

, Royal Trux
Royal Trux
Royal Trux was an American alternative rock band from 1987 to 2001, founded by Neil Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema .-History:...

, Cynthia Dall, Faun Fables
Faun Fables
Faun Fables is a band from Oakland, California. Faun Fables is a concept and vehicle for Dawn McCarthy, who was inspired to write the original material while traveling after leaving the New York City music scene in 1997. Faun Fables also covers both 20th century compositions by other song writers...

, Scott Walker
Scott Walker (singer)
Scott Walker, born Noel Scott Engel on January 9, 1943 is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and the former lead singer of The Walker Brothers. Despite being American born, Walker's chart success has largely come in the United Kingdom, where his first four solo albums...

, Bill Callahan, Will Oldham
Will Oldham
Will Oldham , better known by the stage name Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded under variations of the Palace name, including the Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, and Palace Music...

 (Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Palace Music, etc.), Weird War
Weird War (band)
Weird War, briefly known as Scene Creamers, is an eclectic funk punk band based out of Washington, D.C.. The current lineup consists of Ian Svenonius on vocals, Michelle Mae on bass guitar, Alex Minoff on guitar, and Sebastian Thomson on drums....

, Jim O'Rourke
Jim O'Rourke (musician)
Jim O'Rourke is an Irish-American musician and record producer. He was long associated with the Chicago experimental and improv scene...

, Six Organs of Admittance
Six Organs of Admittance
Six Organs of Admittance is the primary musical project of guitarist Ben Chasny. Chasny's music is largely guitar-based and is often considered new folk, however it includes obvious influences, marked by the use of drones, chimes, and eclectic percussive elements...

, Loose Fur
Loose Fur
Loose Fur is an American rock band comprising Wilco members Jeff Tweedy and Glenn Kotche, and Wilco collaborator Jim O'Rourke. The trio first convened in May 2000 in preparation for a Tweedy performance at a festival in Chicago. Tweedy was offered the opportunity to collaborate with an artist of...

, Scout Niblett
Scout Niblett
Emma Louise Niblett , better known by the stage name Scout Niblett, is an English singer and songwriter. Her music is frequently minimal in style, many of her songs consisting merely of vocals accompanied by either drums or guitar, which she mostly plays herself. She is known for her intimate live...

, David Grubbs
David Grubbs
David Grubbs , guitarist, pianist, and vocalist, was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet and The Wingdale Community Singers....

, U.S. Maple
U.S. Maple
U.S. Maple was an American noise rock band. The group formed in Chicago in 1995. The band consists of Al Johnson , Mark Shippy , Pat Samson , and Todd Rittmann — who banded together with the intent of becoming the deconstructionists of rock and roll.-Formation and first single:U.S...

, Alasdair Roberts, Neil Michael Hagerty, The Howling Hex, Ghost, Flying Saucer Attack
Flying Saucer Attack
Flying Saucer Attack was an experimental space rock band that formed in Bristol, England in 1992. David Pearce was the core member of the group, and Rachel Brook was a member for most of the band's lifetime....

, Movietone
Movietone (band)
Movietone is an English post-rock band. They formed in Bristol, England in 1994. Core members are Kate Wright and Rachel Brook . Brook was also a member of Flying Saucer Attack during the first few years of the band's existence, and Wright is also currently the bass player for Crescent...

, The Fucking Champs
The Fucking Champs
The Fucking Champs are a three-piece progressive rock band from San Francisco, California. They are known for their heavy metal appeal, based largely around shifting time signatures, guitar harmonies, and lots of rhythm. Most songs are instrumental. They are currently signed to Drag City...

, Papa M, Pearls and Brass
Pearls and Brass
-History:The band members began playing together in 1996, but did not officially form the band until 2001. Their first recording came out in 2003, when Doppelganger Records released their self-titled debut LP. The band's style was heavily influenced by 70's classic rock, similar to bands such as...

, White Magic
White Magic (band)
White Magic is a psychedelic folk rock group based in Brooklyn, N.Y., led by singer/guitarist/pianist Mira Billotte.-History:White Magic's original lineup was Mira Billotte on vocals and piano, drummer/bassist Miggy Littleton and guitarist/drummer Andy Macleod...

, The Renderers
The Renderers (band)
The Renderers are a band from Christchurch, New Zealand formed in 1989 by Brian Crook and his wife Maryrose.-History:The Crooks recruited drummer Robbie Yeats and bassist Denise Roughan, and released their debut album, Trail of Tears, in 1991 on Flying Nun Records. They released six further albums...

, Espers
Espers (band)
Espers is a psych folk band from Philadelphia that is part of the emerging indie folk scene. They formed in 2002 as a trio of singer-songwriter Greg Weeks, Meg Baird and Brooke Sietinsons but later expanded to a sextet including Otto Hauser, Helena Espvall and Chris Smith...

, Silver Jews
Silver Jews
Silver Jews was an indie rock band from New York City, formed in 1989 by David Berman along with Pavement's Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich. Berman remained throughout and was the only constant member. During the last few albums, Cassie Berman became a regular member of the band...

, Monotonix
Monotonix
Monotonix were a garage rock band from Tel Aviv, Israel. They released their debut EP in 2008 and have toured mostly the United States and Europe, including notable now legendary appearances at SXSW...

, Nig-Heist, Michael Yonkers
Michael Yonkers
Michael Yonkers is an American rock musician from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.His most well known work is a psychedelic rock record from 1968 called Microminiature Love, which was released on vinyl by De Stijl records in 2002, and later Sub Pop, who released it on CD in July...

, The Red Krayola, Om
Om (band)
Om is a duo formed in 2003 by the rhythm section of the disbanded Stoner doom metal band Sleep. The band's first three albums feature Al Cisneros on vocals and bass and Chris Hakius on drums. Their music is similar in structure to Tibetan chanting....

, Sic Alps
Sic Alps
Sic Alps is an American garage rock band from San Francisco, California. They've released music on Siltbreeze, Drag City, Woodsist, and several other independent labels.After signing with Siltbreeze, the group released U.S. EZ in 2008...

, Edith Frost
Edith Frost
Edith Frost is an American singer-songwriter who describes her music as "pensive countrified psychedelia". Born in San Antonio, Texas on August 18, 1964, Frost moved to Brooklyn in 1990 where she played in the country bands the Holler Sisters, the Marfa Lights and Edith and Her Roadhouse Romeos...

, and Sun Araw. In recent years, they have expanded their catalog to include alternative comedy
Alternative comedy
Alternative comedy is a term that originated in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era, and typically avoids relying on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt defines it as "comedy where the...

 releases, with recent outputs from Fred Armisen
Fred Armisen
Fred Armisen is an American actor, comedian and musician best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and portraying off-color foreigners in various comedy films such as EuroTrip, Anchorman and Cop Out...

 and Neil Hamburger
Neil Hamburger
Neil Hamburger is a standup comedian character played by comedian and musician Gregg Turkington.-Style:Hamburger's live act, which is quite different from his many albums, features a barrage of question/answer jokes aimed often at celebrity targets, including Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, The Red...

, among others, and reissues, notably by Gary Higgins and Death
Death (punk band)
Death was a garage rock and punk rock demo band formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1971 by the brothers Bobby , David , and Dannis Hackney. The African American trio started out as an R&B band but switched to rock after seeing an Alice Cooper show...

.

Drag City's first release, 'DC1', was the single "Hero Zero" by Royal Trux
Royal Trux
Royal Trux was an American alternative rock band from 1987 to 2001, founded by Neil Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema .-History:...

.

The label released the US version of Scott Walker's Tilt in 1997, after the label approached him wishing to give the album a US release. Walker described releasing the album on the indie as "an experiment".

Several Drag City albums have been licensed to Domino Records for British release.

Several members of Drag City's staff have played in bands; press-chief Gene Booth played keyboards and guitar in USA, and Booth, head of sales Rian Murphy, and founder Dan Koretzky all played in Mantis. Booth was also a member of Chestnut Station.
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