Based in: Berkeley, California, since 1992
Key Acts: Lilys, Rocketship, The Aisler's Set, Crystal Stilts, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Slumberland is a cult record-label closely associated with the development of the twee movement in the United States. After spending most of its first two decades of existence as an underground, cult concern, the label was reinvigorated by the signing of New York pop bands Crystal Stilts and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart in 2008.
SLR DIY
Slumberland was founded, in 1989, as the collective enterprise of members of various indie-pop bands from the Washington, DC area, including Velocity Girl, Whorl, Black Tambourine, and Powderburns. The brainstorm of "a bunch of kids from suburban Maryland," Slumberland took practical inspiration from Dischord Records, the local label whose down-to-earth ideals had turned it into an underground power.
"All but a few of the band members were total beginners, and it just didn't seem that likely that we would be able to interest other labels in our weird primitive noise," Mike Schulman, the drummer/guitarist for Black Tambourine who took to the task of running the label, would offer in an interview 20 years later.
Aesthetically, Slumberland was inspired by UK imprints like Sarah Records, Postcard Records, and the early output of Creation, and, musically, by the C86 movement and the Jesus and Mary Chain.
The label's first offering was a 7" compilation single feature songs by Velocity Girl, Black Tambourine, and Powderburns, entitled "What Kind of Heaven Do You Want?"
Slumberland would subsequently release individual singles by each band, as well as Philadelphian shoegazers Lilys and New Yorker indie-rockers Sleepyhead. Velocity Girl would soon graduate to the all-conquering Sub Pop Records, and their rising profile only brought attention back to the label that they'd helped found.
California Beaming
In 1992, Schulman moved from DC to Berkeley, California, and took the entirety of Slumberland's operation with him. Shortly thereafter, the imprint broke through when the licensed the first full-length by a new English act called Stereolab. Switched On, collecting the band's first three singles, quickly garnered a cult-like following.
With all of the initial DC acts either disbanded or working elsewhere, Slumberland's identity shifted. Its two main communities became a tight crew of twee bands from Sacramento —Rocketship, The Softies, and Go Sailor! (the latter two featuring Rose Melberg, formerly of twee icons Tiger Trap)— and some more raggedy, rough indie-rock acts —Boyracer, Hood, Beatnik Filmstars (the latter who'd soon sign to Merge)— from the UK.
Through the late-'90s into the early-'00s Slumberland's output would slow down considerably. The label seemed to be only kept alive by the amazing output from songwriter Amy Linton, a Bay Area-based pop craftsman who'd first fronted the noisy Henry's Dress, then the golden-toned The Aislers Set.
In 2003, right after releasing The Aislers Set's magnum opus, How I Learned to Write Backwards, Schulman took Slumberland into a three-year hiatus.
"I just got bored with indie music, and wasn't hearing a lot that I was into," Schulman would explain to Pop Tarts Suck Toasted. "I had started a new career writing software and learning it was really time-consuming; the label had to take a back-seat."
Rebirth of a Label
Schulman restarted Slumberland in 2006, keen to release records by edgy English indie-pop acts Bricolage and The Lodger. Yet, it would be a trio of New York signings that would put Slumberland back on the map. And, indeed, take the label to new heights. Cause Co-Motion! and Crystal Stilts both would attract sizable audiences with their lo-fidelity take on post-punk.
Upon its release, Crystal Stilts' 2008 breakout LP, Alight of Night, was the biggest LP Slumberland had worked on since Stereolab's Switched On.
Yet, even that was eclipsed with the arrival of a young band of indie-pop kids named The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Schooled in twee lore, the quartet's self-titled debut proved an unlikely crossover act; leading them onto network television, and marking the band as one of 2009's biggest breakouts.
Now, with TPOBPAH entrenched as the label's 'flagship' act, Slumberland Records has moved into its third decade bigger and better than ever.
