Never aging Merge Records.

Getting older can be a bit of a buzzkill at times. Past your early twenties, random aches and pains start popping up for seemingly no reason at all. Late nights out with friends are suddenly more taxing, and you’re one day startled to realize that your body actually needs real sustenance rather than the three-day-old takeaway and five-cent ramen packets that have kept you alive since college. Oh, and don’t even get us started on how you now have to actively watch your daily water intake to avoid feeling like you’re nursing the mother of all hangovers.
Yeah, it can be bleak times indeed. But, thankfully, some things do age more gracefully than our unreasonably tired bones, and we’d rank Merge Records right near the top. The North Carolina-based independent label is set to turn a respectable thirty-three this year and has only gotten better since its conception in those hazy summer days long past by.
Going from a tiny little pet project made amongst friends to a Billboard-topping outfit representing dozens of top artists in their prime, Merge Records has taken the title as one of the best labels around. They more than deserve the stellar rep they’ve amassed these last three decades. But while we usually encourage looking forward rather than behind, sometimes the pull to be a little nostalgic is simply too strong. So, please － indulge us a little.
The history of Merge Records is at least an interesting story to tell. It all started when singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan and bassist/backup vocalist Laura Ballance met at a pizza joint and soon realized they hit all the right notes together. Feeling like they could potentially be on the precipice of something big, the duo decided to take a chance to chase musical magic and recruited the talented Chuck Garrison (drums) and Jack McCook (guitar) to help their dream take form.
This new band would come to be called Superchunk － the happy result of a phone book misspelling of drummer Garrison’s first name and an insistence to not get mixed up with a “weird” New York jazz band － and it instantly felt like a good fit. But being built on high-velocity rock and a potent do-it-yourself approach that felt distinctly old-school punk, the times weren’t especially kind to the band, so Ballance and McCaughan appropriately came up with their own way to release Superchunk’s music and get heard. And thus, Merge Records was born.
Initially, it wasn’t anything to write home about. It was purely a solution used to ensure they weren’t left directionless waiting to be signed, and the band had few resources to actually keep it going. They largely had to rely on financing from friends for the first three or so years, and the new slapped-together label didn’t even take a salary during this period, instead depending on the earnings pulled in from band activities.
Everything started changing for the better in the early 90s, though. After garnering critical acclaim for Superchunk’s first single and debut album (which has been lovingly remastered!) and some change to the initial member line-up, major labels started clamoring for their attention. They were all rebuffed regardless of what was sure to be temptation, and the band put out their first Merge Records release in the form of 1999’s Tossing Seeds: Singles 89-91.
It went over well, and the label continued to put out quality content in the years after, both their own and of other artists (whom, for a time at least, apparently weren’t even asked to sign written contracts). By 2001, Merge Records was considered a strong, legitimate business, no doubt thanks to Superchunk’s own contributions as well as those from Neutral Milk Hotel, The Magnetic Fields, Spoon, and the popular Arcade Fire.
This ushered in a whole new era for Merge Records. With a solid rep firmly established and plenty of money in their pockets, they were finally able to leave the series of rundown offices that had served as HQ since becoming more than a little no-name outfit. They then officially settled into the downtown Durham property that has since become the label’s permanent home and continued doing what they do best: releasing great music.
And great it has been. Since their first chart-topping release of Arcade Fire’s Funeral, they’ve put out a myriad of incredible work. Spoon’s Transference, The Mountain Goats’ Dark in Here, Reigning Sound’s Home for Orphans, The Clientele’s Music for the Age of Miracles, and some of Arcade Fire’s other hits like Neon Bible and The Suburbs are just a few of the impressive albums that have found a home within the halls of Merge Records, all adding up to create an extensive, flexible, and admirable catalogue well-worth appreciating.
Considering how the odds appeared totally stacked up against them and taking into account the unsaid setbacks that surely plagued the label early in its life, it’s a wonder they ever ended up here. Yet, they’ve prospered against all imagination, including its’ founders.
From operating in the red entirely out of bandmates’ bedrooms to having an entire week of celebration declared in their honor, Merge Records has had a crazy history － and it’s not even close to over. So, today we tip our hats to them, everything they’ve accomplished, and everything they’ve yet to become. There’s no doubt that the future will be even bigger and better than the origins, and we personally can’t wait to see it unfold.