Parent company BMG Rights Management Official website www.vagrant.com Distributor(s) Warner Music Group Founders Jon Cohen, Rich Egan | Country of origin United States Founded 1996 Location Santa Monica, California Parent organization Bug Music, Inc. | |
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Genre Indie rock, alternative rock, rock Artists Thrice, The Get Up Kids, Alkaline Trio, Senses Fail, Dashboard Confessional Albums Something to Write Home Ab, To Be Everywhere Is to Be N, Let It Enfold You, From Here to Infirmary, Good Mourning Profiles | ||
Vagrant Records is an American record label based in California. It was founded in 1995 by Rich Egan, and is currently run by President Jon Cohen. The label focuses on rock but features artists in a variety of other genres including folk, soul, electronic, and pop. It is home to artists such as The 1975, Death Spells, Eels, Bad Suns, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, CRUISR, Active Child, PJ Harvey, School of Seven Bells, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, James Vincent McMorrow, Black Joe Lewis, Wake Owl, Blitzen Trapper, and Bombay Bicycle Club. Originally, Vagrant Records was mostly focused on emo bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Saves the Day, The Get Up Kids, and Alkaline Trio. In 2014, it was acquired by BMG Rights Management.
Contents
History
The first band signed by Vagrant Records was Boxer and their album, The Hurt Process, was released on May 5, 1998. The pop-punk album notably featured drummer Chris Pennie, who would go on to play with Dillinger Escape Plan and Coheed and Cambria.
The Get Up Kids
In 1999, Vagrant Records signed Kansas City, Missouri, band, The Get Up Kids, and the band's Vagrant debut, Something to Write Home About, was released in September 1999. Egan and Cohen borrowed US$50,000 from Cohen's parents to fund the recording of the Get Up Kids album, derived from the mortgaging of the family house. The album was wildly successful, and single-handedly made Vagrant Records one of the top independent labels in the country.
Rapid growth
They signed Los Angeles punk rock trio Automatic 7 and released the bands 2nd album "Begger's Life" on July 25, 2000.They followed this by signing and releasing albums from heavyweights in the emo scene like Alkaline Trio, Saves the Day, and Dashboard Confessional. Dashboard Confessional's video for "Screaming Infidelities", directed by Maureen Egan and Matthew Barry, earned Vagrant the MTV2 award at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. Rich Egan is cited as saying the MTV Video Music Award win "changed everything" for the label.
Paul Westerberg
The label then went on to release solo material from The Replacements frontman, Paul Westerberg, signifying an initial departure from its roots of nineties punk and emo.
Genre diversification
They soon signed Eels and released their album Blinking Lights and Other Revelations. In 2005 the label acquired New York City indie label Startime International, with whom they co-released albums from The French Kicks and The Futureheads. During that time Vagrant signed The Hold Steady and The Lemonheads.
Poquito Records
In 2006 Vagrant formed a children's label imprint, Poquito Records and released Vagrant artist The New Amsterdams' side-project The Terrible Twos' debut album "If You Ever See an Owl".
Density Records
In 2007 Vagrant formed another imprint label, Density Records, which will release heavier material than has traditionally been released on the label.
On August 5, 2009, Rammstein, the Berlin-based industrial metal sextet, well known for its controversial and fiery live performances, signed a US marketing and distribution deal with Vagrant Records.