Wilco Is Goin’ Indie

When Wilco returns to MASS MoCA this summer to headline their second annual Solid Sound festival, they’ll have something that they didn’t have when they led last year’s festival – their own record company.

Although Wilco is based in Chicago, their new label – dBpm Records – will be based in Easthampton, Mass. and run by the band’s longtime manager Tony Margherita.

ANTI- Records, the same label scheduled to re-release Sean Rowe’s album, “Magic,” later this year, will provide distribution and additional labels services for all dBpm Records releases.

“This is an idea we’ve discussed for years,” said Wilco bandleader Jeff Tweedy. “We really like doing things ourselves, so having our own label feels pretty natural to me. And, to be working with ANTI- – a label that has its roots in a label that was started by a punk rock guy to sell his own records – seems like a perfect fit for us.”

“Wilco’s independent streak is well documented and nothing new,” adds Margherita. “and this is the culmination of what we’ve been working towards for the last 15 years. As we reached the end of our last deal, it felt like it was time for a change and the one thing we were certain we did NOT want to do was to sign another traditional recording agreement.

“Our discussions with ANTI-, coming on the back of a great experience working with them on the Mavis Staples record, led us to thinking we might be able to come up with something quite different from the norm that could potentially be better for us and, frankly, a lot more interesting. And that’s exactly what happened….”

Following the runaway success last summer, Wilco will headline and curate the second annual Solid Sound festival at MASS MoCA in North Adams from Friday-Sunday, June 24-26.