Kindercore started one night in spring
1996 when we were at a Butterglory show at the now legendary Atomic
Music Hall in Athens, GA. Dan was beginning his graduate studies
in Biological Engineering and Ryan was contemplating a change
of majors and we both were looking for something exciting. We
had already planned on releasing the first 7" by our band
Kincaid ourselves. We looked around at everyone at the show and
realized we had a bunch of friends in great bands and there was
no label around to document our scene. We decided to take the
opportunity and start a label. Our first actual release was the
Treble Revolution compilation cassette. It preceded the Kincaid
7" because the plant took forever to press that single. The
comp sold out in about a week, and we knew we were on to something.
We began to release 7"s by our friends
bands like Gritty Kitty, The Mendoza Line Joe Christmas, and the
Masters of the Hemisphere. We also released a CD compilation (Treble
Revolution volume 2) that documented the Athens scene at that
time. We were greatly helped by the support of the burgeoning
Elephant 6 scene. We also began releasing full-length CDs by our
now growing roster. During this phase of Kindercore, we signed
a band from Racine, WI called The Teacups, who became our first
out-of-town band, breaking down the Athens-only barrier.
At this point, Kindercore had started to garner
national attention as an up and coming label specializing in indiepop.
While we embraced this image, we both knew that we had tastes
outside the genre. We were documenting what was happening in our
world, and this new sound was what was happening in our world
at that time. But even as the world began to peg us as The indiepop
label, we began to diversify our sound adding acts like the hip-hop
influenced Kitty Craft, the beautifully orchestrated Japancakes,
and the restrained, classic, Vermont.
As our catalog and experience grew, we decided
it may be time to move to (possibly) greener pastures. With the
aid of Emperor Norton Records, we relocated to Brooklyn, New York
and opened a new chapter in our history. It was here we began
to define a new sound enlisting the likes of the psychedelic Essex
Green, the quirky French genius Etienne Charry, and the mellow,
contemporary Brits in Birdie. Dan and Ryan also started new musical
projects as it was clear that Kincaid would not be able to function
as long distance lovers. Dan took his laptop electronica that
he had been working on in secret and created I am the World Trade
Center, while Ryan started a garage pop outfit called The Four
Corners. It was in New York that we grew into a more mature indie.
We were building our mini-empire and it was within two years that
we decided it was time to take it back home to Athens.
Once in Athens, we moved into an office and
started a recording studio with Bill Doss, formerly of the Olivia
Tremor Control, who was beginning a new band called the Sunshine
Fix that would soon release records on Kindercore. This studio
was home to the creation of our immensely popular self-titled
release from the San Francisco band Call and Response as well
as Ryan's Four Corners album. We held our second bi-annual festival
and it was there we really gained international attention as it
drew a world-wide audience and intense national press leading
Spin magazine to call us "One of the top 10indie labels to
look out for in 2000".
As we settled back in to Athens, we once again
looked around and realized that things were changing; our tastes
were changing, the scene was changing, music was changing and
more significantly, we were changing. We both once again realized
that as diversified as our label had become, it still did not
represent all of our tastes. It was at this time that we began
a relationship with The Telegraph Company who would come to serve
as our advisors and distributors. They allowed us to do what we
really had always wanted to do: be in bands and tour. We started
a new band together, The Agenda. This band would also define a
new start for Kindercore, the new Kindercore would facilitate
all of our tastes and allow us to pursue our dreams which have
always included helping our friends, bringing people good music
and being in great bands ourselves. The Agenda and I am the World
Trade Center both recorded new albums and started extended tours
to support them. As we entered this new era of Kindercore, we
also enlisted the help of our friends who shared similar ideas
in bands such as Maserati, The Paper Lions and Jet by Day. With
a new team in place, we did not forget the past, we kept working
with some of the best bands from our past including Dressy Bessy,
Of Montreal and The Masters of the Hemisphere. Kindercore's present
sound is a combination of our history and our new ideas as well
as a healthy contribution of our personal talents. The way Kindercore
was always meant to be.
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