Your New Favorite Label: Take This to Heart Records
Posted: by The Editor
TAKE THIS TO HEART RECORDS
Founder: Joe Urban
First Release: 2012
Location: Massachusetts
Artists with recent releases: Snarls, Bad Luck, City Mouth, Super American
Website: takethistoheartrecords.com
Joe Urban started Take This to Heart Records to give good music a chance to be heard, and the roster proves he knows how to do just that. With Telethon’s literate and theatrical power pop, Barely Civil’s driving emo, The Sonder Bomb’s uke-wielding punk, and Lilith’s Daria-reboot-ready pop rock fuzz, you’re bound to find something that lights up your eardrums. Their roster is large enough to give you a variety of sounds worth digging through, but small enough that it seems carefully curated. I spoke with Joe about his motivations and inspirations below.
Get Alternative: What made you want to start a label?
Joe Urban: I really enjoy sharing and introducing people to new music. That’s the main reason I started a label. In the beginning, I was working at a studio in Westfield, MA and some great bands were coming in and kind of self-releasing music or just simply putting it out there without a plan. I wanted to help them out and reach more people, so I guess I sort of started the label by the need of a few local bands to get their music heard in bigger ways.
What are some labels that inspired you?
Saddle Creek, Vagrant, Drive Thru and Asian Man records were just a few of the labels that I loved growing up. I’ve seen the Spend An Evening With Saddle Creek documentary about 50 times. I’m definitely way too big of a Cursive and Bright Eyes fan, if that’s even possible. I used to simply grab any record that one of those labels put out and I hope to someday have fans of this label do that with our taste.
If you could go back in time before you started and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?
Just keep on doing it. I’ve definitely given up on music in a few different ways over my life. Some traumatic, some conscious choices. I always came back to music because I’ve enjoyed it so much and it’s fueled a part of me and helped shape me.
Spotify Playlist of Recent T3H Releases:
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Jami Fowler // @audiocurio
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