I Hear You Singing In The Wire

Wichita Records Label Special on RBMA Radio

Wichita is one of those success stories that the record industry needs every now and then. Mark Bowen and Dick Green, the minds behind the Wichita label, set it up back in 2000, after the pair had been at Creation records in the Britpop heydays of the 90's. So a new milennium brought about a new stripped down office, and a back-to-basics approach to putting out records: basically it's just records that they really like.

The Wichita catalogue got underway with releases from Ruby, electronic wizards Wauvenfold, Brave Captain (aka Martin Carr of the Boo Radleys), Californian singer songwriter Her Space Holiday, and Conor Oberst's indie rock trio Bright Eyes. While these releases got them reams of critical reviews, the sales still remained on the modest side. But they were always careful to put quality over quantity, and this patient approach, that has earnt them the reputation of working with good and interesting music, has proven to be the right path to take.

After cementing their rep with further releases from the likes of Elastica , The Pattern, My Morning Jacket, and The Bumblebeez, the had a break through signing indie band Bloc Party. While they were the target of every discerning label worth its salt, Wichita managed to win them over with their music policy and common sense. Despite hradly shifting more than 10,000 copies per release, Bloc Party and Wichita proved to be the perfect combination, capturing the imagination of music lovers around the world. Bloc Party have since gone on to sell over a million units across the globe, transforming Wichita from labour of love to label that's loved.

Fortunately the A&R ears of Mark and Dick weren't changed by Bloc Party's hit record, but instead they got on with the task of searching for more exciting bands and music. The success of Bloc Party was quickly followed by US group Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, who stormed the charts back in 2006. But Wichita has always been about diversity and surprises, and they have since splintered off into hard punk rock from The Bronx, Swedish pop from Peter, Bjorn & John, and Espers' medieval folk music. They also signed anthemic electro duo Simian Mobile Disco, as well as UK psych punk quartet Lovvers.

While Wichita build on their breakthroughs, you can be sure with their upcoming releases they'll come with another curveball surprise.

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