The Polyvinyl Podcast Polyvinyl Records

In this episode we focus on the label’s most recent projects, including releases from Julia Jacklin, Laura Jane Grace, Palehound, Pedro The Lion, Oceanator, and many others. We’ll chat with Jeff Rosenstock about the surprise-release of his Polyvinyl debut POST-, catch up with Detroit’s Anna Burch about her intro to the label, and hear about a fateful YouTube comment left on a Kero Kero Bonito video from Polyvinyl’s Marketing Director, Natalie Dávila.

Featuring interviews with Julia Jacklin, Anna Burch, Gus Lobban (Kero Kero Bonito), Jeff Rosenstock, Matt & Darcie Lunsford, Bob Nanna (Braid, Hey Mercedes), Matt Pryor (The Get Up Kids), David Bazan (Pedro The Lion), Laura Jane Grace, Elise Okusami (Oceanator), Ellen Kempner (Palehound, Bachelor), Melina Duterte (Jay Som, Bachelor), and Charlotte Cornfield.

In this episode the label begins working with new artists such as Generationals, Jay Som, White Reaper, and Alvvays - who would eventually release two of the most beloved and highest streamed albums in the label’s catalog. We’ll also hear the story of American Football’s reunion as well as the legendary prank Fred pulled on Polyvinyl Label Director, Seth Hubbard, back in 2013.

Featuring interviews with Meric Long (The Dodos), Generationals, Mike Kinsella, Rainer Maria, Betty Marie Barnes (Saturday Looks Good To Me), Nick Wilkerson (White Reaper), Melina Duterte (Jay Som), and Molly Rankin & Alec O’Hanley (Alvvays).

In this episode the label begins seeing the effects of the internet firsthand, in a time when a favorable review could lift a relatively unknown band out of obscurity literally overnight. We look back on this era with Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin’s Phil Dickey, as well as Japandroids drummer David Prowse, who reflects on signing to the label, the band’s relentless touring schedule, and their critically acclaimed sophomore album Celebration Rock, one of the label’s most successful releases. The label also releases music from notable new signings Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, and STRFKR.

Featuring interviews with Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin’s Phil Dickey, Asobi Seksu’s Yuki Chikudate, Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier, Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart, STRFKR, and Japandroids’ David Prowse.

In this episode the label begins branching out, in both style and region, working with unconventional indie rockers Aloha, as well as pop bands Mates of State, Saturday Looks Good To Me, and of Montreal, who would go on to become one of the label's most successful projects with the release of 2007's Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?.

Featuring interviews with Matt & Darcie Lunsford, Aloha’s Tony Cavallario, Mates of State, Polyvinyl Label Director Seth Hubbard, Saturday Looks Good To Me’s Fred Thomas, of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes, with additional commentary from Laura Jane Grace and members of Generationals & Kero Kero Bonito.

Interviews with Matt & Darcie Lunsford, Bob Nanna & Todd Bell from Braid, Rainer Maria, American Football’s Mike Kinsella, Pedro the Lion’s David Bazan, and commentary from Get Up Kids’ Matt Pryor and Aloha’s Tony Cavallario.

In this episode we meet the founders of Polyvinyl, and travel back with them to before the label existed, when they were publishing zines and putting on shows in their small Midwestern town in the early ‘90s. The label grows from a few errant 7”s and a compilation to release pivotal albums from Rainer Maria, Braid, and American Football.

Over the course of the last 25 years, Polyvinyl Record Co. has grown from an idea in the heads of two excitable music fans into one of the more versatile and artistically driven record labels of its kind, working with a roster of well over 100 artists and consistently pushing independent music in new directions. In commemoration of this landmark birthday, we’ve put together The Polyvinyl Podcast to chronologically tell the story of how Polyvinyl has evolved over the last quarter of a century.

With our host Fred Thomas, along with Polyvinyl staffers Natalie Dávila, Andy De Santis, and Seth Hubbard, we sat down and talked to just some of the folks who have been part of Polyvinyl’s enduring legacy, conducting dozens of interviews with artists such as American Football, Alvvays, Japandroids, Jeff Rosenstock, Julia Jacklin, Kero Kero Bonito, of Montreal, Laura Jane Grace, STRFKR, Xiu Xiu and many more.

With each episode, we’ll get deep into every era, moving from DIY beginnings to where the label is at today, and reflect on how Polyvinyl and their family of artists have navigated the ever-changing landscape of the music industry while holding on to core beliefs of positivity, kindness, and good music for all you good people.