Church Road Records
Founded2017 (age 9)
FounderSammy Urwin
Genre
CountryUnited Kingdom
LocationWoking, England

Church Road Records is a British independent record label, founded in 2017. It is co-run by Sammy Urwin and Justine Jones, both of Employed to Serve. Originally founded as a mail-order distribution label, it was established as a proper record label in September 2020.

History

Church Road Records was originally founded in 2017 by Employed to Serve guitarist and vocalist Sammy Urwin.[1][2] Taking its name from a street in Employed to Serve's hometown of Woking,[3] the label was originally set up as a mail-order distributor, which Urwin used to sell "a carefully curated selection of records he liked personally, ranging from classic hardcore and death metal long-players through to fellow contemporary cutting-edge acts".[3]

On 7 September 2020, several women accused Alex Fitzpatrick, the founder of Holy Roar Records (whom Employed to Serve had been signed to previously), of rape and sexual misconduct, which Fitzpatrick has denied.[4] This resulted in all of Holy Roar's staff and bands immediately severing ties with the label.[5][6][7] Within a few days of its closure, Urwin and Justine Jones (also of Employed to Serve, and a former manager at Holy Roar) converted Church Road Records into a proper record label in order to release several albums that were imminently due for release through Holy Roar,[2] including Svalbard's When I Die, Will I Get Better?, Palm Reader's Sleepless and Respire's Black Line.[8][9][10] As the record sleeves for these albums had already been printed, Jones ordered 3,000 stickers featuring a logo for Church Road Records that she and Urwin (with the assistance of Urwin's mum and sister as well as Svalbard members Serena Cherry and Liam Phelan) used to cover up the Holy Roar logo.[3][7] Church Road also acquired the digital rights to the albums via TuneCore.[3] When I Die, Will I Get Better?, Sleepless and Black Line all proved to be critical and commercial successes for the label, with the albums ending up on several critics' end-of-year lists and receiving multiple pressings months after they were first released.[2][3] By September 2021, Church Road Records had a roster of 20 bands.[11]

On 6 August 2022, Church Road Records celebrated its 5th birthday with a showcase at The Black Heart in London, with performances from Candescent A.D., Burner, Graywave, Noctule and Tuskar.[12][13]

Organisation

In a 2021 interview with Kerrang!, Jones said that she and Urwin set up Church Road Records "because we feel there’s a huge gap in the UK scene for labels like ours – labels that help grassroots bands rise so they can play academy-sized venues. A lot of the bigger labels aren’t really interested in small club bands because of the time and money that has to go into them. Our size of label is perfect for that."[3] The label's mail order service was initially run from a bedroom in Jones' and Urwin's house, but was later outsourced to Awesome Merch "because we had boxes everywhere and it was basically a fire hazard", Jones said.[3]

Church Road also runs a monthly subscription club for their releases (in both digital and physical formats), an idea that Jones previously established whilst working for Holy Roar.[3] Jones said that the subscription club allowed her to not worry as much about the sales of Church Road's artists, and felt that it also gave unknown artists free publicity.[3]

Artists

Current[14]

Alumni

References

  1. ^ New Noise Staff (2021-01-11). "News: Slow Crush sign to Church Road Records". New Noise Magazine. Archived 11 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  2. ^ Fawcett, Paris (2021-09-17). "Employed To Serve: "This is an album about empowerment - about conquering yourself".". Metal Hammer (loudersound). Archived 10 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  3. ^ Alexander, Phil (2021-03-09). "Employed To Serve's Justine Jones: "Putting spotlights on women in the industry is important"". Kerrang!. Archived 29 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
  4. ^ Anon. (2020-09-08). "Rolo Tomassi “End Relationship” With Holy Roar Records After Label’s Founder Is Accused Of Sexual Abuse". Kerrang!. Archived 31 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
  5. ^ BrooklynVegan Staff (2020-09-08). "Holy Roar Records founder accused of rape, several bands respond". BrooklynVegan. Archived 14 May 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
  6. ^ Hatfield, Amanda (2020-09-09). "Holy Roar founder denies rape allegations & resigns; several bands cut ties with label". BrooklynVegan. Archived 30 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  7. ^ X, Hayduke (2020-10-17). "Interview - Serena Cherry and Liam Phelan of Svalbard". MoshPitNation. Archived 25 July 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
  8. ^ Anon. (2020-09-18). "Svalbard Will Still Be Releasing Their New Album, But On A New Record Label". Kerrang!. Archived 20 July 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
  9. ^ therazorsedge (2020-10-02). "Palm Reader Sign to Church Road Records and Announce Live Stream". The Razor's Edge. Archived 16 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  10. ^ "Respire join the Church Road family with forthcoming album 'Black Line'". Idioteq. 2020-10-08. Archived 6 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  11. ^ Kusano, Rodney (2021-09-16). "EMPLOYED TO SERVE: Perseverance". Outburn Online. Archived 24 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  12. ^ "Church Road Records 5th Birthday Bash". Our Black Heart. 2022-08-06. Archived 17 August 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  13. ^ Hill, Stephen (October 2022). "Live Reviews: Church Road Records' 5th Birthday Show". Metal Hammer. No. 366. UK: Future plc. p. 99.
  14. ^ "Collections". Church Road Records. Archived 1 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-08-13.
  15. ^ "Lowen". Church Road Records. Archived 11 October 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  16. ^ Carter, Emily (2023-07-05). "Listen to Underdark’s black metal cover of Massive Attack’s…". Kerrang!. Archived 17 November 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-10-25.