Darla Records
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Darla Records is an independent record label founded by James Agren (in 1994) while he was in New York. After three years in NYC, James knew it was time to return home to San Francisco, California. Girlfriend Chandra Tobey (who James met in 1991 while he was a DJ at KUSF, and The I-beam, a famous San Francisco night club) graduated Amherst College in 1995 and also returned to San Francisco work with James on the label. Darla Record's first release was a 7-inch by Grifters, an indie rock/lo-fi band from Memphis.
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[edit] Background
The music of the artists on the label is electronica, indie rock, americana as well as other genres. Formed at a time when abrasive music was the norm, Darla was more interested in becoming an outfit with a focus toward the ambient and indie-pop. To this end, the label has collaborated with other underground labels, including LTM, Le Grand Magistery, Audio Dregs Recordings, and Static Discos. Darla Records is now home to over 35 exclusively distributed labels.
The label has created a series, known as Bliss Out. The series' moniker is a reference to Blissed Out: The Rapture of Rock — a tome authored by Simon Reynolds, a notable rock music critic based in Britain. The Little Darla Has A Treat For You semi-quarterly compilation series features artists and labels Darla Records works with closely and is very popular. This series was named after the Little Debbie snack treats.
Some think the label's moniker is a reference to Darla Hood, the little girl from the Our Gang comedies (known as The Little Rascals on television). In fact, the name comes from a yet-to-be-acknowledged bit of Americana. James noted while record collecting that many regional independent labels in the 50s had women's names, and national hits: Laurie, Paula, Sue, Tamla, etc. In the 80s and 90s there were popular indie-pop labels Sarah and Harriet.
Since 1994 Darla has been a label and distributor. Darla also became an on-line retailer in 1996. James Agren and Chandra Tobey (married at Green's at Fort Mason, San Francisco, 1999) continue to run Darla Records from a building on their property in rural north San Diego county.
[edit] Acts on label
Since its inception, Darla has been host to several notable acts. Musical outfits whose recordings have been released by this label include:
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[edit] From San Francisco to Sacramento and finally rural San Diego
Before long, Darla outgrew its one-bedroom apartment and 350 sq. ft. ground floor office space. James and Chandra relocated Darla to Sacramento, California in October of 2000. James and Chandra, however, are coastal people, surfers, and moved in October 2002 to rural north county San Diego where they could live their dreams fully. Darla Records is now run from its own 1000+ sq. ft. building out behind James and Chandra's Spanish-style ranch house and avocado grove on a 1.46 acre knoll with an ocean view in Vista, California.
