Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records

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Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records is an American independent record label based in Athens, Georgia, whose catalogue is rather heavily weighted towards twee indie pop music, with several of its bands being related to or influenced by The Elephant 6 Recording Company. The label originally began as a compilation CD, Happy Happy Birthday To Me Volume 1, before it expanded into a 7" singles club, which released records by, among others, Of Montreal, Marshmallow Coast, The Essex Green, Great Lakes and Masters of the Hemisphere, while also releasing several tape and CD compilations. The singles club was noted for its individuality, with each individual record by an artist often being different, for example, each copy of The Essex Green's single came with a different original photograph on the sleeve, while Marshmallow Coast's were hand-drawn by school children. The label then began to release full length CDs for the first time - the first of these being Birddog's A Sweet and Bitter Fancy. The label also continued to release 7"s, compilations and t-shirts, as well as a video compilation DVD. There are currently over 70 releases on the label, and an even larger catalogue of distributed titles, with many more planned for 2006, including a new singles club.

Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records also organise the annual Athens Popfest, which takes place at the legendary 40 Watt Club, routinely features many of the bands on the label's roster, as well as many Elephant 6 artists, among other Athens luminaries. 2005's Popfest was headlined by bands including Pylon, Circulatory System and of Montreal. The 2006 Popfest featured headliners Deerhoof, The Apples in Stereo, The Mountain Goats and Circulatory System. The 2007 popfest line-up included the legendary Daniel Johnston (backed by Athens band Casper and the Cookies) and Ted Leo. Athens Popfest 2007 is most remembered as the breakout performance for Jacksonville band Black Kids, resulting in a storm of blogs, interviews, and international magazine write ups.