Alkaline Trio Honored to Start Their Own Label With Epitaph

Posted on Dec 31st 2009 2:00PM by Dan Reilly
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When it came time for Alkaline Trio to start work on their seventh studio album, 'This Addiction,' the Chicago rockers chose to branch out and start their own record label. The decision was easy, at was a combination of both circumstance and a lifelong goal.

After moving from small indie companies to a larger indie, Vagrant, the band was eventually signed by V2, but the major label let all of its artists go before the Trio could release a record. Then, they were picked up by Epic and released 'Agony & Irony' in 2008. "Not longer after its release, the whole staff that hired us and were working our record were let go," singer/guitarist Matt Skiba tells Spinner. "They shifted to a pop label and we still owed them a record. It was almost a blessing in disguise that we've never had a platinum record or crossed over into the pop market -- they really had no use for us. We called them and said 'Can we go?' and they said 'sure.'"

With no label to work for, the band felt ready to break out on their own. "We don't want to work with people we don't know and we certainly have no business being on a pop label, so we figured enough of depending on other people to do our thing," Skiba says. "Putting out a record on our own is sort of a dream. It's something we always wanted to do but we tour so much, we spend so much time in the studio that we were like, 'How can we do this?'"

The answer to that question came from Epitaph Records owner Brett Gurewitz. The Bad Religion guitarist helped the Trio start their Heart & Skull imprint, which will act much like Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong's Hellcat label. "We've been friends with Brett Gurewitz for a very long time and grew up on Bad Religion and Rancid and all the stuff that comes out on Epitaph," Skiba says. "It's a real honor to do a partnership with Epitaph. To be a part of that family and Anti-, being label mates with Nick Cave, Tom Waits and Neko Case, it's an honor. We have a lot of respect for Tim and the Hellcat legacy. They're gonna help us run it but it's our label."

'This Addiction' will be the first release on Heart & Skull when it hits stores on Feb. 23. Alkaline Trio will support the album with a tour with Cursive that kicks off on Feb. 16 in Pomona, Calif.