Founded in 1999 by Reiko Kondo, Eenie Meenie Records is a company that focuses on signing indie rock, indie pop, and electronica artists. Furthermore, the record company has helped several other bands release their albums as well such as ‘The Apples in Stereo’, Songs About the Ocean by The High Watermarks, and 010 by Ulysses.
Eenie Meenie records have signed several artists through the years and it is only important that we discuss them. Indie as a genre has played a crucial role in the past. There was a time when it was everywhere and one could not ignore it. Therefore, let us discover some indie artists and bands that otherwise would remain unknown.
Blue-Eyed Son
Blue-Eyed Son is an American Indie Rock Band. The band released its debut album titled ‘West of Lincoln’, referring to Lincoln Boulevard’s Ocean West in Santa Monica. Some say that the ‘Blue-Eyed Son’ maybe reference to a lyric existing in ‘A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fail’ by Bob Dylan. Furthermore, the album also features a cover of ‘I Threw It All Away’ by Dylan as well. In addition to that, songs ‘Step Away from the Cliff’ and ‘When I Come Home’ have’ been used to feature on hit TV series Grey’s Anatomy and Weeds. Critics described the ‘West of Lincoln’ album as the band’s influence of the work by the Beatles in the late 60s.
Division Day
Based in Los Angeles, California, Division Bay is an alternative rock band. The band comprises four members RohnerSegnitz, Ryan Wilson, Seb Bailey, and Kevin Lenhart. In 2008, the band had performed at the South by Southwest. However, with time, the band has significantly changed its music style and sound. Furthermore, the band had released three albums during its musical career; The Mean Way, Beartrap Island, and Visitation.
Faraway Places
Faraway Places is an American indie rock band signed to EenieMeenie Records. The band was originally formed in Boston, Massachusetts. However, the name of the band was changed once they had moved to Los Angeles, California. Initially, the band’s name was ‘Solar Saturday’. Furthermore, the band released its first EP, which was self-titled in 2001. Chris Colthart, Donna Coppola, Scott Barber, and Eric Bartlers were the band members. Members Donna Coppola and Chris Colthart had previously joined hands with Papas Fritas while they were promoting their third album ‘Buildings and Grounds’. Once the band moved to Los Angeles, the name was changed to ‘Faraway Places’.
Golden Boy
Based in Los Angeles, California, Golden Boy is an indie rock band. It was actually Shon Sullivan who was the Golden Boy named by Elliott Smith in 2000 while both were touring together. In October 2002, the first album ‘Blue Swan Orchestra’ was released by Golden Boy through B-Girl Records. The entire album was recorded at Sullivan’s studio and singer Josie Cotton’s studio. Then in October 2006, Golden Boy’s second album ‘Underneath the Radio’ was released. This time the record featured a collaboration with Matt Sharp who was a former bassist at Weezer’s.
Great Northern
Great Northern is a Los Angeles based rock band consisting of vocalist Rachel Stolte, drummer Dabey Latter and guitarist Solon Bixler. In 2007, the band had signed with EenieMeenie records and from there released their first album. The debut album was titled ‘Trading Twilight For Daylight’, while the second album was titled ‘Remind Me Where The Light Is’. The band had also released an album in between titled ‘Sleepy Eepee’.
However, this was a time when bassist Ashley Dzerigian was quietly fired from the band without any explanation. Although Ashley was disappointed, she forgave the band members. The band had been trying hard to make a comeback from the past couple of years until in 2015, it had released ‘Tremors’. The album was not able to make a huge splash though.
The High Water Marks
The High Water Marks is an indie rock band that consists of two creative lead members, Per Ole Bratset and Hilarie Sidney. The members help the band co-write its music. It all began when Hilarie Sidney, drummer for The Apples in Stereo met with Per Ole Bratset of the band Palermo in Oslo, Norway at a stereo performance.
The two instantly clicked and began creating songs together through the mail until they decided to record together in the United States. The album ‘Songs About the Ocean’ was recorded during this time while Bratset and Sidney were playing the instruments themselves.
Oranger
Based in San Francisco, Oranger was an indie rock band. The band was formed by Jim Lindsay, Matt Harris, and Mile Drake who had known each other while playing together for previous bands such as Stick Figures and Overwhelming Colorfast. It was they who formed the band ‘Oranger’ in 1997.
The band performed at the Noise Pop Festival held in San Francisco for the very first time. Soon, Dyler left the band and the remaining members formed a trio. Their first album ‘Doorway to Norway’ was released in 1998. In total the band released four albums; Doorway to Norway, The Quiet Vibration Land, Shutdown the Sun/From the Ashes of Electric Elves, and New Comes and Goes.
Troubled Hubble
Originating from Chicago, Illinois, Troubled Hubble is an Indie Rock band. The band had managed to remain together for 6 years and during that, it had performed at over 400 shows in total. The band had managed to play in each state except Hawaii and Alaska.
Furthermore, the band was able to tour Canada twice and successfully linked with college kids and mainstream music fans. Then in June 2004, the band decided to record their last album by traveling to Washington D.C. Upon the release of the album, it received immense media coverage. The band then finally decided to break up, citing various personal reasons. However, in 2015, the band announced their reunion.
Final Word
During its time, artists on EenieMeenie records did an impressive job at keeping Indie relevant. Some of the most important indie albums of the time were released, giving the fans what they had always wanted. Although many other genres such as Pop, Rap, and Hip-Hop have grown immensely interms of popularity, Indie has still managed to survive and it is solely due to the contributions of labels such as EenieMeenie Records who not only embraced but also gave Indie talent multiple chances to grow.