About Retone Records
"Our whole thing is to have two fingers up to the major labels," explains Steven Melrose, "and the other hand in their back pocket taking their wallet." That two-fingered salute – the U.K. equivalent of flipping the bird – reflects the Scottish-born, Los Angeles-based music entrepreneur's considerable experience in the major-label system.
He now brings his industry realpolitik to Retone Records. The company is intended as a platform for "modern rock and indie rock bands that can cross to the mainstream."
The Fontana-distributed label's initial releases, including Eastern Conference Champions' The Southampton Collection and Fascination by Monsters Are Waiting, reveal a fondness for melodic hooks amid the guitar squall. "We're a lot more pop than we think we are," Melrose confesses.
Retone Records is the newest permutation of the Leftwing LLC holding company, a management, publishing and artist-development entity that Melrose describes as a "womb" for young bands. "'Incubator' is too cold a word," he muses. "We don't put our babies in boxes." Under the Leftwing name the company released released Giant Drag's highly acclaimed Lemona; EPs by Midnight Movies and Dirty Little Secret; Layton's Grand Design; Richard Swift's debut release The Novelist/Walking Without Effort; and Distant Radio by Devics.
Retone Records will allow baby bands and up-and coming artists to find and expand their audiences. Melrose elaborates: "Retone lets us serve as a farm team for the majors, do purely indie records and release U.K. acts in the U.S. Sometimes we'll release records by bands we manage; other times, they'll just be records we love. This structure is infinitely flexible, and the alternatives it offers will further the ends of our management and other ventures and strengthen our worldwide affiliations."
Melrose acknowledges his admiration for Retone precursors like Creation, 4AD and Heavenly, reminiscing about "all the great independent U.K. bands I grew up in love with," and remarks: "We are part of that tradition because we have the luxury of selecting bands based on our sensibilities. I love the fact that I can walk into a bar, see an incredible band, say, 'I'm gonna sign you' and make it happen."