Fierce Panda Records is a

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-based

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

, with its first release in February 1994. It also produced a small number of releases that year by now famous artists such as Ash,

The Bluetones The Bluetones are an English indie rock band, formed in Hounslow, Greater London, in 1993. The band's members are Mark Morriss on vocals, Adam Devlin on guitar, Mark's brother Scott Morriss on bass guitar, and Eds Chesters on drums. A fift ...

, Baby Bird and

Supergrass Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey (drums, ...

. Fierce Panda is also credited with releases by Acres of Lions, Air Traffic, Art Brut, The Blackout, Boy Kill Boy,

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie (commonly abbreviated to DCFC or Death Cab) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. Death Cab for Cutie's music has been classified as indie rock, indie pop, and alternative rock. The ...

, Desperate Journalist, Embrace, Goldheart Assembly, Hundred Reasons,

Kenickie Kenickie were an English four-piece pop punk band from Sunderland. The band was formed in 1994 and consisted of lead vocalist, guitarist, and lyricist Lauren Laverne (b. Lauren Gofton), drummer Johnny X (real name Pete Gofton, Lauren's brothe ...

Seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

, Keane,

Placebo A placebo ( ) can be roughly defined as a sham medical treatment. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. Placebos are used in randomized clinical trials ...

The Polyphonic Spree The Polyphonic Spree is an American choral rock band from Dallas, Texas that was formed in 2000 by singer/songwriter Tim DeLaughter. The band's pop and rock songs are augmented by a large vocal choir, and instruments such as flute, trumpet, ...

and Shitdisco. Fierce Panda was founded in 1994 by Simon Williams, who was a journalist at ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' magazine at the time. In the autumn of 1997, Fierce Panda formed the sub-label Rabid Badger Records to release more

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

oriented music, and in spring 1998 the sub-label Livid Meerkat for

post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...

music. Fierce Panda also had released

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s and EPs, whose titles are mainly

pun A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...

s, often

in-jokes An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or a private joke, is a joke with humour that is understandable only to members of an ingroup; that is, people who are ''in'' a particular social group, occupation, or other community of shared interest. I ...

. In 2006 they announced their decision to cease production of one-off singles, concentrating instead on long-term projects and full-length albums. Dead Disco's 2006 single "Automatic" was announced as the final single. Continuing to release albums however, including "Vivian, Don't" by The Spinto Band, and the debut album from Hatcham Social among many others. On 21 March 2011, the label released the debut album, ''Chasing After Ghosts'', by The Crookes. Their " Wibbling Rivalry" single, an interview with

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Liam Liam is a short form of the Germanic name William, or its Irish variant Uilliam. Etymology The original name was a merging of two Old German elements: ''willa'' ("will" or "resolution"); and ''helma'' ("helmet"). The juxtaposition of these ...

and

Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Gallagher is the primary songwriter, lead guitarist and a co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis. After leaving Oasis, he formed Noel ...

, holds the record for the highest-charting interview single in the UK Singles Chart, reaching number 52 in November 1995. Fierce Panda's highest-charting single was "Emily Kane" by Art Brut, which reached number 41 in May 2005, missing out on the Top 40 by a mere two sales. 2008 saw Fierce Panda set up its management stable which currently includes Albert Gold, Hatcham Social, Longfellow and Felt Tip. In 2012 Fierce Panda also set up a publishing arm, named Fierce Panda Songs.

References

External links

Official site

{{Authority control British independent record labels Record labels established in 1994 Indie rock record labels

See also

References

External links