Jeepster Records is an English,

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 ...

, founded in 1995, and specializing in British indie and alternative bands, particularly

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

-based acts. It is most notable for its signing of

Belle and Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released twelve studio albums. They are often compared with acts such as the Smiths and Nick Drake. The band took their name from ...

and

Snow Patrol Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland, consisting of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), and Johnny McDaid (piano, guitar, keyboards, backi ...

Early success

Jeepster Records was founded in 1995 by Mark Jones and Stefano D’Andrea, through a mutual interest in the contemporary indie scene. Following their establishment and after extensive scouting, the label signed their first act, the newly formed

, in August 1996. In November of the same year, the band's first album with Jeepster, '' If You're Feeling Sinister'' was released. This established both Belle and Sebastian and Jeepster, and enabled them to release several EPs with Belle and Sebastian throughout 1997, as well as signing their second act,

, later in the year. 1998 then saw increased activity, with the signing of Salako, and the release of albums for all three of their signed bands; most notably Belle and Sebastian's '' The Boy With The Arab Strap''. The label's strong relationship with Belle and Sebastian enabled them in 1999 to sign Stuart David's side-project Looper, and

Isobel Campbell Isobel Campbell (born 27 April 1976) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and cellist. She rose to prominence at age nineteen as a member of the indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, but left the group to pursue a solo career, first as the Gentle Waves ...

's solo project The Gentle Waves, releasing albums for each that same year, along with a string of EPs and singles for their entire roster. The label enjoyed further good publicity when Belle and Sebastian won Best Newcomer in the 1999 Brit Awards. Later that year, Jeepster reissued Belle and Sebastian's debut album '' Tigermilk'', which had previously been available only on limited issue vinyl. 2000 saw new albums released for

, Looper (band), and The Gentle Waves, as well as Belle and Sebastian's first appearance on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

''. In June of the same year, Belle and Sebastian had their first UK Top Ten hit with their fourth studio album, Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant which entered the UK Album Charts at No.10, spending four weeks in the charts. Towards the end of the year, the label released the '' It's a Cool Cool Christmas'' compilation on CD in association with

XFM Radio X is a British national commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. The station launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station named Q102, before being renamed Xfm in 1992. The station b ...

, with proceeds going to

The Big Issue ''The Big Issue'' is a United Kingdom–based street newspaper founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991 and published in four continents. ''The Big Issue'' is one of the UK's leading social businesses and exists to offer ho ...

charity. The album was only available during this Christmas period, and featured

and

, as well as numerous other bands including

Grandaddy Grandaddy is an American indie rock band from Modesto, California, Modesto, California. The group was formed in 1992, and featured Jason Lytle, Aaron Burtch, Jim Fairchild, Kevin Garcia and Tim Dryden, until Garcia's death in 2017 following a ...

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, vocals), Derek Brown ...

and

Teenage Fanclub Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Glasgow in 1989. The group were founded by Norman Blake (Scottish musician), Norman Blake (vocals, guitar), Raymond McGinley (vocals, lead guitar) and Gerard Love (vocals, bass), al ...

. The following year marked the release of Snow Patrol's second album '' When It's All Over We Still Have To Clear Up'' which would later go gold, along with their debut album ''

Songs For Polarbears ''Songs for Polarbears'' is the debut studio album by Northern Irish–Scottish alternative rock band Snow Patrol, released on 31 August 1998 in the United Kingdom and 12 October in the United States. The album charted at #143 in the UK and did ...

''.

Dormant period

Despite critical acclaim for its acts, Jeepster was financially troubled by 2002 due to increasing recording and marketing costs, and an unsustainable reliance on one director for financial support. This forced the label to decline renewal of the contracts of their most successful artists and concentrate solely on marketing their existing catalogue. Stefano D'Andrea and Mark Jones resigned from the day to day running of the label, and Joanne D'Andrea took over management of the catalogue. While they were unable to retain their signed artists for ongoing releases and could not afford to sign new acts for this period, there were several additions to the back catalogue in the next few years. The label released a Belle and Sebastian DVD in 2003, '' Fans Only'', and in 2005 ''

Push Barman to Open Old Wounds ''Push Barman to Open Old Wounds'' is a 2005 two-disc/triple-LP compilation released by Belle and Sebastian. ''Blender'' described the collection as "25 charming tales of shy girls dabbling in photography and bookish boys dabbling in shy girls." ...

'', a compilation comprising all of Belle and Sebastian's singles and EPs released under Jeepster. This was followed in 2006 by extended re-issues of

Songs for Polarbears ''Songs for Polarbears'' is the debut studio album by Northern Irish–Scottish alternative rock band Snow Patrol, released on 31 August 1998 in the United Kingdom and 12 October in the United States. The album charted at #143 in the UK and did ...

and '' When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up'', which included all their B-sides as bonus tracks.

Later releases

In a stronger financial position by April 2006, largely due to the commercial success of Snow Patrol on signing to a major label, Jeepster announced its first new signing in years,

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

-based act SixNationState. Following renewed scouting of the Glasgow underground scene, the label soon after announced the signing of another band,

Parka A parka, like the related anorak, is a type of coat (clothing), coat with a hood (headgear), hood, that may be lining (sewing), lined with fur or fake fur. Parkas and anoraks are staples of Inuit clothing, traditionally made from Reindeer, cari ...

, in November of the same year. Following several singles releases by both bands, the label released its first new album in six and a half years in late 2007: SixNationState's self-titled debut album. In May 2008, Parka's own debut, ''Attack of the Hundred Yard Hardman'' was also released. Before the end of 2008, Jeepster would release another Belle and Sebastian compilation, '' The BBC Sessions'', collecting the tracks that the band had recorded for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in 1996, which included rarities and unreleased songs, together with live recordings from Belfast. Jeepster contributed six songs to the

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

Snow Patrol compilation '' Up To Now'' in 2009. In 2016, a limited release of 1200 vinyl box sets ''The Jeepster Singles Collection'', containing all 12" versions of the early Belle and Sebastian EPs, together with original fanzines, press photo, DVD and scrapbook, was made available to celebrate the 21st Anniversary of the label. Snow Patrol's When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up was again reissued in 2019 on limited vinyl, with a gold 7" containing two previously unreleased tracks. In 2020, the Belle and Sebastian album If You're Feeling Sinister was listed in

Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indu ...

at No. 481. The Jeepster charity album It's a Cool Cool Christmas was reissued for the first time on vinyl in 2021, in aid of

War Child (charity) War Child International is an independent Non-governmental organization, non-government organization founded in 1993 by film-makers Bill Leeson, David Wilson, and peace activist Willemijn Verloop. The organization works with parents, caregiver ...

UK and with the blessing of all original artists.

Discography

*'' If You're Feeling Sinister'' -

(1996) *'' Dog On Wheels'' - Belle and Sebastian (1997) *''

Lazy Line Painter Jane ''Lazy Line Painter Jane'' was Belle & Sebastian's second EP, released in 1997 on Jeepster Records. The title track features guest vocalist Monica Queen and was recorded in a church hall. "A Century of Elvis" features bassist Stuart David re ...

'' - Belle and Sebastian (1997) *'' 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light'' - Belle and Sebastian (1997) *'' Little Hide'' -

(1998) *''100 Things You Should Have Done In Bed'' - Snow Patrol (1998) *''Growing Up In The Night'' - Salako (1998) *''Re-Inventing Punctuation'' - Salako (1998) *''

'' - Snow Patrol (1998) *'' The Boy with the Arab Strap'' - Belle and Sebastian (1998) *'' Velocity Girl/Absolute Gravity'' - Snow Patrol (1998) *''The Moonlight Radiates A Purple Glow In His World'' - Salako (1998) *'' This Is Just a Modern Rock Song'' - Belle and Sebastian (1998) *''Ballad Of Ray Suzuki'' - Looper (1999) *'' Up a Tree'' - Looper (1999) *'' Weathershow'' - The Gentle Waves (1999) *'' The Green Fields of Foreverland'' - The Gentle Waves (Isobel Campbell) (1999) *''The Bird In The Bag'' - Salako (1999) *'' Starfighter Pilot'' - Snow Patrol (1999) *'' Tigermilk'' - Belle and Sebastian (1999) *''Musicality'' - Salako (1999) *''Mappleton Sands 20/12/98'' - Salako (1999) *''Who's Afraid Of Y2K'' - Looper (1999) *''Mondo '77'' - Looper (2000) *''Ventimiglia 12/08/99'' - Salako (2000) *'' The Geometrid'' - Looper (2000) *''

Legal Man "Legal Man" is a song by Scottish indie pop band Belle and Sebastian, released as their first stand-alone single. The track features Isobel Campbell, Sarah Martin, and Rozanne Suarez (credited as the Maisonettes) on vocals and Snow Patrol drum ...

'' - Belle and Sebastian (2000) *'' Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant'' - Belle and Sebastian (2000) *'' Falling from Grace'' - The Gentle Waves (2000) *'' Ask Me How I Am'' - Snow Patrol (2000) *'' Swansong for You'' - The Gentle Waves (Isobel Campbell) (2000) *'' It's a Cool Cool Christmas'' (in support of

) - Various Artists (2000) *'' One Night Is Not Enough'' - Snow Patrol (2001) *'' When It's All Over We Still Have To Clear Up'' - Snow Patrol (2001) *''

Jonathan David Jonathan Christian David (born January 14, 2000) is a professional Association football, soccer player who last played as a Forward (association football), forward for club Lille OSC, Lille and the Canada men's national soccer team, Canada na ...

'' - Belle and Sebastian (2001) *'' I'm Waking Up To Us'' - Belle and Sebastian (2001) *''

Storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing narrative, stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatre, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cul ...

'' - Belle and Sebastian (2002) *'' Fans Only'' (DVD) - Belle and Sebastian (2003) *''

'' - Belle and Sebastian (2005) *

(CD reissue) - Snow Patrol (2006) * When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up (CD reissue) - Snow Patrol (2006) *''Fire!'' - SixNationState (2006) *''Where Are You Now?'' - SixNationState (2007) *''If You Wanna?'' - Parka (2007) *''We Could Be Happy'' - SixNationState (2007) *''SixNationState'' - SixNationState (2007) *''Disco Dancer'' - Parka (2008) *''Better Anyway'' - Parka (2008) *''Attack Of The Hundred Yard Hardman'' - Parka (2008) *'' The BBC Sessions'' - Belle and Sebastian (2008) *The Jeepster Singles Collection - Belle and Sebastian (2016) * When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up (vinyl reissue) - Snow Patrol (2019) * It's a Cool Cool Christmas vinyl reissue in support of

- Various Artists (2021)

References

External links