For the amount of influence they have, you’d think LA-based indie label IAMSOUND had an entire sweatshop of pastel-haired interns on hamster wheels, sweating around the clock to originate rising stars.
If you think that, un-think that.
There’s five people at IAMSOUND. Or at least there is according to Google. If Google is to be trusted, that’s five people to carry the promising careers of artists like Charlie XCX, Florence and the Machine, Lord Huron and Little Boots … Five people whose tenacity had a strong hand in closing the ever-narrowing gap between indie and pop in LA and beyond. So much talent comes out of IAMSOUND from such a tight team that we can’t even think of a way to end this sentence.
Talent and dedication much? Yes. Very much.
Two of those people are Niki Roberton, who founded IAMSOUND in 2006, and Paul Tao, who co-runs the label. Together, they release full length albums, dabble in independent film, collaborate with LACMA for gallery/concert series and maintain a creative agency arm that has so far undertaken gigs in marketing consulting, music supervision and event programming for brands including Vans, Warby Parker and All Saints.
While the label aims to promote local indie music acts like Banks, Lord Huron and Fool’s Gold, some of their most illustrious artists are from across the pond in England … Florence and the Machine, Little Boots, and Charlie XCX to name a few.
Still, the label has retained a narrow focus, releasing only four full-length albums per year on average, which ensures they get the love and attention they need.
In addition to the creative agency, IAMSOUND also recently music supervised their first film, Teenage, using original music from Bradford Cox of Deerhunter and Atlas Sound.
That’s a lot of stuff. And all that adds up to us being beyond stoked that they’re a part of Austin Party Weekend this year.
Check out their SXSW Day Party on Thursday, March 19th, and scroll down for some of our favorite tracks from their SXSW artists.
