About

Originally founded in 1984 by Clive Solomon and the late journalist Jonny Waller the label trailblazed through the late 80s and 90s before burning brightly and burning out, right before the indie revival. Fire was the original maverick Psychedelic Art Pop label born out of the DIY independent label boom of the late 70s, and for sure, the Blue Aeroplanes with their revolving troupe of poet, dancer, record scratcher and massed guitars, were absolutely the closest thing around to the Exploding Plastic Inevitable of old; it intrigued and entranced with the splendidly surreal tales of early Pulp; embraced the famed pop shambolism of the Television Personalities, the baroque pop of the Moles, the legendary lo-fi art-rock terrorism of Half Japanese, and a wonderful tapestry of outre pop stretched over 30 years; and then on a tangential path, lay the pastoral psychedelia of Lives Of Angels and the overarching sonic sounds of Spacemen 3, right up to the bombastic majesty of Bardo Pond or the transcendental psychedelic primitivism of garage rock’s lounge lizard and unsung hero, Dave Cloud.

The turn of the millennium has seen Fire rise, phoenix like, under the direction of James Nicholls. Modern day Fire Records combines the cosmic pop of Jane Weaver, Islet and Pictish Trail with the haunting ambience of Death And Vanilla, the aural tapestries of Faten Kanaan, the other worldly spirituality of Josephine Foster, the kinetic absurdity of Decisive Pink, the choral ambience of Lucy Gooch and the uncategorizable and universally acclaimed Vanishing Twin to become “the industry’s leading Psychedelic Pop label” (Billboard).

Fire has simultaneously developed one of the most impressive rosters of influential alternative artists, at the top of their creative game. Amongst the labels many established artists are The Lemonheads, Kristin Hersh and Throwing Muses, The Bevis Frond, Half Japanese, Sebadoh, The Black Lips, Howe Gelb & Giant Sand, The Chills and more.  A full list of the current roster can be found here.

“United by an individualistic bent, every band on the roster feels like a Fire band. Today the label is more robust and agile than ever, boasting the art pop world’s most exciting players while guiding legacy acts through their reissuing journeys”  Bandcamp

In recent years James has established the label overseas, including the North American base in New York City, as well as igniting new ventures that have taken us above and beyond the scope of a traditional record label.   The ever-expanding Fire Group now includes:

Publishers and creative synch arm FIRE SONGS in partnership with Third Side Music


Independent film company FIRE FILMS which has released acclaimed films about The Chills, Shirley Collins and current indie-hit King Rocker, a film about The Nightingales (by Stewart Lee and Michael Cumming)

Reissue specialists and award nominated EARTH RECORDINGS most recognised for its work with the Bert Jansch and Mikael Tariverdiev estates as well as a series of deluxe sets including the recent end-of-year chart-hogger Trees.

A series of specialist sub labels including acclaimed dystopian Soundtrack label FROST which has released everything from multi award winning Lady Bird, the soundtrack to cult TV shows Halt & Catch Fire and Black Mirror and classics like Blue Velvet,