Trouble in Mind Records, the Chicago label that specialized in punk and garage-rock for more than a decade, has ceased operations. The label’s founders, Bill and Lisa Roe, shared the news today on social media, revealing that Trouble in Mind “ceased to exist as an active label as of June 1st of this year.” Find their full statement below.
Bill and Lisa Roe founded Trouble in Mind in 2009. It came to life around the same time that they welcomed their first child, Veronica “Ronnie” Moon. To start, they pressed only 7″ vinyl singles as the Roes balanced the label with parenthood, work in their band, CoCoComa, and day jobs. (Lisa is a librarian, and Bill worked as a production manager for Chicago Independent Distribution.) By 2010, they issued the label’s first full-length album, a self-titled endeavor from the Limiñanas. As the years continued, they released albums from Mikal Cronin, the Tubs, Dummy, David Nance Group, Ultimate Painting, Doug Tuttle, Negative Scanner, and many others.
Trouble in Mind made a name for itself for the garage, punk, and psych-rock music it championed, but the Roes always intended to offer a variety of music on their label. “The label has morphed as our tastes have,” Bill Roe said in 2017. “It’s all in the same wheelhouse but it’s a better reflection of what you’d see if you looked at our personal record collection. We figured out more what we want to release and plus our ears also get tired of hearing the same thing over and over. We release what catches our ear, so chaining ourselves to a certain genre or style of music seems pretty limiting—we’ve put out garage-punk, psych, experimental music, electronic music, and spiritual jazz records. Perhaps it makes our label harder to pin down or categorize, but fuck that, who cares?”
Trouble in Mind Records:
ADIEU
TROUBLE IN MIND RECORDS: 2009-2025
FRENZ. We are sad to announce that Trouble In Mind Records has ceased to exist as an active label as of June 1st of this year. We could point to a myriad of reasons why, BUT instead we’re going to focus on the positives. To all the artists we’ve ever worked with – being able to have even a minor part in releasing your art into the world was one of the greatest privileges we could have ever asked for & we love you all. If you have ever bought an album, streamed a song, saw one of our artists on tour, read an article or interview about us, told a friend about the label, or supported us in any way, shape, or form, we appreciate you & sincerely thank you for your support. YOU are the reason independent labels can still exist, so keep the faith! We’ll still be maintaining our back catalog for the foreseeable future and we hope you’ll take advantage of our BIG SALE happening over at our Bandcamp page. Take a whopping 30% off anything in the webshop using the code: ADIEU
http://troubleinmindrecords.bandcamp.com/merch
In closing; ALWAYS SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS & LABELS, PROTECT TRANS PEOPLE, FUCK ICE, FREE PALESTINE and may all your scratch-offs be winners.
Sending love from our kitchen in Chicago, IL.
XOXO,
Bill & Lisa Roe