MEMBERS
- DAKOTA TEASDELL
- KECIA BASS
HOW IT STARTED
Constellation Records was founded in 1997 in Montréal, QC by Ian Ilavsky and Don Wilkie. Ilavsky band at the time, Sofa, had broken up which led him to start Constellation Records. They believed during the mid – 90s Montreal was lacking in local resources and institutions for the kind of independent music. They wanted to showcase people from their Mile End neighborhood. In comparison to more established American and British neighbors the record company was a lemonade stand. In Constellation Records, the Canadian underground gained not only a well-known label with a global following, but also a reliable moral guide.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is one of Constellation’s most popular artists with almost 9 million streams on their most popular song “Storm”.
WHO SIGNED?
Do Make Say Think
Do Make Say Think averages an average of 50,000 listeners a month.
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra’s most popular song has almost 8 million streams.
HOW ITS GOING
In the 1990s, constellation records started as an independent record company. Constellation effectively brought the DIY values and community-oriented attitude of vintage imprints like Dischord and Touch & Go into the post-internet era when it was founded 30 years ago, at a period when alternative rock had turned into a corporate commodity. Constellation has never collaborated with a major label, and unlike many other indie labels of their caliber, no artist has ever left them for one. Their past is pleasantly devoid of legal conflicts over royalties with former signees. The artists on their roster represented the Anglo, Francophone, and immigrant communities of the city equally, and they created the kind of daring music appropriate for a city that (at the time, at least) offered affordable rent and an abundance of vacant industrial spaces in which to make noise. Their roster was distinctively Montreal in both composition and spirit.
INTERESTING FACTS
Traditional: Work exclusively in regions close to them
Contracts: Contracts are not legally binding
Partnership: Constellation has never collaborated with a major label, unlike many other independent labels of similar caliber.
