The Militia Group

The Militia Group was an independent artist development company based in Long Beach, California.

History

The Militia Group was founded in 1998 by Chad Pearson as a booking agency, booking for artists such as Slick Shoes, Craig's Brother, Dogwood, twothirtyeight, Acceptance, and Element 101. Both Pearson and Rory Felton had previous experience with independent labels and artists; Pearson working at Tooth & Nail Records in Seattle, WA and Rory Felton co-operating Arise Records in Kansas. Arise released titles including first The Juliana Theory release, Dawson High, Tijuana Crime Scene, The National Arobat, Reflector and Recess Theory. In 2000, Chad Pearson teamed up with Rory Felton to turn the agency into an independent record label based out of Huntington Beach, CA. By January 2001, the label had signed Rufio, The Lyndsay Diaries, Tora! Tora! Torrance!, Veronica, and Noise Ratchet. Within the next year Copeland, The Rocket Summer, The Beautiful Mistake, and Acceptance joined the fold.

By 2002, the label had sold its first 100,000 albums with its first release: Rufio's 'Perhaps, I Suppose...', and was operating out of offices in Anaheim, CA. By 2004, as the label moved operations from Anaheim, CA to Garden Grove, CA. In early 2007, Pearson left TMG to start a company called P is for Panda. 2007 saw albums released by Denison Witmer, The New Frontiers, Chase Pagan, and We Shot The Moon. By 2008, the label had sold over 1,400,000 albums.

Distribution

Distribution is handled on a territory by territory basis by:

United States: Razor & Tie RED Distribution
Canada: SonyBMG
Japan: Militia JPN
Australia & New Zealand: Militia AUS Taperjean
Korea: Ales Music
Taiwan: White Wabbit
Germany / Austria / Switzerland: Hart Distribution
The Netherlands: Sonic Rendezvous
France: Nocturne
UK: Plastic Head
Scandinavia Bad Taste Records

Roster

Current Artists

• The Appleseed Cast
• Backseat Goodbye
• Brandtson
• Chase Pagan
• Denison Witmer
• Driving East
• Everybody Else
• The Jealous Sound
• Jill Cunniff
• Jonathan Jones
• Juliette and the Licks
• Lakes
• Let Go
• Lovedrug
• Mercy Mercedes
• Mobile
• The New Frontiers
• One for the Team
• Quietdrive
• The Panic Division
• Sights and Sounds
• Tahiti 80
• The Urgency

Former Artists

• Acceptance (Disbanded 2006)
• Anadivine
• The Beautiful Mistake (On hiatus)
• Big Collapse
• Blueprint Car Crash
• Cartel (Active, currently on Wind-up Records)
• Class of 98
• Controlling the Famous (Disbanded 2007)
• Copeland (Disbanded 2009)
• Fielding
• The Holy Fire (Active)
• The Lyndsay Diaries
• Man Alive (Active, currently on B& Recordings)
• Noise Ratchet
• The Rocket Summer (Active, currently with Island Def Jam Records)
• Reeve Oliver (Active, currently on Apple Danish Records)
• Ronnie Day (Active, currently on Simplify Music)
• Rufio (Active, currently without a label)
• The Summer Set (Active, currently on Razor and Tie Entertainment)
• Tora! Tora! Torrance!
• Umbrellas (Active, currently without a label)
• Veronica
• We Shot the Moon (Active, currently on Afternoon Records)

References

• Rory Felton Interview
• Chad Pearson Interview

External links

• Official site
• Myspace page
• P is for Panda