Killing Horse Records

Killing Horse Records was founded in an apartment in Kearny, New Jersey, in January 2010, by Ryan Gross and Mike Sylvia. The label began by supporting the release of Secret Country's debut full-length album, Women, Whiskey & Nightlife, booking shows at the Kearny Irish-American Club, and aiding other bands in the region with networking, gigs, and press releases. In an interview with The Observer, Sylvia says "we saw that there was a need to document the music that was coming out of the area [and] felt that if a few of us could pool our resources together we would be able to get things done more efficiently." The label, and several of the artists on it were part of the Tiny Giant Artist Collective, a tri-state area collective of musicians with mutual admiration for DIY music entrepreneurship based out of New Brunswick, New Jersey. After their first year, The Aquarian Weekly notes Killing Horse Records "ha[d] already accumulated a tight roster," and that year, their first showcase of bands was held at Maxwell's on 14 January 2011 in Hoboken, New Jersey, with Secret Country, Invisible Lines, ¡No Parasan! and Ben Franklin. Their second band showcase was also held at Maxwell's the following year. By 2014, the label had signed Cicada Radio, Overlake, Wreaths and TV Sound. Killing Horse Records partook in the 2017 North Jersey Indie Rock Festival. On their goal as a label, Killing Horse Records says that they "put out records and help make it a little easier for the independent music scene to stay alive."