Indies Scope Records

Indies Scope Records is a Czech independent record label and music publisher based in Brno. It is one of three successor entities created in 2007 when the original Indies Records label split into separate operations, each led by one of its founders or key figures. Indies Scope Records is associated with Milan Páleš and has released albums by artists such as Iva Bittová, Gipsy.cz, Hradišťan, Květy, Traband, Tara Fuki, Vladimír Václavek and Narajama. The label's roots go back to 1990, when Milan Páleš and Miloš Gruber founded Indies Records in Brno, initially as a CD rental service and later as a music shop and record label. Indies Records went on to issue more than 200 titles, beginning with the 1991 album Steak! by Meat-House Chicago I.R.A. Its motto was 'We only release music we like.' Over time the label's focus shifted from alternative music toward folk and related genres, and it ran an Indies stage at the Zahrada folk festival. In 2007 the original label divided into three independent entities: Indies Scope Records (Milan Páleš), Indies MG Records (Miloš Gruber) and Indies Happy Trails (Jaromír Kratochvíl). Indies Scope Records continued the catalogue and artist relationships associated with Páleš, including Iva Bittová, Gipsy.cz, Hradišťan, Květy, Traband, Tara Fuki, Vladimír Václavek and Narajama. The label operates alongside the broader Indies music retail and publishing business, whose online shop at indies.eu sells CDs, LPs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, MCs, digital downloads and merchandise across genres including rock, pop, alternative, folk, world music, jazz, blues, electronic, ska, reggae, rap and hip hop. Indies Scope Records remains active as a private Czech label. Its catalogue reflects the folk, alternative and world-music orientation of the parent Indies tradition, and it continues to release both new recordings and reissues.

Indies Scope Records traces its origins to Indies Records, a Brno-based music label founded in 1990 by Milan Páleš and Miloš Gruber. The company began as a CD rental service and later became a music shop and record label. Its first release was the 1991 album Steak! by Meat-House Chicago I.R.A. Over the following years Indies Records issued more than 200 titles and adopted the motto 'We only release music we like.' The label initially focused on alternative music but gradually shifted toward folk and related genres. It also operated an Indies stage at the Zahrada folk festival, the largest Czech folk festival. Among the artists who released albums on Indies Records were Iva Bittová, Hradišťan, Zuzana Navarová, Radůza, Jablkoň, Traband, Jiří Dědeček, Jan Burian and Sestry Steinovy. The label also released many debutants, often winners of competitions or festivals such as Koňaboj, Žofie Kabelková, Martina Trchová, Žamboši, Hromosvod and Disneyband, and compiled extensive collections from old gramophone records (Dagmar Andrtová-Voňková, Čp. 8). It published the book Czechoslovak Rock on Gramophone Records – Rock Discography 1960–1997 by Miroslav Balák and Josef Kytnar. In 2007 Indies Records split into three separate entities: Indies Scope Records (Milan Páleš), Indies MG Records (Miloš Gruber) and Indies Happy Trails (Jaromír Kratochvíl). Indies Scope Records continued under Páleš with artists including Iva Bittová, Gipsy.cz, Hradišťan, Květy, Traband, Tara Fuki, Vladimír Václavek and Narajama. Indies MG Records, led by Gruber, worked with Radůza, Jablkoň, Jiří Dědeček, Sestry Steinovy, Schodiště and Už jsme doma. Indies Happy Trails, led by Kratochvíl, represented Václav Koubek, Ty Syčáci, Původní Bureš and Oboroh. To mark the 30th anniversary of Indies Records, the magazine Uni conducted a poll among music journalists for the best album from the label. The winner was Bílé inferno by Iva Bittová and Vladimír Václavek, followed by Barvy všecky by Zuzana Navarová and Koa, and O slunovratu by Jiří Pavlica with Hradišťan in third place. Indies Scope Records remains active as a private Czech label, operating alongside the Indies music retail and publishing business. Its online shop at indies.eu sells physical and digital music across many genres, and the label continues to release albums by its roster of folk, alternative and world-music artists.

• 2020

  Magazine Uni polls journalists for the best Indies Records album on the label's 30th anniversary; Bílé inferno wins.

• 2007

  Indies Records splits into three entities: Indies Scope Records, Indies MG Records and Indies Happy Trails.

• 1991

  First release: album Steak! by Meat-House Chicago I.R.A.

• 1990

  Indies Records founded in Brno by Milan Páleš and Miloš Gruber as a CD rental service.

Independent Czech label focused on folk, alternative and world music, continuing the Indies Records tradition.

• 1991

  Steak! by Meat-House Chicago I.R.A.

• Bílé inferno by Iva Bittová and Vladimír Václavek

• Barvy všecky by Zuzana Navarová and Koa

• O slunovratu by Jiří Pavlica with Hradišťan

• Czechoslovak Rock on Gramophone Records – Rock Discography 1960–1997 by Miroslav Balák and Josef Kytnar

1. 1Indies.eu - hudební eshop, vydavatelství, koncerty a studioindies.eu
2. 2Indies Scope Records - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Indies Records - Wikipedia (Czech)cs.wikipedia.org