| DFA Records | |
| Founder: | Tim Goldsworthy James Murphy Jonathan Galkin |
| Distributor: | The Orchard (North America), Liberation Music (Australasia), PIAS Group (Rest of World) |
| Country: | U.S. |
| Location: | New York City |
DFA Records is an American independent record label founded in 2001 by Mo' Wax co-founder Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy,[1] and manager Jonathan Galkin.[2] They previously had a production team called The DFA, consisting of Goldsworthy and Murphy.
James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy met while working in New York on the David Holmes album Let's Get Killed.[3] After the recording was completed, Goldsworthy stayed in New York, and the two began to throw parties in the Lower East Side. They created the production duo, The DFA, but wished to grow The DFA into more than what it was. It was not until they met Jonathan Galkin, who subsequently quit his event-production job to work with James and Tim, that they turned DFA into a label.[2]
DFA Records began on a series of 12" single vinyl releases starting with The Rapture's "House of Jealous Lovers" and The Juan Maclean's "By the Time I Get to Venus". "House of Jealous Lovers" went on to sell 7500 copies.[4] Many of the early releases of DFA's catalog were released in Europe through Trevor Jackson's Output Recordings. After completing production on The Rapture's debut full-length album Echoes, DFA began to shop around the album. Although The Rapture eventually signed to Universal Music Group, the DFA label secured a deal with EMI for distribution of its acts outside the United States, along with several distributors within the U.S.[5]
The label has grown steadily since, producing full-length albums for its ever-growing roster of artists, as well as releasing a selection of singles and compilations on their label. Notable releases include The Rapture's EP "House of Jealous Lovers", the twice-Grammy nominated debut of James Murphy's band LCD Soundsystem and its follow-ups Sound of Silver, This Is Happening and American Dream. DFA have also released a number of compilation albums featuring artists such as The Rapture, The Juan Maclean, Black Dice, Shit Robot, Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom, J.O.Y., Pixeltan, Black Leotard Front, Hot Chip, and LCD Soundsystem.
As a production team, the DFA have produced and remixed artists including Radio 4, Le Tigre, N.E.R.D., Soulwax, Blues Explosion, Nine Inch Nails, Automato, Gorillaz, UNKLE, The Chemical Brothers and M.I.A. The DFA remix of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" appeared on A. R. Rahman's Academy Award-winning Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. They spent an afternoon writing a song with Britney Spears, and were also approached by Janet Jackson to collaborate.[6] [7] The production duo effectively came to an end when Tim Goldsworthy left New York and moved back to his native UK.[8] The label was primarily run by Jonathan Galkin and Kris Petersen.[9]
In 2007 DFA Records started an imprint label titled Death From Abroad. This offshoot is used to release 12" singles by artists not based in North America, such as Mock & Toof and ALTZ.[10] The imprint also released a CD compilation of tracks released on the Berlin based Supersoul Recordings.[11]
The label's original name was Death From Above Records, dating from Murphy's nickname for the sound system he had helped build for Six Finger Satellite. This name was deemed inappropriate for a New York City-based label following the September 11, 2001 attacks and subsequently shortened to its abbreviation DFA.
In 2004, DFA Records forced the Canadian duo Death From Above to change their name to Death from Above 1979. Murphy explained his side of the story in a 2005 interview with Pitchfork Media:
We knew about them for a long time, the name thing wasn't a big deal. It wasn't until they signed to a major label, which wouldn't release the record until we signed off on the name. That's how this all came about.... [Parent company of Death From Above 1979's label, Vice] Atlantic's not gonna release a record by a band with the same name as another entity in music.... We spent a lot of money because we didn't just wanna be total fucking assholes and just say no. We were trying to find a way for it to actually work.... I was like, "What the hell's wrong with Death From Above 1979?" But the copyright attorney was like, "No, that's not fine." And I said, "If they become a totally different name, and it delays their record, that's something I'm not comfortable with." So we just tried to make it work as well as possible.[12]
The band would later go on to change their name back to Death from Above in 2017 without any legal repercussions, reverting back to Death from Above 1979 in 2020.[13]
In 2013 Murphy filed a lawsuit against Goldsworthy, alleging Goldsworthy owed money and had been making unauthorised withdrawals from bank accounts and using the company credit card improperly.[14]
Additionally, in 2020, Galkin was dismissed by Murphy due to concerns regarding finances and maintaining artist relationships. The split was acrimonious and involved legal disputes regarding the removal of Galkin's minority ownership of DFA.[15]
As well as Murphy's LCD Soundsystem the label is currently home to the likes of The Juan Maclean, Hot Chip (North America only), Shit Robot, Gavilán Rayna Russom, Prinzhorn Dance School, Shocking Pinks, Holy Ghost!, Still Going, Syclops, Planningtorock and Yacht. They are also jointly releasing music with fellow New York City based label Rong Music, by artists such as Free Blood and Woolfy.[16] The label has also reissued the first two albums by Athens, Georgia based new wave band Pylon, the first time they have been available on CD,[17] as well as a retrospective collection of tracks by Peter Gordon and the Love of Life Orchestra.[18]
The influence of musicians and bands like Brian Eno, Talking Heads, Liquid Liquid, ESG, Blondie, Yazoo, New Order, as well as Chicago House, can be heard throughout the DFA catalog.[19] [20] [21] Rather than retread, however, the DFA have taken the live dance music of the time and infused the techniques and themes with a modern aesthetic—alternately faster, heavier, dubbier, noisier, and generally more intense than their influences.
Artists who have released music on DFA Records include:
The following outlines production credits to The DFA (Murphy and Goldsworthy), and is not a list of recordings released by DFA Records.