Since their inception in 1995, Bridge Nine Records has turned from a hobby to one of the biggest and best music brands in the world. What was once a once man operation has grown into a nine-person... Read More

Since their inception in 1995, Bridge Nine Records has turned from a hobby to one of the biggest and best music brands in the world. What was once a once man operation has grown into a nine-person full-time operation headquartered in Peabody, MA (just outside the label's original home in Boston) with affiliates and distributors worldwide.

Bridge Nine's fiercely independent do-it-yourself work ethic is one of the biggest reasons the label has been able to persevere in a tumultuous music business climate in addition to growing significantly in a time when labels are contracting rapidly. The label has been featured in some of the biggest magazines in music today including Alternative Press and Revolver. Since 2007 the label has had six releases on Billboard's Independent, Heatseekers, and Top 200 charts-all the while remaining firmly true to the original spirit from which the label started.

Just fourteen years ago, an avid punk and hardcore music fan named Chris Wrenn started putting out 7inch records by some of his favorite local bands. 'The label started out pretty slowly', said Wrenn. 'I talked with some of my friends who were in bands and they said they'd be down to put out a 7inch. Over the next couple of years, I did whatever I could to try and raise money to continue to put out records. I designed shirts, stickers, and patches that I sold at shows to earn money to offset the printing costs and not much has changed today.' Having grown up in Connecticut in the 90's, which was a hotspot for hardcore, Wrenn had his finger on the pulse of the underground music scene. In 1994, Wrenn moved to Vermont and wanted something to keep him music-motivated while in college and decided to put out a split 7' record, the first official Bridge Nine release. One of the bands on it, Tenfold, became the foundation for In My Eyes and Fastbreak, both of which became really well-known in Connecticut and Boston hardcore scenes as well as nationally. Bridge Nine continued to grow, eventually releasing defining releases for American Nightmare (later Give Up The Ghost), Terror, and Champion. Today, Bridge Nine is a recognized brand worldwide as the best in hardcore with a roster boasting over a dozen full-time, active bands. 100+ releases and thirteen years later, Bridge Nine's back catalog boasts some of the biggest and best names in underground music and it continues to get stronger. 2008 alone saw defining and surprising releases from bands like New Found Glory and H2O, Have Heart, Crime In Stereo, Verse, Cruel Hand, Energy, Ruiner and Ceremony.

As owner Chris Wrenn said, 'Bridge Nine is a hardcore and punk based record label. It's important to us that all of our bands, while they may not sound alike, respect each other. And someone doesn't need to like every record we put out-but at least they will respect it-and that's important for us. Our objective is to put out quality recordings with the best current and up and coming hardcore bands out there. Hardcore today is a pretty broad grouping of styles and we like to mix it up. Our releases will reflect our tastes.'

2009 is turning into another stacked release schedule for Bridge Nine, featuring new releases by Polar Bear Club (called one of Alternative Press' most anticipated albums), boston up-and-comers Defeater (Travels is out February 24th as well as a new EP later in the year) along with follow up releases from Crime In Stereo (another AP Anticipated Album), Death Before Dishonor, Ruiner, and many more that we will be soon announcing. It's further proof of the diversity that Bridge Nine is no longer, nor has it ever been, as some morally and financially bankrupt buffoon recently stated, 'that label for kids who collect Nike Dunks.' Things are a bit different now, aren't they?

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