Where does the name “Misra” come from? Just Ask OUR Label’s first manager, Phil Waldorf!

In his thirst for all things musical, Waldorf initially came across the word, which denotes one of the rhythm cycles in classical Indian music, while studying Sufi scholar Hazrat Inayat Khan's seminal work, The Mysticism of Sound and Music. To Waldorf, “Misra” (with its etymological roots on the other side of the world) represented his “big tent” phiilosophy of running a record label: everyone would be welcomed.

Misra Records was formed in 1999 by brothers Michael and Timothy Bracy (of The Mendoza Line, Slow Dazzle, and The Paranoid Style), along with Paige Conner Totaro. With the help of their friend Phil Waldorf managing, the four launched Misra’s first release, In a Different City by Bablicon, that same year. “Tim and Phil both went to the University of Georgia, so the label’s first releases are tied to that area and that scene in Athens, with bands like Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, and Apples in Stereo,” Leo DeLuca would later explain. “Neutral Milk Hotel drummer Jeremy Barnes went on to form Bablicon, and that’s how the first release came about.”

It was under Waldorf’s management that Misra saw the release of now-classic records by Destroyer, Phosphorescent, Great Lake Swimmers, Shearwater, Jenny Toomey, Centro-matic, Evangelicals, Summer Hymns, Marshmallow Coast, and more. In his eight-year tenure as manager, the label also relocated from Athens to New York City, and then once more to the fashionable Windsor Park neighborhood of Austin, Texas.

In 2006, Waldorf left Misra to found Dead Oceans at Secretly Group, at which point the reins were picked up by Cory Brown, owner of Absolutely Kosher Records, who moved operations to Emeryville, California (the two labels shared resources but remained separate entities). In 2010, Misra/Absolutely Kosher was forced to halt all new releases and to scale back on its operations. After becoming involved in the inner workings of the company, Leo DeLuca, drummer for Southeast Engine, was sad to see it deteriorate. He immediately began working to see that Misra continued to operate as well as it could.

"My initial effort came in an offer to restore the Misra website and update it alongside my own cottage label, Moon Jaw Records," said DeLuca. Through the birth of his own project, DeLuca, with the help of remaining co-founder Michael Bracy, started to envision Misra’s phoenix-like rising. The duo began to contact old partners and revamp the workings of the label, and soon they were able to pull the company back to its feet. DeLuca had taken up the management role at Misra and assembled a group to lead it out of Durham, North Carolina and later from DeLuca’s hometown of Dayton, Ohio. During his tenure, Misra produced releases by Torres, Kelley Deal, Water Liars, Holopaw, Wooden Wand, Crooks on Tape, and Motel Beds.

In 2015, DeLuca stepped down from his position at Misra to pursue a career in academia. He selected Jeff Betten, then the general manager of Wild Kindness Records, as his successor. Wild Kindness subsequently became a subsidiary of Misra Records and the entire label group began operating out of offices in the historic neighborhood of Lawrenceville in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Since then, Betten has persuaded a number of additional record labels to join the Misra Label Group including Keeled Scales, Dadstache Records, Crafted Sounds, WormHoleDeath, Epictronic, Driving While Black Records, and many others. Misra Records has continued to evolve as well - a label traditionally known for existing under the hazy umbrella of fuzzy indie rock has recently begun signing its first hip-hop artists in the form of Benji., Jonny Goood, and Mars Jackson. Misra has also extended its geographic reach to every corner of the globe, from down south in Auckland, New Zealand for Anthonie Tonnon to all the way up north in Oslo, Norway for Mathias Tjønn, aka Racing Heart.

With fresh and exciting artists such as Buffalo Rose, Malena Cadiz, Knowlton Bourne, and Julian Jasper proudly carrying the Misra sonic legacy into a new decade, while at the same time paying homage to the label’s past by continuing to work with Will Johnson of both Centro-matic and South San Gabriel, as well as Emily Rodgers, Hallelujah the Hills, William Matheny of Southeast Engine, and many other luminaries, the future could not be brighter for Misra Records. If proof were needed, one could simply look at Misra’s latest venture - Hellbender Vinyl!

Now having survived and thrived for over 20 years, Misra has its eye on the next 20 years and beyond. Misra Records has always been a record label with a knack for finding diamonds in the rough, a company consistently able to identify and develop artists that have gone on to wild success. This was as true at its inception as it is today, and this singular characteristic will guide the label into the future as well. Misra will always invest in individuals and groups that build upon its long and still-growing history of quality and excellence, storytellers with vision who can bring audiences together.

In the end, there is no denying Misra's place in the history of independent music. This is an entity rooted in the strong belief that music has the curative power to inspire and change people for the better.