Mushroom Pillow

Mushroom Pillow is a Spanish independent record label and music company founded in 2001 by Marcos Collantes and Keina Garcia, who were university students at the time. Motivated by a passion for music and a desire to discover underground talent and bring it to mainstream audiences, the pair had already spent years working in music in a non-professional capacity — organising concerts, making fanzines, compiling cassettes, running a mail-order catalogue, DJing and collaborating with magazines — before launching the label just as the music industry crisis was reaching its peak. They used 1,000 euros borrowed from close friends to start a company that aspired to be as big as possible, taking inspiration (adapted to their own reality) from labels such as Elektra Records for its diversity, Creation Records for its passion for the underground, and Motown for its constant pursuit of hits. From its very first release the label set out the company's guiding principles: new projects starting from scratch, pop songs with hit feeling, and the search for new ways to reach a broad audience as a means for underground music to transcend — music that in Spain at the time was denied presence in media or wider audiences. The goal was to create an independent company not limited by the established or usual practices of the industry: to transcend barriers and do what one believes must be done beyond expectations or musical labels, and to be totally independent in the what, how and when. Mushroom Pillow's catalogue deliberately avoids a single sound, spanning instrumental music, garage, psychedelia, indie, pop, electronica and folk, always with the pop song as the objective. Over its trajectory the label has released records by Spanish acts including Deluxe, The Sunday Drivers, La Habitación Roja, Triángulo de Amor Bizarro, Sr. Chinarro, Delorean and We Are Standard, as well as international artists such as Australia's The Go-Betweens, the Nordic The Raveonettes, England's The Jeevas and America's The Essex Green. The company has also pursued export through actions, licences and synchronisations abroad, placing Spanish artists in markets including the UK, USA, Japan, France and Mexico, and securing high-profile syncs such as Mastercard and Google Play Music. Mushroom Pillow received the Premio de la Música Independiente for best record label in 2008, a recognition it went on to receive a total of three times in the years the category was awarded, with the label's activity and its groups rewarded on more than 25 subsequent occasions. Today the company presents itself as "Mushroom Pillow Music® Pop Business Incorporation" and, through its brands division, states that it brings brand cultures and music together to create new iconic synergies.

Mushroom Pillow Music was created in 2001 by Marcos Collantes and Keina Garcia, then university students, motivated by their passion for music and the need to discover underground talent and bring it to mainstream audiences. After years of working in music in a non-professional capacity — organising concerts, making fanzines, cassette compilations, creating a mail-order sales catalogue, DJ sessions and collaborating with magazines — the moment arrived to launch a record label, just as the music industry crisis was at its height. To do so they used 1,000 euros lent to them by close friends and embarked on developing a company that aspired to be as big as possible, taking as influences (but adapting them to their reality) labels such as Elektra Records for its diversity, Creation Records for its passion for the underground, and Motown for its constant search for hits. From the label's first release the company's guidelines for the future were set: new projects starting from scratch, pop songs with hit feeling, and the search for new ways to reach a broad audience as a means for music that came from the underground — and which in Spain at that time was denied presence in media or wider audiences — to transcend. Ultimately, to create an independent company not limited by the established or usual practices of the sector… in short, to transcend barriers and do what one believes must be done beyond the expected or musical labels, and to be totally independent in the what, how and when. Thus in 2001 the debut of Deluxe, "Not what you had thought", appeared. After an initial reception marked by the usual indifference of the standard music industry but with the passion of many people, it managed to enter the #12 spot on the best-selling singles chart. After more than 150 concerts, Deluxe's second release, "If things were to go wrong", arrived in 2003, reaching #25 on Spain's best-selling albums chart and also being released in Japan — another of the company's habitual ways of expanding through actions, licences or synchronisations abroad. The album contains "Que no", the project's most popular track, which has since appeared in various publications among the most outstanding songs in Spain in the early years of the 21st century. A year after its release it made the leap to commercial radio. In the label's early years, in addition to national groups, international groups were released, such as Australia's The Go-Betweens, the Nordic The Raveonettes, England's The Jeevas and America's The Essex Green, among others. During its trajectory the company renounced being a single-sound label and released groups playing instrumental music, garage, psychedelia, indie, pop, electronica or folk, but always with the pop song as the objective. In 2004 "Little Heart Attacks" by The Sunday Drivers was released, which besides becoming album of the year for various media was also released outside Spain through an agreement with the French label Naive. They toured France and part of Europe and took part in well-known music festivals. The group continued to grow with albums such as "Tiny Telephone" with Brad Jones and "The End of Maiden Trip", until their dissolution. Already in 2005 Mushroom Pillow signed the group La Habitación Roja, who recorded their first album for the label in Chicago with Steve Albini, marking the group's peak to date. They remained with the company until 2018, releasing regularly, recording their most successful songs during these years, and the label incorporated into its catalogue all the recordings they had previously released. It was in 2007 that the debut of Triángulo de Amor Bizarro was released, an instant classic within the alternative scene that marked the appearance of another type of sound in the ecosystem of the moment. The group continued releasing albums for many years, with references such as "Año Santo" or "Salve discordia", and always standing out in annual lists in Spain and America. It is, by far, the group that has received the most awards in Spain in the last decade. Sevillian Sr. Chinarro released his first (and most successful) album on Mushroom Pillow in 2007. "El mundo según" made the project leave the niche and show itself proudly to a broader audience, adding headlines and covers of well-known publications and touring extensively around Spain. He continued releasing albums on the company, which bought his previous catalogue until it had 17 of his albums on the label. In 2015 Nando Cruz took the title of his first single to tell the story of independent pop in 1990s Spain in the book "Pequeño Circo", in which he occupies a prominent place. The achievement of different references as albums of the year or as part of prominent promotions in Spain and abroad led the company down a different path and promoted Spanish artists to occupy synchronisations in countries such as the UK or USA, and many of them entered the sales charts in Spain. Mushroom Pillow received the Premio de la Música Independiente for best record label in 2008, a recognition it received again a total of 3 times during the years in which it was awarded in this category. The activity of the label and its groups was rewarded on more than 25 subsequent occasions. Something that also continued was its own path towards export with Delorean and their balearic pop, which stood out in USA media for several years and had them touring the world. With We Are Standard, who recorded with Andy Gill of Gang of Four in London and released albums in the USA or France as well as Spain. These were the years of Pitchfork and the most experimental groups, as well as trips to Japan, England, Mexico or the United States and first-order synchronisations such as Mastercard or Google Play Music.

• 2018

  La Habitación Roja's tenure with the label ends after 13 years.

• 2008

  Mushroom Pillow receives the Premio de la Música Independiente for best record label.

• 2007

  Triángulo de Amor Bizarro's debut and Sr. Chinarro's "El mundo según" released on the label.

• 2005

  La Habitación Roja signed; they record their first album for the label in Chicago with Steve Albini.

• 2004

  The Sunday Drivers' "Little Heart Attacks" released, named album of the year by various media and issued outside Spain via French label Naive.

• 2003

  Deluxe's second album "If things were to go wrong" reaches #25 on Spain's best-selling albums chart and is released in Japan.

• 2001

  Mushroom Pillow Music founded by Marcos Collantes and Keina Garcia with 1,000 euros borrowed from friends.

• 2001

  First release: Deluxe's debut "Not what you had thought", which reached #12 on the singles chart.

Independent Spanish pop label that bridges underground talent and mainstream audiences, and connects brand cultures with music.

• 2001

  Deluxe — Not what you had thought

• 2003

  Deluxe — If things were to go wrong

• 2004

  The Sunday Drivers — Little Heart Attacks

• The Sunday Drivers — Tiny Telephone

• The Sunday Drivers — The End of Maiden Trip

• 2005

  La Habitación Roja — first album for the label

• 2007

  Triángulo de Amor Bizarro — debut

• Triángulo de Amor Bizarro — Año Santo

• Triángulo de Amor Bizarro — Salve discordia

• 2007

  Sr. Chinarro — El mundo según

• Brand & Music partnerships

1. 1MUSHROOM PILLOW — Mushroom Pillowmushroompillow.com
2. 2MUSHROOM PILLOW — Mushroom Pillow Music | Expanding the limits of Pop Musicmushroompillow.com
3. 3Mushroom Pillow — Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Mushroom Pillow — Wikipedia (Spanish)es.wikipedia.org