Up Records (5)

Up Records was a Seattle based independent record label founded in 1994 by Chris Takino and Rich Jensen. Originally, it was formed to release some of Takino's friends' records, but it soon became more than that. As Takino was working with Sub Pop Records in 1994, he suggested to Sub Pop boss Jonathan Popeman to sign Built To Spill. Takino also knew the band as well, as Doug Martsch, member of Built To Spill, had a personal relationship with Takino (he was part of Treepeople, a Seattle band whom Takino had managed). Although it did not fit the label's image, he encouraged Takino to sign them, and this resulted in the release of their second album, There's Nothing Wrong With Love which was funded by his friends at Sub Pop. While Sub Pop records floundered in the wake of the post-grunge era, Up Records was thriving as Takino signed more artists. Some of the label's best known artists were 764-Hero, Built To Spill, Modest Mouse, Quasi (2) and Tad. At it's peak, Up had 20 artists signed with moderate sales. But things made a turn for the worse, as Takino was diagnosed with leukemia in 1998. After 2 years of battling the illness, Takino died of leukemia in 2000 at 32 and his business partner, Pete Ritchey took over as part owner and manager of the label. The last update to the Up Records website was June 6, 2007 and sometime after February 25, 2008 the label and their website ceased operations.