Fifteen Candles

At around 5 p.m. on a Wednesday, I find myself sitting in the main office of Merge Records. It is a small office, inhabited by six employees. Concert flyers are stacked on a table, CDs set aside in a cardboard box. On a small whiteboard, familiar names are listed in blue marker. Spoon. Superchunk. Crooked Fingers. The Clientele. I haven't picked up an indie magazine in the past year that doesn't contain these names beside such phrases as "highly anticipated" or "stunning." Indeed, many of these bands are actually my bands--bands with high play counts in my iTunes library, bands whose albums have kept me company on many late nights, bands I have claimed to love.

And here they are, scribbled on a whiteboard in an old building in downtown Durham, collected into one small happy family.

I am here to talk to Merge co-founder Laura Ballance about Merge and its upcoming 15-year anniversary celebration. I have several questions written down, and I take them into a small office belonging to one of the six employees. Her walls are papered with concert posters, and immediately I begin to ask about them. She is telling me how great a band called The Arcade Fire is, and her excitement is evident as she hands me a copy of their upcoming CD. Giddy almost. Real, sincere excitement.

Since 1989, Merge has been successful by doing just this--distributing the music that its employees love to appreciative fans. The label was founded by Ballance and Mac McCaughan at the same time they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill. (For more on Superchunk seek "A Look at Merge Bands" on page 8) Merge began as a small outfit for promoting Superchunk and other area bands, putting out 7-inch records and cassettes. Ballance describes the early days of Merge as "just me and Mac working from home, with the occasional 7-inch stuffing party, where our friends would help with assembly." Since then Merge and its reputation as a premier indie label has grown considerably. "Now we have six employees and lots of great interns and an office," Ballance says. "We put out albums, and have long standing relationship with bands.

Merge thrives on a more laid-back atmosphere. There's no agenda here, just people enjoying the music they produce. It's refreshing, far removed from the business-savvy execs who play only what sells. The main motivation here is good music and getting it in the hands of those who appreciate it. You won't hear Merge outside of college radio. You can't buy their CDs at Wal-Mart. And yet there is so much at Merge, so many albums that are simply indispensable to any modern rock catalogue: Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Spoon's Girls Can Tell, any Superchunk album.

Luckily for Duke and Durham, music from Merge is never far away. Local music stores love Merge, and WXDU often features Merge artists. On July 27 from 10 p.m. to midnight, WXDU will be playing nothing but Merge in anticipation of the concerts. Tickets for the celebration are still available at the Carolina Theatre.

So what's in store for Merge next? Ask Ballance where she sees her label in 15 more years and she'll tell you the only guarantee is more good, fun music. "We'll be 30. Then we'll have a REALLY big party."