This year marks the 30th anniversary of Secretly Canadian, the Bloomington, Indiana record label that grew from a small DIY operation into one of the largest and most respected independent music companies in the world.
The label was founded in Bloomington in 1996 by Eric Weddle, Jonathan Cargill, and brothers Ben and Chris Swanson. Three decades later, Secretly has grown into Secretly Group, which includes Secretly Canadian, Jagjaguwar and Dead Oceans — the label that helped launch the career of Grammy-winning indie-folk star Phoebe Bridgers.
Today, Secretly’s roster features artists like Bon Iver, Mitski, Bright Eyes, Khruangbin, Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen and Japanese Breakfast — and 30 years later, the company is still headquartered in Bloomington.
To mark the anniversary, Secretly is celebrating with three nights of concerts in Bloomington featuring artists from across the label’s history and current roster.
On this edition of Cultural Manifesto, Kyle Long speaks separately with two of Secretly Canadian’s four founders: Eric Weddle and Ben Swanson.
Eric Weddle was part of Secretly Canadian from 1996 to 2000. A musician known for his work with the art-punk, soul-garage band John Wilkes Booze, he now runs the Family Vineyard record label and is an award-winning journalist and editor at WFYI.
Ben Swanson was the youngest of the label’s four founders, but he quickly became central to the day-to-day work of building Secretly Canadian. Over the past three decades, he has helped transform the label into a global music company encompassing multiple record labels, publishing and distribution.
