You’ve just wandered into your local General Pants store. What’s that on the radio? Hint; it’s probably not Rihanna or Ke$ha. Chances are that it’s one of the young, up-and-coming Aussie acts signed to GP’s music arm, ‘Major Label.’

Major Label is owned by General Pants, probably Australia’s best-known young fashion store. A singles-only label, Major Label took their first steps into the record business in March last year, releasing their very first tracks; one each by Circle Pit, Guineafowl and High Highs. Since then, Major Label has been responsible for 21 single releases, amassing a stable of hotly-tipped artists from all over the country along the way; acts including Tessa & The Typecast, Step-Panther, Made In Japan and Myth & Tropics (all of whom you’ve probably heard on Triple J, or checked out at any new small city venue in recent months) have become part of the Major Label family. General Pants brand manager, Jethro Lyons, takes up the story.

“Music and art, it’s an inherent part of the culture we represent, so Major Label is an additional way for [General Pants] to celebrate that.”

“We spoke with store teams about how we could bring the culture of the store to life again. A lot of them referenced how we used to have all these parties, and the guys who worked in the stores would DJ or their bands would play at the parties, so it was about “how can we support that side of the brand again?” Music is such a big part of our culture, so Major Label is a real way to support that.”

Lyons references GP’s history of involvement with music – including that acts like The Temper Trap and The Veronicas had previously been employees of the brand – and says that, rather than operating as a traditional label where A&R reps select bands to add to the roster, store employees play an integral role in the future and vision for Major Label. The Major Label website states that “General Pants staff act as talent scouts, street teams and publicists for the label and artists,” and Lyons confirms that that’s not just some PR falsity.

“A lot of stuff does come from our staff. They’ll see or hear a band, and send us through a link to check out their music… the guys are scouting bands, sending us recommendations.”

And of course, backed by the support of a national chain of stores, Major Label is not lacking opportunities to give its’ artists some real exposure.

“We use our artists wherever we can. We put them on our events, we broadcast them via all our channels. Plus our store networks; we have posters that promote each release, we play the singles in the stores,” Lyons says of the benefits enjoyed by Major Label-signed artists.

“The two [Major Label and General Pants] leverage off each other. Without it, General Pants wouldn’t have a legitimate music arm; we’d just be playing the normal, everyday releases that get sent to us.”

“It’s a common thing to say ‘music and art are linked,’ but Major Label is a genuine way to celebrate it, at a more grass-roots level. The stores get a lot out of it, but with Major Label, when we grow our networks and community, we get to help new acts.”

At present, Major Label only releases singles – though Lyons says that there are “dreams and desires” to move towards becoming a legitimised label, to handle bigger releases – and 100% of profits from single sales go back to the artists themselves. Lyons says that, at present, Major Label works as a “stepping stone” for artists, “to hopefully sign a bigger deal, to put out an LP or a bigger release”; With the recent success of Major Label acts such as Guineafowl, Circle Pit and Step-Panther, it certainly seems to be a successful strategy.

As for the future? Lyons says that there are moves to integrate Major Label with General Pants’ other creative project, The Bubble, as well as investigations into moving towards becoming a more all-encompassing record label operation. But for Lyons himself, he says that the risk of taking on such an endeavour has already paid off; and he’s keen to see where else Major Label might be able to head.

“I’m just astounded by the quality of the bands, and how hard they work. It’s opened my eyes to the local scene. I’d just love to prove the worth of investing in this, to make it something bigger than it is, as a singles label; and there’s certainly the potential and the talent to do that.”

Look out for the next crop from Major Label: Olympic Ayres, Myth and Tropics, and Crops.

Check out the site for more on the latest Major Label signings.