Holy Roar Records

Holy Roar Records was formed at the beginning of 2006, when Alex Fitzpatrick moved to London. After previously trialling “the communion” with friends in Birmingham during his university days, he and his girlfriend at the time, Ellen Godwin decided to start up a record label.^[4] Utilising a loan, they released and promoted Rolo Tomassi (their first “proper” EP), Phoenix Bodies (a grind/punk crossover band) and a split between the bands, Kayo Dot and Bloody Panda.^{[citation needed]} In 2007, Holy Roar Records released records by Gallows, Chronicles of Adam West (tech-metal) and Chariots (screamo). The label was still a hobby at this point, but Fitzpatrick decided to throw in his day job and take the label on as a priority.^{[citation needed]}

Holy Roar Records curated a stage at Offset Festival (2014),^[5] hosted a stage at Incubate Festival (2014),^[6] partnered with Shock Records,^[7] partnered with ArcTanGent Festival (2015) ^[8] and curated a stage at The Great Escape Festival in 2016.^[9]

Holy Roar Records had over 150 releases and nominations by Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards for “Best Independent Label”^[10] and the AIM Independent Music Awards for "Best Small Label" in 2016.^[11]

Holy Roar was officially dissolved on 30 March 2021, after multiple posts on social media accused Alex Fitzpatrick of sexual assault.^[12]

Since April 2015, Holy Roar Records has been producing podcasts^[13] hosted by Mario John Gambardella featuring different guests and their perspectives on the UK music scene.

Since 2010, Holy Roar Records has been a member of Pink Mist, a London-based promoter and label collective alongside Big Scary Monsters and Blood & Biscuits. The idea behind this collective was to create an alliance whereby resources were pooled in order to promote their bands to a wider audience.^[14] Their first release was a pink and white 12" vinyl limited to 300 copies and released in April 2011 on Record Store Day, "Hello Pink Mist".^[15] It consisted of 12 exclusive tracks (4 from each label) in which Holy Roar Records contributed tracks from run, WALK!, Hang the Bastard, Grazes and Bastions. Later that year, Tangled Talk joined the collective^[16] to complete the current line-up.

In 2012, they released a download-only free compilation "Hello Pink Mist Volume 2"^[17] to coincide with the launch of their new website^[18] and in this same year, they were nominated for the Association of Independent Music Awards for "Best Small Label".^[19] In 2013, Pink Mist announced a pop-up shop in Boxpark,^[20] East London where they sold records and had in-store sessions and in 2014 they collaborated with Relentless (drink) to set up another pop-up shop at No.5 Denmark Street^[21] featuring live performances. Pink Mist was also listed in The Guardian's "The 10 British Record Labels Defining the Sound of 2014".^[22]

In 2015, Holy Roar Records launched a new sister label, Truthseeker Music, headed up by Holy Roar intern Alex Leat.^[23]

In September 2021, founder Alex Fitzpatrick was accused of sexual assault by multiple women. This led to bands quitting the roster en masse and eventually the labels end.^[24]