Fat Possum‘s Peter Wiley made an offer to Gorilla vs Bear founder Chris Cantalini to help him launch a record label using the support and infrastructure of House Arrest Distribution.
Cantalini says the label, Luminelle, will operate independently of the website, but will “in many ways be a natural extension of the vision I’ve always tried to uphold with Gorilla vs. Bear.”
The now widely popular music blog was built around Cantalini’s own taste in music and the record label will follow the same philosophy.
“I’m only interested in working with artists that move me, regardless of genre or trends, and that’s something that you just sort of recognize when you hear it,” said Catalini to Billboard Music. “Fitting in with the broader music industry ecosystem isn’t something that we’re too concerned with, or really thinking about at all, especially in the beginning.”
The first artist on the label will be canadian singer/songwriter Helena Deland. Cantalini described her as a dream artist to work with and launch the label.
As far as future releases, Cantalini doesn’t have a rigid rubric in place to grade if an artist is a good fit. If an artist moves him, he’ll reach out.
“I’m a huge fan of Fat Possum and the House Arrest labels and their respective rosters, and in talking to Peter, I felt like they were presenting sort of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to run my own label exactly the way I wanted, with their full support and guidance in navigating some of the trickier parts of the record business,” Cantalini said. “Having the infrastructure and such a tight team in place from the beginning will allow me to concentrate on the aspects of running a record label that truly excite me, like discovering and working with new artists and putting out special records. I appreciate how rare and privileged an opportunity that is, and I plan on making the most of it.” 
