Spirit Level was founded in late 2014 by Tim Shiel and Wally de Backer, two long-time friends and musical collaborators.
Both are well-known in Australia as passionate champions of innovative and independent music: Tim as an electronic musician and long-time radio broadcaster for Double J, triple j and 3RRR, and Wally through his ambitious musical projects that include Gotye and The Basics.
Inspired initially by a one-off album made by American friends Zammuto, the label has slowly evolved and widened its scope to focus more on local artist development and management. Spirit Level’s roster currently includes artists from Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Vermont and Oslo. Spirit Level is currently spear-headed by Tim with the assistance of a crew of passionate helpers including the artists themselves.
The label operates out of a music studio in North Melbourne’s Meat Market arts precinct, where many of the label’s releases are also produced and mixed. The studio operates both as an administrative headquarters and a creative home base for its artists when required, and is shared with APRA Award winning songwriter and friend of Spirit Level, Ben Abraham. Spirit Level thanks Creative Spaces for their support.
Spirit Level is distributed worldwide by AWAL. Our logo was designed by the incredible Tommi PG.
We’re still new, but our family is growing rapidly. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Acknowledgment
of Country
Spirit Level acknowledges the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of the nation and the traditional custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.
Born from our record label Spirit Level Lab explores how emerging technologies can provide new opportunities for artists to tell their stories and engage their audiences.
Our beloved studio buddy, long time friend and Award winning songwriter.
Where our humble little studio, creative home and administrative headquarters reside.
The incredible creator of our logo just over there.
01.09.2020
