deadAir Records, stylized as deadAir, is an American independent record label co-founded in November of 2021 by Jesse Taconelli and Billie Bugara. PAPER identified Bugara as a co-founder, while Hypebeast and music-industry publication RAMP identified Taconelli as a co-founder. In a 2022 first-person retrospective, Bugara wrote that an earlier label experiment led Bugara and Taconelli to start their own label.
In addition to physical releases of their music, deadAir also designs and sells merchandise for its artists.
History Bugara's background included writing for the online publication Underground Vampire Club and serving as its editor-in-chief. In the retrospective, Bugara described how that publication's short-lived label experiment preceded the formation of deadAir. No Bells credited Bugara's SoundCloud Digicore playlist with helping codify the emerging digicore scene.
deadAir's first numbered catalog release was Jane Remover's 2021 album Frailty. Pitchfork described the record as an ambitious expansion of digicore and later ranked it number 33 on its list of the 100 best albums of the 2020s through 2024. In 2022, Bugara co-presented a showcase at Baby's All Right in Brooklyn; PAPER described deadAir at the time as an independent label associated with influential digicore acts.
Other independently reviewed deadAir releases included Jane Remover's Census Designated in 2023, Kuru's re:wired in 2024, Venturing's Ghostholding in 2025, and By Storm's My Ghosts Go Ghost in 2026. In a 2024 profile, Alternative Press described deadAir as a young label that foregrounded inventive, boundary-pushing acts.
Activities The label describes itself as multidisciplinary. Its official website maintains separate pages for its numbered release catalog, management clients, and publishing clients. Since 2025, NTS Radio has hosted deadAir – Transmissions, a monthly program featuring label-associated musicians and guests.
Artists released
Current Act Years on the label Releases under the labelJane Remover2021-present 7Dazegxd2022–present 5Kuru2024-present 3Operelly2025-present 2Lucy Bedroque2025-present 3Photographic Memory2025-present 1Kmoe2025-present 1By Storm2026-present1
Former Act Years on the label Releases under the labelOsquinn2021-2023 3Quadeca2022–2024 3Quannnic2023–2026 3Underscores 2025 1Prostitute 2025 1 Ninajirachi2025 1Racing Mount Pleasant20251
Discography
Studio albums + Year Title Artist(s) Formats and notes 2021Drive-By LullabiesQuinnDigital re-release 2022FrailtyJane RemoverDigital, CD, cassette, vinylvKiSSDazegxd Digital, CDQuinnQuinnI Didn't Mean to Haunt YouQuadecaDigital, CD, cassette, vinyl 2023KenopsiaQuannnicDigital re-release, CD, vinylCensus DesignatedJane RemoverDigital, CD, vinylStepdreamQuannnicDigital, vinyl 2024Exhibition ModeDazegxd Digital, CDRe:WiredKuruFrom Me to YouQuadecaCD, cassette 2025FishmongerUnderscoresCD & vinyl reissue (deadAir Legacy Edition)GhostholdingVenturingDigital, CD, vinylAttempted MartyrProstituteVinylRevengeseekerzJane RemoverDigital, CD, vinylI Look at Her and Light Goes All Through MePhotographic MemoryDigitalK1Kmoe Digital, CD, vinylWarbrainedQuannnicI Love My ComputerNinajirachiVinylGrip Your Fist, I'm Heaven BoundRacing Mount PleasantVinyl 2026My Ghosts Go GhostBy Storm Digital, CD, vinylBackstage HologramKuruCLucy BedroqueDigital
Compilation albums + Year Title Artist(s) Formats and notes 2025SororiteLucy BedroqueCD, vinyl
Mixtapes + Year Title Artist(s) Formats and notes 2024ScrapyardQuadecaDigital, CD, cassette, vinyl 2025UnmusiqueLucy BedroqueDigital, CD, vinylStay True ForeverKuruDigital, CDDaze's Game 3!DazegxdDigital re-release
EPs + Year Title Artist(s) Formats and notes 2022Teen WeekJane RemoverDigital re-release (abridged version) 2023dSX.fmDazegxd & QuinnDigital, CDScrapyard I Quadeca DigitalScrapyard IIScrapyard III 2025Handwriting Practice No. 1OperellyTellMeWhatToSwallowPhotographic MemoryHeartJane Remover Digital, CD, vinyl 2026*Flutters Away*OperellyNowhere EPVenturingDigital, vinyl
Singles The following list excludes singles which are released in the rollout of and included on an album or mixtape for legibility. + Year Title Artist(s) Formats and notes 2022"Royal Blue Walls"Jane RemoverDigital2023"Vete"Kuru2024"Flash in the Pan"Jane Remover"Magic I Want U"2025"Supernova" (featuring Funeral)"Dreamflasher""Audio Diary"Kuru2026"And I Dance"By Storm"Speed Demon"Lucy Bedroque"Whitehorsemannequin"
Notes
References
External links