Crem Road records - Press

Last updated : May 19th, 2026, 5:30PM UTC+2

Some key people of Crem Road during a Me In The Bath studio session in May 2026. From left to right: Le morse des mers (Brainless On Line), Shangri-l (Still Living Creature, Me In The Bath, etc), Fulvio (Gorbie's Stuff, The Kuang, Silence International), Nain+ (The Big Circus Project, Brainless On Line)

Origins and Evolution

Crem Road is a fiercely independent French netlabel deeply rooted in the raw, underground netaudio culture. It was founded in 1997 by musician and free-culture advocate Nicolas Chartoire (known online as Shangri-l), who was just 19 at the time.
Originally launched as a brightly colored, rainbow-themed web page under the moniker c0c, the collective slowly evolved into a proper netlabel. From its very inception, the label has operated on a "va-comme-je-te-pousse" (rough-and-ready) philosophy, championing spontaneity and authentic expression over polished commercial appeal.

The Ethos and DIY "Business" Model

Crem Road is definitively anti-commercial—a stance captured perfectly by the netaudio scene's mantra, "Business Is Not My Music."

Open Licenses: Almost the entirety of Crem Road's catalog is released under free, open licenses (primarily Creative Commons). The goal is total accessibility; listeners are encouraged to download, share, and sometimes even remix the music for free, without restrictive copyright barriers.
Infrastructure: True to its DIY ethos, the label does not rely on corporate hosting for its core operations. In 2012, Chartoire founded the Clewn.org collective specifically to build and maintain an independent internet infrastructure for Crem Road and its sister projects.
Distribution Strategy: For decades, Crem Road relied on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, direct downloads, and massive free-music archives like Dogmazic. In recent years, the label strategically expanded part of its distribution to commercial streaming platforms (Youtube Music, Apple Music, Asian streaming networks)—not for profit, but as a Trojan horse to bring free-licensed, underground music to a wider, mainstream audience.

Key Projects and People

While Nicolas Chartoire is the central architect, the label has fostered a vast ecosystem of aliases, bands, and collaborative projects.

Me In The Bath: Created in 2010, this noisepop/lo-fi project is arguably Crem Road's flagship act. Highly prolific, it reached a milestone in 2014 with its 100th album participation (Is 100 Enough) and broke into international streaming markets with 2019's Something Planned. (It remains active, releasing albums like Iwan as recently as 2026).
Gorbie's Stuff (2004–2005): A legendary powerpop-punk outfit within the label's history, best known for their Almost Complete album and their massive, overflow gig at the 2004 Vegetable Noise Party.
Still Living Creature: An ongoing electronica project initiated in 2008, showcasing the label's shift toward glitch and IDM elements.
Beatles II: An alternative rock experiment active from 2001 to 2002, responsible for Demo 0, one of the label's earliest foundational releases.
DidJaws: A heavy-hitting electronic and techno contributor, co-releasing projects like Repetitive Temple and Home Made Techno under a joint TeamDidJaws/Crem Road banner in the 2020s.
Other Notable Acts: The Kuang (indie rock), Thcoreba Thmano (reggae-noise), and Nacso (noisyp-hop) further highlight the label's genre-agnostic approach.

Key Milestones

1997: Foundation as c0c
Nicolas Chartoire launches the initial "c0c" collective web page, laying the groundwork for what would soon become the Crem Road netlabel.
2000–2002: First Formal Releases
The label begins cataloging early projects, including the reissue of Brainless On Line's album (2000)—the label's only non-free release—and the foundational Demo 0 by Beatles II (2002).
2004–2005: Gorbie's Stuff Era
The powerpop-punk project Gorbie's Stuff becomes highly active, culminating in their legendary Almost Complete album and a notable live show at the Vegetable Noise Party.
2010: Birth of Me In The Bath
Formation of the highly prolific noisepop project Me In The Bath, which quickly becomes the central pillar of the Crem Road catalog.
2012: Clewn.org Infrastructure
Creation of the Clewn.org collective to independently host and manage the netlabel's servers and internet presence, cementing its absolute DIY ethos.
2016–2017: 20th Anniversary
Crem Road celebrates two decades of netaudio activism, launching a crowdfunding campaign for a 250-page souvenir book to formally document the history of the free music scene.
2019–2026: Streaming & Global Expansion
Some releases hit major commercial streaming platforms worldwide (including mainland China) to increase visibility. The label continues strong into the late 2020s, heavily promoting "Netlabel Day" initiatives and releasing new albums.

Ultimately, Crem Road stands as a resilient testament to the original spirit of the early internet and the netaudio movement. For nearly three decades, Nicolas Chartoire and his myriad of collaborators have proved that a label can operate entirely outside the traditional music industry—prioritizing raw creativity, open-source distribution, and absolute DIY independence over commercial success. By seamlessly bridging the underground sharing networks of the late 90s with today's global streaming platforms, Crem Road remains not just a vast archive of uncompromising lo-fi and noise music, but a living, breathing blueprint for free-culture activism.