Scratchie Records was an independent record label founded in 1995 by James Iha and D'arcy Wretzky (ex-The Smashing Pumpkins), Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne, Ivy), Kerry Brown (ex-Catherine) and Jeremy Freeman. Initially, Scratchie was based in Chicago and had distribution through Mercury Records, but a year of legal wrangling ended the pact after Universal merged with Mercury's parent company, Polygram. Scratchie then signed a deal with New Line and moved to New York City.