Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. Merge was originally founded in Chapel Hill, North Carolina by Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance in 1989 as a way to release singles and cassettes from their band Superchunk, and music created by friends. The first Merge full-length release came on April 1, 1992 with MRG020 Superchunk - Tossing Seeds, the band's first collection of singles. The label's first album to reach the USA Billboard 200 was the Arcade Fire's Funeral.blank">http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/May/08/il/il22p.html Arcade Fire then gave the label its highest-charting release with their follow-up, _Neon Bible, which debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200.http://prod1.cmj.com/articles/display_article.php?id=32547263