You're better off staying away from record companies until you are already building a large crowd and selling your music. They are leeches that will stroke your ego to get their greedy fingers into your pie.
I really like the way Amanda Parker went about distributing her music. If I was to start over with a new band that's what I would do today. There's a link to her story and video in this post. Check it out, it will inspire you.
Thanks for reading this post @tarotbyfergus. Peace.