Epitaph Records
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Epitaph Records is a Hollywood, California based record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally "just a logo and a P.O. box" created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large independent record label. Gurewitz took the name from a King Crimson song of the same name. Throughout the 80s and 90s most of the bands on Epitaph were punk rock groups, while it is now primarily made up of emo and alternative bands. Several sub-labels also exist, such as ANTI-, Fat Possum Records, Burning Heart Records and Hellcat Records that have signed other types of bands. A few of the first bands signed include Bad Religion, L7, The Offspring, Rancid, and NOFX.[citation needed]
In 1987, Epitaph released its first record as a proper label. It was the band L7's self-titled album, and it was distributed by Chameleon. The first album that was both released and distributed by Epitaph was Suffer by Bad Religion.
In 1994 Epitaph received widespread fame, both within and outside the punk community, when NOFX, Rancid and The Offspring all released hit records. This was a big year for punk in the mainstream; Rancid appeared on Saturday Night Live the following year, playing "Ruby Soho" and "Roots Radicals". The Offspring would soon leave for Columbia Records in a contract dispute, but their Smash lived up to its namesake and would quickly become Epitaph's all time best selling album, with more than 11 million units sold worldwide to date.[citation needed]
Recently in 2003, Epitaph has sparked some controversy among its fans by signing noted alternative rap artists Atmosphere and Sage Francis and noise/metal band The Locust, leading to many heated debates about what constituted the true nature of "punk" music, but so far the new groups seem to feel at home on the label. The label also signed Canadian rapper Cadence Weapon in 2007. Merle Haggard has also released material on the Epitaph label (If I Could Only Fly (2000) and Roots Vol. 1 (2001)).
Although Bad Religion was the founding band of Epitaph, releasing their early records through the label, they switched over to Atlantic in 1994, with Stranger Than Fiction being their first record outside of the label. Brett Gurewitz is thought to have left Bad Religion as a result of "intra-band drama" but actully left the band in 1994 so he could work for Epitaph for full time. This came after lead singer Greg Graffin said he wanted to tour more and quit school to do so. The band responded by filling his place with Brian Baker. In 2001, Brett returned to the band and Bad Religion once again signed under Epitaph Records, releasing The Process of Belief in 2002, and, most recently The Empire Strikes First (2004). A new record is in the works and is rumored to be released in 2007.
In January 2002 Brett Gurewitz was quoted saying that "I had multiple offers for $50- and $100 million for half of my business".[citation needed] He never took any of them.
In mid-2005 Epitaph was added to the official list of RIAA members[1] along with several other high-profile independent labels. The reason for the listing is not clear, but one source points to an agreement for internet P2P distribution [2] ("Independent Labels Sign Deal With Snocap"). Another source claims label management joined RIAA in order to get certified sales awards (ie, official "Gold" or "Platinum" record status) for releases. This sparked some controversy as some feel they should no longer be labeled independent if they are a member of the RIAA.[3]
However, the only source that has actually been used for these claims of membership is the official RIAA membership list, which has been disputed. [4] As of this writing, not only is Epitaph listed as an official member, but Lookout! Records and Fat Wreck Chords are once again listed, even though they were already falsely listed before.
Contents |
[edit] Bands
- Agnostic Front
- ALL
- Atmosphere
- Bad Religion
- Beatsteaks
- Billy Bragg
- Bombshell Rocks
- The Black Keys
- The Bouncing Souls
- Busdriver
- The Business
- Cadence Weapon
- Choking Victim
- Converge
- The Coup
- Dag Nasty
- Danger Doom
- Dead Fucking Last
- Death by Stereo
- The Descendents
- Deviates
- The Distillers
- Down by Law
- Downset
- The Draft
- Dropkick Murphys
- The Dwarves
- Escape The Fate
- F-Minus
- Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards
- Gas Huffer
- Guttermouth
- H2O
- Heavens
- Hepcat
- The Higher
- The Hives
- Hot Water Music
- Humpers
- I Am Ghost
- Ikara Colt
- Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros
- The Joykiller
- L7
- The Locust
- Madball
- Matchbook Romance
- The Matches
- Millencolin
- Roger Miret and the Disasters
- Motion City Soundtrack
- Mouthwash
- 98 Mute
- Nekromantix
- Nerve Agents
- New Bomb Turks
- NOFX
- The Offspring
- Osker
- Parkway Drive
- Pennywise
- Pete Philly and Perquisite
- The Pietasters
- Poison Idea
- Pulley
- Raised Fist
- Rancid
- Refused
- Rich Kids on LSD
- The Robocop Kraus
- Sage Francis
- Scatter the Ashes
- SNFU
- Straight Faced
- Ten Foot Pole
- Tiger Army
- Total Chaos
- Transplants
- 1208
- Union 13
- U.S. Bombs
- The Vandals
- Vanna
- Vonland
- Voodoo Glow Skulls
- Tom Waits
- The Weakerthans
- Youth Group
- Zeke
- Zero 7
[edit] Compilations
- Punk-O-Rama series
- Unsound series
- How We Rock
- Spirit of the Streets
- Epitaph / Union skate/surf DVD series
- Football Schmootball (1st)
- DC Video (3rd)
- Cirle One (5th)
- Out of Print Compilations
- Bored Generation skate/surf enhanced CD-ROM (1996)
- More Songs About Anger, Fear, Sex & Death (1992)