Skin Graft Records
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| SKiN GRAFT Records | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1991 |
| Founder | Mark Fischer & Rob Syers |
| Distributing label | Southern |
| Genre | No Wave/Now Wave Noise rock Experimental rock Comic books |
| Country of origin | United States  |
| Location | Founded: Chicago, Illinois Currently: St. Louis, Missouri |
| Official website | SKiN GRAFT |
Skin Graft Records (officially capitalized as SKiN GRAFT Records) is an independent record label specializing in No Wave and noise rock music, originally based in Chicago, Illinois. The label is largely responsible for spawning the so-called Now Wave genre, an updated version of the late-1970s/early-1980s No Wave movement.
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[edit] History
In 1986, SKiN GRAFT was began by Mark Fischer and Rob Syers as a small-scale publisher of bizarre comic books and fanzines. Some of its comics included The Kidz and Cynicalmanson.
Its first record was released at the end of 1991; as label founder Mark Fischer said in 2000, "Skin Graft is a comic book company that puts out records."[1] The label has since released music by several bands, most of whom display an irreverent attitude towards music, and/or appear on stage wearing costumes or face paint. Bands which have recorded for the label include Dazzling Killmen, Brise-Glace (featuring Jim O'Rourke), Cheer-Accident, The Strangulated Beatoffs, Zeek Sheck, The Chinese Stars, The Flying Luttenbachers, Lake Of Dracula, Gorge Trio, CoLOSSamite, Shorty, U.S. Maple, ZZZZZ, Made In Mexico, Melt-Banana, Quintron, Flossie And The Unicorns, Yona-Kit, Nood Ham, You Fantastic!, Ruins, Space Streakings, Zeni Geva, AIDS Wolf, Mount Shasta, Arab On Radar, Yowie, Athletic Automaton, and PRE.
In keeping with the label's origins, many SKiN GRAFT musical releases, particularly 7" records and LPs, have included mini comic books as inserts. Other untraditional items have also been included; early vinyl copies of U.S. Maple's first album were packaged in metal sheets, and CoLOSSamite's 1998 untitled EP came packaged with 5-inch frisbees of varying colors.
[edit] Trivia
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- The label's mascot is a simply-drawn cat/Devil hybrid, usually shown issuing the "heavy metal horns" hand sign.
- From 1994 to 1998, and in 2002, the label curated OOPS(!) Fests, featuring many of its bands, along with sideshows and various styles of impromptu performance art[2].
- In the late 1990s, the label purported (as a thinly-veiled hoax) that a European record label named SiN RAFT was illegally issuing bootleg copies of S.G. releases.
- On MTV's The Real World: Miami in 1996, cast member Sarah Becker frequently wore a red Mount Shasta band t-shirt.
