Mutant Pop Records was an independent record label founded in Corvallis, Oregon in 1995 by Tim "Timbo" Davenport (born October 1, 1961), also known by the "punk name" T. Chandler. The label released approximately 15 full-length albums in compact disc format, and more than 85 releases as 7" vinyl EPs or commercial CD-R discs. The label also re-released several pop-punk-related albums and EPs from other labels that had gone out of print. After ceasing the release of new material in 2002, the label made a brief comeback attempt in 2008 before terminating operations at the end of that year.
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Mutant Pop Records was a single person operation, a so-called "bedroom label," begun in April 1995.
Timbo has described his own label's history in terms of three eras, focused around three flagship bands. Mutant Pop began with a clear focus on the geeky, sloppy pop punk of The Automatics, followed by the somewhat more complex Connie Dungs, and finished with Ramones-core punks The Peabodys. The label had an estimated 100 releases including vinyl EPs, full length CDs, and several waves of a short-run CD-R mail-order series. Mutant Pop was perhaps the first label to experiment with the CD-R format as a commercial option.
The label also operated its own wholesale distribution arm, known as 1000 Flowers, which served as an important hub for pop punk distribution during the second half of the 1990s. The distribution began as the wholesale arm of Mutant Pop in 1995, selling directly to record stores. In 1997 it moved to a direct-to-customer mail order service. The monthly mutant pop newsletter through which the distribution catalogue was distributed served as an important tool in the disemmination of knowledge regarding underground pop punk before the widespread use of the internet.
The label went on hiatus in 2001, only releasing a single release before making a small comeback during the first half of 2002. Thereafter the label went to sleep until 2008, when a return to 7" vinyl was made. The economics of the format proved to be untenable, however, and the label was silently terminated at the end of that year.
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