About us and the labels we distribute:
Independent Label Distribution is a whole new business model: a record distributor operated by independent label owners. Faced with the prospect of being stiffed two times in four years, three label vets took over their failing distributor in the summer of 2011 and rebuilt it from the ground up. Sometimes the obvious strategy is a foolproof one – quality counts. We are not a typical distributor with an “iffy” shelf-life. Its foundation is offering established labels with competitively priced new releases and best-selling catalog, great fill and rapid service, no matter the size of the account.
Independent Label Distribution is not affiliated with ILC.
We Distribute:
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After Music Recordings
After Music Recordings is a micro-indie label based in Minneapolis, offering extremly limited edition pressings of uncommon and unusual vinyl recordings often featuring hand silk-screened jackets. Previous releases include Boy Dirt Car (featuring members of Die Kreuzen), Andy Gallagher, Peter J Woods, Texar, Steve Mackay, F/I, Manhorse, Maria Askatu, Tense Experts, The Manimal Quartet, & Fear Konstruktor.
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Anchorless Records
The product of one man’s passion for music coupled with industry experience, Anchorless Records has been releasing albums from punk rock-rooted independent artists since 2005. Started by owner, sole employee, and former indie record store worker Neil Shulman– the Brookyln, NY (by way of Allston, MA)-based label began as a means for Shulman to put out music created by hardworking individuals while at the same time giving back to the community. Anchorless’ most notable non-profit venture to date is a Johnny Cash tribute album, the proceeds of which benefited the Syrentha Savio Endowment (best known for the Shirts for a Cure project).
Anchorless’ roster ranges from local Boston outfits to singer songwriters to Canadian and New Zealander punk bands, and the label has also worked with the likes of The Bouncing Souls, MxPx, Gaslight Anthem, Chuck Ragan, and Tumbledown. Though still a young label after over half a decade in the business, Anchorless has established itself in the scene because of both the talent of its artists and the heart of its owner, someone committed to supporting his artists and the community.
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Beer City Records
Beer City started in the summer of 1992. Our goal was to make high quality products that could hold up to hardcore skating and were affordable. Plus offer a wide variety of deck and wheel sizes.
Beer City wasn’t going to just be a skateboard company. It also was going to be a record label. The goal was to put out hardcore,punk and thrash/metal plus anything that was (or was once) under the punk umbrella. We started by putting out 7″s and in no time were doing full lengths to!
Nowadays Beer City is known all over the world for our high quality skateboards and our record label.We work with legendary bands like D.R.I. , Broken Bones, The Faction,Toxic ReasonsVerbal Abuse and many more.
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Cavity Records
Cavity Records is a small label founded by two friends in Toledo, Ohio. After working in the music distribution business for a few years, these guys decided to give it a shot and start their own label. They started by releasing the double LP of “Nord” by France’s own Year Of No Light. After this they put out albums by bands such as Giants, NORTH, Nanda Devi, Sakes Alive!!, Eagle Scout, Rosetta, Adai and Restorations. While most labels stick to a primary genre of the music they are releasing, Cavity embraces all kinds of different jams, from post-rock to punk to metal and doom– if it’s good and we like it then there are no boundaries. Now Dan’s primary focus is to consistently put out great quality records that he loves and believes in so he can share them with fellow music lovers.
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Chunksaah Records
Chunksaah Records is the brainchild of The Bouncing Souls, who rather than give up on their dream decided on the “d.i.y.” approach to the record industry. It quickly became a family affair; symbolically named in 1992 after its benefactor Timmy Chunks (notorious for his Queens-aah accentahh). They knew the name was one that would leave a lasting impression, as well as represent the ties that started and have kept the label together.
This d.i.y. approach to the record industry has been everything but glamorous. It involved learning and growing as a family in a familiar and ever changing scene. Chunksaah Records has grown as a family remaining true to the original idea; a label free of industry jargon, lawyer-speak and pigeon-holing, but full of people who are willing to risk it all, work hard, and at the same time be treated equally, like family.
Chunksaah Records: simple folk trying to bring good music to good people in a tumultuous world.
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CI Records
CI Records was started by Jeremy Weiss in 1989 as a vehicle to release his own music and music by bands he was passionate about. Over time the label has released over 50 offerings from the diverse spectrum of “independent music”, growing from a hobby into a full time effort. CI Records has worked with veterans such as The Juliana Theory, Onelinedrawing and Sense Field, as well as having helped launch the careers of bands like The Pink Spiders, August Burns Red, Once Nothing and Sadaharu.
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Corrosive Recordings
Corrosive Recordings was started back in 2001 as a way to release the “Nasty Habits Live On WERS” CD. A compilation of all live in studio tracks recorded at WERS Boston over the years. WERS booked bands to play live all the time, never thinking they would become as popular as they are today. Aggressive music was not getting the kind of exposure in early 2000 as it is now. In the end Corrosive put out a nice looking and sounding compilation with some of today’s most popular Metal/Hardcore bands such as Unearth, Poison The Well, Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage, Dillinger Escape Plan, Cephalic Carnage, etc. In August 2004 things started up again with the goal to help new, up and coming bands develop themselves and get their name out there.
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Deep Six
Deep Six Records specializes in grind, power violence, sludge, thrash, and hardcore. Recent artists include Bastard Noise, Hirax, Landmine Marathon, Destroyed in Seconds, Low Threat Profile, Extortion, Extreme Noise Terror, Reproach, Lack of Interest, Phobia, Weekend Nachos, Cyborg, and Cripple Bastards.
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Dionysus Records / Bacchus Archives
The Dionysus Records Empire, comprised of Dionysus Records and Bacchus Archives is an independent record label specializing in everything garage, surf, exotica, rockabilly, psychedelic, ’70s “KBD” punk, mischievous musical mayhem, power and sunshine pop, retro-electronica and much more. Since its first 7″ record in 1983, Dionysus has been responsible for the release of almost 500 albums and singles and was at the forefront of the garage, surf and lounge revivals of the ’80s and ’90s – proudly outliving many of its’ contemporaries.
The Bacchus Archives imprint has been responsible for reissuing the music of 70s and 80s punk legends such as The Dils, The Dogs, Geza X, The Gears and The Controllers and 50s exotica legends Les Baxter and Robert Drasnin. Dionysus and Bacchus keeps key back catalog items in print and stays in the “now” by continuing to release new records with a “retro” slant from label stables such as Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited, The Satelltiers, Ruby Dee and The Snakehanders, (Robert Plant’s favorite band) The Creepy Creeps and many others, as well as previously unknown gems from decades past.
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Frontier Records
Frontier Records was founded in 1980 in Sun Valley, CA and was one of the first independent labels to document the nascent hard-core punk rock scene of OC and LA (Circle Jerks, Adolescents, TSOL, Suicidal Tendencies) before branching out into other scenes and sounds such as the so-called “Paisley Underground” (Three O’Clock, Long Ryders), alt.guitar bands (Thin White Rope, AMC, Young Fresh Fellows) before lording over the vintage punk (Weirdos, Dangerhouse label, Middle Class) compilation market. The importance of the Frontier catalogue cannot be overstated in terms of musical worth or sure-fire catalogue sales as its 30-year history has proven so admirably. Soon to be re-releasing the YES LA silkscreen album and more long out of print punk classics.
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Init Records
Init Records is a DIY record label based in Sioux Falls, SD, founded in 2001. From day one the emphasis of Init has been to release great music from hard-working artists, with focus on aesthetically-pleasing artwork and top notch packaging, with deep-rooted DIY label ethics. While the main focus has always been hardcore and metal, the label’s roster includes a wide variety of bands from all across the globe, and from several music genres and backgrounds.
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Jailhouse
Jailhouse was started in 2006 by David Johnson after an extended stint as property of the state. Having spent a good portion of his life immersed in the punk and rock n roll scene through publishing zines, releasing DIY 7′s, as well as destroying everything around me via hard drug use. I decided to try things differently this time. And immediately dived head first into (legal) ways of funding, finding a business partner, and by using contacts from my zine days within a few months we started to release records for various fantastic bands that we felt were being overlooked and ignored, and strived to bring them to a larger audience.
After over 7 (still drug free) years, over 50 releases, several employees, numerous “partners” and slimy distributors later. We are still at it, and stronger than ever! Having built friendships with some of the most awesome and revered hardcore and street punk bands. From such classics as Pink Lincolns, or A Global Threat, to newer and younger bands determined to carry the torch such as Violent Affair.
Our “mantra” if you will. Is to be one of the most transparent, fair, and honest labels out there. Through that approach we were able to gain a level of respect, and reputation as an honest alternative to some of the larger labels. We only release records from bands that we genuinely like and respect as people, and have the same ethics and honest intentions as we do. We deliver only the very best in hardcore, street punk, and rock n roll. Not always a way to sell a gazillion records, but we sleep well at night.
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PATAC
PATAC is purveyors of Metal, Punk and Hardcore Scum. Just check out some of the things we put out and you will know what we mean.
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Profane Existence
The Profane Existence record label was formed in 1989 as a resource for the worldwide activist punk community. Over the years we have published the Profane Existence magazine and released numerous crust punk, DIY hardcore, doom and thrash records. We are dedicated to the scene and to the bands out there that are “Making Punk A Threat Again!”.
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Riot Fest Records
Stemming from the annual festival in Chicago, Riot Fest Records made its first appearance in 2007 with a DVD/CD set from the reunited punk legends Naked Raygun. The label itself is run by Riot Fest partners Michael Petryshyn and Sean McKeough, who have worked with bands such as Naked Raygun, Pegboy, ALL, and Shot Baker. Since its formation, the label’s catalog has been progressively growing and expanding, with exciting plans for new releases from a diverse range of bands who have played the Riot Fest stage.
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Riot House
Riot House Records started in January 2010 with the purpose of releasing Rock and Roll records with grit and soul. We also focus heavily on the visual aesthetics of our artists and catalog by promoting our releases heavily with music videos and other visual mediums.
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Ripping Records
Ripping Records started in 2007 as a way to promote the scene at the now-demolished Hazel St. duplex in Orlando, Florida; home to the Danger Room Recording Studio and the bands RunnAmuckS, SuperAIDS and Ghost Aquarium. After Libyan Hit Squad recorded their debut album in the Danger Room, the bands decided it would be in their best interest to put all their music out under one roof as well, influenced by the diversity of SST Records in the 1980′s. Numerous records and tours later, Ripping is going stronger than ever, releasing two full-lengths in early 2013: RunnAmuckS Deficit of Dreams and the Full Circle split LP by Libyan Hit Squad and Round Eye from China, featuring Greg Ginn of Black Flag, who helped inspire it all.
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Rodent Popsicle Records
Rodent Popsicle Records is a Boston-based DIY punk and hardcore record label established in 1992! Originally the label was only formed to release a couple of records for Boston area bands including our own. We never expected at that point to grow into the label we are today, so the choice of a name was never taken seriously, but it stuck. Eventually we began releasing other friends’ bands on the label and soon enough it was a full-time endeavor.
Right around the year 2000, we began releasing bands from all around the world and we decided to take the label more seriously than ever before! At that point, all of our releases were done as professionally as any other label and we released our first 12” LP and DVD on the label. Though our focus was DIY punk and hardcore, we did not want to limit ourselves to releasing music of that genre only. We have released a wide variety of different bands and most of the bands are friends of ours long before we put something out for them. Most of the bands we release are hardworking and constantly touring, but musically span all the genres of punk rock. In our opinion, the true ethic of punk was not to look and sound the same, so we continue release music that we like regardless of what other people might think.
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Six Weeks Records
Athena Kautsch and Jeff Robinson started Six Weeks in 1992 after a six-week tour of the states by their bands, Capitalist Casualties and The Dread. Inspired by the dedication of individuals met on this tour, they returned home to write a tour zine entitled Six Weeks, full of interviews with bands met along the way and recounts of the adventure of being a punk band on the road.
With good results, a second issue was released, with more interviews and recounts of following tours done by both bands. This second issue also came with a 90-minute compilation tape. Athena had always put out The Dread’s records on her own and with her experience they funded the first release on Six Weeks Records in 1993, the Capitalist Casualties/The Dread split EP.
The label was formed with the intention of releasing records by unknown and unappreciated punk bands worldwide, by releasing and distributing international hardcore/punk and grind, and becoming one of the few US labels to release bands from Japan, Europe and South America at the time (as well as their friends’ bands back home).
To this day, Six Weeks is still dedicated to the ideals of hardcore/punk in all of its many genres and varieties, still diligently distributes international punk records at shows and through mail-order, and still continues to release the best non-commercial hardcore/punk/grind from around the globe and has also taken over publication of Short, Fast & Loud fanzine, a magazine dedicated to exposing the most extreme noise the underground music scene has to offer.
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Sympathy for the Record Industry
“We Almost Really Care”, “Audio Salvation for Off-centered Souls”, “23 Years of Performance Anxiety, Instability and Poor Judgment”, “West Coast Perpetrators of the Finest in Musical Mayhem”, “A Name You Can Pronounce Since 1988″, “Is a Force This Powerful Going to be Overlooked by an Industry That Needs All the Sympathy It Can Get ??”, “You’ve Tried the Rest, Now Go Fuck Yourself”… Sympathy is big on mottos…Mottos flash incessantly in my sleep like neon lights… “Fractured Folk, Hard-core Jazz, Hybrid Blues, Gratuitous Pop, Punk Rock and Uneasy Listening”.
It’s true and Sympathy has never been pigeon-hole-able…Too diverse maybe for it’s own good, but I never could be as narrow-minded as I feel many labels are…Sympathy has always been a one-man operation and I make all the decisions so blame me if I often get it wrong… The Sympathy catalogue consists of over 750 releases by more than 550 artists…
Known for a multitude of things including releasing early efforts by Hole, The White Stripes, Turbonegro, Rocket from the Crypt and The 5,6,7,8′s as well as resurrecting the classic music of immortals such as Roky Erickson, New York Dolls, Suicide, The Gun Club, Spacemen 3, The Scientists and Wanda Jackson and lets not forget the serious concentration on a plethora (like that word??) of bands in hot beds such as Memphis, Detroit and Montreal and also being among the first to look towards the Far East to unleash the demented and curious off-kilter sounds of those crazed ornamentals (Asians to you of a p.c. mindset)…
Sympathy is also responsible for releasing records by untold bands of differing degrees of talent with really questionable names like The Pleasure Fuckers, Banana Erectors, Anal Babes, Candypants, Teenage Larvae, Tri-State Kill Spree, Iowa Beef Experience, The Child Molesters, Penetration Moon, Smegma, Ethyl Meatplow, The Spaceshits and Destroy All Monsters… So what?? Big deal you say, well, Sympathy has also worked with underrated and seemingly unsung heroes like Billy Childish, The Oblivians, Holly Golightly la la la etc and are hailed for recognizing and employing important visual artists to create wondrous covers featuring such heavyweights as Mark Ryden, Camille Rose Garcia, Yoshitoma Nara, Liz Mcgrath, Coop, The Pizz, Dan Clowes blah blah blah la la la etc ad infinitum…
Sympathy has been quiet for the last couple years after the move to Olympia, Washington, but that is all about to change…Sympathy will soon begin repressing loads of important vinyl as well as unleashing new music lacking any introspection or melody by disenfranchised half-assed rock n’ rollers…STAY TUNED… Like that, Long Gone John xx
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Tankcrimes
Tankcrimes is a punk and metal label run by Scotty Heath from his Oakland, California garage. The one-man operation began in 2002, featuring local, Bay Area bands—but has expanded to include bands and releases worldwide. Today, Tankcrimes boasts a catalog of distinctively packaged records, ranging from melodic hardcore and punk to brutal grind and death metal.
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To Live A Lie
To Live A Lie Records is a Raleigh based DIY grindcore, fastcore, and powerviolence label.
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Tribunal Records / Divebomb Records
Tribunal Records, now in its 12th year of operation, has proven itself to have been a great starting point for so many new bands in the early stages of their careers. Having introduced the music community to artists such as Atreyu, From Autumn To Ashes, He Is Legend, Scarlet, Daylight Dies, Animosity and Killwhitneydead has only helped to solidify Tribunal Records’ reputation for releasing some of the best music in the scene today. Unlike its formative years, Tribunal Records’ roster has matured and includes the multiple facets of all that rock, metal and hardcore have to offer and now includes its specialty reissue division, Divebomb Records. Tribunal Records’ motto is simple…”Believe in the brand.”
Divebomb Records was formed by Tribunal Records’ owner Matt Rudzinski with a simple mission to reissue heavy metal and hard rock albums of the ’80s and ’90s that he still deems to be vital. Rudzinski recognized a shared love for going to record shows or used music stores, hoping to score that rarity which has alluded fans for much too long and will always remain the one that got away. Divebomb Records hopes to end this cycle with reissues that will help music fans find those much sought after albums they have been seeking and hunting for years, but to no avail. Divebomb Records’ releases are available as limited edition collector releases. The label does this in hopes of keeping the heart and soul alive within this sometimes ugly industry and ultimately for the fans… since Rudzinski is definitely one himself.
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Unleash Hell
Releasing extreme music meant to scar your eardrums and well …. unleash hell…