Mixing
Fat Wreck Chords
| Fat Wreck Chords | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Founder | Michael Burkett Erin Kelly-Burkett |
| Distributor(s) | RED (US) PIAS (Europe) eOne Music (Worldwide) |
| Genre | Punk rock |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Location | 2196 Palou Ave., San Francisco, California |
| Official website | http://www.fatwreck.com/ |
Fat Wreck Chords (pronounced "Fat Records") is a San Francisco, California-based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by NOFX lead singer Michael Burkett (better known as Fat Mike) and his girlfriend at the time, Erin Burkett, in 1990.[1]
The label has released material for many notable bands including NOFX, Good Riddance, Descendents, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, The Loved Ones, Screeching Weasel, Propagandhi, Rise Against, Lagwagon, Strung Out, No Use for a Name, Less Than Jake, Against Me!, Hi-Standard, Snuff, and Anti-Flag. Fat Wreck Chords has released 157 studio albums to date.[1]
Contents
1 History
2 Business practice
3 Politics
4 Imprints
5 Discography
5.1 Compilation albums
5.2 Album series
5.2.1 Live in a Dive
5.3 Fat Club Series
6 Artists
6.1 Current bands
6.2 Former bands
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
History
The label was started by Michael Burkett (better known as Fat Mike) and his girlfriend at the time, Erin Burkett, in 1990.[1] Michael wanted a label that would represent himself, signing only bands he liked and that had similar beliefs. In the beginning Erin would fill orders and handle mail when Michael was on tour. The operation moved into its own office around 1993.[1]
The label grew during the 1990s selling over a million records per year. It had eighteen employees and four offices.[1]
A documentary about Fat Wreck Chords called 'A Fat Wreck' was released on October 25th, 2016.[2]
Business practice
One somewhat uncommon and defining characteristic of Fat Wreck Chords is that they only sign one-record deals with bands. This allows the bands working with Fat Wreck Chords to have a choice as to if and when they want to put a record out on the label.[3] In some cases, bands have released albums on Fat Wreck Chords but also on other labels.
The label has never been a member of the Recording Industry Association of America as indicated on the frequently asked questions portion of the label's website:
"Are we a member? Not only no, but FUCK NO! We spent three years having our label's name (which was misspelled) removed from their members list. A year went by, then our name showed up again on their fucking list! Who are these sonsabitches [sic]?! Needless to say, we're in the process of having our name removed again, but they aren't being too cooperative."[4]
Politics
Many bands on this label participated in the campaign Punkvoter, which was started by Fat Mike and attempted to encourage the youth in the U.S. to vote in the 2004 U.S. presidential election for John Kerry and against George W. Bush.
Imprints
The label has had two subsidiaries over the years, Honest Don's and Pink & Black. Honest Don's released records from Chixdiggit and Teen Idols amongst others, while Pink & Black released albums from female-fronted bands like Fabulous Disaster and Dance Hall Crashers.
Fat Mike also advanced $50,000 to Chris Hannah and Jord Samolesky of Propagandhi which he recouped within months from sales of Propagandhi records to help them start up their own label, G7 Welcoming Committee,[5] though G7WC is independent from Fat Wreck.
Discography
Compilation albums
Fat Wreck Chords regularly releases compilation albums, often to promote bands signed to the label, but also, since 2003, to raise funds for various charities. The earliest Fat Wreck Chords compilations all have titles with some reference to fatness.
Shortly after Fat Music Volume IV was released, Fat Wreck Chords released a similarly titled album, Short Music for Short People, which features 101 songs, all averaging approximately 30 seconds. The shortest song ("Short Attention Span" by the Fizzy Bangers) is only eight seconds, and the longest ("Out of Hand" by Bad Religion) is 40 seconds. Some of the songs were commissioned and recorded specifically for the album, while others were from the bands' pre-existing repertoires.
Since the last Fat Music album has been released, the Fat Wreck Chords compilations have been explicitly for charitable causes. Liberation: Songs to Benefit PETA is a benefit album for the animal rights organization PETA, and PROTECT: A Benefit for the National Association to Protect Children is a benefit album for the children's rights group PROTECT. Between Liberation and PROTECT, two other compilation albums were released in protest of President George W. Bush and his administration: Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.
To celebrate 20 years of business Fat Wreck Chords released the 3-disc Wrecktrospective compilation on December 8, 2009. Disc 1 is composed of the label's greatest hits, disc 2 is composed of unreleased demos and rarities, and disc 3 is composed the Fat Club 7" series in its entirety.[6]
Album series
Live in a Dive
Live in a Dive is a series of live albums recorded by Fat Wreck Chords.[7] In order of release:
| Title | Artist | Release date |
|---|---|---|
Live in a Dive | No Use for a Name | September 11, 2001 |
Live in a Dive | Bracket | February 26, 2002 |
Live in a Dive | Sick of It All | August 13, 2002 |
Live in a Dive | Strung Out | June 22, 2003 |
Live in a Dive | Subhumans | February 10, 2004 |
Live in a Dive | Swingin' Utters | June 29, 2004 |
Live in a Dive | Lagwagon | February 8, 2005 |
Ribbed: Live in a Dive | NOFX | August 3, 2018 |
Fat Club Series
In addition to the Live in a Dive series, Fat Wreck Chords also released the Fat Club series of 7" vinyl records during 2001. The series was only available to mail-order subscribers which received one single every month. Fat Wreck Chords did not publish any information on the upcoming releases so subscribers would not know what they were about to receive until the record arrived in the post.
Although the Fat club series was limited to 1,300 copies for each single, the songs contained on the records were later released as the third disc of the Wrecktrospective collection.
Artists
Current bands
- Bad Cop/Bad Cop
- Banner Pilot
- The Bombpops
- Chixdiggit!
- Closet Fiends
- C.J. Ramone
- Dead to Me
- Dillinger Four
- Direct Hit
- The Dirty Nil
- Ellwood
- Face To Face
- Frenzal Rhomb
- Get Dead
- Good Riddance
- Hi-STANDARD
- Lagwagon
- Leftöver Crack
- The Lillingtons
- Mad Caddies
- Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
- Mean Jeans
- Morning Glory
- Night Birds
- NOFX
- Old Man Markley
- PEARS
- Randy
- The Real McKenzies
- Snuff
- Strung Out
- Suicide Machines
- Sundowner
- Swingin' Utters
- Teenage Bottlerocket
- ToyGuitar
- Uke-Hunt
- Useless ID
- Western Addiction
Former bands
88 Fingers Louie (active with Bird Attack Records)
Against Me! (active with Total Treble Music)
American Steel (disbanded)
Anti-Flag (active with Spinefarm Records)
The Ataris (active with Paper + Plastick)
Avail (disbanded)
Bad Astronaut (disbanded)- Big In Japan
Bracket (active with Head2Wall Records)- Bullet Treatment
Citizen Fish (active with Alternative Tentacles)
Cobra Skulls (disbanded)
Consumed (active with no label)
Descendents (active with Epitaph Records)
The Dickies (active with Dream Catcher Records)
Diesel Boy (disbanded)
Epoxies (disbanded)
The Fight (active with Repossession Records)
The Flatliners (active with Rise Records)- Goober Patrol (active with Hulk Räckorz)
Guns n' Wankers (disbanded)
The Lawrence Arms (active with Epitaph Records)
Less Than Jake (active with Pure Noise Records)
The Loved Ones (disbanded)
Love Equals Death (disbanded)
Masked Intruder (active with Pure Noise Records)
MxPx (active with Rock City Recording Company)
Nerf Herder (active with Oglio Records)
None More Black (disbanded)
No Use for a Name (disbanded)
Only Crime (active with Rise Records)
Paint It Black (active with No Idea Records)
Pour Habit (active with no label)
Propagandhi (active with Epitaph Records)
Rancid (active with Hellcat Records)
Rise Against (active with Virgin Records)
The Sainte Catherines (disbanded)
Screeching Weasel (active with Recess Records)
Screw 32 (disbanded)
Sick of It All (active with Century Media Records)
Smoke or Fire (on hiatus)- The Soviettes
Star Fucking Hipsters (disbanded)
Strike Anywhere (active with Bridge 9 Records)
Subhumans (active with Bluurg Records)
Tilt (disbanded)
Tony Sly (deceased)- Wizo
Zero Down (disbanded)
See also
- List of Fat Wreck Chords compilation albums
- List of record labels
References
^ abcde "Gaining Weight — The Rise of Fat Wreck Chords As One Of The Last Great Punk Indies". Bandcamp. Retrieved 6 August 2015..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ "A Film Project about Fat Wreck Chords". A Fat Wreck. Retrieved 2016-11-09.
^ "BBC Jan-16-2003: Fat Mike on The Lock Up". NOFX Wiki. Retrieved 2015-08-26.
^ "F.A.Q.: Community: Fat Wreck Chords". Fatwreck.com. Retrieved 2015-08-26.
^ Robertshaw, Steven (2005-10-13). "NOFX: The State of Punk to Come". Alternative Press Magazine. Archived from the original on 2008-02-08. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
^ "Records: Fat Wreck Chords". Fatwreck.com. 2009-12-08. Retrieved 2012-10-17.
^ "New "Strung Out" MP3 & 'NOFX' Coaster track list". Fatwreck.com. Retrieved 2015-08-26.
External links
- Official website
- Unofficial Fat Wreck Wiki site
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