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| Chainsaw Records | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Founder | Donna Dresch |
| Genre | Queercore |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Portland, Oregon |
Chainsaw Records is an independent record label run by Donna Dresch that is devoted to Queercore bands. The label is in Portland, Oregon.
Chainsaw began life as a zine published by Donna Dresch in the late 1980s. Musicians and writers featured in the zine included Lois Maffeo, Jena von Brücker, Juliana Lueking, Candice Pederson, G.B. Jones and Larrybob. [1] Chainsaw was one of the seminal queercore zines that, along with J.D.s and Homocore , helped define the movement.
"In 1991...Chainsaw developed from a zine into a record label. This began simply enough when she made a compilation cassette of her favourite bands and started to sell these while on tour with Fifth Column", writes Amy Spencer in DIY: The Rise of Lo-Fi Culture. In 1994 Chainsaw began to release LPs and singles, beginning with the release of The Fakes (featuring members of Bikini Kill, The Need and Nation of Ulysses ), the Frumpies and the first Team Dresch LP, Personal Best . This was followed by a co-release with Candy Ass Records, the double LP/CD compilation, Free to Fight . "The label established itself as a vital element of the queercore scene..." says Spencer, as Chainsaw then began to release records by a variety of queer mainly women artists. [2] Of note is the fact that many bands, such as Sleater-Kinney, have been able to put out their initial recordings on the label. As well, the website for Chainsaw, and in particular its message board, have fostered a sense of community and provided a vehicle for expression by queers and music fans.
K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent music" since the 1980s.
Queercore is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifically society's disapproval of the LGBT community. Queercore expresses itself in a DIY style through magazines, music, writing and film.
The port city of Olympia, Washington, has been a center of post-hardcore, anti-folk, and other youth-oriented musical genres since the late 1970s. Before this period, Olympia's The Fleetwoods had several Billboard chart successes between 1959 and 1963. Olympia saw a rise in feminism in the music industry, where artists commonly addressed rape, domestic abuse, sexuality, racism, patriarchy, classism, anarchism, and female empowerment in their songs. It was a center for the riot grrrl movement of the early 1990s, which featured Bikini Kill and Bratmobile.
The Butchies were an all-female punk rock band from Durham, North Carolina, that existed from 1998 to 2005. They reunited from their hiatus to tour with Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls promoting Ray's new album in 2010. The frequent focus of their lyrical content concerned lesbian and queer themes.
Team Dresch is an American punk rock band originally formed in 1993 in Olympia, Washington.
Heavens to Betsy was an American punk band formed in Olympia, Washington in 1991 with vocalist and guitarist Corin Tucker and drummer Tracy Sawyer. The duo were part of the DIY riot grrrl, punk rock underground, and were Tucker's first band before she co-formed Sleater-Kinney.
Outpunk enjoys the distinction of being the first record label entirely devoted to queer punk bands.
The Need is an American queercore band formed by singer/drummer Rachel Carns and guitarist Radio Sloan in Portland, Oregon in the mid-1990s.
Candy Ass Records was an independent record label in Portland, Oregon that was run by Jody Bleyle, a member of the bands Team Dresch and Hazel and of the queercore bands Family Outing and Infinite Xs.
J.D.s was a Canadian queer punk zine which started in 1985 and ran for eight issues until 1991. The zine was co-authored by G.B Jones and Bruce LaBruce and is credited as being one of the first and most influential queer zines. The zine's content was centred around anarchic queer-punk themes and heavily discussed queer-skewed punk music from the late 1980s.
Mr. Lady Records was a San Francisco-based lesbian-feminist independent record label and video art distributor. Artists on the label included Le Tigre and The Butchies. OutSmart magazine noted that Mr. Lady was "queercore's strongest label."
Excuse 17 was a punk rock band from Olympia, Washington, US, that performed and recorded from 1993 to 1995. The band consisted of Becca Albee, Carrie Brownstein, and Curtis James (drums). The band recorded two full-length albums and a single, and contributed to several compilation albums.
Personal Best is the first studio album by the American queercore band Team Dresch. It was released on January 23, 1995 by both Candy Ass Records and Chainsaw Records. It was reissued on Jealous Butcher Records in May 2019. The label reissued their entire back catalog in order to help reaffirm the band's legacy as queercore icons.
Sleater-Kinney is the debut studio album by the American rock band Sleater-Kinney, released in 1995 by Chainsaw Records. The album received favorable reviews from critics.
Donna Dresch is an American punk rock musician, perhaps best known as founder, guitarist and bass guitarist of Team Dresch.
John Goodmanson is an American recording engineer and indie rock record producer. He is best known for producing multiple albums by Bikini Kill, Blonde Redhead, Death Cab for Cutie, Los Campesinos!, and Sleater-Kinney.
Rachel Carns is an American musician, composer, artist and performer living in Olympia, Washington, U.S. Raised in small-town Wisconsin, she went on to study painting and drawing at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City, where she completed her B.F.A. in 1991. Carns began her career as drummer for Kicking Giant, later collaborating with several bands, including The Need. She is a celebrated graphic designer, working under the name System Lux, and plays drums and percussion with experimental performance art group Cloud Eye Control.
Homocore was an American anarcho-punk zine created by Tom Jennings and Deke Nihilson, and published in San Francisco from 1988 to 1991. One of the first queer zines, Homocore was directed toward the hardcore punk youth of the gay underground. The publication has been noted for popularizing the queercore movement on the United States west coast.
Jen Smith is an artist, musician, zine editor, and activist from the United States. Smith is credited with being the inspiration behind the term riot grrrl and being one of the architects of the movement.
The Third Sex was an American queercore band formed in 1993 in Portland, Oregon. The band featured Trish Walsh on guitar and vocals, Peyton Marshall on bass and vocals and, initially, a series of drummers. Although primarily a two-piece band, they helped propagate the queercore movement across the country. A part of the Riot Grrrl scene, The Third Sex were significant in feminism's third wave and both influenced, and were influenced by, DIY culture.
