G7 Welcoming Committee | |
---|---|
Founded | 1997 |
Founder | Chris Hannah Jord Samolesky Regal |
Defunct | 2010 |
Genre | Punk rock Hardcore punk Rock Spoken word |
Country of origin | Canada |
Location | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
Official website | g7welcomingcommittee.com |
G7 Welcoming Committee Records was a Canadian independent record label based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The label mostly released material by artists and speakers with a radical left-wing point of view.
G7 Welcoming Committee Records was founded by Chris Hannah and Jord Samolesky of punk band, Propagandhi, and their friend, Regal, in 1997. [1] [2] The label operated out of Winnipeg's The Old Market Autonomous Zone. [3] During its years of operation about 50 albums were released. [2]
The label ceased operations in April 2008 [4] although it did briefly come out of hibernation in 2010 to release a 3-track EP of Propagandhi songs from 1993 to 1996 as a benefit for Partners In Health.
In early 2015, it was announced on the G7 website that none of their previous releases were available for purchase as either physical copies or downloadable albums, but that most of their catalog was available on music streaming sites. [5] [6]
According to the G7 website, when the label was established, the founders hoped "to create a label that politically radical bands and speakers could unflinchingly support and call home; where the driving force behind the label's output was social change and radical thought; and where the structure of the organization didn't contradict itself by mimicking the structures of unbalanced power and hierarchy in the profit-driven corporate world." To this end the label incorporates the economic structure Parecon proposed by Robin Hahnel and Michael Albert. [7]
The name is a reference to the G7 which brings together the world's richest and most powerful countries in yearly summits to discuss the global political and economic society and to make collective decisions. The label's website explains, "The G7 Welcoming Committee is an idea of resistance [...] A 'Welcoming Committee' to tell them, with words and actions, what we think of their power and neo-colonialism, around the world and at home, and that people are willing to fight back ..."
The following artists have released albums on G7: [8]
It also carries spoken word material by Noam Chomsky, Ward Churchill, Ann Hansen, and Howard Zinn.
John Kristjan Samson is a Canadian musician from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is a singer-songwriter and best known as the frontman of the Canadian indie folk/rock band The Weakerthans. He also played bass in the punk band Propagandhi during the mid-1990s. Today, Samson is making music under his own name, John K. Samson. His latest solo album, Winter Wheat, was released in 2016.
The (International) Noise Conspiracy was a Swedish rock band formed in Sweden in the late months of 1998. The line-up consists of Dennis Lyxzén (vocals), Inge Johansson (bass), Lars Strömberg (guitar), and Ludwig Dahlberg (drums). The band is known for its punk and garage rock musical influences, and its impassioned left-wing political stance. Up until 2004, guitarist/organist/keyboardist Sara Almgren was also a member of the band. Dennis formed The (I)NC almost immediately after the breakup of his former band, Refused. The (I)nc takes pride in blending the roots of at least four other bands, including Totalt Jävla Mörker (Johansson), Separation (Strömberg), Saidiwas, and Doughnuts (Almgren). In 2007, Inge Johansson also played in the band The Most.
Fat Wreck Chords is an independent record label based in San Francisco focused on punk rock. It was started by NOFX lead singer Michael Burkett and his wife at the time, Erin Burkett in 1990. As of 2009 Fat Wreck Chords has released over 300 studio albums.
Propagandhi is a Canadian punk rock band formed in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba in 1986 by guitarist Chris Hannah and drummer Jord Samolesky. The band is currently located in Winnipeg, Manitoba and completed by bassist Todd Kowalski and guitarist Sulynn Hago.
The Weakerthans are a Canadian indie rock band from Winnipeg. The band, led by John K. Samson, has released four studio albums and is currently inactive.
Todd "The Rod" Kowalski is a Canadian bassist and singer, currently a member of hardcore punk band Propagandhi. Along with his band, he lives a vegan lifestyle and supports animal rights.
Take Penacilin Now is a 2005 compilation album released on G7 Welcoming Committee Records. The compilation features almost every artist that has released material on the label. It features a new exclusive track from Propagandhi, unreleased tracks from Randy, The Weakerthans, Greg MacPherson, Submission Hold, Mico, Rhythm Activism, and Hiretsukan, and rare tracks from Warsawpack, Clann Zú, and Malefaction.
Greg MacPherson is a Canadian singer-songwriter based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. MacPherson performs both solo and with a backing band.
Potemkin City Limits is the fourth full-length album by the Canadian punk rock band Propagandhi, released on October 18, 2005 through G7 Welcoming Committee Records in Canada, and Fat Wreck Chords elsewhere. It is the second Propagandhi release on their own label and the last on Fat Wreck Chords.
Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes is the third album by Canadian punk rock band Propagandhi, released February 6, 2001. It was released on the band's own G7 Welcoming Committee Records label in Canada and Fat Wreck Chords elsewhere. It is the first Propagandhi release of new material on their own label.
Randy is a Swedish punk rock band from Hortlax, Sweden, formed in 1992. While never achieving mainstream success, Randy have developed a cult following in the punk community over the years and were particularly successful in their homeland. They were particularly well-known for writing catchy songs with politically conscious messages, often broaching topics like income inequality, socialism, working-class revolutions throughout European history, and Karl Marx and Marxism.
GFK were a Canadian hardcore metal band, based in Quebec City Their songs have lyrics with political messages.
I Spy was a Canadian hardcore punk band founded in Regina, Saskatchewan, in 1991, relocated to Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1994, and disbanded in 1996. Combining childish humour and politically oriented emotive hardcore, the group released several records on Recess Records and toured internationally. Front man Todd Kowalski later joined Propagandhi.
Hiretsukan was an American, New York-based band, that formed in 1998 just outside Washington, D.C., United States. In the following years, they recorded their "Brown Bag" demo, and went out on a few small tours. After a few volatile years which saw several collective moves and incarnations, the group solidified its line-up and relocated to New York City.
Rhythm Activism was a Canadian, Montreal-based musical collective, revolving around the core duo of Sylvain Côté and Norman Nawrocki. The group, formed in 1985 as a poetry and music ensemble, evolved into performing a politically radical brand of "rock 'n roll cabaret" and incorporating elements of post-punk and folk into their music. They featured on 36 releases.
Swallowing Shit was a short-lived Canadian grindcore band formed in 1994 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Painted Thin was a Canadian hardcore punk band, formed in Winnipeg, and active from 1993 to 1999. The core of the band consisted of vocalist and guitarist Stephen Carroll and bassist and vocalist Paul Furgale, with a variety of guest musicians, including James Ash, Dan McCafferty and Jason Tait, on individual recordings.
Supporting Caste is the fifth full-length album by the punk rock band Propagandhi. It was released on March 10, 2009, by G7 Welcoming Committee Records and Smallman Records in North America, Hassle Records in the UK and Europe, and Grand Hotel van Cleef in Germany.
The discography of Canadian punk rock band Propagandhi, consists of seven studio albums, three extended plays, four splits, two live albums, three demo tapes, one compilation album and a handful of tracks released on various other compilations.
Canadian hardcore punk originated in the early 1980s. It was harder, faster, and heavier than the Canadian punk rock that preceded it. Hardcore punk is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A. may have helped to popularize the term with the title of their 1981 album, Hardcore '81. Hardcore historian Steven Blush said that the term "hardcore" is also a reference to the sense of being "fed up" with the existing punk and new wave music. Blush also states that the term refers to "an extreme: the absolute most Punk." An article in Drowned in Sound argues that 1980s-era "hardcore is the true spirit of punk", because "after all the poseurs and fashionistas fucked off to the next trend of skinny pink ties with New Romantic haircuts, singing wimpy lyrics", the punk scene consisted only of people "completely dedicated to the DIY ethics". One definition of the genre is "a form of exceptionally harsh punk rock."