Undecided Records was an American

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

established in 1998 by Clifford Wiener and Alexander Kenny. The record company was founded in Loxahatchee, Florida but its headquarters moved around in various parts of

Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's third-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and Broward County and the 24th-most populous in the United States, wi ...

, Florida; first to

Boca Raton Boca Raton ( ; ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 97,422 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and it ranked as the 23rd-largest city in Florida in 2022. Many people with a Boca Raton Address, ...

, then to Parkland, and finally to Lake Worth. The record label released hardcore,

metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...

, noisecore,

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...

, and

emo Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...

music, with a principally North American roster of artists spanning from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s. Undecided Records released music on

vinyl records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

s, and

digital audio Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital signal (signal processing), digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical sampling (signal processing), ...

formats, with distribution in the United States originally through

Revelation Records Revelation Records is an independent record label focusing originally and primarily on hardcore punk. The label is known for releases by bands such as Youth of Today, Warzone, Sick of It All, Quicksand, Side By Side, Chain of Strength, Sh ...

, then through

Victory Records Victory Records is a Chicago-based record label founded by Tony Brummel. It operates a music publishing company called "Another Victory, Inc." and is the distributor of several record labels. It has featured many prominent artists including Thu ...

, and finally through Sony/RED Music. Wiener and Kenny were both closely associated with

Eulogy Recordings Eulogy Recordings is an American independent record label established in early 1997 by hardcore guitarist John Wylie. The record company was founded in Cooper City, Florida but its headquarters moved around in various parts of Broward County, ...

, where they worked in their free time. Undecided Records put out such notable releases as Poison the Well's '' Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder'',

Every Time I Die Every Time I Die was an American metalcore band from Buffalo, New York, formed in 1998. For most of the band's career, the line-up was centred on brothers Keith (vocals) and Jordan Buckley (guitar), as well as rhythm guitarist Andy Williams, ...

's '' The Burial Plot Bidding War'', Supermachiner's '' Rise of the Great Machine,'' Breaking Pangaea's '' Take Apart the Words'' and '' Cannon to a Whisper'', and

Eiffel Eiffel may refer to: Places * Eiffel Tower, in Paris, France, designed by Gustave Eiffel *:* Champ de Mars – Tour Eiffel station, Metro station serving the Eiffel Tower * Eiffel Bridge, Ungheni, Moldova, designed by Gustave Eiffel * Eiffel Bri ...

's ''Audiblenarcotic'' (also re-issued after the band's name was changed to Vaux). The record label was also responsible for producing a series of

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state con ...

splits titled '' Crush 'Em All'', which included covers by

BoySetsFire BoySetsFire is an American post-hardcore band from Newark, Delaware. Formed in October 1994, BoySetsFire is composed of guitarists Chad Istvan and Josh Latshaw, vocalist Nat Gray, drummer Jared Shavelson, and bassists Chris Rakus and Robert Ehre ...

Converge Converge may refer to: * Converge (band), American hardcore punk band * Converge (Baptist denomination), American national evangelical Baptist body * Limit (mathematics) In mathematics, a limit is the value that a function (or sequence) app ...

, Countervail, Disembodied, Indecision,

Eighteen Visions Eighteen Visions is an American metalcore band from Orange County, California, formed in October 1995. The band broke up in April 2007, less than a year after their major label debut was released through Epic and Trustkill Records. After over a ...

, Poison the Well,

Shai Hulud Shai Hulud is an American metalcore band formed in Pompano Beach, Florida, in 1995, and later based in Poughkeepsie, New York. The band is named after the giant sandworms in Frank Herbert's novel ''Dune''. The two mainstay members of Shai Hulu ...

, Supermachiner,

Today Is the Day Today Is the Day is an American noise rock and Avant-garde metal, experimental metal band that originally formed in Nashville, Tennessee. The band's diverse sound combines influences from areas such as noise music, avant-garde metal, grindcore ...

, and Walls of Jericho. Many of the splits fell apart during varying production stages but Undecided Records compiled the bulk of the recorded cover songs on the Various Artists compilation ''The Old, The New, The Unreleased'', released in January 2005. In September–October 2005, the record label organized The Undecided Records Tour, a two-month American tour featuring its signed bands Cru Jones, The Big Screen, Shindig, Hank Jones, Iscariot, and xRepresentx. In 2003, Wiener, Kenny, and Michael Broder formed the imprint company Undecided Films, with plans to release theatrical films and digital video discs. The company's inaugural project was to be a theatrical reissue of

F. W. Murnau Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; December 28, 1888March 11, 1931) was a German film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is regarded as one of cinema's most influential filmmakers for his work in the silent era. An e ...

's 1922 film ''

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' () is a 1922 silent film, silent German Expressionism (cinema), German Expressionist vampire film directed by F. W. Murnau from a screenplay by Henrik Galeen. It stars Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who ...

'', featuring a new score composed by

vocalist Jacob Bannon. Undecided Films' first DVD release later turned out to be the documentary ''Rockets Redglare!'', dedicated to the memory of stand-up comedian Rockets Redglare, featuring interviews with

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi (,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself. It is not uncommon for people to pronounce his name or instead. ; born December 13, 1957) is an American actor. He is known for his work as an acclaimed character actor. Mul ...

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch ( ; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director, screenwriter and musician. He has been a major proponent of independent film, independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films such as ''Stranger Than Paradise'' ...

Matt Dillon Matthew Raymond Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Award and two Independent Spirit Awards alongside nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, ...

, and

Willem Dafoe William James "Willem" Dafoe ( ; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. Known for his prolific career portraying diverse roles in both mainstream and arthouse films, he is the recipient of various accolades including a Volpi Cup Award for ...

. In June 2003, Undecided Records formed a partnership with

Further Seems Forever Further Seems Forever is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1998 in Pompano Beach, Florida. Over its initial eight-year run the band experienced several lineup changes, resulting in a different lead vocalist performing on each of their f ...

bassist Chad Neptune, financing his own imprint record label Pompano Basic. Undecided Records was dissolved in 2006 when Wiener and Kenny founded a series of new imprints. In May 2006, all of the straight-edge bands previously signed to Undecided Records were transferred to the new record label x1981x Records, which had already been founded as an

apparel Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

company, x1981x Clothing, in 2004. The remaining bands were transferred to a second new record label, 567 Records, including

, which released the compilation '' The Final Curtain'', and

Jeremy Enigk Jeremy Enigk (; born July 16, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter, vocalist and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist. He is known as a solo artist, a film score composer, and as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist of the Seattle-ba ...

, who released '' The Missing Link'', both originally scheduled for Undecided Records. Undecided Records began re-releasing its entire back-catalog digitally in early 2007. Wiener, Kenny, and John Wylie of

later formed the artist management firm Big Hit Management in 2010. Wiener and Kenny also organized the

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

Bringin' it Back for the Kids Fest, which took place in 2011 and 2012.

Artists

This is an archival list of artists who have worked with Undecided Records. *As Hope Dies *As the Sun Sets *The Big Screen * The Blood of Thine Enemies *

* Breaking Pangaea *Burn the Mountain Down * The Casket Lottery *

*Countervail *Cru Jones *Dark Angel Divine *Dawn of Orion *Dust to Dust * Dear Lover * Disembodied *

*El Toro *The Enkindels *Eulcid *

*Fallen from the Sky *

*Hank Jones *Hearts Over Rome *HoldXFast *House of Atreus * Indecision *Iscariot *Isle of View *

*Jupiter Sunrise * Madison *Malakhai *Miasis * New Idea Society * Poison the Well *Reflector *xRepresentx *Scott Stapleton *

*Shindig *Spread the Disease *Staynless * Supermachiner * Things in Herds *

*Upper Class Trash *

Urtica ''Urtica'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Urticaceae. Many species have stinging hairs and may be called nettles or stinging nettles (the latter name applying particularly to ''Urtica dioica, U. dioica''). The generic name ''Urtica' ...

* Vaux *Venusian Skyline * Walls of Jericho

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1998 establishments in Florida 2006 disestablishments in Florida American independent record labels Companies based in Boca Raton, Florida Companies based in Florida Defunct companies based in Florida Defunct record labels of the United States Hardcore record labels Heavy metal record labels Indie rock record labels Post-hardcore record labels Record labels based in Florida Record labels established in 1998 Record labels disestablished in 2006 Rock record labels Undecided Records

Artists

See also

References

External links