Fat Wreck Chords (pronounced "Fat Records") is a

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

-based

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- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

, focused on punk rock. It was started by

NOFX NOFX () is an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983. Vocalist/bassist Fat Mike, guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin are original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on ever ...

lead singer Michael Burkett (better known as

Fat Mike Michael John Burkett (born January 16, 1967), known professionally as Fat Mike, is an American musician and producer. He is the bassist and lead vocalist for the punk rock band NOFX and the bassist for the punk rock supergroup cover band Me F ...

) in 1990. The label has released material for many notable bands including

, Good Riddance,

Mad Caddies The Mad Caddies (or the Caddies) are a ska punk band from Solvang, California, United States. The band formed in 1995 and has released seven full-length albums, one live album, and two EPs. To date, Mad Caddies have sold over 500,000 albums wo ...

Descendents The Descendents are an American punk rock band formed in 1977 in Manhattan Beach, California, by guitarist Frank Navetta, bassist Tony Lombardo and drummer Bill Stevenson. In 1979, they enlisted Stevenson's school friend Milo Aukerman as a ...

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (often shortened to just Me First or the Gimmes) are a punk rock supergroup and cover band that formed in San Francisco in 1995. The band's lineup consists of Spike Slawson, Fat Mike, Joey Cape, and Dave Raun. Ch ...

, The Loved Ones,

Screeching Weasel Screeching Weasel is an American punk rock band consisting of Ben Weasel (vocals), Mike Kennerty (guitar), Mike Hunchback (guitar), Zach "Poutine" Brandner (bass) and Pierre Marche (drums). Screeching Weasel is originally from the Chicago subur ...

Propagandhi 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 guitar ...

Rise Against Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rooted in hardc ...

Lagwagon Lagwagon is an American punk rock band originally from Goleta, California, just outside Santa Barbara. They formed in 1989, went on hiatus in 2000, and reunited several times over the years. Their name comes from the band's tour van, which ca ...

Strung Out Strung Out is an American punk rock band from Simi Valley, California, formed in 1989. They are known mainly for their musical style, which fuses aspects of melodic punk rock, progressive rock and heavy metal to form their primary sound. The ...

No Use for a Name No Use for a Name (sometimes abbreviated NUFAN or No Use) was an American punk rock band from Sunnyvale, California, United States formed in 1986 by Chris Dodge (guitar), Steve Papoutsis (bass) and Rory Koff (drums). The band's sound evolved cons ...

Frenzal Rhomb Frenzal Rhomb are an Australian punk rock band that formed in 1992 in Sydney. Three of the group's albums have entered the top 20 on the ARIA Albums Chart: ''A Man's Not a Camel'' (1999), '' Hi-Vis High Tea'' (2017) and ''Smoko at the Pe ...

Less Than Jake Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, formed in 1992. The band consists of Chris DeMakes (guitars, vocals), Roger Lima (bass, vocals), Matt Yonker (drums), Buddy Schaub (trombone), and Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxop ...

Against Me! Against Me! is an American punk rock band formed in 1997 in Naples, Florida, by singer and guitarist Laura Jane Grace. That same year, Grace moved to Gainesville, Florida, which is considered the band's hometown. Since 2001, the band's lineup ...

Hi-Standard Hi-Standard (stylized as Hi-STANDARD) is a Japanese punk rock band formed in 1991 by bassist and lead vocalist Akihiro Nanba, guitarist and vocalist Ken Yokoyama, and drummer Akira Tsuneoka. The release '' Making the Road'' sparked sold-out Jap ...

, Snuff, Consumed,

Leftöver Crack Leftöver Crack is an American punk rock band formed in 1998, following the breakup of Choking Victim. The band is currently signed to Tankcrimes for CD releases, and Alternative Tentacles for vinyl releases. Leftöver Crack spans several d ...

, and

Anti-Flag Anti-Flag is an American punk rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The band is known for its left-wing political activism. Their current members include Justin Sane (vocals, guitar), Chris Head (guitar), Pat Thetic (drums), and Chris Bar ...

. Fat Wreck Chords has released 157 studio albums to date.

History

Fat Mike started his record label Wassail records in 1987. He put out two NOFX records, The PMRC 7” and Liberal Animation in 1988. In 1990, he changed the name of the label to Fat Wreck Chords and rereleased the NOFX 7”. In 1992, Fat Mike went on to produce Lagwagon, Propagandhi, and No Use for a Name. In 1993, the label released records by Rancid, Face to Face, and Strung Out. This was also the year when Erin Kelly Burkett started working full time at Fat and the label moved from a closet to a entire garage. Erin and Mike have run the label together since. The label grew during the 1990s selling over a million records per year. It had eighteen employees and four offices. A documentary about Fat Wreck Chords called 'A Fat Wreck' was released on October 25, 2016.

Business practice

One somewhat uncommon and defining characteristic of Fat Wreck Chords is that they only sign one-

record deal A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

s 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. 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 The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

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?! Needless to say, we're in the process of having our name removed again, but they aren't being too cooperative."

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 The 2004 United States presidential election was the 55th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. The Republican ticket of incumbent President George W. Bush and his running mate incumbent Vice President Dick Che ...

for

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

and against George W. Bush.

Imprints

The label has had two subsidiaries over the years, Honest Don's and Pink and Black. Honest Don's released records from

Chixdiggit Chixdiggit ( ) is a Canadian pop punk band formed in Calgary, Alberta. The band performed internationally, and released a number of studio albums, mainly with light-hearted pop songs, usually about girls and relationships. History In 1990 K.J. J ...

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

which he recouped within months from sales of Propagandhi records to help them start up their own label, G7 Welcoming Committee, 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 ''Short Music for Short People'' is a 1999 compilation album released on the Fat Wreck Chords record label. It features 101 bands playing songs averaging approximately 30 seconds in length. With a few exceptions, most of the album's tracks wer ...

'', 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 Bad Religion is an American punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilitie ...

) 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 A charity record or charity single is a song released by musicians with most or all proceeds raised going to a dedicated foundation or charity. George Harrison's "Bangla Desh" single in 1971 is commonly acknowledged as the first ever purpose-mad ...

for the

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the s ...

organization

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, a ...

, and '' PROTECT: A Benefit for the National Association to Protect Children'' is a benefit album for the

children's rights Children's rights are a subset of human rights with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors.

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.

Album series

Live in a Dive

''Live in a Dive'' is a series of

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

s recorded by Fat Wreck Chords. In order of release:

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 ''Wrecktrospective'' is a three-disc compilation album released December 8, 2009 by Fat Wreck Chords. Subtitled "Twenty Years...and Counting!", it compiles tracks spanning the label's catalog from 1990 to 2009. The first disc, titled ''Fattest Hit ...

collection.

Artists

Current bands

* American Steel *

Bad Astronaut Bad Astronaut is an American indie/alternative rock band founded in 2000 by Joey Cape, singer from Lagwagon. In Bad Astronaut, Joey Cape explores a style of alternative rock, with lyrics often about deep and intricate personal matters. The ban ...

* Bad Cop/Bad Cop * Banner Pilot * The Bombpops *

Bracket A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...

Chixdiggit! Chixdiggit ( ) is a Canadian pop punk band formed in Calgary, Alberta. The band performed internationally, and released a number of studio albums, mainly with light-hearted pop songs, usually about girls and relationships. History In 1990 K.J. ...

* Cigar (band) * Clowns *

The Copyrights The Copyrights are a pop punk band from Carbondale, Illinois, made up of Adam Fletcher (lead vocals, bass), Brett Hunter (vocals, guitar), Kevin Rotter (vocals, guitar), and Luke McNeill (drums). They are currently signed to Fat Wreck Chords. Th ...

* C.J. Ramone *

Darius Koski Darius Olavi Koski (born January 3, 1971) is the US-American lead guitarist and songwriter of the punk rock band Swingin' Utters, the alternative punk rock bands Filthy Thievin' Bastards and the Re-volts. He also works as a plumber A plumber ...

Days N' Daze Days N' Daze is an American band formed in Houston, Texas performing a type of folk punk they have called 'H-Town Thrashgrass'. Promoting a strong DIY ethic, Days N' Daze independently records, produces, and promotes all their own music. Song t ...

* Dead to Me * Dillinger Four * Direct Hit * Escape From The Zoo * Face To Face *

* Get Dead * Good Riddance *

* Joey Cape *

* The Last Gang * The Lillingtons *

* MakeWar *

* Mean Jeans * Night Birds *

No Use For a Name No Use for a Name (sometimes abbreviated NUFAN or No Use) was an American punk rock band from Sunnyvale, California, United States formed in 1986 by Chris Dodge (guitar), Steve Papoutsis (bass) and Rory Koff (drums). The band's sound evolved cons ...

* PEARS *

The Real McKenzies The Real McKenzies is a Canadian Celtic punk band founded in 1992 and based in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are one of the founders of the Celtic punk movement, albeit 10 years after The Pogues. In addition to writing and performing origin ...

Sick of It All Sick of It All is an American hardcore punk band formed in 1986 in Queens, New York City. The band's lineup consists of brothers Lou and Pete Koller on lead vocals and guitars respectively, Armand Majidi on drums, and Craig Setari on bass. Sick ...

(for North America releases, ROW is

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Ol ...

) * Snuff *

* The Suicide Machines * Sundowner * Swingin' Utters * Teenage Bottlerocket * Tommy and June * ToyGuitar * Uke-Hunt *

Useless ID Useless ID ( he, יוסלס איי.די) is an Israeli punk rock band, formed in Haifa, Israel in 1994. Known as one of the most successful Middle Eastern punk bands worldwide. History Useless ID was founded in 1994 as a four-piece: Guy Carmel - ...

Western Addiction Western Addiction is an American punk rock band based in San Francisco, California, United States. The band was formed by four veterans of the punk scene. Some of the members previously worked for Fat Wreck Chords. They have toured internation ...

* Zach Quinn

Former bands

* 88 Fingers Louie (active with Bird Attack Records) *

(active with

Spinefarm Records Spinefarm Records is a Finnish independent record label focusing mainly on heavy metal artists. It is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. History Spinefarm Records was originally founded in 1990 by Riku Pääkkönen as a mail-order distrib ...

) * The Ataris (active with Paper + Plastick) *

Avail Avail is an American punk rock band from Richmond, Virginia, United States. Originally from Reston, Virginia, the band formed in 1987, its members including Joe Banks, Doug Crosby, Brien Stewart, and Mikey Warstler. The only original remaining ...

(disbanded) * Big In Japan * Bullet Treatment *

Citizen Fish Citizen Fish is an English punk rock band that has been active since 1990 and shares members with Subhumans. Citizen Fish does not emphasize the raw political statements and nihilistic viewpoint of the former, instead focusing on issues of ...

(active with

Alternative Tentacles Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 in San Francisco, California. It was used by Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single " California Über Alles". After realizing the potential for an independent labe ...

) *

Cobra Skulls Cobra Skulls are an American punk rock band originally from Reno, Nevada, United States, but later based in the San Francisco Bay Area. They have released three studio albums, five EPs, and three 7" splits. History Cobra Skulls were formed in R ...

(disbanded) * Consumed (active with no label) *

(active with

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and emo ba ...

) *

The Dickies The Dickies are an American punk rock band formed in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, in 1977. One of the longest tenured punk rock bands, they have been in continuous existence for over 40 years. They have consistently balanced catchy mel ...

(active with Dream Catcher Records) *

Diesel Boy Diesel Boy is an American punk rock band from Santa Rosa, California, United States. They were formed in 1993 and were active until 2002. In 2022, they announced they would release a new album for SBÄM in 2023. They have a 7" on Fat Wreck Chor ...

(disbanded) *

Epoxies The Epoxies were an American new wave band from Portland, Oregon, formed in 2000. Heavily influenced by new wave, the band jokingly described themselves as robot garage rock. Members included FM Static on synthesizers, guitarist Viz Spectrum, l ...

(disbanded) * The Fight (active with Repossession Records) *

The Flatliners The Flatliners are a Canadian punk rock band from Richmond Hill, Ontario. Since their formation in 2002, the band has been a growing influence in the Toronto punk/ska movement, with consistently well-received albums and live shows. History ...

(active with Rise Records) * Goober Patrol (active with Hulk Räckorz) *

Guns n' Wankers Guns 'N' Wankers is a punk rock band, formed by ex-members of English punk band Snuff, and English rock band The Wildhearts in the early 1990s. The band consisted of Duncan Redmonds (vocals, guitar), Pat Walters (drums, vocals) and Joolz Dean ...

(disbanded) *

(active with

Tankcrimes Tankcrimes is an independent punk rock and heavy metal record label owned by Scotty Heath and operated from his garage in Oakland, California. Tankcrimes currently has over 100 releases. Bands with releases on Tankcrimes * A.N.S. *Abscess * Ago ...

) *

(active with

Pure Noise Records Pure Noise Records is an American punk rock record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded by Jake Round in 2009 while he was an editor at '' AMP''; the previous fall, friends of his in the band No Bragging Rights told him they were ...

) * The Lawrence Arms (active with

) * The Loved Ones (disbanded) *

Love Equals Death Love Equals Death was a punk rock band from Petaluma, California, whose music drew influence from classic rock and horror punk. The group formed in 2003 and released two EPs, one compilation album, and one studio album, 2006's '' Nightmerica''. ...

(disbanded) *

Masked Intruder Masked Intruder is an anonymous American punk rock band from Madison, Wisconsin, United States. The members of the band are Intruder Yellow (bass, backing vocals), Intruder Green (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Intruder Red (drums, backing voc ...

(active with

) * Morning Glory (active with Buyback Records) *

MxPx MxPx () is an American pop punk band from Bremerton, Washington, founded in 1992 as Magnified Plaid. As of 2016, current members include Mike Herrera on lead vocals and bass guitar, Yuri Ruley on drums and percussion, Tom Wisniewski on lead g ...

(active with Rock City Recording Company) *

Nerf Herder Nerf Herder is an American rock band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 1994 by Parry Gripp (vocals, guitar), Charlie Dennis (bass) and Steve Sherlock (drums). They describe themselves as a " geek rock" band, and are known for simplisti ...

(active with Oglio Records) *

None More Black None More Black is a New Jersey-based punk rock outfit on Fat Wreck Chords, formed by lead singer/guitarist Jason Shevchuk after the demise of his previous band, Philadelphia's Kid Dynamite. Jason left Kid Dynamite so that he could finish ...

(disbanded) * Only Crime (active with Rise Records) * Paint It Black (active with No Idea Records) * Pour Habit (active with no label) *

(active with

) * Rancid (active with

Hellcat Records Hellcat Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. The label, an offshoot of Epitaph Records, was started as a partnership between Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion, the owner of Epitaph, and Tim Armstrong of Rancid, w ...

) *

(active with Loma Vista Recordings) *

The Sainte Catherines The Sainte Catherines were a Canadian six-piece punk-rock band who formed in Montreal in 1999. The group's name comes from '' Rue Sainte-Catherine'', one of Montreal's main streets. Their third record, ''The Art of Arrogance'' was released on l ...

(disbanded) *

(active with

Recess Records Recess Records is an independent record label founded in 1988. Label founder Todd Congelliere (frontman for F.Y.P and Toys That Kill) initially made 100 cassettes of F.Y.P's songs and sold them at skateboard contests. Two years later, Conge ...

) *

Screw 32 Screw 32 is a Berkeley/East Bay-area US punk rock band. Their name has many supposed origins, the most popular stating that it is derived from an anti-skateboarding measure on the ballot in Concord, California. They were noted for their self-publ ...

(disbanded) * Smoke or Fire (on hiatus) *

The Soviettes The Soviettes were a punk rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, founded in 2001. The group is composed of Annie (guitar), Sturgeon (guitar), Susy (bass guitar), and Danny (Drum kit, drums), all of whom share singing and songwriting duties. Histo ...

Star Fucking Hipsters Star Fucking Hipsters is an American punk rock band from New York City who have released albums on Fat Wreck Chords and Alternative Tentacles records. They have been called a "punk supergroup" and feature members from numerous notable bands inc ...

(disbanded music available via

) * Strike Anywhere (active with

Bridge 9 Records Bridge 9 Records is an American hardcore punk record label located outside Boston, Massachusetts. Bridge Nine is owned by Chris Wrenn of Salem, Massachusetts, who began the label in 1995 and produced its first release in 1996. The label is name ...

) * Subhumans (active with Bluurg Records) *

Tilt Tilt may refer to: Music * Tilt (American band), a punk rock group, formed in 1992 * Tilt (British band), an electronic music group, formed in 1993 * Tilt (Polish band), a rock band, formed in 1979 Albums * ''Tilt'' (Cozy Powell album), 1981 ...

(disbanded) *

Tony Sly Anthony James Sly (November 4, 1970 – July 31, 2012) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the front man of the punk rock band No Use for a Name. In his later years he also gained attention for his acoustic ...

(deceased) *

Wizo The Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO; he, ויצו ') is a volunteer organization dedicated to social welfare in all sectors of Israeli society, the advancement of the status of women, and Jewish education in Israel and the Diasp ...

(active with ''Hulk Räckorz''; Fat Wreck only handled North American distribution) * Zero Down (disbanded)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Punk record labels Record labels established in 1990 Companies based in San Francisco 1990 establishments in California

History

Business practice

Politics

Imprints

Discography

Compilation albums

Album series

Live in a Dive

Fat Club Series

Artists

Current bands

Former bands

See also

References

External links