A-F 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 ...

founded by

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band

Anti-Flag Anti-Flag was an American punk rock band formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1988. The band was known for its left-wing politics, left-wing political activism. For the majority of the band's career, their members included Justin Sane (voc ...

– namely the band's drummer Pat Thetic, their rhythm guitarist Chris Head, and their lead vocalist

Justin Sane Justin Cathal Geever (born February 21, 1973), known professionally as Justin Sane, is an American singer and guitarist. He was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of Anti-Flag, a punk rock band formed in 1988 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvani ...

– and based in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Pennsylvania. It was created to help expose more political punk bands to a larger audience.

History

The band founded the label in 1997 so they could release their 1998

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

'' Their System Doesn't Work for You''. The compilation was the first official release under the label as well. Following the release of their own compilation, the band approached the Pittsburgh-based band Reagan Squad and the Boston-based band The Unseen, both of whom they believed to be "socially conscious," and the two bands released their own full-length LPs through A-F Records. The releases from Reagan Squad and The Unseen were the first non-Anti-Flag albums to be released by the label. Later, band then released ''East Coast Punk,'' a compilation featuring several bands that had worked with A-F Records, and stated that they donated the proceeds to a women's shelter. Due to financial concerns, the band exclusively released the ''East Coast Punk'' compilation on cassette and distributed it at concerts put on by bands on their label. The label's offices were damaged when a September 2004 flood hit Pittsburgh. Although employees saved much of the equipment and inventory, A-F Records dropped Inhuman, Tabula Rasa, and Virus Nine in the wake of the flood for financial reasons.A-F Records Part Ways With Tabula Rasa, Inhuman & Virus 9
, accessed 03/09/2008 The label's music was formerly distributed on Mordam but moved to

RedEye ''RedEye'' was a publication put out by the ''Chicago Tribune'' geared toward 18 to 34-year-olds. It was published every weekday since its inception in 2002 until February 3, 2017. Publication was reduced to weekly starting February 9, 2017. ...

when Mordam was bought by Lumberjack in early 2006.

Dissolution

On July 19, 2023, Anti-Flag posted an update on their Patreon announcing their disbandment and the intention to refund fans who were subscribed. Following this announcement, their website was taken down, and the band's social media accounts were deleted. When asked to offer a statement regarding the breakup, the band's publicist declined to comment. ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'' and ''

Us Weekly ''Us Weekly'' is an American weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, which sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to Ameri ...

'' linked Anti-Flag's July 2023 breakup to a podcast episode released on July 19, the same day as the band's dissolution, that leveled accusations of sexual assault against "a singer in a political punk band" believed to be frontman Justin Sane. In the following months, twelve more women and girls would come forward to accuse Sane of sexual misconduct, grooming, sexual assault, and rape. Within days of Anti-Flag's breakup, several bands announced their departure from A-F Records, including American Television, Celebration Summer, Darien Gap, Hanalei, Reconciler, Sammy Kay, and Wolves & Wolves & Wolves & Wolves. Several of the bands' departures were mentioned in a September 2023 ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' exposé discussing the additional accusations against Sane. In the ''Rolling Stone'' exposé, the band also informed the magazine that they were "in the process of unwinding the label, including returning master rights and physical records/merchandise to the bands, which will take some time to complete properly."

Current artists

* Antillectual * All Dinosaurs * Audio Karate * Chris Stowe * Dead Bars * Devon Kay & the Solutions * Dollar Signs * Edhochuli * Endless Mike and the Beagle Club * Intro5pect *

* The Homeless Gospel Choir * Lawn Care * Rational Anthem * White Wives * Worship This!

Former artists

* American Television *

* Celebration Summer * Darien Gap * Darkest Hour (A-F Records released

Archives An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organ ...

which is a compilation album featuring the band's first two independent EPs.) * Destruction Made Simple * Endless Struggle * Hanalei * Inhuman *

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

* A Lovely Crisis * Modey Lemon *

Morning Glory Morning glory (also written as morning-glory) is the common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae, whose taxonomy and systematics remain in flux. These species are distributed across numerous genus, gene ...

* Much the Same * New Mexican Disaster Squad * Pipedown * Reconciler * Red Lights Flash * Sammy Kay * Spanish Love Songs * Swiss Army *

Tabula Rasa ''Tabula rasa'' (; Latin for "blank slate") is the idea of individuals being born empty of any built-in mental content, so that all knowledge comes from later perceptions or sensory experiences. Proponents typically form the extreme "nurture" ...

* The Code *

The Methadones The Methadones are a Punk rock band formed in 1993 by guitarist/vocalist Dan Vapid in Chicago, Illinois. The Methadones initially lasted only a few shows before Vapid put them to the side to focus on his main band Screeching Weasel. By 1999 Dan ...

* The Unseen * Thought Riot * Virus Nine * Whatever It Takes * Wolves & Wolves & Wolves & Wolves * World's Scariest Police Chases

References

External links