Amphetamine Reptile Records (or AmRep Industries) is a record label founded in 1986 by

Tom Hazelmyer Tom Hazelmyer (born 1965) is an American musician and printmaker. He is known as the founder and owner of the independent label Amphetamine Reptile Records as well as being the lead vocalist and songwriter for the band Halo of Flies. Biograp ...

in Washington state. The label specializes in noise rock and also released '' Strap It On'', the debut album by alternative metal band Helmet which sold more than 40,000 records. According to Hazelmyer, the success of the album was vital to keeping AmRep going throughout the 1990s, as it "helped support the other things that sold less." The label was the subject of the 2014 documentary ''The Color of Noise''.

History

Hazelmyer originally started the label to release records by his band,

Halo of Flies Halo of Flies was an American noise rock band from Minneapolis. Named after an Alice Cooper song, Halo of Flies was formed in 1986 by Tom Hazelmyer, John Anglim and Tim Mac. Over the next five years they released a series of seven inch singles ...

. Eventually the label's roster expanded to include releases by Helmet,

Melvins Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...

, Cows, Helios Creed,

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and others. Hazelmyer later moved the label to Minneapolis. Today the label is used by the Melvins, H•O•F and other legacy AmRep acts to release limited edition vinyl. These releases are generally noted for their Linocut artwork, hand carved by Hazelmyer, their limited availability and their highly sought after nature as collector's items. Much of the AmRep back catalog is now out of print, although many of the releases are available in digital download format and streaming. On May 13, 2020 Tom Hazelmyer participated in an in-depth interview about the label on

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Artists

* Bailter Space *

Boredoms Boredoms () (later known as V∞redoms) is a rock band from Osaka, Japan formed in 1986. The band's sound is often referred to as noise rock, or sometimes Japanoise (Japan’s noise music scene), though their more recent records have moved towar ...

Boss Hog Boss Hog is an American punk blues band including the husband and wife duo of Jon Spencer (guitar) and Cristina Martinez (vocals) along with Jens Jurgensen (bass), Hollis Queens (drums) and Mickey Finn (keyboard). The band achieved some notorie ...

Brainiac Brainiac is a colloquial adjective used to describe exceptionally intelligent people. It may also refer to: Culture Fictional entities * Brainiac (character), a fictional supervillain in DC Comics, and an enemy of Superman * Brainiac (story arc), ...

Calvin Krime Calvin Krime was a hardcore band in Minneapolis, Minnesota during the late 1990s. The trio formed in 1995 when Sean Tillmann, Jon Kelson, and Jason Ralph met at Perpich Center for Arts Education while in their teens. Signed to Amphetamine Reptil ...

Casus Belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one b ...

Cherubs A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the u ...

Chrome Cranks Chrome may refer to: Materials * Chrome plating, a process of surfacing with chromium * Chrome alum, a chemical used in mordanting and photographic film Computing * Google Chrome, a web browser developed by Google ** ChromeOS, a Google Chrome- ...

* Cosmic Psychos * Cows * Dwarves * feedtime *

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* Freedom Fighters * Gas Huffer * Gaunt *

Gay Witch Abortion ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

Gear Jammer A gear is a rotating circular machine (mechanical), machine part having cut teeth or, in the case of a cogwheel or gearwheel, inserted teeth (called ''cogs''), which mesh with another (compatible) toothed part to transmit (convert) torque a ...

* Gnomes of Zurich * God Bullies * godheadSilo * Guzzard * Halo of Flies/H•O•F * Halo of Kitten *

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* Hedonists * Helios Creed * Helmet *

The Heroine Sheiks The Heroine Sheiks was a New York-based Noise Rock band until early 2006. It began in 1999, as a collaboration of Shannon Selberg, George Porfiris, Norman Westberg and John Fell. Selberg emerged as a major songwriter in the complete history of t ...

* Janitor Joe * Jawbox * Jonestown * Killdozer * King Barry and the Sinister Soulsters * King Snake Roost * Lollipop * Lonely Moans * Love 666 *

lowercase Letter case is the distinction between the Letter (alphabet), letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain lang ...

* Lubricated Goat *

Mama Tick Mama(s) or Mamma or Momma may refer to: Roles *Mother, a female parent *Mama-san, in Japan and East Asia, a woman in a position of authority *Mamas, a name for female associates of the Hells Angels Places *Mama, Russia, an urban-type settlement ...

* Melvins/Snivlem *

Mudhoney Mudhoney is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988, following the demise of Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. Orig ...

* Nashville Pussy * Negative Approach *

Party Diktator A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature fo ...

* Pogo the Clown * Powers That Be *

S.W.A.T. In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

* Silver Salute *

Steel Pole Bath Tub Steel Pole Bath Tub was an American rock band, formed in 1986 in Bozeman, Montana, United States, by Mike Morasky (guitar/vocals) and Dale Flattum (bass/vocals). Band history Morasky and Flattum moved the band to Seattle, Washington, where ...

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* Tad * Tar * The Jesus Lizard * Thee Headcoats *

Thee Mighty Caesars Thee Mighty Caesars were a Medway scene garage/punk group, formed by Billy Childish (vocals/guitar) in 1985 after the demise of The Milkshakes, alongside John Agnew (bass) and Graham Day (drums), who initially was still also in fellow Medway ...

* The Thrown Ups *

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* Today is the Day * Unsane * Vaz * Vertigo *

White Drugs White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

* Whopping Big Naughty * X

Notable performances

*Cosmic Psychos / Hammerhead / Surgery / Cows /

/ Helmet - the CMJ / Amphetamine Reptile Tour - Friday, October 30, 1992, at The Ritz

Discography

References

External links