Kill Rock Stars is an

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 in February 1991 by

Slim Moon Matthew "Slim" Moon (born October 15, 1967) is an American musician and the founder of the American independent music label Kill Rock Stars (KRS). He also started its sister label, 5 Rue Christine. Slim ran KRS from 1991 to 2006, during which ...

and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city ...

, and

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but it was originally known for its commitment to underground

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 ...

bands and the Olympia area music scene.

History

Sampson and Moon initially started the label because, in Moon's words, "I just wanted to put out my friends' records because nobody was putting out my friends' records. And to put out

spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...

7-inch records." KRS-101 (the label's first release) was in fact a split 7-inch spoken-word record with

Kathleen Hanna Kathleen Hanna (born November 12, 1968) is an American singer, musician and pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. She is the lead singer of feminist punk band Bikini Kill and fronted the electropunk band Le Tigre ...

and Slim Moon; other "Wordcore" releases followed. The first major release was a compilation of Olympia-area bands simply titled ''

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in February 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but it was orig ...

'' (''

Stars Kill Rock ''Stars Kill Rock'' is a 1993 compilation album released on the Kill Rock Stars label. Track listing # Tiger Trap - "Supreme Nothing" # godheadSilo - "Nutritious Treat" # Frumpies - "Fuck Kitty" # Jack Acid - "Cheap Tragedies" # Tribe 8 - "Spe ...

'' and ''

Rock Stars Kill ''Rock Stars Kill'' is a compilation of various artists released by Kill Rock Stars on September 1, 1994. The compilation was released simultaneously as a vinyl LP with accompanying 7″ single, cassette, and CD. Track listing LP ;Side one # T ...

'' would follow in the same compilation series) and featured

Bikini Kill Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group originally consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pio ...

Bratmobile Bratmobile is an American punk band from Olympia, Washington, formed in 1991. They are known for being one of the first-generation "riot grrrl" bands. The band was influenced by several eclectic musical styles, including elements of pop, surf ...

Unwound Unwound () is an American post-hardcore band formed in 1988 in Tumwater and Olympia, Washington. It presently consists of vocalist-guitarist Justin Trosper, bassist Jared Warren, drummer Sara Lund, and guitarist Scott Seckington. Originally ...

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

Mecca Normal Mecca Normal is a two-piece indie rock band from Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, formed by Jean Smith and David Lester (artist, author, publisher), David Lester in 1984. Career In 1985 they formed their own record label Smarten ...

Heavens to Betsy Heavens to Betsy was an American punk band formed in Olympia, Washington in 1991 with vocalist and guitarist Corin Tucker and drummer Tracy Sawyer. The duo were part of the DIY riot grrrl, punk rock underground, and were Tucker's first band ...

The Nation of Ulysses The Nation of Ulysses was an American punk rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in spring 1988 with four members. Originally known as simply Ulysses, the first mark of the group consisted of Ian Svenonius on vocals and trumpet, Steve Kroner ...

, and

the Melvins ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

, among others. Although the label's music has never reflected a singular genre or underground music movement, it is arguably most notable for releasing the work of various

riot grrrl Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington, and the greater Pacific Northwest, and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. A subcultural movement ...

bands during the mid-'90s, some of which, especially Bikini Kill, generated a good deal of press attention. Other Kill Rock Stars releases in this genre includes albums by Bratmobile, Huggy Bear,

and

Excuse 17 Excuse 17 was a punk rock band from Olympia, Washington, US, that performed and recorded from 1993 to 1995. The band consisted of Becca Albee (vocals and guitar), Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), and Curtis James (drums). The band recorded ...

. The label continued its tradition of spoken word by releasing their first full-length spoken-word LP ''

Big Broad Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big'', a 2023 Taiwanese children's film starring Van Fan and Chie Tanaka * ''Big!'', a Discovery ...

'' by

Juliana Luecking Juliana Luecking is an American musician, spoken-word artist and video maker. ' is her YouTube channel where ''People Are a Trip'', a series filmed in public places in New York City, is featured. Luecking's videos were instrumental in Picture Ne ...

in 1995. This was also the year that

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known as Elliott Smith, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of his life in Portland, Oregon, whe ...

released his self-titled solo LP on the label. Another milestone was the 1997 release of

Sleater-Kinney Sleater-Kinney ( ) is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime member Janet We ...

's third LP (and first on Kill Rock Stars) ''

Dig Me Out ''Dig Me Out'' is the third studio album by the American rock band Sleater-Kinney, released on April 8, 1997, on the Kill Rock Stars label. The album was produced by John Goodmanson and recorded from December 1996 to January 1997 at John an ...

'', which garnered national press attention in ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''. In 1997–98, the

5RC 5 Rue Christine (also known as 5RC) is a semi-defunct Olympia, Washington based independent record label, formed as a spin-off from the Kill Rock Stars label in 1997. Before its dormancy, it had become a premier label for experimental rock bands ...

label was formed as a sister label to Kill Rock Stars; it released generally harsher-sounding and more experimental rock than Kill Rock Stars. The 5RC roster included

Xiu Xiu Xiu Xiu ( ) is an American experimental rock band, formed in 2002 by singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart in San Jose, California. Currently, the line-up consists of multi-instrumentalists Stewart (the only constant member since formation), Angel ...

Deerhoof Deerhoof is an American musical group formed in San Francisco in 1994. It consists of founding drummer Greg Saunier, bassist and singer Satomi Matsuzaki, and guitarists John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez. Beginning as an improvised noise punk band ...

Need New Body Need New Body is an avant garde music collective band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and beyond, numerous members of which have gone on to become members of the band Man Man. The band was formed from members of the defunct progressive rock/neo-ps ...

The Mae Shi The Mae Shi is an American art punk and experimental pop band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2002. They are known for making frantic and joyous music that explores dark themes using a wide variety of sounds, instruments, and music genr ...

The Robot Ate Me The Robot Ate Me is an experimental indie rock band formed by Ryland Bouchard in 2002. The band has been through many distinct phases incorporating aspects of folk, jazz, psychedelia and avant-garde rock. Their critically acclaimed albums altern ...

, and

Metalux Metalux is an American noise band consisting of M.V. Carbon and J. Graf, both members of Bride of No No. They are occasionally joined by Nautical Almanac member Twig Harper. Early material was released on the Hanson Records label, while ...

, among others. 1998 also marked the first-ever Mailorder Freak Singles Club, featuring

Quasi ''Quasi'' may refer to: *Quasi (band), American indie rock band * ''Quasi'' (film), 2023 American film *Quasi, a musical term meaning "almost" * ''Quasi'' (fly), a genus of insect * ''Quasi'' (sculpture), an artwork in Wellington, New Zealand *"Q ...

, Small Stars, Sta-Prest, and Rock*A*Teens, among others. Another popular band on Kill Rock Stars was

the Decemberists The Decemberists are an American indie rock band from Portland, Oregon, formed in 2000. The band consists of Colin Meloy (lead vocals, guitar), Chris Funk (guitar, multi-instrumentalist), Jenny Conlee (piano, keyboards, accordion, backing vocals ...

, who released three full-length albums on the label between 2001 and 2005. The band's singer,

Colin Meloy Colin Patrick Henry Meloy (born October 5, 1974) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and author best known as the frontman of the Portland, Oregon, indie folk rock band the Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acousti ...

, also released a

solo album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century ...

on the label in April 2008. Other notable releases by Kill Rock Stars include albums by the Paper Chase,

Jeff Hanson Jeff Hanson (March 3, 1978 – June 5, 2009) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist,Unwound Unwound () is an American post-hardcore band formed in 1988 in Tumwater and Olympia, Washington. It presently consists of vocalist-guitarist Justin Trosper, bassist Jared Warren, drummer Sara Lund, and guitarist Scott Seckington. Originally ...

Marnie Stern Marnie Stern (born March 18, 1976) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and guitarist. She has garnered acclaim for her technical skill and tapping style of guitar play. Stern was a member of The 8G Band from the show '' Late Night with S ...

the Gossip Gossip (or the Gossip) is an American indie rock band from Searcy, Arkansas, formed in 1999. For most of their career, the band has consisted of singer Beth Ditto, multi-instrumentalist Nathan "Brace Paine" Howdeshell, and drummer Hannah Blil ...

, Two Ton Boa and

Comet Gain Comet Gain are a British indie pop band, formed by singer-songwriter and guitarist David Christian (aka David Feck/Charlie Damage) in 1992, with musical influences including post-punk and northern soul. Pitchfork (website), Pitchfork called the ...

; spoken word albums by

Kathy Acker Kathy Acker (April 18, 1947 isputed– November 30, 1997) was an American experimental novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, critic, performance artist, and postmodernist writer, known for her idiosyncratic and transgressive writing that deal ...

and

Miranda July Miranda July (born Miranda Jennifer Grossinger; February 15, 1974) is an American film director, screenwriter, actress and author. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital presentations and live performance art. She wrote, di ...

; and reissues of work by earlier punk/post-punk bands such as Kleenex/Liliput,

Essential Logic Essential Logic are an English post-punk band formed in 1978 by saxophonist Lora Logic after leaving X-Ray Spex. The band initially consisted of Lora on vocals, Phil Legg on guitar and vocals, William Bennett (later of Whitehouse) on guitar, Mar ...

, and

Delta 5 Delta 5 was an English post-punk band from Leeds. Career Delta 5 was formed from the same art school scene at Leeds University as Gang of Four and The Mekons. The original members of Delta 5, Julz Sale (vocals/guitar), Ros Allen (bass) and ...

. In October 2006, Slim Moon, the label's owner, announced he would be departing Kill Rock Stars to work as an A&R representative at

Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Nonesuch ...

, a

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

subsidiary. Moon's wife, Portia Sabin, then took over ownership of Kill Rock Stars. In 2007, the label released eleven records, including ''

New Moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse. ...

'', a collection of songs recorded by Elliott Smith between 1994 and 1997. The label has begun to further diversify its roster: since 2013, Kill Rock Stars has released albums by comedians including

W. Kamau Bell Walter Kamau Bell (born January 26, 1973) is an American stand-up comic and television host. He has hosted the CNN series '' United Shades of America'' since 2016, and hosted FXX television series '' Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell'' from 20 ...

, Nathan Brannon,

Kurt Braunohler Kurt Braunohler (born February 22, 1976) is an American comedian and co-host of the podcast ''Bananas'' on Exactly Right Podcast Network. He was previously the host of IFC's comedy game show '' Bunk'' and has appeared on Comedy Central, ''This ...

River Butcher River Buddy Butcher (formerly Rhea Harriett Butcher, born August 12, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, producer, and podcast host. He is best known for personal, observational comedy focused on his vegetarianism, feminism, l ...

Cameron Esposito Cameron Anne Young Anastasia Esposito (born October 17, 1981) is an American actress, comedian, and podcaster known for her show '' Take My Wife'', as well as her stand-up comedy and her podcast, '' Queery''. Esposito substantially focuses on top ...

Emily Heller Emily Heller is an American comedian, writer, actress, and podcaster. Her stand-up comedy career includes two Comedy Central specials, two albums, and guest appearances on '' Conan'', ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'', and ''The Late Late Show wit ...

, Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen, Ian Karmel,

Hari Kondabolu Hari Karthikeya Kondabolu (born October 21, 1982)Beem, p. 38 is an American stand-up comedian and writer. His comedy covers subjects such as race, inequity, and Indian stereotypes. He was a writer for '' Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell'' and ...

, and Amy Miller. In September 2019, Kill Rock Stars issued a press release announcing

's return to management of the label after a thirteen-year hiatus, as well as the signing of Portland band MAITA; the press release described the signing as "both previous label head Portia Sabin's last act and the first initiative of Slim Moon in his second tenure as guiding light of KRS". In February 2022, it was announced that independent music company Exceleration Music had acquired the Kill Rock Stars catalog and formed a partnership with its founder, Slim Moon. Under the deal, Moon would continue to handle A&R and would be actively signing and developing new artists.

References

External links

*
KRS Music Video PodcastKill Rock Stars Label Spotlight
{{Authority control Record labels established in 1991 1991 establishments in Washington (state) Record labels based in Oregon Privately held companies based in Oregon Companies based in Olympia, Washington Companies based in Portland, Oregon American independent record labels Rock record labels Alternative rock record labels Indie rock record labels Punk record labels Electronic music record labels Riot grrrl

History

See also

References

External links