Outpunk enjoys the distinction of being the first

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

entirely devoted to

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

bands. The label was run out of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and began as an extension of Matt Wobensmith's

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

, ''Outpunk''. ''Outpunk'' ran for seven issues, from 1992 till 1997, with contributions from queer punks such as Anonymous Boy, interviews with queercore bands and a split issue with Gary Fembot. He released two records in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, the 7" single compilations ''There's A Faggot In The Pit'' and ''There's A Dyke In The Pit''. At this time there were few actual

queercore Queercore (or homocore) is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifically ...

bands in existence, so some of the artists that appeared were politically motivated punk bands that supported the queercore movement. ''There's A Dyke In The Pit'' features

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 ...

, Lucy Stoners, 7 Year Bitch and the first song released by Tribe 8, stalwarts of the queercore scene. Outpunk's next compilation was the ''Outpunk Dance Party'' compilation LP/CD, which introduced many new queer bands to the public. Among them was Randy 'Biscuit' Turner of Big Boys new band Swine King,

Pansy Division Pansy Division is an American queercore band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1991 by guitarist/singer/songwriter Jon Ginoli along with bassist Chris Freeman. Conceived as the first openly gay rock band featuring predominantly gay mus ...

, Sister George, Sta-Prest and Mukilteo Fairies. After this, Outpunk began to release many singles and LPs by queercore artists from the US,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and UK. Wobensmith was also writing a column for ''

Maximum RocknRoll ''Maximumrocknroll'', often written as ''Maximum Rocknroll'' and usually abbreviated as ''MRR'', is a not-for-profit monthly online zine of punk subculture and radio show of punk music. Based in San Francisco, ''MRR'' focuses on punk rock and ...

zine A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...

, which extended the range of people being introduced to queer punk music while addressing issues such as

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

in the punk community. In ''DIY: The Rise Of Lo-Fi Culture'', Amy Spencer writes, "Matt Wobensmith...feels that a person's self-identification as gay shouldn't form the basis of their whole personality. 'Gay people often sacrifice the cultures they come from just to belong to something.' This sacrifice of a radical culture, whether as an artist, punk or anarchist, is what the queercore movement has always battled against." Wobensmith ended the label in the late 90s, and began a new label called Queercorps, which was short-lived. He spoke about the reasons behind this in an interview included in the book ''We Owe You Nothing: Punk Planet, The Collected Interviews'', edited by Daniel Sinker, originally appearing in

Punk Planet ''Punk Planet'' was a 16,000 print run punk zine, based in Chicago, Illinois, that focused most of its energy on looking at punk subculture rather than punk as simply another genre of music to which teenagers listen. In addition to covering m ...

. Subsequently he ran the label A.C.R.O.N.Y.M., which specialized in

gay ''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 ...

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

acts. Outpunk records and CDs are much sought after by collectors, since most were produced in limited runs and are rare and hard to find. As of 2009, he runs the vintage zine store Goteblüd in San Francisco.

Artists

* 7 Year Bitch * Behead the Prophet, No Lord Shall Live *

* CWA * Cypher in the Snow *

Fifth Column A fifth column is a group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. The activities of a fifth column can be overt or clandestine. Forces gathered in secret can mobilize ...

* God Is My Co-Pilot * Lucy Stoners * Mukilteo Fairies * The Need *

* Sister George * Sta-Prest * Swine King *

Team Dresch Team Dresch is an American punk rock band originally formed in 1993 in Olympia, Washington. History In 1993, Donna Dresch formed Team Dresch with herself playing guitar and bass, Jody Bleyle on guitar and vocals, Kaia Wilson on guitar and voc ...

* Tribe 8 * The Hyperdrive Kittens

References

External links

Interview with Matt Wobensmith

''Ashcan Magazine''s spotlight on Goteblud & Matt Wobensmith

{{Authority control Record labels established in 1992 Record labels disestablished in 1997 American independent record labels LGBTQ-related record labels Queercore record labels Punk record labels Riot grrrl

Artists

See also

References

External links