Founded 1992 by John Loder, Southern Records 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 ...

(Loder also ran the recording facility Southern Studios). It is based in London and until 2008 had offices in the United States, France and Berlin. The label is closely associated with

Crass Records Crass Records was an independent record label that was set up by the anarchist Punk rock, punk band Crass. Overview and history Prior to the formation of Crass, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher had published their creative works via their own D ...

Corpus Christi Records Corpus Christi Records is a British independent record label started by some of the members of Crass and their recording engineer and business partner John Loder, to release records by artists who did not perhaps fit in with some of the stric ...

and

Dischord Records Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.–based independent record label specializing in punk rock. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release '' Minor Disturbance'' by their band the Teen Id ...

History

Background

Southern Studios was a recording label owned and operated by John Loder from the 1970's until his death. Loder became friends with musician Penny Rimbaud and collaborated with him in an experimental band called EXIT. Rimbaud later formed anarchist punk band

Crass Crass was an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977 who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestyle, and a resistance movement. Crass popularized the anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, ...

, and Loder and his Southern Studios were chosen to record their first album '' The Feeding of the 5000''. That record was originally released on

Small Wonder Records Small Wonder Records was a British independent record label owned and managed by Pete and Mari Stennett, that specialised in releasing records by punk rock and post-punk bands. It operated out of a record shop of the same name at 162 Hoe Stree ...

. When Small Wonder encountered problems manufacturing the release, due to the allegedly blasphemous nature of the lyrics, Crass decided they needed their own label to take full control of their output. Loder facilitated this by acting as the business manager behind Crass Records. He arranged manufacture, distribution and accounting. After the Crass record's success in 1978, Loder became the go-to alternative distributor for a generation of independent musicians. This connected Loder with the emerging international independent record business. He formed alliances with small distributors around the world to distribute Crass's output, and in the process U.S. labels like Touch and Go found outlets for their releases overseas. Circa 1984, he formed a lasting partnership with

. In 1986,

Ian MacKaye Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye (; born April 16, 1962) is an American musician. Active since 1979, he is best known as the co-founder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.–based independent record label, and the frontman of hardcore pu ...

traveled to London looking to forge a deal with Loder that would satisfy the demand for Minor Threat records in the UK. The deal struck resulted in the manufacture of Dischord records in a factory that Southern had contracted with on the European mainland, and for decades Minor Threat records were stamped "Made in France." Southern served as their pressing agent and distributor through 2008.

First releases

The first release on Southern Records was Babes in Toyland's album Fontanelle, in August 1992.

2000s

Label founder Loder died in 2005. In the same year Allison Schnackenberg, label boss, set up the Latitudes imprint to record and release one sessions, in a similar spirit to the BBC's

Peel Sessions John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

. Starting in late 2008, Southern closed its international office and moved all operations to London. Chicago closed November 2008,

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

closed July 2009, and Berlin closed December 2012. On 14 December 2023,

Nomeansno Nomeansno (sometimes stylized as NoMeansNo or spelled No Means No) was a Canadian punk rock band formed in Victoria, British Columbia, and later relocated to Vancouver. They released 11 albums, including a The Sky Is Falling and I Want My Mommy, ...

posted on their Facebook page that the label has been selling their records without payment to the band for years and are not an authorized source of their recordings.

Imprints

Other label imprints operated by Southern include Black Diamond, Latitudes, Midwich Records, and Truth Cult.

Roster

* 90 Day Men *67 * Antisect *Action Beat *The Action Time *Akimbo *Alias *Altamont *A Minor Forest *André de Villiers *Antisect *António Cabrita Quintet *Arbouretum *Armagideon *A-Set *A Storm of Light * Asva * Atombombpocketknife *A Whisper In The Noise * Babes in Toyland *Baby Dayliner *Bardo Pond *Beekeeper *Bellafea * Bell Gardens * Big Black * Billy Mahonie *The Black Heart Procession *The Black Swans * Blonde Redhead *Blood of the Red Owl *The Bloodthirsty Lovers *Blood Time * Bob Tilton * Boduf Songs *

Braid A braid (also referred to as a plait; ) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing three or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-strand ...

*Bulbul *Buried at Sea *Burning Airlines *Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine *Cat On Form *Cave *Check Engine * Chrome Hoof * Chumbawamba *

Crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

*Current 93 *Curse of the Golden Vampire * Darediablo * The Delta 72 *The Desert Sessions * Dianogah *Die Kreuzen *Digital *

The Dismemberment Plan The Dismemberment Plan is an American indie rock band formed in Washington, D.C. on January 1, 1993. Also known as D-Plan or the Plan, the name was derived from an industry phrase used by insurance salesman Ned Ryerson in the 1993 comedy film ...

Dälek Dälek (pronounced "dialect") (stylized in all lowercase) is an American experimental hip hop group formed in Newark, New Jersey in 1998. The group's current lineup consists of MC dälek (vocals and producer) and Mike Manteca (aka Mike Mare ...

*Domes of Silence *Dÿse *Dub Specialists *Dub Trio *Eagles of Death Metal *Earth *Enablers *End of Level Boss *Enon *The Entrance Band *Erik Friedlander *Esmerine *The Exit *Ex Models *Fantômas *Farmers Market *

Faucet A tap (also spigot or faucet: see usage variations) is a valve controlling the release of a fluid. Nomenclature United Kingdom * Tap is used in the United Kingdom and most of the Commonwealth for any everyday type of valve, particularly ...

*Fernando Goin *Flu.ID *Franklin *

Frightwig Frightwig is an all-female punk rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1982 by Deanna Mitchell and Mia d'Bruzzi. The current lineup of Frightwig consists of Deanna Mitchell, Mia d'Bruzzi, Tina Fagnani, and Rebecca Sevrin. Histor ...

*Future Islands *Gang Gang Dance * Geoff Farina *The Ghost *Girls Against Boys *Glorytellers *GoGoGo Airheart *Goon Moon *Grails *The Graveyard Boogie Man *Grifters *Guapo *The Guaranteed Ugly *Gunshot *The Hades Kick *The Hanson Brothers * Hawnay Troof *The Haxan Cloak *Hella *The Hidden Hand * Him *Instigators *Isis *Jah Wobble * Jenny Hoyston *Jeremy Boyle *The Jesus Lizard *

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

*Kaada *

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

*Keith LeBlanc *Kid606 *Krispy 3 *L'Acephale *Lack of Knowledge * The Lapse *Lay Quiet Awhile * Les Savy Fav *Little Annie *Lucky Stars * Lungleg *Lustre King *Made out of Babies *Magik Markers * The Make-Up *

The Mars Volta The Mars Volta is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership forms the core of the ban ...

*Master Musicians of Bukkake *

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. Primarily a trio, they have also performed as a quartet, with eith ...

*Michael Cashmore *Mitch Mitchell's Terrifying Experience *Moistboyz *Mondo Generator *Mothlite *Mouse on Mars *Nadja *Nancy Wallace * The National * Neurosis *The New Year *Nina Nastasia *

*Northern State * Nurse With Wound * Odd Nosdam *Orthrelm *Ostinato * The Owl Service * The Paper Chase *Paul Newman *Peeping Tom *Penny Rimbaud *Phantomsmasher *Pinback *Pink Anvil *Place of Skulls *Prong *Pseudo Nippon * P.W. Long *Qui *Quint * Racebannon *Radical Dance Faction *Rats on Rafts *Raw Power *Restless *Retsin * Rex * Rudimentary Peni *Sage Francis *Savage Republic *Sea Tiger *Sensational *Shepard *Shipping News *Silverfish *Silvester Anfang *Slow Loris *The Smoothies *Sole * The Sorts *Steroid Maximus *Stinking Lizaveta *Stratford Mercenaries * Subhumans * Sweep the Leg Johnny *Sylvester Anfang II *Tango Ratty *Tartufi * Ten Grand *That's It *Themselves * Therapy? *Tight Phantomz *Todd *Tomahawk * Trencher *Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant * Ui * Unsane *U.S. Christmas *Volt *Voodooshock *Warhorse *We Insist! *White Magic * William Elliott Whitmore *The Winchester Club *Wino & Conny Ochs *Yoshimi and Yuka *Young James Long *Zu

Southern imprints

Black Diamond

* Hella * Goon Moon * P.W. Long *

Oxbow __NOTOC__ An oxbow is a U-shaped metal pole (or larger wooden frame) that fits the underside and the sides of the neck of an ox or wikt:bullock, bullock. A bow pin holds it in place. The term "oxbow" is widely used to refer to a U-shaped meand ...

* Unsane

Latitudes

Midwich Records

* Ellen Mary McGee * Jason Steel * The Kittiwakes * Moon Pool & Dead Band * Nancy Wallace * The Owl Service * The Trysting Tree

Truth Cult

*Action Beat *Eugene S. Robinson & Philippe Petit * Japanther *Pornbow

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control American independent record labels British independent record labels