Undecided 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- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

established in 1998 by Clifford Wiener and Alexander Kenny. The record company was founded in Loxahatchee, Florida but its headquarters moved around in various parts of Palm Beach County, Florida; first to

Boca Raton Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

, then to Parkland, and finally to Lake Worth. The record label released hardcore,

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

, noisecore,

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

and emo music, with a principally North American roster of artists spanning from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s. Undecided Records released music on vinyl records, compact discs and

digital audio Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, sa ...

formats, with distribution in the United States through Revelation Records, Victory Records and

RED Music RED Music, stylized RED MUSIC, formerly RED Distribution, LLC (Relativity Entertainment Distribution) was a Sony-owned sales and marketing division that merged under The Orchard in 2017. RED previously handled releases for more than sixty i ...

. Wiener and Kenny were both closely associated with Eulogy Recordings, where they worked in their free time. Undecided Records put out such notable releases as

Poison the Well Poisoning the well (or to poison the well) is a logical fallacy. Poisoning the well may also refer to: *Well poisoning, the literal meaning of the phrase *"Poisoning the Well", a ''Stargate Atlantis'' episode *Poison the Well (band), a hardcore pu ...

's '' Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder'', Every Time I Die's '' The Burial Plot Bidding War'', Supermachiner's '' Rise of the Great Machine'' and

Breaking Pangaea Breaking Pangaea was an American emo pop band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The band gained a small but passionate following from early 2000 to 2003, especially among college students. The band released their debut EP and ful ...

's '' Take Apart the Words'' and '' Cannon to a Whisper.'' The record label was also responsible for producing a series of

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

tribute splits titled '' Crush 'Em All'', which included covers by

BoySetsFire boysetsfire is an American post-hardcore band from Newark, Delaware. Formed in October 1994, boysetsfire is composed of guitarists Chad Istvan and Josh Latshaw, vocalist Nathan Gray, and bassists Chris Rakus and Robert Ehrenbrand. Lyrical theme ...

, Converge, Countervail, Disembodied, Indecision,

Eighteen Visions Eighteen Visions is an American metalcore band from Orange County, California, formed in October 1995. The band broke up in April 2007, less than a year after their major label debut was released through Epic and Trustkill Records. After over ...

, Poison the Well, Shai Hulud, Supermachiner, Today Is the Day and Walls of Jericho. Many of the splits fell apart during varying production stages but Undecided Records compiled the bulk of the recorded cover songs on the Various Artists compilation ''The Old, The New, The Unreleased'', released in January 2005. In 2003, Wiener, Kenny and Michael Broder formed the imprint company Undecided Films, with plans to release theatrical films and digital video discs. The company's inaugural project was to be a reissue of F. W. Murnau's 1922 film '' Nosferatu'', featuring a new score composed by Converge vocalist Jacob Bannon. Undecided Films' first DVD release later turned out to be the documentary ''Rockets Redglare!'', dedicated to the memory of stand-up comedian Rockets Redglare, featuring interviews with

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi ( ,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself, some may insist that his pronunciation of his own name is "wrong" because it does not match the original Italian pronunciation as well. It is not uncommon for people to pronou ...

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch (; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films including '' Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984), '' Down by Law'' ( ...

Matt Dillon Matthew Raymond Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including an Oscar and Grammy nomination. Dillon made his feature film debut in '' Over the Edge'' (1979) and established himself as a te ...

and Willem Dafoe. In June 2003, Undecided Records formed a partnership with Further Seems Forever bassist Chad Neptune, financing his own imprint record label Pompano Basic. Undecided Records was dissolved in 2006 when Wiener and Kenny founded a series of new imprints. In May 2006, all of the straight-edge bands previously signed to Undecided Records were transferred to the new record label x1981x Records, which had already been founded as an

apparel Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

company, x1981x Clothing, in 2004. The remaining bands were transferred to a second new record label, 567 Records, including Further Seems Forever, which released the compilation ''

The Final Curtain ''The Final Curtain'' is a compilation album and DVD by the Pompano Beach, Florida Rock music, rock band Further Seems Forever, released in 2007 by 567 Records. The album includes the band's final live performance recorded on June 17, 2006 at Th ...

'', and Jeremy Enigk, who released '' The Missing Link'', both originally scheduled for Undecided Records. Undecided Records began re-releasing its entire back-catalog digitally in early 2007. Wiener, Kenny and John Wylie of Eulogy Recordings later formed the

artist management A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of entertainer, artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee t ...

firm Big Hit Management in 2010. Wiener and Kenny also organized the

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

Bringin' it Back for the Kids Fest, which took place in 2011 and 2012.

Artists

This is a partial list of artists who have worked with Undecided Records. *

* The Casket Lottery * Converge * Disembodied * Eiffel *

* Every Time I Die * Further Seems Forever * Indecision * Jeremy Enigk * Madison *

New Idea Society Stephen Brodsky is an American rock musician best known as a member of Cave In, Mutoid Man, New Idea Society and Old Man Gloom. He also has a solo career and is a former member of Converge, Kid Kilowatt, Parasite and Pet Genius. History Stephen ...

* Shai Hulud * Supermachiner * Today Is the Day *

Vaux Vaux may refer to: People * Antoine-Alexis Cadet de Vaux (1743–1828), French chemist and pharmacist * Bernard Carra de Vaux (1867–1953), French orientalist who published accounts of his travels in the Middle East *Clotilde de Vaux (1815–184 ...

* Walls of Jericho

References

External links

* * {{Authority control __FORCETOC__ 1998 establishments in Florida 2006 disestablishments in Florida American independent record labels American record labels Companies based in Boca Raton, Florida Companies based in Florida Defunct companies based in Florida Defunct record labels of the United States Hardcore record labels Heavy metal record labels Indie rock record labels Post-hardcore record labels Record labels based in Florida Record labels established in 1998 Record labels disestablished in 2006 Rock record labels Undecided Records

Artists

See also

References

External links