Outpunk enjoys the distinction of being the first

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

entirely devoted to

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

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 (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

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 fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

, ''Outpunk''. ''Outpunk'' ran for seven issues, from 1992 till 1997, with contributions from queer punks such as

Anonymous Boy Tony Arena (born circa 1965, Franklin Square, New York) – also known by his pen name Anonymous Boy – is an openly queer artist, writer, and filmmaker. He is known for his comics, his involvement in the queercore movement, and other contributi ...

, interviews with queercore bands and a split issue with Gary Fembot. He released two records in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, 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 specifical ...

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 consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pioneered the ...

, Lucy Stoners,

7 Year Bitch 7 Year Bitch was an American punk rock band from Seattle, Washington. The band was active between 1990 and 1997 and released three albums over that time. The band formed at the same time as the emergence of the riot grrrl sub-genre, which is a ...

and the first song released by

Tribe 8 Tribe 8 was a LGBTQ punk rock band from San Francisco, considered one of the first queercore groups. The band took their name from the practice of tribadism, with "tribe eight" being a play on the word ''tribade'', a sexual practice sometimes a ...

, 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 Big Boys were an American pioneering punk rock band who are credited with having helped to create and introduce skate punk as a new style of music, which became popular in the 1980s. They also were famous for bringing elements of funk into thei ...

new band Swine King,

Pansy Division Pansy Division is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, San Francisco, California, United States, in 1991 by singer-songwriter Jon Ginoli and bassist Chris Freeman (musician), Chris Freeman. Conceived as the first openly hom ...

Sister George Sister George was an English queercore band from London that was formed in 1994. The group's name was inspired by the 1968 film ''The Killing of Sister George'', which was an adaptation of the play of the same name. Although queercore bands h ...

, 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 ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

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 zine of punk subculture. Based in San Francisco, ''MRR'' focuses on punk rock and hardcore music, and primarily featur ...

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...

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

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

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 music ...

. 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 1 ...

hip hop music 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

* Behead the Prophet, No Lord Shall Live *

* CWA * Cypher in the Snow *

Fifth Column A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. According to Harris Mylonas and Scott Radnitz, "fifth columns" are “domestic actors who work to un ...

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

The Need The Need is an American queercore band formed by singer/drummer Rachel Carns and guitarist Radio Sloan in Portland, Oregon in the mid-1990s. After issuing a series of seven-inches on labels including Kill Rock Stars and Outpunk, The Need relo ...

* Sta-Prest * Swine King *

Team Dresch Team Dresch is an American punk rock band originally formed in 1993 in Olympia, Washington. The band made a significant impression on the DIY punk movement queercore, which gave voice through zines and music to the passions and concerns of LGBT p ...

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 LGBT-related record labels Fanzines Zines Queercore record labels Punk record labels Riot grrrl

Artists

See also

References

External links