Undecided Records was an American independent record label 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 Palm Beach County is a county located in the southeastern part of Florida and lies directly north of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. The county had a population of 1,492,191 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous county ...

, Florida; first to Boca Raton, then to Parkland, and finally to Lake Worth. The record label released

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

, metalcore, noisecore, post-hardcore and

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

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 A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

s and digital audio formats, with distribution in the United States through

Revelation Records Revelation Records is an independent record label focusing originally and primarily on hardcore punk. The label is known for releases by bands such as Youth of Today, Warzone, Sick of It All, Quicksand, Side By Side, Chain of Strength, Sh ...

Victory Records Victory Records is a Chicago-based record label founded by Tony Brummel. It operates a music publishing company called "Another Victory, Inc." and is the distributor of several record labels. It has featured many prominent artists including Thur ...

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 Eulogy Recordings is an American independent record label established in early 1997 by hardcore guitarist John Wylie. The record company was founded in Cooper City, Florida but its headquarters moved around in various parts of Broward County, ...

, where they worked in their free time. Undecided Records put out such notable releases as Poison the Well's ''

Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder ''Distance Only Makes the Heart Grow Fonder'' is the third release by American metalcore band Poison the Well, following their split 12" vinyl with Promise No Tomorrow (released under the name An Acre Lost in early 1998) and a demo tape sold du ...

'',

Every Time I Die Every Time I Die was an American metalcore band from Buffalo, New York, formed in 1998. For most of the band's career, the line-up was centred on brothers Keith (vocals) and Jordan Buckley (guitar), as well as rhythm guitarist Andy Williams wit ...

's ''

The Burial Plot Bidding War ''The Burial Plot Bidding War'' is the first EP by American metalcore band Every Time I Die. Songs "Prom Song" and "Your Touch Versus Death" were previously on their 1999 demo tape. The EP was first released on Good Fellow Records in January 200 ...

'',

Supermachiner Supermachiner was an experimental music project that Jacob Bannon and Ryan Parker began writing for in 1994 and soon became a collection of four track recordings. When Converge (band), Converge had about six months of down time as the band searche ...

's ''

Rise of the Great Machine ''Rise of the Great Machine'' is the debut and only studio album by the project Supermachiner. It was released on November 28, 2000, through Undecided Records. The album features artwork created by Jacob Bannon. Writing and recording Writing fo ...

'' and Breaking Pangaea's ''

Take Apart the Words ''Take Apart The Words'' is the debut EP by Philadelphia emo/indie rock band Breaking Pangaea. It was released in 2000 on Undecided Records. "Lullaby" was later re-recorded and rearranged for Mascherino's later band, Terrible Things. Track listi ...

'' and ''

Cannon to a Whisper ''Cannon to a Whisper'' is the only studio album by Philadelphia-emo/indie rock band Breaking Pangaea. It was released in 2001 on Undecided Records. The first pre-chorus of "Wedding Dress" was later re-used as the chorus of "My Blue Heaven" in Fr ...

.'' The record label was also responsible for producing a series of Metallica

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...

splits A split (commonly referred to as splits or the splits) is a physical position in which the legs are in line with each other and extended in opposite directions. Splits are commonly performed in various athletic activities, including dance, figu ...

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 Converge may refer to: * Converge (band), American hardcore punk band * Converge (Baptist denomination), American national evangelical Baptist body * Limit (mathematics) * Converge ICT, internet service provider in the Philippines *CONVERGE CFD s ...

, 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 ove ...

, Poison the Well,

Shai Hulud Shai Hulud is an American metalcore band formed in Pompano Beach, Florida, in 1995, and later based in Poughkeepsie, New York. The band is named after the giant sandworms in Frank Herbert's novel ''Dune''. The two mainstay members of Shai Hul ...

, 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 Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; December 28, 1888March 11, 1931) was a German film director, producer and screenwriter. He was greatly influenced by Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Shakespeare and Ibsen plays he had seen at th ...

's 1922 film ''

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' (German: ''Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens'') is a 1922 silent German Expressionist horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife ...

'', featuring a new score composed by

vocalist

Jacob Bannon Jacob Bannon (born October 15, 1976) is an American musician who is the vocalist, lyricist and graphic artist for the metalcore band Converge. He is the co-founder and owner of the record label Deathwish Inc. and the author of many visual works ...

. Undecided Films' first DVD release later turned out to be the documentary ''Rockets Redglare!'', dedicated to the memory of stand-up comedian

Rockets Redglare Rockets Redglare (born Michael Morra; May 8, 1949 – May 28, 2001) was an American character actor and stand-up comedian. He appeared in over 30 films in the 1980s and 1990s, including a number of independent films and mainstream films, such ...

, featuring interviews with Steve Buscemi, Jim Jarmusch, Matt Dillon and

Willem Dafoe Willem James Dafoe (; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, in addition to receiving nominations for four Academy Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, t ...

. In June 2003, Undecided Records formed a partnership with

Further Seems Forever Further Seems Forever is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Pompano Beach, Florida. Over its initial eight-year run the band experienced several lineup changes, resulting in a different lead vocalist performing on each of their first three ...

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 Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated sXe or signified by XXX or X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs, in reaction to the excesses of punk subculture. For some, thi ...

bands previously signed to Undecided Records were transferred to the new record label x1981x Records, which had already been founded as an apparel company, x1981x Clothing, in 2004. The remaining bands were transferred to a second new record label, 567 Records, including

, which released the compilation '' The Final Curtain'', and

Jeremy Enigk Jeremy Enigk (; born July 16, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter, vocalist and guitarist / multi-instrumentalist. He is known as a solo artist, a film score composer, and as the lead vocalist, bassist, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist of the ...

, 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

later formed the artist management firm Big Hit Management in 2010. Wiener and Kenny also organized the music festival 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. *

* Breaking Pangaea *

The Casket Lottery The Casket Lottery is an American indie rock band from Kansas City, Missouri signed to Second Nature Recordings and Big Scary Monsters. History 1997 The band started in 1997 after Nathan Ellis spent time on the road with Coalesce. He and Sta ...

* Disembodied *

Eiffel Eiffel may refer to: Places * Eiffel Peak, a summit in Alberta, Canada * Champ de Mars – Tour Eiffel station, Paris, France; a transit station Structures * Eiffel Tower, in Paris, France, designed by Gustave Eiffel * Eiffel Bridge, Ungheni, M ...

* Indecision *

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

* New Idea Society * Poison the Well *

* Today Is the Day * Vaux * 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