What Are Records? (or W.A.R.?) 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- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

located in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

. Founded in New York City in 1991 by owner Rob Gordon, former director of A&R at

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

, the company moved to Boulder in 1994. W.A.R.? has released over 100 records by

Frank Black Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Fo ...

(of

The Pixies Pixies is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986, in Boston, Massachusetts. Until 2013, the band consisted of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Lovering ...

Bill Burr William Frederick Burr (born June 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, filmmaker, and podcaster. He has released multiple stand-up comedy specials, most notably ''Why Do I Do This?'' (2008), ''Let It Go'' (2010), '' You People Are ...

, Stephen Lynch,

The Samples The Samples is an American rock band formed in Boulder, Colorado in 1987. The band's name came from the members' early sustenance of food samples from the local grocery store. The music has been described as "reggae influenced rock/pop" and a ...

Maceo Parker Maceo Parker (; born February 14, 1943) is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s and Prince in the 2000s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of B ...

Melissa Ferrick Melissa Ferrick (born September 21, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter. Her song "Drive" (2000) is considered a lesbian anthem. She is a music professor at Northeastern University and at Berklee College of Music. Early life Ferrick was ra ...

, and Whitest Kids U' Know.

History

What Are Records? was founded in Gordon's New York City

loft A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...

in 1991. From the beginning, it fostered a direct-to-stores and direct-to-consumers distribution strategy Friend of Gordon and

then-manager, Ted Guggenheim, urged W.A.R.? to sign The Samples and they soon were among the first signings to the label. Other early acts included comedian Stephen Lynch,

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

saxophone legend

(known for having played in

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

’s band), former Squeeze frontman Glen Tilbrook,

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

and

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

-nominated composer and piano man

David Yazbek David Norman Yazbek (born 1961) is an American writer, musician, composer, and lyricist. He wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals ''The Full Monty'' (2000), '' Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'' (2005), ''Women on the Verge of a Nervous Bre ...

, singer-songwriter David Wilcox, and singer-songwriter

. Gordon relocated the company to Boulder in 1991 and has been operating out of the offices designed by architect

Charles Haertling Charles Allan Haertling (October 21, 1928 - April 20, 1984) was an American architect, whose works often combined elements of modernism and organic architecture. He is best known for his distinctive residential projects in and around Boulder and De ...

ever since.

Current artists

* Stephen Lynch *

The Whitest Kids U' Know ''The Whitest Kids U' Know'' (''WKUK'') is an American sketch comedy show starring a comedy troupe of the same name. The group consisted of Trevor Moore, Zach Cregger, Sam Brown, Timmy Williams and Darren Trumeter, though other actors occasiona ...

Trace Bundy Trace Bundy is an American acoustic guitar player who lives and performs in Boulder, Colorado. He is known to fans as "The Acoustic Ninja" for his legato and tapping, finger tapping skills. Bundy's guitar playing style is percussive and harmonic: ...

Catalog artists

* Between The Lines *Cycomotogoat *Daniel MacKenzie *David Wilcox *

Everything Everything, every-thing, or every thing is all that exists; the opposite of nothing, or its complement. It is the totality of things relevant to some subject matter. Without expressed or implied limits, it may refer to anything. The universe is ...

Fancey Todd George Fancey is a Canadian guitarist, keyboardist, and solo artist. He is the guitarist for Vancouver-based indie rock band The New Pornographers and the bassist for the band Limblifter. Fancey is originally from Nova Scotia. Early life F ...

Felicia Michaels Felicia Michaels (born November 22, 1963) is an American stand-up comedian. Early life Michaels was born in Fort Riley, Kansas to a father in the United States Army, and a German mother. She was raised in several locations, living for two years ...

Figurine A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cl ...

Flickerstick Flickerstick is an American alternative rock band from Fort Worth, Texas. Band history Band formation and early years Flickerstick was formed in Fort Worth, Texas, by high school friends Brandin Lea (lead singer, guitarist) and Cory Kreig (gu ...

Glenn Tilbrook Glenn Martin Tilbrook (born 31 August 1957) is the lead singer and guitarist of the English band Squeeze, a band formed in the mid-1970s who broke through in the new wave era at the decade's end. He generally wrote the music for Squeeze's son ...

*Hazard *

House of Large Sizes House of Large Sizes (sometimes known as HOLS) was an American alternative rock band from Cedar Falls, Iowa, formed in 1986. The band was led by singer/guitarist Dave Deibler and singer/bassist Barb Schilf, with three different drummers during th ...

The Innocence Mission The Innocence Mission is an American indie folk band formed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1986. The band is composed of Karen Peris (née McCullough), her husband (and fellow guitarist) Don Peris, and Mike Bitts (on bass guitar). Although all me ...

*Jeep *Joseph Brenna * Le Concorde *

Lir Lir or Ler (meaning "Sea" in Old Irish; ''Ler'' and ''Lir'' are the nominative and genitive forms, respectively) is a sea god in Irish mythology. His name suggests that he is a personification of the sea, rather than a distinct deity. He is na ...

Lloyd Cole Lloyd Cole (born 31 January 1961) is an English singer and songwriter. He was lead singer of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984 to 1989 and subsequently worked solo. Early life Cole was born in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. He grew up in ne ...

*Luce *

*Munly *

The Ocean Blue The Ocean Blue is an American indie pop band formed in Hershey, Pennsylvania in 1986. Its original members included David Schelzel on lead vocals/guitar, Steve Lau on keyboards/saxophone, Bobby Mittan on bass guitar and Rob Minnig on drums and v ...

The Poppy Family The Poppy Family was a Canadian psychedelic pop group based in Vancouver. They had a number of international hit records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Career Seventeen-year-old Susan Pesklevits met Terry Jacks in the mid-1960s when he ...

Primitive Radio Gods Primitive Radio Gods is an American alternative rock band from Southern California. Current members consist of frontman Chris O'Connor, who performs vocals and bass; percussionist Tim Lauterio; and Luke McAuliffe, who contributes various addit ...

* The Radiators * Sally Taylor *

*Sean Kelly *

Stuart Matthewman Stuart Colin Matthewman (born 18 August 1960), also known as Cottonbelly, is an English songwriter, record producer and musician. With Sade Adu, Paul S. Denman, and Andrew Hale, he gained worldwide fame as the guitarist/saxophonist of the band Sa ...

Sungha Jung Sungha Jung ( ko, 정성하; born 2 September 1996) is a Koreans, South Korean musician who specializes in acoustic fingerstyle guitar. Jung creates acoustic covers and arrangements, typically by ear and/or by watching videos, and composes o ...

*The Swayback *

24-7 Spyz 24-7 Spyz (pronounced "twenty-four-seven spies") are an American rock band from the South Bronx, New York, formed in 1986, originally consisting of Jimi Hazel (born Wayne K. Richardson) (guitars), Rick Skatore (born Kenneth D. Lucas) (bass), Ki ...

Tim Finn Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer and musician. His musical career includes forming 1970s and 1980s New Zealand rock group Split Enz, a number of solo albums, temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowde ...

Tony Furtado Tony Furtado (born October 18, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter, banjoist, and guitarist. History Furtado was born in Pleasanton, California. He took up the banjo at age 12, inspired by the Beverly Hillbillies television show and a sixth- ...

Ugly Americans Ugly American or similar may refer to: *''The Ugly American'', a 1958 novel by William Lederer and Eugene Burdick * ''The Ugly American'' (film), a 1963 film starring Marlon Brando, based on the 1958 novel *Ugly American (pejorative), a term used ...

References

{{Authority control American independent record labels Companies based in Boulder, Colorado Record labels established in 1991 1991 establishments in New York (state)