Man's Ruin Records was 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 ...

owned and founded by

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

artist

Frank Kozik Frank Kozik (January 9, 1962 – May 6, 2023) was an American graphic artist best known for his posters for alternative rock bands. With his prolific output and connections in the music industry, Kozik helped revitalize rock poster art in the la ...

. In total, the record label released over 200 singles and albums, with most of the artwork designed by Kozik. After the 1995 release of Man's Ruin's first record, ''Experimental Audio Research (EAR): Delta 6'', Kozik worked with artists whom he wanted to release. He also designed all of the sleeve-art for the releases. The catalog of Man's Ruin is vast, including relatively famous bands such as

the Hellacopters The Hellacopters are a Swedish garage rock band that was formed in 1994 by Nicke Andersson (vocals and guitar), Andreas Tyrone "Dregen" Svensson (guitar), Kenny Håkansson (bass) and Robert Eriksson (drums). Andersson (sometimes known as Nic ...

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Kyuss Kyuss ( ) was an American stoner rock band formed in Palm Desert, California, in 1987, and considered one of the pioneers of the genre. After disbanding in 1995, a number of band members have gone on to form or play in several notable bands in ...

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, Entombed,

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, 13eaver,

Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated as QOTSA or QotSA) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1996. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme shortly before he returned to his native Palm Desert, California. ...

, and the

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; and also lesser known bands such as FuckEmos, Soulpreacher, Angel Rot, and the Cowslingers. The last record released was from Begotten. The label was officially closed by 2002. The label's slogan was "Empty Pleasures and Desperate Measures since 1994".

Operations

Man's Ruin aimed to prioritize the needs and interests of artists. Recordings were licensed for a time period of two to five years, and all copyrights and publishing liberties were retained by the bands. Profits on releases were split 50-50 between band and label. The posters and album art spanning Kozik's career, including from the Man's Ruin era, are still very coveted. The limited print vinyl have been rising in value due to two factors: the majority of covers were screen-printed and numbered by Kozik, and most records were released in editions of 5,000 copies or less. Among the most sought-after records from the Man's Ruin catalog are the '' Desert Sessions'' compilations, a brainchild of Kozik, which were released in highly limited editions on clear and colored vinyl. The CD versions of the first six volumes, as well as the rest of the entire Man's Ruin catalog, have gone out of print with the demise of the label. Subsequent volumes of '' The Desert Sessions'' were released on

Josh Homme Joshua Michael Homme ( ; born May 17, 1973) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is best known as the founder and only continuous member of the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, which he for ...

's Rekords Rekords. Man's Ruin specialized in producing and releasing limited edition 10" EP records. Often an album would be released in several different sets, such as the first release from

in 1998, which was released on Man's Ruin in three editions: 2,500 black, 300 green, and 200 orange/yellow. A subsequent pressing of 198 copies on blue vinyl was made independently by the band as a "tour edition". The vast majority of records released on the label were colored. The label was distributed in the US and UK by

Mordam Records Mordam Records was a California record distribution company for independent record labels. It was founded in San Francisco in 1983 as an independent punk distribution company by Ruth Schwartz (one of the original co-editors of '' Maximum RocknRoll ...

, and then a brief and unsuccessful switch was made to RED Distribution, resulting in the demise of the label after a series of problems. Internationally, Man's Ruin distributed its own music for the most part, though the label also worked with Swedish distributor and record label House of Kicks. Unlike most releases in music today, the international releases from Man's Ruin did not differ from the domestic American releases. However, it was not uncommon for the cover of a vinyl release to differ from that of the CD edition of the release. As a print shop, Man's Ruin printed its own art as well as posters for other artists such as

Coop Coop or Co-op most often refer to: * Chicken coop or other animal enclosure * Cooperative or co-operative ("co-op"), an association co-operating for mutual social, economic or cultural benefit ** Consumer cooperative ** Food cooperative ** Housin ...

Decline and fall

The label became defunct after a series of distribution changes and problems involving the label having outgrown its original distributor. Man's Ruin also lost its lease at the height of the Bay Area dot-com boom and was shut down for a period of several months while attempting to relocate its offices. This combination led to its demise at the end of 2001. The label's website was shut down a few months later. Internet users who wished to view the Man's Ruin website were simply greeted with the message: "sorry mansruin never paid their bill and their site is no longer here". All operations ended and licenses were returned to the various copyright holders in 2002. After closing Man's Ruin, Kozik dedicated himself to fine art, design, and the burgeoning toy art industry. Several bands that worked with Man's Ruin, including

Fu Manchu Dr. Fu Manchu ( zh, t=傅滿洲/福滿洲, p=Fú Mǎnzhōu) is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character f ...

, Acid King, and

, have re-released the albums they recorded with the label, either independently or on other

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

References

External links

FrankKozik.net

FKozik.com

Mansruin.com on the Internet Archive
{{Authority control Record labels established in 1994 Record labels disestablished in 2002 American independent record labels Alternative rock record labels Defunct record labels of the United States

Operations

Decline and fall

See also

References

External links