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 and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

located in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

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

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

, 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), better known by the stage name Black Francis, is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies. Following the band's break ...

(of

The Pixies The Pixies are an American alternative rock band from Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986 by Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Lovering (drums). The Pi ...

Bill Burr {{Infobox comedian , image = Bill Burr by Gage Skidmore.jpg , alt = , caption = Burr in 2018 , birth_name = William Frederic Burr , birth_date = {{birth date and age, 1968, 6, 10 , bi ...

, 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 ...

, Melissa Ferrick, 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 ...

saxophone legend

(known for having played in

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

’s band), former Squeeze frontman Glen Tilbrook,

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

and Tony-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'' (2004), '' Women on the Verge of a Nervous B ...

, singer-songwriter David Wilcox, and singer-songwriter Melissa Ferrick. Gordon relocated the company to Boulder in 1991 and has been operating out of the offices designed by architect Charles Haertling ever since.

Current artists

* Stephen Lynch *

The Whitest Kids U' Know ''The Whitest Kids U' Know'' (''WKUK'') is an American sketch comedy television series starring the comedy troupe of the same name. The group consists of Trevor Moore, Zach Cregger, Sam Brown, Timmy Williams and Darren Trumeter. The series ...

* Trace Bundy

Catalog artists

Bill Burr {{Infobox comedian , image = Bill Burr by Gage Skidmore.jpg , alt = , caption = Burr in 2018 , birth_name = William Frederic Burr , birth_date = {{birth date and age, 1968, 6, 10 , bi ...

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

Everything Everything, every-thing, or every thing, is all that exists; it is an antithesis 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 . The uni ...

* Fancey * Felicia Michaels *

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 cla ...

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 (g ...

Glenn Tilbrook Glenn Martin Tilbrook (born 31 August 1957, in Woolwich, London) is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is the lead singer and guitarist of the English new wave band Squeeze, a band formed in the mid-1970s who broke through in th ...

*Hazard * House of Large Sizes *

The Innocence Mission The Innocence Mission (sometimes stylized as the innocence mission) is an American alternative rock and indie folk band that was formed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1986. The group's current members are Karen Peris (née McCullough), her husba ...

*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, songwriter and musician. He was lead vocalist of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984 to 1989 and subsequently worked solo. Early life Cole was born in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. He ...

*Luce *

* Melissa Ferrick *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 ...

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 guitar; percussionist Tim Lauterio; and Luke McAuliffe, who contributes various ...

* The Radiators * Sally Taylor *

*Sean Kelly * Stuart Matthewman * Sungha Jung *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), ...

Tim Finn Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He is best known as a founding member of Split Enz. Finn founded the band in 1972 with Phil Judd and served as lead singer and principal songw ...

* Tony Furtado * Ugly Americans

References

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