Slash Records

Even when major labels attempted to court them, Biafra stayed obstinately independent, keeping control of master tapes in a way that made him both a hero to leftist punk communities and a target for corporate backlash.

Moving to the West Coast of California again, but this time into LA’s burgeoning music scene, Slash Records opened in nineteen seventy-seven under Bruce E. Johnson’s leadership with a goal to bring raw garage and punk acts to a wider market without losing that edge.

Early signings like The Ramones and The Knack were emblematic of their strategy.

Tight budgets, DIY studio sessions at Wally Heider’s, but they had the marketing muscle of a small independent house.

A brand people trusted more than any mainstream outlet could promise.

This trust fed into one of L.A.'s first independent record labels, Slash Records.

Bob Biggs, an old friend of Nissen and Samioff, leveraged the magazine's reputation to secure funding from a small indie press to launch a label in 1978.

The first release, a 7-inch single by The Germs that came out on a pressed vinyl limited to only 300 copies, enough to get the buzz out but not enough to make mainstream radio feel threatened.

From that point, Slash Records started picking up bands that had been featured in the magazine.

X Second Single and Red Crayola's early releases followed, establishing a catalog of true L.A. punk voices that were otherwise invisible on the national radar.

And because the label already had a built-in network, photographers who knew how to shoot live, writers who could craft press junkets, venues ready for showcases, the transition from zine to label was seamless.

That infrastructure became a prototype for later independent labels across America.

I was watching...

So, you know, when I was at Slash Records, I worked Failure's Fantastic Planet at college, and it was a huge record at college.

I think it might have been a number one record.

That was when I had first graduated and got into the music business.

I was hanging out more with John.

But I was also working by s- at Slash Records by then, and I had gone through another couple lineups of the Flesh Eaters.

Um, I know I'm all over the place with what I'm talking about, but do, do you have any questions you want to zero in on or?

Well, yeah.

But after the Dills, Chip Kinman and his brother Tony were like in a bunch of different bands together over the years.

Chip and Tony Kinman formed Rank and File, which was on Slash Records.

And they moved to Austin from L.A. and they started the whole cow punk movement.

So it was kind of this weird blend of punk and country western.