Mutant Pop Records

Mutant Pop Records
Founded 1995
Founder Tim Davenport
Distributor(s) 1,000 Flowers
Genre pop punk, punk rock
Country of origin United States
Location Corvallis, Oregon
Official website www.mutantpop.com

Mutant Pop Records was an independent record label founded in Corvallis, Oregon in 1995 by Tim "Timbo" Davenport (born October 1, 1961), also known by the "punk name" T. Chandler. The label released approximately 15 full-length albums in compact disc format, and more than 85 releases as 7" vinyl EPs or commercial CD-R discs. The label also re-released several pop-punk-related albums and EPs from other labels that had gone out of print. After ceasing the release of new material in 2002, the label made a brief comeback attempt in 2008 before terminating operations at the end of that year.

Company history

Representative examples of unsolicited demos received by Mutant Pop in the late 1990s.

A label for collectors

Mutant Pop Records was a single person operation, a so-called "bedroom label," begun in April 1995.[1] Signing all his releases T. Chandler, Davenport ‘set out to create a collectible series, featuring a uniform design, drawing inspiration from labels of the 70s,’ [2] while issuing limited runs of colored vinyl.[3][4] The label had an estimated 100 releases including vinyl EPs, full-length CDs, and several waves of a short-run CD-R mail-order series.

Mutant Pop was perhaps the first label to experiment with the CD-R format, printing on demand, as a commercial option. It spawned several imitations as ‘labels in Japan have parodied his influential CDR short run series, by using similar design elements on the CDR sleeves and blanks’.[2][5] While other record labels have acknowledged Mutant Pop as a main ‘influence and inspiration.’ [6]

Musical styles

Davenport has described his own label's history in terms of three eras, focused around three flagship bands. Mutant Pop began with a clear focus on the geeky, sloppy pop punk of The Automatics, followed by the somewhat more complex Connie Dungs, and finished with Ramones-core punks The Peabodys.

Distribution

The label also operated its own wholesale distribution, known as 1000 Flowers, which served as an important hub for pop punk distribution during the second half of the 1990s. The distribution began as the wholesale arm of Mutant Pop in 1995, selling directly to record stores. In 1997 it moved to a direct-to-customer mail order service and began selling non-Mutant Pop titles. The monthly Mutant Pop newsletter and catalogue turned into a ‘full-fledged zine’ serving as an important tool in the dissemination of knowledge regarding underground pop punk before the widespread use of the internet.[6]

The label went on hiatus in 2001, only releasing a single release before making a small comeback during the first half of 2002. Thereafter the label went to sleep until 2008, when a return to 7" vinyl was made. The economics of the format proved to be untenable, however, and the label was silently terminated at the end of that year.

Artists

Footnotes

  1. ↑ (2 April 2004). Dirt Bike Annie Wants You To Have Fun, Journal Review Crawfordsville, Indiana
  2. 1 2 "Mutant Pop profile," Discogs.com, Retrieved Aug. 31, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Mutant Pop Guide to 7" Pressings," Punk-Information.com, Retrieved Aug. 31, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Mutant Pop is Back," Vinyl Collective, May 22, 2008.
  5. ↑ " SP Records Short Run CD Series," SP Records, Retrieved Aug. 31, 2014.
  6. 1 2 "The Spinoffs "Stayin' Alive"," It’s Alive Records, Dec., 2010.

Further reading

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