Record Label Spotlight: Fat Wreck Chords

Over the last 20 years, HIP Video Promo has enjoyed working with some of the most outstanding and iconic record companies in the music industry. Every Tuesday, we’ll go down memory lane and talk about some of our favorite record labels we’ve worked with in the past. On this Record Label Tuesday, we’re continuing with the fantastic Fat Wreck Chords (pronounced “Fat Records”).

Who knows what an artist wants in a record label better than an artist themselves? Fat Mike (Mike Burkett), bassist and vocalist of NOFX, and Erin Burkett started the label in 1991. Speaking to Consequence of Sound [https://consequenceofsound.net/2015/09/survival-of-the-fattest-an-oral-history-of-fat-wreck-chords/] in 2015, Fat Mike said, “I started putting out NOFX seven inches in the ’80s, because it was the only choice. There weren’t any labels. There was Mystic Records, but they never paid us. So I just said, ‘Fuck it, I’ll do it myself.’” So, from their one-bedroom apartment in the Mission in San Francisco, the pair would receive orders over fax machine and pack and ship every order themselves.

The first band on Fat Wreck Chords other than NOFX was Lagwagon; Propagandhi and No Use for a Name came soon after. Fat Mike and Erin have always run the label on their own terms, having direct involvement with artists they believe in who make music they genuinely love. To date, the label has released over 150 studio albums.

We were honored to work with Fat Wreck Chords for the first time in July 2005 for The Soviettes’ video July 2005 for The Soviettes’ video “Multiply and Divide”. From Fargo, ND to Minneapolis, this quartet defied easy description. We’d previously promoted their “Land of Clear Blue Radio” and “#1 is Number Two” videos. “Multiply and Divide” came from The Soviettes LP III, the group’s first release on Fat Wreck Chords, and it was their most explosive yet.

When you’re talking about punk rock, it’d be hard to forget a legendary group like Against Me!. Against Me! was formed in 1997 by singer and guitarist Laura Jane Grace. The group signed with Fat Wreck Chords and made their label debut with Against Me! as the Eternal Cowboy in 2003. They released their third album, Searching for a Former Clarity, in 2005. We had the honor of promoting three videos from that release: “Don’t Lose Touch” in September 2005, “From Her Lips To God’s Ears (The Energizer)” in April 2006, and “Problems” in August 2006.

Chris McCaughan (guitar) and Brendan Kelly (bass) of The Broadways later went on to form The Lawrence Arms, one of the most ingenious punk bands in America. They released Oh! Calcutta!, their fifth album, in March 2006; fresh off the release, we promoted their “The Devil’s Takin’ Names” video.

That same month, we first worked with Love Equals Death, one of the most interesting bands to emerge from the Bay Area punk scene. Nightmerica was their debut release, and in March 2006, we began promoting their “Pray For Me” video. In April 2007, we promoted the “Truth Has Failed” video, another Nightmerica track.