The first few releases were an experiment in helping out some of our friends who were in lesser known bands and were not exactly on the radar of any label or promoter, major or otherwise. With some networking and a lot of punk-rock ingenuity, we managed to release three 7 inch EPs and a couple of CD demos. Although the goal was always to expand, we never really expected to grow into the label we a
re today. At that time Crash Records was more of a production company, promoting shows in and around Portland, Oregon. That period also served as a learning experience, as we were cutting our teeth in the scene and gathering contacts, as well as momentum. In early 2006, we decided to take the label more seriously than ever before with the release of a 30 song compilation CD called “Corruption of American Youth Volume 1”. This compilation featured a variety of local, national, and even international punk bands and was an important breakthrough for the label. Though our focus has been mainly Punk we did not want to limit ourselves to releasing music of that genre only. We have since released a wide variety of different bands and most are friends of ours who work hard, constantly tour and musically span all genres. Our goal is simply to continue helping bands with the advertising, promotion and distribution. We are a small handful of people and work closely with other labels on many projects done with the true DIY ethic that has been the base of our label from the beginning. We are providing a situation for bands to work with a label run by touring musicians who understand how much work goes into being in a touring band. We also pay our bands better than most record labels either in free copies of their releases or royalties, depending on the bands preference. To do this we do not make our living from running this record label. In fact we spend a lot of our own money to run this label. Any money generated from the label goes back into releasing and supporting bands from around the world! We support labels, bands, magazines, promoters and distributors that make the underground Punk Rock community what it is today. We remain self-sufficient without the influence of anything but the music itself. Thanks for all the support!