Defunct 1996 Location New York City Founded 1983 Ceased operations 1996 | Country of origin United States Founder Sam Berger Distributor Dutch East India Trading | |
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Parent company Dutch East India Trading Genre Alternative rock, punk rock, experimental Artists Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, Big Black, Sebadoh, GG Allin | ||
Homestead Records was a Long Island, New York-based sublabel of music distributor Dutch East India Trading. It was founded in 1984 by Sam Berger, who was the American independent buyer for Dutch East India Trading. Berger was finding that many bands who had perhaps released their own first 45 were having difficulty coming up with the finances to press followups. He was able to convince the owner of the company to press and distribute records for bands that already had recorded an album, and have the bands supply the artwork. It is considered instrumental in launching the post-hardcore and noise rock genres. When Berger left to work with Midnight Records, he recommended 18-year-old Gerard Cosloy, whom he knew from Boston and who published a fanzine that Homestead distributed. Cosloy went on to sign many of the notable acts. Cosloy was succeeded by Ken Katkin and later by Steven Joerg. The label's last release was Ivo Perelman's Cama de terra in 1996.