Country of origin United States Official website www.plan-it-x.com | Location Bloomington, Indiana Founded 1994 | |
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Distributor(s) No Idea Records, as well as other independent channels Genre Punk rock, pop punk, folk punk, folk Founders Sam Dorsett, Chris Johnston Artists Ghost Mice, Chris Clavin, AJJ, Against Me!, Defiance - Ohio Albums The Debt of the Dead, All We Got Is Each Other, Front Seat Solidarity, I Love You This Is a Robbery, Romance Conflict Adventure | ||
Plan-It-X Records (also known as PIX) is an independent record label in the United States. Originally based in Georgetown, Indiana, PIX is currently based out of Bloomington, Indiana following brief stints in Olympia, Washington, Gainesville, Florida and Cairo, Illinois. They are best known for releasing folk punk and pop punk, including Against Me!'s Crime As Forgiven By, other notable albums by This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb, Defiance, Ohio, Ghost Mice, Japanther, The Bananas, Operation: Cliff Clavin, and Antsy Pants (a project featuring Kimya Dawson of the Moldy Peaches), and re-released albums by Fifteen, among others.
Contents
Founded in 1994 by Samantha Jane Dorsett, Plan-It-X holds a strict DIY punk ethic. The label sells all CDs for five dollars or less. PIX's slogan reads: "If it ain't cheap, it ain't punk". PIX attempts to demonstrate that the practices of major record labels do not need to be duplicated by independent record labels in order to be successful. They support other small labels and encourage others to do so as well (and even go as far as to suggest starting your own label).
The label is run by Chris Johnston, who goes by the name Chris Clavin (For the band name Operation Cliff Clavin) and his friends. Johnston currently plays in the bands Ghost Mice and Imperial Can, as well as his solo acts Captain Chaos. Chris is a former band member of Operation: Cliff Clavin, The Devil Is Electric, The Ted Dancin' Machine, Peanucle, The Sissies, Tooth Soup and The Jammy Dodgers.
Beyond the release of musical albums, Plan-It-X has released a book by author Greg Wells (Complete Control: An Anthology 1997-2005), the zine My Friend Bubby, as well as a DVD featuring live performances of bands filmed during Plan-It-X Fest 2004 (see below). A documentary was released in 2010, put together from footage shot across the week of the 2006 Plan It X Fest. Clavin closed the label in 2016, writing that since it was not financially possible to release in a physical format and that bands could easily release their music on their own, and thus the label had outlived its original purpose.
Plan-It-X Fest
In 2004 Plan-It-X Records celebrated its 10-year anniversary with a three-day festival in Bloomington, Indiana. A large portion of the bands involved with the label performed throughout the three-day event.
With the success of the 2004 fest, Plan-It-X decided to take the festival on the road the following year in 2005 with a number of their bands in a school bus. The school bus toured throughout the Eastern and Midwestern United States.
2006 saw the third Plan-It-X fest return to Bloomington as a six-day "Punk Rock Summer Camp," with bands playing every night and workshops and other activities throughout the afternoon. Like the two previous fests, 2006's fest raised money for charity. This year a total of $8,200 was split amongst three different charities.
2011 saw the fourth Plan-It-X Fest. It took place on June 24, 25, and 26 in Bloomington, Indiana. Like previous fests, this one was a benefit for several grassroots organizations. It also marked the release of PIX99, a book based on founder Samantha Dorsett's life.
The 5th Plan-It-X Fest happened in 2012.
The 6th Plan-It-X Fest took place in 2014 in Spencer, IN.
The 7th (and rumored to be the final) Plan-It-X Fest took place in Spencer, IN from July 22nd to the 24th, 2016. This festival was filmed for a short YouTube documentary by Punk With A Camera entitled "And One For Good Luck - The Last Plan-It-X Fest". Artists performing included Ramshackle Glory, Ghost Mice, Terror Pigeon, The Wild, Pioneers Press author Adam Gnade, Super Famicon, Erin Tobey, Your Heart Breaks and many more.
Bands and artists
The following is an alphabetized list of artists that have worked with Plan-It-X to release projects on the label. Some of these bands overlap with Plan-It-X South bands (see below regarding PIX South).
Overview
Plan-It-X South is a part of the main Plan-It-X label, but is run by Teddy Helmick of This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb. Plan-It-X carries all of the Plan-It-X South releases in their catalog. This arrangement benefits Chris Johnston, as Teddy operates and finances PIX South, so the burden is taken off of Johnston. And since the releases are distributed through the main PIX catalog, it allows Teddy the opportunity to take part in the production and release of more music, distributed through a channel already proven successful.
PIX South shares the same DIY punk ethic of its mother label.