Genre Various Official website www.southern.net | Country of origin UK
US Founded 1974 | |
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Distributor(s) Southern Studios
Forte Music Location London, England
Chicago, Illinois Founders John Loder, Danielle Soto, Allison Schnackenberg Artists Crass, Rudimentary Peni, Karate, Little Annie, William Elliott Whit Albums The Bed Is in the Ocean, Some Boots, In Place of Real Insight, Unsolved, Karate Profiles | ||
Southern Records is an independent record label closely associated with Crass Records, Corpus Christi Records and Dischord Records. It is based in London and previously had offices in Chicago (closed November 2008), Le Havre (closed July 2009) and Berlin (closed December 2008).
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Southern was originally a recording studio owned and operated by John Loder. Loder became friends with musician, author and poet Penny Rimbaud and collaborated with him and others in an experimental progressive band called EXIT. Rimbaud later formed anarchist punk band Crass, and Southern Studios and John Loder were the obvious choice of venue for the recording of their first album The Feeding of the 5000, originally released on Small Wonder Records. When Small Wonder encountered problems manufacturing the release, due to the allegedly blasphemous nature of some of the lyrics, Crass determined they would need to start their own label to take full responsibility and control of their output. Loder facilitated this by acting as the business manager behind Crass Records: arranging manufacture, distribution and accounting.
The success of Crass and their label thrust Loder into the emerging international independent record business, as he formed alliances with small distributors around the world to distribute the band's output. Through this work he came into contact with a handful of like-minded bands and labels that inspired his passion in a similar way as Crass. He in particular formed a lasting partnership with Dischord Records, helping them to release the Minor Threat records in Europe by pressing and distributing them on their own Dischord imprint.
The first release on the Southern Records label (not to be confused with Loder's Southern Studios, the recording studio and distributor) was Babes in Toyland's album Fontanelle, in August 1992.
Other label imprints operated by Southern include Black Diamond, Latitudes and Truth Cult.
Southern closed its USA distribution and label offices in November 2008 and moved all operations to London.