Dirtnap Records is an independent

Independent record label

An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...

 Pacific Northwest

Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...

 record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 specializing in punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

. It was founded by Ken Cheppaikode while he was living in Seattle

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

 in 1999. Cheppaikode bought Green Noise record store in Portland

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

 in 2005 and now runs the label from there.

Cheppaikode started the label while working for Mordam Records

Mordam Records

Mordam Records was a Sacramento, California record distribution company for independent record labels. It was originally founded in San Francisco in 1983 as an independent punk distribution company by Ruth Schwartz...

, distributor of many punk labels and Maximum RocknRoll

Maximum RocknRoll

Maximum rocknroll is a widely distributed, monthly not-for-profit fanzine based in San Francisco, USA. It features interviews, columns, and reviews from international contributors...

 magazine. Naturally, Mordam also distributed Dirtnap's early releases. However, immediately before Mordam merged with Lumberjack Distribution in 2005, Cheppaikode chose to switch to RedEye Distribution

Redeye Distribution

Redeye Distribution is an independent music distribution company founded in 1996 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Redeye currently distributes such labels as Marsalis Music, Barsuk Records, Warp Records, Daptone Records, Luaka Bop Records, Kill Rock Stars, Sargent House, Hydra Head Records, The...

.

In 2006 Dirtnap agreed to an exclusive licensing deal with Railer Entertainment Music Licensing which immediately led to the inclusion of several Dirtnap bands on the soundtrack of the PlayStation 3

PlayStation 3

The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

 game, Skate

Skate (video game)

Skate is a skateboarding video game developed by EA Black Box for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It was released in North America on September 17, 2007 for the Xbox 360 and September 24, 2007 for the PlayStation 3 and in Europe on September 28, 2007 for the Xbox 360 and October 5, 2007 for the...

.

Dirtnap originally focused on regional talent, releasing a lot of local 7" singles

Gramophone record

A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

 and splits. It has since expanded its focus, attracting attention in the early 2000s when it was releasing records by The Briefs

The Briefs

The Briefs are a punk rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 2000 and originally consisting of Daniel J. Travanti , Steve E. Nix , Lance Romance and Chris Brief . They play punk rock music, influenced by acts such as Buzzcocks, The Undertones and The Adverts...

, the Epoxies, and The Exploding Hearts

The Exploding Hearts

The Exploding Hearts were an American punk rock and power pop band formed in Portland, Oregon in 2001. The band was composed of vocalist/guitarist Adam Cox, bassist Matt Fitzgerald, guitarist Terry Six, and drummer Jeremy Gage....

. In 2009 the label signed The White Wires from Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

. Other notable releases once Dirtnap expanded its focus include multiple records by the likes of Denton, Texas

Denton, Texas

The city of Denton is the county seat of Denton County, Texas in the United States. Its population was 119,454 according to the 2010 U.S. Census, making it the eleventh largest city in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex...

's The Marked Men

The Marked Men

The Marked Men are a punk rock band from Denton, Texas composed of guitarists/vocalists Mark Ryan and Jeff Burke, bassist Joe Ayoub, and drummer Mike Throneberry. They have released four albums through Rip Off Records, Dirtnap Records, and Swami Records...

 and New Brunswick, New Jersey

New Brunswick, New Jersey

New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA. It is the county seat and the home of Rutgers University. The city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line, southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the population of...

's The Ergs!

The Ergs!

The Ergs! were an American punk rock band formed in 2000 in South Amboy, New Jersey, by three high school friends: drummer/lead vocalist Mikey Erg , guitarist/vocalist Jeff Erg , and bassist Joey Erg...

In early 2007 Cheppaikode started a vinyl-only sublabel called Green Noise (after his record shop) that retains the local focus Dirtnap used to have.

External links

• Dirtnap Records (official website)