DionysusRecords.com
Title
THE DIONYSUS EMPIRE
Description
Since 1984, Dionysus has released a slew of records by and for fans of garage, rockabilly, surf, ‘70s punk, psychedelic, over-the-edge rock ‘n’ roll, new wave, exotica and other inspirations. Dionysus evolved from a cassette-only label of another name, run out of a record store in Tucson by label president Lee Joseph.
The first Dionysus record was a 45 by his former band Yard Trauma, pressed in a quantity of 500 and released in late 1983. Upon relocation to Los Angeles in early 1984, the folks at Bomp Records helped Lee establish Dionysus as a full-fleged label. The first albums, Yard Trauma’s “Must’ve Been Something I Took Last Night” and Thee Fourgiven’s ‘It Aint Pretty Down Here” hit the stores in mid-1985. In it’s infancy, the label focused on music inspired by mid ‘60s garage music. In 1986, Dionysus hooked up distributor Mordam Records, now Lumberjack/Mordam, where it remains to this day. Lee worked part time at a law office from 1984 through 1991 when he became the first paid employee (part time) for Epitaph. All this time Dionysus was run two days a week and whatever time could be squeezed in between his jobs, playing in two bands and establishing/enjoying himself in the local club scene.
In the late ‘80s Dionysus expanded its musical roster as the local and Indie scene experienced a great explosion of rock ‘n’ roll bands. During this time, the label was run out of a partially converted garage (shared with an appliance repair man) next to Lee’s home. Artwork for many of the releases was put together on an art table with Exacto knives, wax, Letraset, etc., in the utility room of the house. In the early ‘90s, two other labels were started within the Empire, Bacchus Archives, strictly for reissues/ archival material, and Hell Yeah, for over-the-edge and twisted music that just didn’t fit on Dionysus. Lee worked the label long hours into the night and also built up a gigantic mail-order catalog of records released on other labels.
Additional Information
Related Domains
- 60s Garage
- Alternative Rock
- Beachwood Sparks
- Brian Jonestown Massacre
- Clash
- Cramps
- Damned
- Flamin Groovies
- Freakbeat
- Garage Music
- Garage Rock
- Hardcore Punk
- Hellacopters
- Indie Music
- Johnny Thunders
- Killed By Death
- Les Baxter
- Mail Order Music
- Martin Denny
- Masque
- Misfits
- Monks
- Music Books
- New York Dolls
- Nomads
- Nuggets
- Outsiders
- Pebbles
- Power Pop
- Pretty Things
- Psychedelic Music
- Punk Rock
- Radio Birdman
- Ramones
- Rare Records
- Rubble
- Sixties Garage
- Sixties Music
- White Stripes
- Powerpop