Founded in 1981 by Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion, Epitaph Records is one of the most successful independent record labels around today. It is based out of Hollywood, California, and is known for being incredibly artist-friendly and diverse in its musical styles.
Gurewitz originally created the label as a means to sell Bad Religion’s records, more or less a mailing address and a name to put on the albums. But ten years later, Gurewitz hired his first full-time employee, the now Product Manager Jeff Abarta. Then, in the mid-nineties, Epitaph helped revitalize punk music and revolutionize pop music with groups like The Offspring, Rancid, and Pennywise.
Since its founding in 1981, Epitaph has grown substantially in size. Its website shows 35 key employees—and nine office canines—located in its offices.Today, Epitaph has several international offices in addition to its Hollywood location, located in Amsterdam, Toronto, and Melbourne. It also has several sister labels, including ANTI-, Burning Heart Records, Fat Possum Records, Hellcat Records, and Heart and Skull Records.
Current artists under Epitaph and its sister labels include well-known groups such as Atmosphere, Bad Religion, The Distillers, Dropkick Murphys, From First to Last, Matchbook Romance, New Found Glory, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Offspring, Pennywise, Rancid, Social Distortion, Weezer, and many more. Hellcat Records is a large part of the record label today, and is owned by Rancid’s front man Tim Armstrong.
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