Zod Records

Zod Records was initiated in 1999 by brothers Sam and Ben Derickson with design and web support by Thomas Wincek. Since then the label's direction has been equally varied with a focus on experimentation and dedication to ingenuity of sound and structure. In the early outset label focused on a heavy breakbeat sound often summed up as "breakcore", though attention to originality, quality, and interesting sound design set these early releases apart from other music labeled as such. The first releases featured musicians and sound designers from all over the globe but the young label soon found itself taking many different musical directions with the debuts of several artists producing music much closer to home, most notably Milwaukee's own EmotionalJoystick, Curtis Chip, and Soplerfo from Boston. At this point the label was releasing anything and everything that its operators saw fit, from the spacious and minimal to the spastic and aggravated. In recent years Zod has found it difficult to carve a true niche in any musical genre at the fault of its own eclecticism, and failure to subscribe to any one of the many sub-genres found in what's known as electronic music. But where Zod does succeed is in integrity of the song, and releasing music based on the motivation to bring good things to listeners’ ears. As of 2007 Zod has over 20 releases under its belt, has sold more then 12,000 albums, and has organized several tours throughout the U.S. and Europe featuring many of its artists with dates in most major cities. Marking the first Zod Records release in over 2 years, the debut album “Flags Forward” by Mystery Palace of Minneapolis takes the label in very new and equally exciting direction incorporating live instrumentation and vocals. The music of Mystery Palace holds true to the labels experimental mentality but adds a new found pop sensibility. Though still the side project of its operators who maintain day jobs to make a living, the Zod records trio will continue to focus its efforts in excellence, originality of music and seek out new and interesting facets of the experimental pop music.