The conception of Rok Lok Records took place in the winter of 1998 as I was preparing our first release On the Might of Princes “The Making of a Conversation†which appeared in August 1999. Early on I knew I wanted to contribute a different voice to Long Island's creative community. Traffic Violation was already releasing the finest in anthemic punk rock so why should Rok Lok duplicate that? Punk and Hardcore inspired me to find that individual voice that had always been screaming inside. I saw in many ways my excitement for the community dwindle as the bands, art, and politics became formulaic and to me being formulaic was everything that Punk and Hardcore shouldn..t be. In my eyes Punk and Hardcore has no boundaries and isn..t defined by a sound, look or idea it..s about defining your own lines. Afterall the soundtrack to my life has been The Minutemen..s “Double Nickels on the Dime†for quite some time. With Rok Lok Records I knew that I wanted to extrapolate the potential to which this community can grow and have it..s scope widened. There are so many different unique voices within even our own little community and I felt compelled to make sure more of those voices were heard. Expression is painful when it is limited and limitation was the state of emergency our community had been in. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to work with such diverse artists who come from all different backgrounds-race, gender, sexual orientation,etc., and be able to help amplify their voices. Whether we..ve issued the music from a political melodic band such as De La Hoya, lo-fi indie fuzz from Bo Coach, electronic dance punk such as Space Robot Scientists or four track experimentalism from Stars Are Insane, we have always made the point to help paint a more vibrant portrait of Long Island..s DIY community. We are not only a diverse community but a strong one.
Discography:
RL01 On the Might of Princes "The Making of a Conversation" CD (out of print)
RL02 Stars Are Insane "Gracias" CASSETTE (out of print)
RL03 De La Hoya "Has No Credibility" CDEP (out of print)
RL04 Pale Marble Movie s/t CASSETTE (out of print)
RL05 Bo Coach "The Mustard Tape" CASSETTE (out of print)
RL06 Explosivo! "The Uh Oh EP" CDEP
RL07 Stars Are Insane "Anonymously Yours" CASSETTE (out of print)
RL08 V/A The Hope Machine compilation CD
RL09 Stars Are Insane "Justin Age 8" CASSETTE (out of print)
RL10 Stars Are Insane "Gay" CASSETTE (out of print)
RL11 Space Robot Scientists "We've Got a Time Machine" CD
RL12 Nakatomi Plaza/Latterman split 7 INCH (out of print)
RL13 Bookstore s/t CD
RL14 End I s/t 7 INCH (out of print)
RL15 Yes Sensei "What I Do Best is What I Do Worst" CD
RL16 Yes Sensei "We Who Transplant Sustain" CD
RL17 Empty Silos Echo War "Semantics" LP
RL18 Death Cycle/Solidarity Pact split 7 INCH (out of print)
RL19 Imagine If the Sun Fell 7 INCH
RL20 Empty Silos Echo War "Inner Working Mechanics of a Failed Construct with Puritan Cement" CD
RL21 Destructasaurus Rex "100% Mad Indie Rock Flava" CD-R/DVD-R (out of print)
RL22 Stars Are Insane "9 Untitled Songs" CD-R
RL23 Stars Are Insane "So. I Dreamed of Noise" 4x CD-R
RL24 BRRR s/t 7 INCH (out of print)
RL25 United States "Divorce Songs" LP (out of print)
RL26 On the Might of Princes "The Making of a Conversation" CD (deluxe reissue)
RL27 On the Might of Princes "Where You Are & Where You Want to Be" CD (deluxe reissue)
RL28 The Third Memory "et de cela rien ne ressort" LP
RL29 Olde Ghost "Totally" 7 INCH
RL30 Damezumari/Fire Team Charlie split LP
RL31 Yes Sensei "s/t" CD
Coming Soon:
RL32 Yes Sensei/We Meet Under Tables "split" 7 INCH
Later on:
Marshall Teller/Halftime Parade "split" 7 inch
BRRR full length LP
Stars Are Insane "A Plan...A Perfect Disaster" LP/CD-R
