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The items below are still available, but we were not aware of the fact that Myspace no longer allows Paypal buttons directly on the page. Soon we will be setting up an ordering page for these Myspace specials with the Paypal info intact.
For now, go to www.excursionrecords.com for ordering info.
POWER OF TEN three 7" set SPECIAL
POWER OF TEN - Northwest Hardcore Compilation 7" volumes 1 & 2
PLUS 1 copy of the Record Release Version of Volume 2.
Each record contains 10 songs - 1 each from 10 different bands each bringing it in at one minute or less. We only have about 20 of these available, so get 'em while you can.
$10.00 postage paid in the USA.
BANDS ON THE COMPILATIONS:
Pistols at Dusk, Mav Comai, The Answer, Rosary, Champion, Hardesty, 14 Days of Terror, Blue Monday, Dead in Hollywood, Between Earth and Sky, The November Group, To See You Broken, The Entropy Project, Positively Negative, Left With Nothing, Himsa, Spitting Teeth, Screwjack, Staygold, and Contingent.
Order the EDGE OF QUARREL on DVD here:
$15.00 postage paid in the USA.
Outside the USA? Please go to www.excursionrecords.com for ordering info.
The DVD is OUT NOW.
THE HARBOR ISLAND MUTINY
"With Us or Against Us" CD
Limited Edition of 200 numbered copies.
$10.00 postage paid in the USA.
TRIAL / EDGE OF QUARREL DVD Package Deal
Get the TRIAL "Reunion - Retrospective" 2 disc DVD set and THE EDGE OF QUARREL on DVD together for $30.00 postage paid in the USA.
HIMSA Picture LP SPECIAL
HIMSA - "Courting Tragedy and Disaster" Picture LP
We recently found a box of about 30 copies of this rare LP. These are copies of the hand numbered edition out of 666, with the numbering done on the art before the pressing was done so it is under the vinyl. These are first come, first served - and when they are gone, they're gone for good!
$12.00 postage paid in the USA.
Outside the USA? Please go to www.excursionrecords.com for ordering info.
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The Story So Far...
Excursion started as a fanzine out of Bellingham, WA in 1990. The 'zine grew out of my involvement with trying to put on HC/Punk shows with my friends Bill and Kelly from 1989-92, despite the fact that we had almost nothing in terms of a scene in that town. It was really little more than a loose-knit group of skateboarders, but there were a few of us who were dedicated to it and we did manage to pull off the occasional good show. Inside Out, Forced Down, Shelter, Born Against, Rorschach, Downcast, Econochrist, Resist, Unamused, The Stench, and Edgewise were among the notable national bands that we managed to host along with local and nearby bands like Undertow, Resolution, Ten-O-Seven, Strain, and Sparkmarker. Usually this involved help from friends like Ron Brotherhood in Seattle or Kim Kinakin up across the border in Vancouver, and we were getting to know a lot of great new people if nothing else.
Good shows were few and far between however, and I needed more with which to occupy myself in the meantime. I got a job making blueprints for an engineering firm and that gave me access to photocopy machines for the first time. By early 1990 issue number 1 of Excursion had hit the streets and was probably read by 20 or 30 people total. I was embarrassed by it almost immediately and set out right away to make 2 bigger and better. Around this time I came into a small amount of money courtesy of my father, about $700.00, and I decided to try my hand at releasing records. Ron was making it look easy down is Seattle with his label Overkill, and so with some advice from him and a fistfull of cash I set out to do it.
Our first release was a 7" vinyl record by a band called Ten-O-Seven, who were out of Bellevue, WA of all places and were probably the most "pop" sounding of the bands that we consorted with. The record was a 3 song 7" called "Spackle and Grout" and it sounded terrible. The songs themselves were excellent; well written and witty and heartfelt, but recorded on crappy equipment by people without the experience or talent to know how to make them sound right. Still, they were the songs of my label's first record and I loved them, and I assumed that if I liked something then there would be someone else out there that would also. There did end up being a few, and eventually I was able to sell enough copies to make the money that I would need to release a second record. I had been in contact with an old skater friend who had moved to Spokane and started a band called Take Charge and we talked about the possibility of their being record 2. Those guys had decided to modify their sound a little and change their name to Waterstreet, so it was from a 5 song demo tape from this band that I chose the 3 tracks that would make Excursion's second release. The sound quality on this one was much better than the 1st 7", but this time it seemed that a lot of people thought that the singer's voice sounded funny. Once again the complaints didn't seem to matter, and this record ended up being the thing that help establish Excursion as a "real" record label.
Maximum Rock n Roll was the best place to advertise your records and get reviewed back then, so it was a wonderful surprise when Mike Kirsch gave the Waterstreet 7" an absolutely glowing review in that very magazine. Complete with a comparison to indie superstars Fugazi, that one review opened doors that had been previously closed or unknown to me. The most significant event was an order for one copy of the record by a guy named John Lisa from Staten Island, NY. John ran his own small label called Tragic Life, and was in the process of releasing the first 7" by his own band Sleeper. He really liked the Waterstreet record and got back in touch with me to suggest that we trade our releases. Shortly after this he was sending me tapes of Sleeper and his previous band Gutwrench, and negotiating to make a split 7" record with those two bands my third release. This happened, and John and I were becoming good friends and helping each other move records and make contacts. By this time it was 1992 and I was working on issue 5 of Excursion 'zine. This time my plan was to include a cassette compilation of Northwest bands with the 'zine and actually try my hand at charging money for the thing. I worked on the 'zine and tape for many months, and during this time John got me in touch with a music distribution company on Long Island called Dutch East India Trading. All of my label business up to this point had been underground, punk rock, do-it-yourself style and the idea of entering into any kind of deal with an actual corporation was daunting. John assured me that they were on the level, at least a much as the limited amount of distribution dealings we were looking for would require, and he put me in contact with a woman who worked there named Camille who seemed to understand us and spoke our language. I starting working with her to get my records out to stores and at the same time was getting closer to completing my tape compilation. All was looking pretty good, and it was right around this time that things started changing drastically.
Ron called and told me that he could get me a job at Kinko's Copies and a place to live if I would make the 90 mile move from Bellingham to Seattle within a couple of weeks. I had just finished the tape project and my own band had broken up, so I was in the perfect place emotionally to uproot myself and go. Within a week I was loading up my possessions and moving into an apartment in Seattle with my friend Derek Harn; hooked up with a roommate and job by Ron, as promised. At the same time that this was happening I was making plans to release my two biggest releases yet with the direct involvement of Camille and Dutch East. Having developed a good working relationship with me over a number of months, Camille suggested that if I ever wanted to release records and CDs on a larger level Dutch East would be willing to pay for everything to get them manufactured in exchange for exclusive distribution rights. This seemed like it could be a good deal, and once they agreed to allow me to work it on a record-by-record basis and reserve the right to pay for and release anything I wanted outside of this deal I agreed to it.
Ten-O-Seven's "You're Cool" LP/CD and Undertow's "Stalemate" CD/7" were my first Dutch East sponsored releases, followed shortly thereafter by records from Sleeper and Brand New Unit. Over a four-year period Excursion released 10 records in this manner and was able to make things happen that I would otherwise never have been able to afford. Eventually Camille left and my relationship with Dutch East grew somewhat strained by forced artwork changes on a couple of releases caused by Sleeper's sale of their name to the UK Sleeper. They ended their career as Serpico (after two great records on Equal Vision), and shortly thereafter I stopped working with Dutch East. As far as I know they have been out of business for a few years now.
By 1998 I was immersed in the production of my film The Edge of Quarrel and releasing much less in the way of music. By the time the movie was complete and being distributed on VHS in 2000 I was weighing the idea that there may not be any new musical releases on Excursion. That was all out the window by 2001 as NW bands like Champion, Staygold, Himsa, Left With Nothing, The Answer, Hardesty, To See You Broken, and others were all coming into their own. I felt that I had no choice but to dive back in headfirst.
Six years and one hell of a pile of debt later, Excursion is still here and still functioning. As of this writing it is near the end of 2007 and the first DVD version of The Edge of Quarrel to be released in the USA is in production. Rumors of new record and 'zine projects are swirling about, and another movie will have to happen sooner or latter. The website has been updated and you're reading this on our new Myspace page.
Excursion is alive and well, and will remain so one way or another for as long as I am.
- Dave Larson
STORY UPDATE: As you can probably tell from the top of this page, the DVD of THE EDGE OF QUARREL did come out. Also, in May of 2008 Excursion teamed up with our old friend Aaron Edge to release a limited edition CD from his band THE HARBOR ISLAND MUTINY. What's next? Who knows?! Matt Matsuoka is rising again, which is always a cause for delight and fear. I revel in both.