timeline

1991

KRS debuts with KRS-101, a spoken word split single featuring Kathleen Hanna and Slim Moon.
Slim Moon: In January, 1991, I was living with Greg Babior and i bought some watercolor paints and made a painting on the back of a Pontiac Brothers poster, a bunch of sweeping lines of color, a few splashes and a few words, the most prominent being "kill rock stars". This was about the same time as when i spraypainted "Zap 'em back with superlove" on a big piece of plywood for a spoken word performance. When I applied for a business license I felt pressed to come up with a name. That poster was on my wall and it seemed like a good idea (especially since the first poem on the first record is called "Rock Star".)

Kill Rock Stars compilation released, featuring Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Melvins and Unwound. It also featured artwork by Tinuviel, who became an enthusiastic supporter of the label.
Slim Moon: One night, I decided that a compilation of all the good bands in Olympia would sell pretty good if I could get it out by the IPU convention (August 1991). Later that night I talked myself out of it. The next morning Calvin called and said "So are you doing this compilation or what?"

1992

Unwound, "Caterpillar" 7" single
Slim Moon: In 1991, Giant Henry's last show was just about the funnest party/show I've ever been to. For the last song, they played their smash hit "Chris Jordan" for about half an hour. Eventually one of them got up and walked off but the other two kept playing. A member of the audience grabbed the unused instrument and joined in. After a while, all the members of the band had left but the song was still being played. It seemed like it went on for hours. The reason Giant Henry broke up was because Brandt wanted to quit. Later, the same three guys started a new band with all new songs. They called themselves "Cygnus X-1" (or something like that) before settling on Unwound. Their first show was incredible. All I could think was "These guys are ready already to make records, but nobody is gonna put out their records for years. It's a damned shame."

Bikini Kill releases their self-titled debut EP
Slim Moon: When Bikini Kill told me that they wanted me to put out their record, I wasn't sure I was ready. I had a secret fantasy of building a record label, but I thought it would take like three years before I had something to offer to a big band. So I was floored when they asked me because it was way ahead of my schedule of how things would go. But they felt they could trust me because I was their friend. It was super exciting. I didn't know that they were going to get in this vortex of riot grrl popularity with national press and everything. But I knew they were a really exciting band.

1993

Bikini Kill/Huggy Bear split LP entitled "Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah/Our Troubled Youth"
Slim Moon: This was the year of the Witchypoo/Huggy Bear/Bikini Kill tour. Basically, just combine "Don't Look Back" with "The Kids Are Alright" and you'll know what happened.

Stars Kill Rock complilation, featuring Mary Lou Lord, Slant 6, godheadsilo and Tiger Trap.
Bratmobile "Pottymouth" LP
Unwound "Fake Train" LP
Bikini Kill releases the "Rebel Girl" 7" single, produced by Joan Jett.
Bikini Kill their first full-length album, "Pussy Whipped"

1994

Heavens to Betsy "Calculated" LP
Slim Moon: Heavens to Betsy was my favorite unexpected thing from the IPU convention. When Corin sang "My Red Self" from behind the drumset, she was so young and earnest, and her voice was so big, and the song was so powerful. It really moved me. When the opportunity came to reissue the Kill Rock Stars compilation on CD, it seemed like a shame to waste the extra space that a CD has, so we put some bonus tracks on there of bands that played IPU that I didn't really even know about before the convention. This was my first contact with H2B and Corin Tucker.

godheadsilo debuts with "The Scientific Supercake" LP
Exene Cervenka releases a spoken word 7" entitled "Tombs"
Rock Stars Kill compilation featuring Free Kitten, Helium, Rancid and Team Dresch.

1995

Mary Lou Lord's self-titled debut EP
Excuse 17, "Such Friends Are Dangerous" LP
Release of KRS' first full-length spoken word album, "Big Broad" by Juliana Luecking.
Elliott Smith releases his self-titled solo LP.
Slim Moon: In 1994, i had been asked to be on this five-person solo-act tour called Pop Chord with Tammy Watson, Carrie Akre, Sean Croghan and Elliott Smith. The first night at the Crocodile in Seattle, I didn't pay too much attention and people talked all thru Elliott's set. Sean said during his set that it was too bad nobody listened to Elliott Smith - that they were all really missing out. The next night I listened very closely to Elliott's set. I went out to the van and listened to his CD for the rest of the night until the show was over. I watched his set very carefully every time after that, rest assured.

1996

Bikini Kill, "Reject All American" LP
Unwound,"Repetition" LP
Mary Lou Lord, "Martian Saints" EP

1997

Slim Moon release a full-length solo spoken word CD entitled "Won't You Dance With This Man?"
In October, Slim Moon starts sister label 5RC with releases from The Replikants and Deerhoof
Sleater- Kinney "Dig Me Out" LP
>Slim Moon: With Sleater-Kinney, everything became more than the sum of parts. From the very beginning, Corin's voice and songwriting were very moving to me. Even from the time I saw Heavens to Betsy at the IPU. And it turned out that she and Carrie were mature, grown up, reasonable people to work with. It was really refreshing.

1998

The John Doe Thing, "For The Rest Of Us" EP
Jad & David Fair, "Monster Songs For Children" LP
Julie Ruin, "Julie Ruin" LP
Bangs, "Tiger Beat" LP
The Frumpies release their singles compilation entitled "Frumpie One Piece"
The Mailorder Freaks 7" singles club series begins

1999

Tight Bros. from Way Back When, "Runnin' Thru My Bones" LP
Mike "Sport" Murphy, "Willoughby" LP
Slim Moon: There is some stuff that I put out because it just makes sense. It might not be my favorite, but it makes sense. Then sometimes I insist that we put out something like Sport Murphy, which doesn't make sense at all. I'm moved by music that is personal and autobiographical and kinda corny.

Unwound releases their singles compilation, "A Single History".
Sleater-Kinney, "The Hot Rock" LP

2000

Two Ton Boa releases their self-titled debut EP
KRS releases a posthumous CD collection by author and spoken word diva, Kathy Acker entitled "Redoing Childhood"
Legendary pop songstress Ronnie Spector releases "She Talks to Rainbows", an EP featuring a duet with Joey Ramone
Jean Smith, "Jean Smith" LP
Lois Maffeo & Brendan Canty, "The Union Themes" LP
Lois Maffeo: I dubbed Slim a tape of some band or lecture or something onto a cassette of demos that I had done with my friend Brendan in Washington, D.C. The next time I saw him he said, "Cool tape, but what's all that Lois stuff on the other side?" I told him it was just some odds and ends that Brendan and I had come up with in basement recording sessions. His next remark was, "Well...if you think you wanna put it out...."

Sleater-Kinney, "All Hands On the Bad One" LP

2001

The Gossip, "That's Not What I Heard" LP
KRS reissues a double CD by revered Swiss post-punk band Kleenex, who later became Liliput
C-Average, "Second Reckoning" LP
Unwound, the first band signed to KRS, releases "Leaves Turn Inside You", a double enhanced CD which includes two videos.
Justin Trosper: It has been interesting to see the label evolve from a sort of project to one of the biggest independents around. It's pretty cool.

Sara Lund: There've been good times and bad times. The best part [of being on Kill Rock Stars] is that we're all friends and have been since day one. We were the first band on that label and have grown along with them.

2002

Distribution changes from Mordam Records to the powerhouse of Touch and Go!
Jeff Hanson "Son" CD - debut album!
Comet Gain "Realistes" CD/LP
Deerhoof "Reveille" CD
Sleater-Kinney release their last record with KRS entitled "One Beat"
Stereo Total joins up with KRS and we begin to reissue their back catalog, starting with "Musique Automatique" in October. They tour the U.S. and play a show in Portland with Bangs at the Blackbird where someone steals their banner.
5RC releases Xiu Xiu "Knife Play" + Hella "Hold Your Horse Is"
Fields and Streams double CD compilation is released

2003

Kill Rock Stars signs Portland band, The Decemberists, and releases two records. The first, released in May, was a reissue of "Castaways and Cutouts" (orginally on Hush records). The second, released in September, was all new material and entitled "Her Majesty The Decemberists".
Gravy Train "Hello Doctor" LP/CD
Essential Logic "Fanfare in the Garden" 2CD - reissue of the fabulous Lora Logic + Co.
Deerhoof's fanbase continues to grow by leaps and bounds with "Apple O'"

2004

Casual Dots s/t CD
Deerhoof Milk Man CD
Shoplifting CDEP
the pAper chAse "god bless your black heart" CD
In September of 2004 Kill Rock Stars puts on the Yeah! Fest. Three days and three stages of bands at the Eagle's Hall in Olympia. It's a Bands Against Bush event. The last night closes with the Bangs' last show.
Wrangler Brutes "Zulu" CD
5RC releases Xiu Xiu "Fabulous Muscles" CD, The Advantage s/t CD + The Mae Shi "Terrorbird" CD

2005

KRS Video Fanzine #3 is released (this time on DVD) featuring Sleater-Kinney, The Decemberists, Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, etc etc etc
The Decemberists "Picaresque" CD/dbl LP (the LP was released four months later with bonus tracks and packaged in a fancy gatefold with a huge color booklet)
Numbers "We're Animals" CD
The Makers "Everybody Rise!" CD - the first album of all new material in 3 years. Produced by Jack Endino.
Linda Perry "In Flight" CD - reissue of debut solo album from the powerhouse singer songwriter
Deerhoof "The Runners Four" CD - they just keep getting better and better.
5RC signs and releases new records by a TON of new bands: The Punks, The Planet The, Metalux, Need New Body, The Robot Ate Me, BARR, Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice, and The No Neck Blues Band.

2006

15 year anniversary!
Starter Set DVD
The Gossip "Standing in the Way of Control" CD/LP
Various Artists "The Sound the Hare Heard" CD - songwriter comp featuring Colin Meloy, Laura Veirs, Sufjan Stevens, Jeff Hanson, Nedelle, etc
Imaad Wasif s/t CD - debut album