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Concept
K Records
Summary
K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent music" since the 1980s.
The label was founded by Beat Happening frontman Calvin Johnson and managed for many years by Candice Pedersen. Many early releases were on the cassette tape format, making the label one of the longest lasting reflections of the cassette culture of the 1970s and early 1980s. Although itself releasing primarily offbeat pop music and indie rock, the DIY label is regarded as one of the pioneers of riot grrrl movement and the second wave of American punk in the 1990s.
Johnson founded K Records with the intention of distributing cassette tapes of a local band, The Supreme Cool Beings, which he had recorded performing for his radio show at Evergreen State College radio station KAOS (FM). According to author Gina Arnold, the name "K" originally stood for "knowledge" — as in knowledge of regional underground music scenes and of music in general. Johnson, however, has stated that "it's unclear why the name is K."
K was run from Johnson's kitchen in Olympia until January 1986, when he hired Candice Pedersen for $20 a week and academic credit at Evergreen State College. Pedersen became a full partner in 1989 until selling her half of the label to Johnson in 1999. In 2016, Pedersen told The Stranger that the separation was on "bad terms," and that Calvin had reluctantly agreed to a payment plan for her share, to be paid back over 20 years.
The label's first vinyl record release was the 1984 Beat Happening 45, "Our Secret / What's Important," but the great bulk of the label's early releases were made on the medium of cassette tapes, with "about 20" cassette releases noted in a 1986 Flipside interview, in addition to "4 more in the works."
Johnson noted:
A cassette is great for a local scene like Olympia because a band can release a cassette and not have to spend their would-be savings.
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