The History of Bad Stain Records

After submitting his bands demo cassette to dozens of independent record labels without a response, Chase Stain decided to start his own record label, and signed his band to the label. Stain arrived at the idea after he noticed that the punk/thrash/metal band, D.R.I., owned their own record label, and had achieved significant success from their decision. Chase Stain started Dirty Records in 1994, and immediately released the "( 1/2 Months" EP from his band, Dirty Laundry.

Stain was not happy with the name that he had chosen for his record label, but continued to use Dirty Records as a way to help promote his band, and the label eventually produced Dirty Laundry's second release, the "All Washed Up" EP in early 1995. Shortly after releasing Dirty Laundry's second EP, Stain discussed the idea of starting a new label with his good friends Kris and Kelly Johnson. Stain also discussed the idea of starting a new label with his good friend Mike. After some serious thought and consideration, Chase Stain agreed to sell Dirty Records in late 1995 to his friend Mike, who soon became known as Dirty Mike, Dirty Mike received the label's name, although Stain retained the rights to all of Dirty Laundry's previous releases and recordings.

Kris and Kelly Johnson joined forces with Chase Stain and the trio started Bad Stain Records in late 1995. They sent Dirty Laundry's first two albums to be repressed as Bad Stain Releases, and printed shirts, stickers, and various other promotional items to help generate cash flow. The trio decided to sign the local punk rock band D-I-X to Bad Stain Records and got them into the recording studio right away to start working on their debut full length album. Dirty Laundry's former guitarist, Jones, had just joined D-I-X, and Stain loved the bands sound and was determined to help his good friend. D-I-X had already developed a strong fan base, and Stain and the Johnson brothers felt that signing the band was a great investment.

Bad Stain Records released the debut full length album, "Non Compos Mentis", from D-I-X in late 1995, and album sales were very strong. Stain and the Johnson brothers sent Dirty Laundry into the studio to record their first full length release just a few weeks later, and started discussing possible local bands to sign to Bad Stain. Former Dirty Laundry drummer, Charles Duffy, was currently playing in a local band called Corrupt Citizen, and Dirty Laundry's other former drummer, Billy Horner, was currently playing in a local band called Subject Mad. Both bands were made up of students from Moon Valley High School, the same school that Stain attended. Both bands were developing a strong following, and Stain suggested that Bad Stain sign them both. Sales from the new D-I-X album were strong, and the record had sold almost 1,000 copies within just a few months. Dirty Laundry's new album was also doing very well, so Stain and the Johnson brothers decided to use the profits from the album sales to record full length albums from Corrupt Citizen and Subject Mad.

Bad Stain Records released full length albums from Subject Mad and Corrupt Citizen in early 1996, and both albums sold extremely well. The label started to develop a following of its own, and many customers who purchased an album from one Bad Stain artist would end up purchasing albums from other artists. D-I-X and Corrupt Citizen sold nearly 2,000 copies of their debut albums, and Subject Mad and Dirty Laundry had sold over 1,500 copies of their full length albums. Stain and the Johnson brothers were floored by the strong album sales, but soon found that the label was in debt, due to the fact that Bad Stain artists would take copies of their releases on consignment, and had not paid Bad Stain what they were owed. Each of the bands on the label owed Bad Stain between $600 and $800, with the exception of Stain's band, who owed over $1,000 to Bad Stain. The money problems left both Kris and Kelly Johnson concerned about the future of Bad Stain Records. Stain knew that he needed to generate cash for the label, and started to think of a way to release music without investing any of the labels cash. While visiting his friend Curtis who owned Taang! Records in Southern California, Stain was introduced to a new punk rock CD compilation called "Punk Sucks", and Stain came up with an idea on how to solve his financial crisis. The "Punk Sucks" compilation featured several very popular punk bands at the time, and Stain came up with the idea of releasing his own compilation, featuring a handful of known punk bands, and then charging smaller bands to be on the compilation with the known artists.

Over the next few weeks, Stain noticed that many of the lesser known bands on the "Punk Sucks" compilation were getting signed, fueling his excitement to release a compilation on Bad Stain. Drunk in Public signed to Fearless Records, Home Grown signed to Liberation Records, and Sublime signed to MCA Records, which was a major label. The news confirmed that Stain's idea was a solid plan, so he approached his business partner's, Kris and Kelly Johnson and informed them of his idea. Stain also suggested that Bad Stain start a fanzine as well, stating that the fanzine could sell advertising space to bands and labels to cover the printing costs, and it would allow Bad Stain to advertise in the zine for free, and feature articles about their recording artists. Stain suggested that Bad Stain find five or six known bands to be on a compilation, and charge another ten or fifteen lesser known bands $150 each to be on the compilation. In return, Bad Stain would give each band 40 copies of the compilation to sell at $10 each, allowing the bands to make $250 profit from the investment, and gain much needed exposure.

The Johnson brothers told Stain that the idea sounded like a win, win for all parties involved, and loved the plan, but expressed their overall frustration with owning the label. Kris and Kelly Johnson informed Stain that they felt as though running the label was much more work than they had anticipated, and stated that they felt very frustrated that the label had not produced the cashflow that they had hoped for. After informing Stain of their feelings regarding Bad Stain, The Johnson brothers asked Chase Stain if he would be willing to purchase their shares of the label. The brothers asked Stain to pay them $500 each, the same amount that both brothers had originally invested when the trio had started Bad Stain. Fearing that the Johnson brothers may become tempted to sell their shares to someone else, Stain agreed to purchase their shares of Bad Stain, and asked that the brothers allow him a few weeks to come up with the money.

Stain paid Kris and Kelly Johnson for their portion of the label, and became sole owner of Bad Stain Records. After becoming sole owner, Stain started working on his idea to release a compilation album, and started working on Bad Stain Fanzine. While trying to release the CD compilation, Stain ran into several problems and hit snags in his plan. Unable to meet certain deadlines, Stain ended up releasing two seven inch vinyl compilations prior to releasing Bad Stain's first CD compilation. The compilation CD was a huge success, and helped get Bad Stain out of debt, and even generated enough cash to help Stain sign several other artists and release other compilations in the future.

As Bad Stain Fanzine started to grow in popularity, Stain started to realize that he was unable to run the label, the fanzine, and perform in his band, and started pondering the idea of getting a partner for the fanzine. Stain joined forces with his good friend, Dirty Mike, who had purchased Dirty Records from him a few years earlier. Stain stepped down as Editor of Bad Stain Fanzine, and took the role as Co-Editor, and Dirty Mike took on the position as new Editor for the fanzine. Bad Stain changed from a bi-monthly publication to a quarterly publication, and started printing using newsprint to help reduce pressing costs. In addition, Bad Stain Fanzine increased from a 32 page publication, to a 64 page publication, and increased its pressrun from 3,000 copies per issue to 5,000 copies per issue. In just six months, the fanzine increased the pressrun to 10,000 copies, and in time, Bad Stain Fanzine became a 96 page publication with a pressrun of 15,000 copies.

As Bad Stain Records and Fanzine both started to generate more profit, Stain re-invested much of the cash back into the label, expanding from just signing local artists, to signing bands from California, Nevada, Pennsylvania and New York. Stain was fortunate enough to learn a lot from several other record label owners and their staff, and Bad Stain would never have thrived if it hadn't been for good people like Bob and Michelle at Fearless Records, Steve at Lobster Records, Curtiss at Taang! Records, Mike at Asian Man Records, Vinnie at Fueled by Ramen, Erin, Vanessa and Chris at Fat Wreck Chords, Bill at Dr. Strange Records, Brett at Coldfront Records, Todd at Recess Records, Derron at Hopeless Records, Derrick at G-7 Welcoming Committee, Audrey at Nitro Records, Brett at Epitaph, and many other independent record labels. We highly encourage that all of our fans show love and support to all of the labels that helped Bad Stain in the past.

One thing that every record label told Stain was that it was nearly impossible to make any profit from releasing seven inch vinyl records. Stain had always been a huge fan of limited edition and vinyl releases, and didn't want to stop pressing vinyl records, but after some long talks with other labels, Stain soon realized that vinyl needed to be reserved for special releases. Bad Stain was typically losing between 35 cents and 65 cents for each seven inch record that it sold at a wholesale rate, and was losing $1.50 when selling the record from its mail order division. Stain had no choice but to stop producing vinyl releases to prevent Bad Stain from going bankrupt.

More problems arose when Bad Stain's vinyl pressing manufacturer contacted Stain and informed him that their pressing machine had broke down, and they were unable to press the three records that Stain had ordered. To make matters worse, the pressing plant refused to refund that $7,000 Stain had paid them to press the records, and the company declared bankruptcy just a few weeks later. Stain was forced to use profits generated from Bad Stain Fanzine to pay for the cost of getting the vinyl records pressed from a new manufacturer, in order to get Bad Stain Records back on track.

Bad Stain Records continued to release albums over the next couple years, although Bad Stain Fanzine had become stagnant, causing Stain and Dirty Mike to brainstorm on a way to help revive Bad Stain Fanzine. The duo lowered advertising rates in the hopes of increasing ads for the zine, and lowered the pressrun to reduce the printing costs of the publication. Despite their attempts to save Bad Stain Fanzine, Chase Stain and Dirty Mike saw a decline in advertisers, which caused them to reduce the number of pages for the future issues, as well as once again reduce the pressrun. Eventually, Stain and Dirty Mike were forced to invest money generated from Bad Stain Records and Dirty Records to keep the zine afloat, and the duo made the decision to end Bad Stain Fanzine in late 1998.

With the demise of Bad Stain Fanzine, Stain started a new publication that focused primarily on the local underground music scene in Arizona called "Unspeakable Thoughts Fanzine". The new fanzine was much smaller, ranging from 16 to 32 pages per issue, with a pressrun of between 1,000 and 3,000 copies, released quarterly every Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall.

In late 1999, Bad Stain Records started to feel the effects that the internet was having on the music industry. With various music sharing sites such as Napster, people didn't purchase albums as often as they had been doing in the past. In addition, computers came equipped with CD burners, providing people with the ability to burn CD's with any music that they desired, and create their own compilation CD's Bad Stain Records saw sales reduce drastically, forcing the label to cut back on budget expenses ranging from advertising to pressing costs. The situation only got worse when Bad Stain started having problems getting paid from their distributors. Record distributors were also feeling the effect, and many smaller and independent distribution companies declared bankruptcy, unable to pay what they owed Bad Stain Records. In 1999, Bad Stain lost over $9,000 of money owed from distributors, and 60% of their distributors went out of business.

By the summer of 2000, Bad Stain had lost an additional $16,000, as well as 95% of their distributors, leaving them with only two remaining. Bad Stain had even lost their biggest distributor, Rotz Distribution, which declared bankruptcy on the $9,000 they owed the label. Stain started to fear that he may be forced to declare bankruptcy himself and lose Bad Stain, due to the fact that the label was over $20,000 in debt and was generating very little revenue. Stain decided to put Bad Stain on hold for a few years and focused on paying off the debt.

In late 2003, Bad Stain Records signed the first new artist in over five years. Numbers On Napkins signed with Bad Stain and started recording material for the bands debut full length album. Chase Stain was the bassist and co-frontman of Numbers On Napkins, and Bad Stain's A & R Rep, Moe Money, was the guitarist and co-frontman of the band, so it made sense that NON sign to Bad Stain. NON's drummer, Tad Gurthman, was also highly involved with the label, and all three were promoters for Laundromat Productions, a small talent management and booking agency that Stain owned. NON's debut album, "Waiting for Tomorrow" was released in late 2004, and went on to become Bad Stain Records most successful single artist release of all time. Chase Stain also signed to Bad Stain Records as a solo artist, and began releasing a series of collectable limited edition EP's on the label.

The success of NON's debut album helped catapult the label ahead, which was a much needed win, considering that the label had been stagnant for several years prior to the release. Bad Stain started promoting concerts and assorted events, helping to support the local music scene and attempting to regenerate the following that the label had lost during its hiatus. For the first time in years, Bad Stain Records was generating a small profit, allowing the label to release its first DVD, "The History of the West Side Weasels". The film was a poorly edited collection of various skits and home movies starring Chase Stain and most of his close friends, as well as various Bad Stain employees and interns. The DVD was created as a Christmas gift for Stain's friend's and coworkers, but Stain decided to sell the remaining copies to Bad Stain customers. As Bad Stain regained its status within the independent music scene, the label signed artists from outside the U.S. for the first time, including Canada's "Mr. Plow" and "Doping" from the Ukraine.

In late 2012, Numbers On Napkins announced that the band would be going on hiatus in order for the members to spend more time with their families. After serious consideration, Chase Stain decided to also put the label on hiatus for an undetermined amount of time, like he had previously done in 2000. Bad Stain would not sign any new artists or release any albums until his daughter was a teenager. Over the years, dozens of strong supporters of the local underground music scene had worked hard and dedicated their time to Bad Stain, and while it was hard to say goodbye to such amazing people, Stain knew that it was the right decision for his family.

In 2017, Chase Stain decided to once again bring Bad Stain back to life, and signed "Johnny Laundromat and The Drycleaners", featuring former Dirty Laundry guitarist, Johnny Laundromat. Shortly after signing Johnny Laundromat and The Drycleaners, Stain's former band, Numbers On Napkins, announced their return to the music scene after spending five years on hiatus.

In 2018, Stain's only child, Tabby Kills joined the staff of Bad Stain as Head of Social Media, and the label released albums from Johnny Laundromat and The Drycleaners, 946 West, and Daisy Moonshine and her Redneck Brothers. Six months later, Tabby Kills took over the role of Vice President of Bad Stain Records, and former Vice President, Moe Money, reduced his duties at the label to focus more on his silkscreening business. Numbers On Napkins released their first album in seven years called, "From Buckey To Beardsley" in 2019, and Bad Stain released a special deluxe edition re-issue of NON's debut album, "Waiting for Tomorrow" in 2020.

In 2024, Bad Stain's founder, Chase Stain, stepped down from his role of president after nearly three decades. Stain made the announcement on the official Bad Stain Records website and posted that he was appointing his only child and label vice president, Tabby Kills as new label president. Stain said that he was stepping down because he had noticed that he was "becoming unfamiliar with new music and artists," and "wanted to do what is best for the label," Stain also expressed that he was confident that Tabby Kills would be beneficial to the label. Stain continued on with Bad Stain Records working as a consultant, as well as the Head of distribution and manufacturing.

Bad Stain continues to support the underground punk scene, releasing music from both local and national artists. and sponsoring various shows and events throughout Arizona. For nearly 30 years, Bad Stain has done its best to support and do what's right for local and independent musicians and the music that they create and perform. We hope that we can continue to be a part of the local music scene and can't wait to see how the music industry will change and evolve over the next 30 years!