I am excited to introduce you to Despised Youth Records. You are probably not familiar with DYR, but I am sure that you will be. Despised Youth is catering to the Christian hardcore and punk scene and signing bands that are true to those roots. So, hopefully they will stick to that and keep the screamo/metalcore stuff off the label (hint hint). I recently caught up with Jenna from Despised Youth and had the chance to ask her a few questions about the new label. All I can say about DYR is that there is buzz out there about them. Some of the bands they are talking to about signing are pretty impressive and are really excited about the possibility of working with the label. I am sure that we will have more news about DYR, the bands they sign, and the albums they release in the near future.
Q: How did Despised Youth Records come to be? Explain the affiliation to Open Grave Records.
A: I am a huge punk fan myself and I don’t see enough punk/hardcore record labels in the scene that are friendly toward Christian bands so I decided to start one. I approached James, an owner of Open Grave Records and promoted the idea. He agreed with me and we decided to partner up and founded this label.
Q: I have already heard from some bands that you are making waves in the industry, what is Despised Youth Records doing different that other labels are?
A: We want to help the bands that are very hard working but just don’t have the money for promotion and the means to spread the music to the audience. We want to revive the punk scene.
Q: What kind of music are you hoping to capture on the label?
A: We noticed that most other labels focus on hardcore that have metal influences so we want to focus on punk and pure hardcore similar to 80’s or even the 90’s hardcore scene.
Q: Can you share any bands that Despised Youth will be working with? Who is signing? Who have you approached…if you can share that kind of info without hurting any deals.
A: We do have the Anti Hell Society re-release album and we are in talks with several bands at the moment. Announcements will be posted very soon!
Q: What formats are you going to put music out on? CD/LP/Etc?
A: CD and digital download format
Q: How can the general public get a hold of your stuff once you start to release?
A: We will be selling at Divine Metal Distro and various retailers.
Q: When is Despised Youth planning to release its first album?
A: We have preorder for Anti Hell Society re-release album up at Divine Metal Distro right now (Click here to see ordering info).
Q: Anything else you want to share with the general public or add…shout outs, etc…
A: Raise your fist and keep the punk scene alive! Check out the other record labels under Open Grave Records if you dig other types of music like metal or rock.
You can visit the Despised Youth Records blog and see what news the label has. Check back for updates, I think that DYR will have some great bands sign to the label in the upcoming weeks. Good luck and thanks for the interview and God bless!
