ABOUT
Origins
Dim Mak media cartel, ground zero. A record label as a tangram. It all started in a small room in a college co-op books, records, magazines, one-sheets, records, stickers, records, records, and records. People filing in, one at a time or three at a time, hands being given where needed. Support is free. Passion is free. Silkscreened Pretty Girls Make Graves posters aren't free, but that's nothing personal. Everything else is.
That's part of the Dim Mak politics: if we are all affected by everything around us, then we are part of the surroundings for everyone else. Each vinyl release, and some CD releases, include a Hearts & Minds poster or insert, documenting the intensity, words, and inspiration of radical leaders, mentors, and critical thinkers. Dim Mak seeks to bring it home (to the fans, kids, consumers, call them what you will) because that's where everything begins. In the bedroom... in this case, of a small room in a college co-op.
The ultimate failure of Do It Yourself is that it so rarely becomes Do It Ourselves.
Dim Mak started in 1996 as a whim and became a lifestyle. Launching with a 7" from obscure SoCal hardcore ensemble Stickfigurecarousel, Dim Mak's roster grew to include bands outside of hardcore and punk to garage rock and roll, disco punk, new wave, whatever it is that is explosive. The roster is a large and expanding one. There is no particular genre of music we corner other than what we know feels right. The point being is to just to release what we think is good regardless of style. And with our expanding roster we include all artists we've done shorter albums and/or singles as always part of the active family on Dim Mak - The Coup, The Kills, Whirlwind Heat, Soledad Brothers, Automato, Panthers, The Gossip, Young People, Das Oath, Paradise Island, Pearlene, Lion Fever, Dance Disaster Movement, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Mr. David Viner, The Von Bondies, Bluebird, Die Monitr Batss, From Monument To Masses, The Red Light Sting, Envy, Miracle Chosuke, Battles, Libretto & Lifesavas, Dollhouse, Tokyo Sex Destruction, Bloc Party, Deep Jail, Edy Crahp, Juss Ske.
And that's where the politics get messy. The problem with maintaining a politicized presence is that your ideals can turn to rhetoric, and rhetoric is inherently limiting and disempowering. And though Dim Mak seeks to encourage radicalism as an ideal, the musical output emphasizes aesthetics and innovation over any specific stance or message. Dim Mak and its bands comprise, not a collective, but a community.
And just as a community isn't limited to one voice, it shouldn't be limited to one language. Dim Mak is also engaged in compiling a documentary (tentatively entitled Carpet of Gold, Carpet of Bombs) half of the footage shot in Afghanistan and featuring interviews with radical voices across the nation, including Howard Zinn, Boots from the Coup, Noam Chomsky, Alice Walker and many others, along with a clearance to use new spoken-word from Mumia Abu-Jamal. The soundtrack-to be released separately as well-will hopefully feature both hip hop and rock artists.
A communal spirit and an inclination towards fucking around need not go hand in hand. DIY and dilettantism are not synonymous.
In other words, Dim Mak's not going anywhere until it goes somewhere. Bands come and go. Ideals are refined, reworded, resought. But the music and the passion is what carries on. As Jonathan Jackson at age 17, who waltzed into a courtroom and freed framed black brothers in protest for the freedom of his brother George Jackson and the Soledad Brothers, said in the courtroom, "Alright gentlemen, I'm taking over from here", we'll follow suit.
Steve Aoki
Dim Mak Media Cartel Headquarters
Hollywood, CA
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: I want to get a Dim Mak ad for my zine.
A: Make sure to send your zine to us and we always will send out ads if you are offering free ad space. We already advertise in select zines and we aren't doin much than that. But send your zine and those cheap rates. We do a lot of trades of our releases for ad space so inquire with us about that.
Address: PO Box 348 Hollywood CA 90078
Q: Can I send a demo?
A: Yes, we are always accepting new demos. Please send demos, along with any other promotional material to Dim Mak Records Po Box 348 Hollywood CA 90078. We don't get back to everyone cuz we're so busy but if we're really into your shit we'll contact you.
Q: How do I order records?
A: Go to the Dim Mak Store and buy our records through there. It's efficient and easy for both Credit Card and/or M.O/Cash/Check payments. Our distributor is Touch and Go/ADA - www.ada-music.com and you can order directly from them.
Q: I would like to distribute Dim Mak's shit.
A: Just email me if you want wholesale prices. Our distribution is through Touch and Go so if you are a distributor please talk with them. And if you are a store that does not have an acct with ADA or some kid that wants to take a few things here or there, email us and we'll try to point you in the right direction.
Q: How do I find out more about the bands on Dim Mak?
A: Check the ever expanding band pages to find out more info.
Q: What does Dim Mak mean?
A: Translated from Chinese, it means death touch. I've been obsessed with Bruce Lee ever since I was in third grade. Being one of the few Asian role models for me growing up, he became the light at the end of my rites of passage through adolescence as an Asian kid. It's been said that Bruce Lee was assassinated by some militant Chinese elders that weren't happy with what Bruce Lee was doing with Chinese gung fu and its traditions, teaching other non-Chinese their traditional and sacred dance and defense techniques. Some say that he was killed by what is called the dim mak. A way of channeling energy through the body by use of the power of chi and being able to penetrate through matter, in effect being a fatal blow. The label is more about Bruce Lee than anything else. It is not necessarily about the striking blows of certain kung fu practices, it's about my commemoration to an Asian brother that died. The only other role model in my adolescence I had other than my family.
Q: Can I be part of the street team?
A: WE NEED MORE STREET TEAM KIDS! If you are down to do some wheatpasting and throwing up posters all over the closest metropolitan area then you are HIRED. Please email streetteam@dimmak.com for more info and we also would like to get coordinators for different areas that can find people in your locale to get this up proper. You have to be consistent, resourceful, fucking smart, CONSISTENT, CONSISTENT, reliable, RELIABLE, & serious!!! Only super down people email.