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The Great American Steak Religion

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Record label
The Great American Steak Religion
Founded1994
FounderYannick Lorrain
GenreHardcore punk
Post-hardcore
Grindcore
Neo crust
Emo
Country of originCanada

The Great American Steak Religion was a Canadian independent record label which released many notable hardcore punk records from the likes of Shotmaker, His Hero Is Gone, and Chokehold during the 1990s. Originally named Daybreak Records and based out of legendary Ottawa punk venue 5 Arlington, founder Yannick Lorrain moved to Quebec City, and then to Montreal, taking the label with him and changing its name to Witch Hunt in 2000 and then Feral Ward in 2002. Many of the releases were issued only on vinyl and had "Verse #" etched on the matrix/runout, hence the tagging of each release as such. In 2004, Union Of Uranus' discography titled To This Bearer Of Truth was released on Feral Ward but "GASR-999" was etched on the matrix/runout as a throwback. The label's name is presumably a reference to the book Diet for a Small Planet, which refers to industrial production of meat for human consumption as the "Great American Steak Religion".

Magazine ad from around 1994
Ad from HeartattaCk Magazine 1996

Yannick is quoted in the book Punk Record Labels and the Struggle for Autonomy: The Emergence of DIY by Alan O'Connor as saying "On Great American Steak Religion there were Uranus, Drift, One Eyed God Prophecy. Brother bands, for the want of a better term. There was a little triangle between Ottawa, Quebec City and Sherbrooke. I was going to shows pretty much every weekend in those three cities. The bands were friends who would hang out."

Alexandre Julien's One Eyed God Prophecy Official Biography blog post recounts how the band connected with the label: "During one of their early practices, their friend Yannick Lorrain came by and after hearing their only three written songs, asked them to put out an LP on his label, The Great American Steak Religion. No doubt due to his label this band has kept a cult status over the years."

In an interview with Ken Sanderson of Prank Records for HeartattaCk magazine, American graphic artist Pushead included the Union of Uranus – Disaster By Design 2x7" in his list of favourite hardcore records.

The photo in the logo was taken by Shawn Scallen, whose band photos have appeared in magazines including Maximum Rocknroll, HeartattaCk, Punk Planet, and Spin, and who also took the photo on the cover of Shotmaker's The Crayon Club LP.

Uranus/Immoral Squad split 7" cover art
Uranus/Immoral Squad split 7" insert

Reviews of the label's releases appeared in the popular punk zines of the time such as Maximum Rocknroll, HeartattaCk, Punk Planet, and Profane Existence, and the label was listed in the 1996 edition of Maximum Rocknroll's "Do It Yourself Resource Guide" Book Your Own Fuckin' Life 5.

Releases as 'Daybreak Records'

  • Double Think – The Scars Of Our Existence Will Be Remembered For Eternity 7" (1991)
  • Numb – Fool's Progress LP (1992)
  • Union of Uranus – Backhand cassette (1994)
  • Failure Face – All Pain No Gain 7" (1994)

Releases as 'The Great American Steak Religion'

  • Uranus/Immoral Squad – Split 7" (1994) - Verse 1
  • Reach Out – Self-titled 7" (1994) - Verse 2
  • Shotmaker – The Crayon Club LP (1995) - Verse 3
  • Drift – Self-titled 7" (1995) - Verse 4
  • Union of Uranus – Disaster By Design 2x7" (1995) - Verse 5
  • Franklin – Roy Is Dead 7" (1996) - Verse 6
  • One Eyed God Prophecy – Self-titled LP (1996) - Verse 7
  • Mine – Tetanus CD (1996) - Verse 8
  • Chokehold – Content with Dying LP (1995) - Verse 9
  • Four Hundred Years – Suture LP (1997) - Verse 10
  • His Hero Is Gone/Union Of Uranus – Split EP 12" (1997) - Verse 11
  • Hacksaw – Self-titled 7" (1997) - Verse 12


See also

References

  1. O'Connor, Alan (May 2002). "Local scenes and dangerous crossroads: punk and theories of cultural hybridity". Popular Music. 21: 225–236. doi:10.1017/S0261143002002143.
  2. ^ Bickle, Matt (2009-09-21). "The Great American Steak Religion". Mosh Yankee. No. 3.
  3. Millar, Evan (September–October 2013). "5 Arlington: an oral history of Ottawa's punk scene in the 90s". Canadian Dimension. Archived from the original on 2013-09-01. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  4. Jeremy, Milks. "The First 25 Years Of Punk In Ottawa 1978-2002: A Gigography".
  5. Damian Abraham (4 May 2017). "Episode 125 - Leah Archambault (UTI)". Turned Out A Punk (Podcast). Event occurs at 19:00. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  6. Damian Abraham (11 May 2017). "Footnote 125 - Leah Archambault (UTI)". Turned Out A Punk (Podcast). Event occurs at 48:50. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  7. Damian Abraham (27 December 2022). "Max McCabe-Lokos Actor/Director and former Deadly Snake". Turned Out A Punk (Podcast). Event occurs at 9:55. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  8. "Ebullition exclusively distributed labels: Great American Steak Religion A.K.A. Witch Hunt Records A.K.A. Feral Ward Records". Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  9. "Uranus – To This Bearer Of Truth". Discogs. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  10. Moore Lappé, Frances (1971). Diet for a Small Planet. Ballantine Books. p. 10. ISBN 9780307874313.
  11. O'Connor, Alan (April 2008). Punk Record Labels and the Struggle for Autonomy: The Emergence of DIY. Lexington Books. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-4616-3408-9.
  12. Julien, Alexandre (May 28, 2010). "One Eyed God Prophecy Official Biography".
  13. Sanderson, Ken (August 2002). "Pushead interview". HeartattaCk. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  14. "Shawn Scallen's portfolio". Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  15. "Magazine cover photos from Shawn Scallen's Instagram page". Retrieved 2024-12-16.
  16. "Magazine cover photos from Shawn Scallen's Instagram page". Retrieved 2024-12-16.
  17. "Magazine cover photos from Shawn Scallen's Instagram page". Retrieved 2024-12-16.
  18. "Record Reviews: Shotmaker - The Crayon Club LP". Maximum Rocknroll. No. 147. Aug 1995.
  19. "Record Reviews: Drift 7" ep". Punk Planet. No. 13. June–July 1996.
  20. "Record Reviews: Union of Uranus/Immoral Squad - split 7". HeartattaCk. No. 5. Feb 1995.
  21. "Noise Refuse: Mine - Tetanus LP and One Eyed God Prophecy s/t LP". Profane Existence. No. 29–30. Fall 1996.
  22. "Book Your Own Fuckin' Life 5". Maximum Rocknroll. 1996. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
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