Re-Constriction Records was a division of Cargo Music based in California. The label was founded in 1992 and headed by Chase, who was previously the Music Director at KCR, a student radio station on the campus of San Diego State University. They specialized in releasing bands belonging to the industrial, aggrotech and EBM genres.
After the label folded, Chase went to work for Access Communications where he worked for 14 years doing video game-related public relations, including helping to launch Twitch in 2011. In May 2013, he took a staff job at Twitch overseeing all of their PR efforts. In 2019, he left Twitch and shortly thereafter joined StreamElements.Chase contacted Belgium-based industrial label KK Records, a division of Cargo Music, to arrange for product servicing for the station which led to him getting a job with Cargo. While doing promotional work for their KK label in North America, Chase convinced Cargo Music to allow him to start a new division called Re-Constriction Records.
The first band signed to the label was
Diatribe, followed by 16 Volt and The Clay People. All of which helped to define the "Re-Con" sound of heavy guitars over electronics with vocalists who did not overprocess their voices. Chase adhered to this blueprint throughout much of the label's existence. The label's debut release was the 1992 EP Nothing by Diatribe.
The top selling release on his label was Shut Up Kitty, the first domestic Industrial dance cover song compilation. This would help to inspire other compilations, notably 21st Circuitry's Newer Wave and Newer Wave 2.0 releases. Other unique industrial cover song releases that predated the popularity of this trend included Operation Beatbox (covers of Hip Hop songs), TV Terror (a 2 CD compilation featuring covers of Television theme songs), Cyberpunk Fiction (A satirical spoof of the Pulp Fiction soundtrack) and Nod's Tacklebox o' Fun (assorted pop hits).
Re-Constriction Records folded in 1999 after having released approximately 40 records. While running Re-Constriction, Chase founded, owned and ran a compilation-only label called If It Moves... which featured Torture Tech Overdrive (1991), The Cyberflesh Conspiracy (1992), Rivet Head Culture (1993) and Scavengers in the Matrix (1994).
The Cyberflesh Conspiracy featured the only song that Stabbing Westward released on CD prior to being signed to a major label, while Rivet Head Culture was notable for popularizing the term "rivet head" (a descriptor for fans of industrial dance music) and featuring a song by Raw Dog, an unreleased side-project by Nivek Ogre and Dave Ogilvie of Skinny Puppy.
Website:
http://www.ssmodk.com/recon/ = Re-Constriction Records ArchiveThis site exists to keep alive the memory of Re-Constriction Records and archive the better parts of the Re-Con website (circa 2000) so that one doesn't have to dredge through the Internet Archives' Wayback Machine to see a series of broken links and images, as well as a few new bits.
Re-Constriction Records was an industrial-rock label created in the early 90's by Chase, a San Diego State University radio DJ and promo lackie for Kk Records, who developed his love for industrial-music and his connection with bands across the country into a series of self-released compilations under the If It Moves... label. These compilations allowed him to segue into his own label, released through Cargo Records' distribution umbrella, where he was able to release many of his favorite bands whose demos he had helped to make public during the If It Moves... days.
Signing bands like Diatribe and 16 Volt, self-styled "label slumlord" Chase churned out some of the best and most-loved industrial-rock albums of the 90's, though he would always forgo the term "industrial" in favor of his own terms, such as "synthcore" or "hardfloor", that didn't carry the stigma of typical industrial music.
Moving into the late 90's, the scene, album sales, and interest in Re-Constriction waned. The world of underground industrial, particularly music not strictly related to EBM and European electronics, was falling apart and there just wasn't a community to support excellent labels like Re-Constriction or its peers, such as RAS DVA, 21st Circuitry, Pendragon, and Decibel, all of whom dissolved.
Though Chase has moved on to new and better things (another career, not death), he and his excellent taste in catchy, rockin' music and sense of humor will never be forgotten.
Chase, this one's for you.Chase Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ChasejustChaseRivethead Culture:
http://subcultureslist.com/rivethead/RIVETHEAD
Rivethead also known as fans of industrial music. Rivetheads core beliefs are that music should be progressive and forward-looking, experimental and reflective of the technological age in which we live; to much of mainstream music is either stuck in idle (latching on to whatever trend is current) or in reverse (indulging a superficial nostalgia for the past).
Rivet Head Culture (1993 - FULL ALBUM)
0:00:00 Non-Aggression Pact - Wicket Painted Sun
0:02:42 Death Method - Mein Klein Engel
0:07:12 Little Guilt String - Satellite Thought (Taken Out Life)
0:11:09 Recliner - Nose Dive
0:14:08 Stash Krohl - Perversion (of the Truth)
0:17:31 Hate Dept. - More Like Me
0:20:33 Chemlab - Neurozone
0:26:06 Raw Dog - Raw Dog
0:30:45 Pain Emission - Selfish
0:35:27 Society Burning - Party Girl
0:39:00 Out Out - Admire the Question [Naïve Mix]
0:43:24 Blue Eyed Christ - Progession
0:47:32 STG - Televandalism [Drive-By Judas Mix]
0:51:14 Scar Tissue - Cold (Insight)
0:54:53 A-Politiq - Black Box
0:59:37 The MAS - Send Me to Heaven
1:04:01 Crocodile Shop - Growing Stronger [Steroid Mix]
1:08:00 They Killed Fritz - Whitley Park
Notable artists of Re-Constriction
16volt
Apparatus
Christ Analogue
The Clay People
Collide
Diatribe
H3llb3nt
Hexedene
Iron Lung Corp
Killing Floor
Leæther Strip
Non-Aggression Pact
Numb
Purr Machine
SMP
Society Burning
Swamp Terrorists
Tinfed
Vampire Rodents
Waiting for God
Diatribe - Nothing (1992)
00:00 Nothing
04:40 The Other Side
10:07 Kingpin
16:07 Lu-Chow Phang
Re-Constriction Records founder Chase to appear on latest episode of VH US Podcasthttps://regenmag.com/news/re-constriction-records-founder-chase-to-appear-on-latest-episode-of-vh-us-podcast/Among the numerous underground imprints to emerge in the ’90s was Re-Constriction Records, whose founder Chase will be appearing on the latest episode of Dirk Marshall’s VH US Podcast. As the show’s focus is primarily on films, with guests being figures with either a direct or tangential connection, Marshall and Chase will be discussing Industrial Accident: The Story of WaxTrax! Records. “We both love WaxTrax!,” Marshall states, “which is responsible for so many of us loving industrial.” As such, the discussion will also cover Chase’s history with Re-Constriction, the logistics of running a label devoted to a niche market, stories and anecdotes about the label’s tenure from 1992-1999 (including the reveal of a glamour band that used to ship records for him), if a demo Marshall had sent at age 17 would’ve been considered for a release, and what Chase’s last name is… in other words, an interview not to be missed! -
The episode will air on Tuesday, May 30, 2023.https://vh-us.com/episodes/season-12-episode-7-industrial-accident-featuring-chaseWebsite:
https://vh-us.com/Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/vhuspodcastInstagram:
https://www.instagram.com/vhus_podcastTwitter:
https://twitter.com/VHUS_PodcastSoundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/vhus