Punk Rock Think Tank

K records, founded by Calvin Johnson and Candice Pederson, is an independent label formed in Olympia, WA. Calvin found inspiration for his label, from punk ideals. Becoming a strong advocate of the ‘do it yourself’ philosophy,creating a connected culture in the local area, and taking control of the media with local networking.

“ Forming a label was a natural move for him, it grew out of necessity to put out records no one would have otherwise released.” (Schmidt, Pg. 2)

Calvin’s influence upon the local area grew, and rapidly he became the front man for K records. Soon K cassettes appeared in local music stores. K was determined to create a cassette revolution.

When Calvin and Candice formed K in 1982, independent record labels were few and far between. Commercial radio dominated the airwaves, and the few non-commercial radio stations that were in existence only played music from major record labels. Independent labels and underground music didn’t start to gain popularity until the early 90’s. K records revolutionized the punk scene, by successfully creating an artistic community that has nurtured, developed, and renovated individual expression with music based upon punk ideals.