OVOLR Records

Two new books by available today, and both only available direct from OVOLR! (no amazon, etc)

'Say What?', a collection of essays.

'Equipment Reviews v2', a collection of reviews of various audio equipment

Both up now at the ovolr.com shop!

playing with a bunch of great bands Sept 21, at

A few of Gary Llama new short books, in stock now at ovolr.com

‘Lessons In Consciousness’ book by Gary Llama — OVOLR! Records

Let's talk about Bad Guy Reaction for a second...

When i started going to shows in 1990s Richmond, two bands stood out as THREE stood out as the bands to see, Avail, Inquisition, and Bad Guy Reaction, all very different in content, but somehow very similar. Where Inquisition and Avail had this almost iconoclastic sound, almost similar to the sound of inspiration itself, Bad Guy seemed to come from a more approachable position, especially to a young person. The songs were things youd see yourself starting a day humming. Chopping carrots and humming. And in meeting the folks in the band at the basment on W franklin st where some of them either lived or seemed to congregate, to me, the music is also filled with the memories of the mornings of Food Not Bombs prep that happened in that basement weekly.

Perhaps this style is 'Street Punk Pop'? All i know, is it was and is amazing to me, and shortly after hearing them and getting their tape, they were gone, with members going on to form two more ALSO essential bands, Wardance Orange, and (young) pioneers.

So when I realized this music wasnt available today, outside of random youtube uploads, it was clear we had to get this music streaming, asap. And it is, now, for all to listen to.

- Gary

New OV stickers

style ⚒️

4 years since this kiddo came out... debut full length from 92FU, a collaboration with Greg Kusterbeck (Sluggin Buddha, Uphill Down) making the music, and Gary Llama (500$Fine) doing vocals...

Bandcamp Friday! Which means Bandcamp gives us all the $$ when you buy something.

A good day to buy something if you have been thinking about it.

500fine.bandcamp.com

Mimirock was a band from NYC between 1995 and 2005, fronted by singer/persona, Mimi, playing raw rock n roll and known for amazing stage shows.

We are distributing two of their records, an Ep titled 'Uncontrollable', and their full length 'Mimirock 4', both available on most streaming platforms and worth checking out

Just a reminder: the ENTIRE Wardance Orange catalog is available on streaming... thats the original demo cassette, the 7", and a collection of singles that were released on various comps and split releases.

Enjoy!

Throwback to 2022, with this song from Alix Petrie and Gary Llama ... their third single as Rival Kinds...

OV141 is 'Mixes' by Imagination Society... a collection of instrumental tracks from the IS collaboration with Rapper Ben FM...

Streaming now...

So after closing down, an influx of folks offering support (though appreciated, we didnt take it) and a lot of love for seeing the catalog continue, we are gonna be pushing forward, with some changes.

For the most part, the catalog will remain the same, and we will be revamping a few things, including how we do our store and physical sales to make things just a lot more easier for keeping track of.

This label is a labor of love, and ive accepted that im gonna be doing this till i stop, so its more about getting into a shape that runs with things well and what we need to do (ie make and keep awesome music available) rather than than what other labels do.

So yeah! got some great releases on deck, and i am stoked to share them with you!

Best,
Gary

I started this label in 1997 to release the 500$Fine CD. It was an afterthought, just a name to send to a pressing plant to satiate copyright forms. But over the next 20 years, it grew into something, a real label. Over the next 27 years, we released 140 releases, giving Richmond artists a place to put out new music, and giving a place to reissue records that I felt to be essential to the history of Richmond punk and hardcore. It was amazing, and it became something like a family.

But over the years, it grew more and more complex. And with the changes in the industry, the payouts dropped tremendously, from basically nothing, to 'Are you fu***ng kidding me?'

Today, we live in a content consumers paradise. And a 'Content Maker's nightmare. Where actual artists (IE, people who make because they have no choice) have to compete with folks that are good at social media. And it would be hilarious if it wasn't also so bland, and so aesthetically, and morally horrible.

And as that all happened, things changed in me. I've shifted my focus a few times over the course of my life, from punk rock band member, to recording engineer, to student, to mental health activist, to Dad, all the while doing this label and working as an artist, and working with disabilities. And at this point, the aim of my life diverging from the label so strongly, that it seems like a bad idea to keep moving forward on this path.

So we are closing. I've spoken with our artists, and sent all the masters, which they own, and can re-release on their own, as bands. I'll keep making and releasing my own music, on my own: I have no choice in that matter. And I hope they will too.

I'd like to thank everyone who has supported us over the last 27 years, be it by purchasing something from us, or just by listening.

There is def a place labels in the world, I look forward to seeing what folks come up with in the coming years.

- Gary

Did you know the book 'Struggle Against', written by is in the Library of Congress' catalog? You can get yourself a copy from Amazon...

New 500$Fine single out now, streaming everywhere!

... For This Life Provided to YouTube by Symphonic Distribution... For This Life · 500$Fine... For This Life℗ 2024 500$FineReleased on: 2024-01-26Composer: Matthew DennisCompo...

Label Changes: Now volunteer-based, and artist now receive 100% of earnings — OVOLR! Records We are announcing a couple big changes today in how the label is structured. From today on, OVOLR! is now going to be operating as a volunteer-run label, and we will also now be passing 100% of the earnings to our artists, instead of taking the 10-20% we used to. We believe this change will […]

Another dive into the catalog, this time on Indypendant's 'Time Capsule'

From The Catalog: #OV072 – Indypendant ‘Time Capsule’ — OVOLR! Records In 1997, Richmond Hardcore band Indypendant had been working on some new material, and decided to go into the studio, and make a new record. The studio, Glass Hand, located in Shockoe Bottom, which in hindsight, was an institution to local punk music, offering recordings to even high schoolers, at a...

This SATURDAY! Earth Dog Mothership at Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House

In our 'From The Catalog' series, this week was our 49th release, Helen Back and The Str8-Razors' self-titled record, and our first record that we reissued.

On top of being an amazing record full of great music, this band and this record was personally tranformative for me, as when i first heard it back in 2003, i was fairly uninformed and unchallenged about my notions of gender, and to have a singer like Jimi, dressed in drag, in his 'Helen Back' persona, challenged what I knew about gender and myself, and that uncomfortableness forced me to listen to it more, and i fell in love with it, and grew as a person in the process.

So when we decided to reissue it in 2016, the understanding and langauge about gender had changed drastically (we had one), yeah.. amazing record. Full article on site. Love this record. Check it out!

- Gary

#OV049: Helen Back and Str8-Razors’ ‘Self-Titled’ — OVOLR! Records This ‘From The Catalog’ is about probably the SECOND most pivotal record in our catalog. The MOST pivotal, we covered in our first installment, which was the first record we released, the 500$Fine ‘Forward’ CD. But this record was the first record we released by a band that I wasn’t direct...

CMJ from July 20 1990 says the Baby Flamehead record is better than Billy Bragg. But not as good as Suzanne Vega.

Thankfully, we re-released it.

A new feature we are doing, deep diving into records in our catalog. Starting with 500$Fine's 'Forward', our first release.

From The Catalog: #OV001: ‘Forward’ by 500$Fine — OVOLR! Records A new thing we are starting here, and hope to keep up with occasionally, is to dive through our catalog, highlighting a release. And to start, we are looking at catalog #001, 500$Fine’s ‘Forward’ record: the record the label was founded to release.

Today is the day! debut album 'Blind Clocks' is out now and streaming everywhere, with CDs available from their bandcamp!

And tonight, the band is playing a release show .rva with and ..

New single from , out now!

92FU's album 'Purple' has been remastered and is now available to stream.

In case you havent heard this, in our super biased opinion: its a fu***ng gem: positive hardcore, melodic punk, just a killer record. . Vocals from Gary Llama from 500$fine, music by Greg of Slugging Buddha / old rva Uphill Down...

Check it now streaming everywhere.

Today we are excited to announce the pre-release of 'Blind Clocks', the debut album by Earth Dog Mothership ...

You can head to their bandcamp now, and listen to the entire album, buy a download, and preorder a CD! The album fully releases on October 6th, so this a good chance to check it out, and get your order in!

And tonight, to celebrate, they are playing a show at Garden Grove Brewing & Urban Winery

https://earthdogmothership.bandcamp.com

Getting ready to get this album out there, pre-orders start for debut album, 'Blind Clocks' on Sept 2, and will be celebrating that evening with a show at ...

Now available exclusively on bandcamp for next bit of time... OV137 is Gary Llama's new album, 'Taken'...

Will be streaming at some point, right now hear it and buy it at Gary's bandcamp... https://garyllama.bandcamp.com

Also, an introduction to Gary Llama

OVOLR! Presents... Gary Llama An introduction to Richmond, VA-based artist ,Gary Llama. Gary got started playing music at a young age, then started playing guitar and singing for the band...