The Genesis of Channel 83/Sci-Fi Western Records




Channel 83 Records was established in 1987 for the purpose of providing a means for a number of local bands and artists to showcase their craft.

In some instances, the immortality of a simple recording became the final artistic chapter of a musical story. For others, the saga continues:

Leo Whitebird, one of the founding fathers of Channel 83 Records and guitarist for the Early Mammals, years later reappeared in a controversial hip hop crew called Ghost Dance Deluxe and won a couple of Minnesota Music Academy Awards in that endeavor. Leo now assists musicians by engineering various projects for Channel 83 Records and others at his Minneapolis studio, Pagan Opium Den.

Disturbed's frenetic leader and infamous metal DJ, Earl Root, now provides Twin City audiophiles (with a lust for vinyl) an invaluable service by tracking down rare and collectable items along with his unique inventory at his record store, Root Cellar Records, in the midway area of St. Paul.

The Twin Cities' premier fire-breathing vocalist/drummer, Matt Batchelor, of the gothic gang Morticia (also Minnesota Music Academy Award winners), now directs his talents towards a new venture; a three-piece industrial-techo band, Static Gray.

Gneissmaker drummer, Ethan Lebovics, now directs his own label, Ramco Records, which was conceived as a Channel 83 Records tributary but now flows independently.

Impaler's crown prince of shock rock, Bill Lindsey, is back following a reflective sabbatical. The former Combat/Relativity artist once owned the distinction of adorning one of the nations top ten "goriest" album covers according to Tipper's PMRC crew; a feat that we were all very proud of.

Channel 83 Records has always marched to the beat of its own drummer, and we've had a few, thus we can't be accused of jumping on any trendy bandwagons. We have released projects of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the sweet, but gutsy voice of Cathy Braaten, the power-rock of Birds at the End of the Road, the angst of Ghost Dance Deluxe to the insanity of Cave Music.

Channel 83 has recently assumed an expanded identity with the addition of a rockabilly dimension to the label. Sci-Fi Western Records is the "fork in our highway" that will be releasing projects of a rockabilly nature. The premier edition of Sci-Fi Western Records was The Stimulating Sounds of the Vibro Champs, by "the most infectious band in the Twin Cities". If The Vibro Champs are infectious, you can now anticipate a virtual "hot zone" of rockabilly, stomp, surf, psycobilly activity in the coming months.

In addition to exciting upcoming Sci-Fi Western releases, stay tuned to this web site for a complete listing of all our catalog items which include all types of national rockabilly releases including such groups as Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Trio, The Finks, Los Marauders, The Planet Rockers, The Riptones, The Exotics, Voo Doo Swing, The Bent Scepters, and many many more.

Now, peering out of the window of the top floor of the Twin Tone building (OK, so it's only two floors) onto beautiful Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota, we can promise that we're only going to continue getting better.



Back to Channel 83 Homepage