History
Founded in 1994 by Samantha Jane Dorsett and Chris Clavin, Plan-It-X held a DIY punk ethic. The label sold all CDs for five dollars or less. PIX's slogan reads: "If it ain't cheap, it ain't punk". PIX attempted to demonstrate that the practices of major record labels do not need to be duplicated by independent record labels in order to be successful. They supported other small labels and encourage others to do so as well (and even go as far as to suggest starting your own label).
Clavin formerly played in the iconic folk punk band Ghost Mice and currently records albums and performs under the name Captain Chaos. Clavin was one of the founders of folk punk music and is a former band member of Operation: Cliff Clavin, The Devil Is Electric, The Ted Dancin' Machine, Peanucle, The Sissies, Tooth Soup and The Jammy Dodgers.
Beyond the release of musical albums, Plan-It-X has released a book by author Greg Wells (Complete Control: An Anthology 1997-2005), the zine My Friend Bubby, as well as a DVD featuring live performances of bands filmed during Plan-It-X Fest 2004 (see below). A documentary was released in 2010, put together from footage shot across the week of the 2006 Plan-It-X Fest. [2]
Clavin announced in 2016 that Plan-It-X would cease operations due to a variety of reasons, including the financial strain, and closed for good in 2018. [3]
Plan-It-X Fest
In 2004 Plan-It-X Records celebrated its 10-year anniversary with a three-day festival in Bloomington, Indiana. A large portion of the bands involved with the label performed throughout the three-day event.
With the success of the 2004 fest, Plan-It-X decided to take the festival on the road the following year in 2005 with a number of their bands in a school bus. The school bus toured throughout the Eastern and Midwestern United States.
2006 saw the third Plan-It-X fest return to Bloomington as a six-day "Punk Rock Summer Camp," with bands playing every night and workshops and other activities throughout the afternoon. Like the two previous fests, 2006's fest raised money for charity. This year a total of $8,200 was split amongst three different charities.
2011 saw the fourth Plan-It-X Fest. It took place on June 24, 25, and 26 in Bloomington, Indiana. Like previous fests, this one was a benefit for several grassroots organizations. It also marked the release of PIX99, a book based on founder Samantha Dorsett's life.
The 5th Plan-It-X Fest happened in 2012. [4]
The 6th Plan-It-X Fest took place in 2014 in Spencer, IN.
The 7th and final Plan-It-X Fest took place in Spencer, IN from July 22 to the 24th, 2016. [5] This festival was filmed for a short YouTube documentary by Punk With A Camera entitled "And One For Good Luck - The Last Plan-It-X Fest". [6] Artists performing included Ramshackle Glory, Ghost Mice, Terror Pigeon, The Wild, Pioneers Press author Adam Gnade, Super Famicom, Erin Tobey, Your Heart Breaks and many more.
The music of Indiana was strongly influenced by a large number of German and Irish immigrants who arrived in the 1830s. A prime example is "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen" written by Thomas Westendorf, from Hendricks County, Indiana, in 1875.
This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb was a folk punk band from Pensacola, Florida, United States. Their first recording was released in 1997 on Ghostmeat Records. Their later releases have been on Plan It X Records and No Idea Records, but now appear on their own label Plan-It X South. This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb initially started as a new wave band, with folk singer David Dondero on drums. They quickly switched to playing country music, but their punk roots were evident enough in their music that they became one of the premiere bands at the forefront of the folk-punk genre. They did several US tours, including an Alaska tour 2003 played at Geekfest, and toured Europe.
Folk punk is a fusion of folk music and punk rock. It was popularized in the early 1980s by the Pogues in England, and by Violent Femmes in the United States. Folk punk achieved some mainstream success in that decade. In more recent years, its subgenres Celtic punk and Gypsy punk have experienced some commercial success.
Soophie Nun Squad is a DIY punk rock band from North Little Rock, Arkansas known for their jubilant stage performances which typically include costumes, puppet shows, and a large amount of crowd participation. The number of members varies from 6 to 11, but always includes a bass guitar player, a drummer, a guitarist and at least three lead singers. They are also known for bizarre song structures and topics, such as "Donkey Call" in which the singers proclaim they are giving up automobiles in favor of riding donkeys and encourage audience members to do the same and give their "Donkey Call", or loudly make the sound of a donkey.
Stay What You Are is the third studio album from American rock band Saves the Day, released in 2001. The album received positive reviews from critics at the time of its release and remains an influential album in the emo and pop punk genres. It has been described as "channel[ling] the thrill of the pop punk, the intellect of indie rock, and the raw emotion of emo all at once." Lead single "At Your Funeral" charted in the United Kingdom and Scotland.
The Max Levine Ensemble is an American DIY punk band from the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. They play punk rock with various pop influences, and often have politically conscious lyrics. They used to have a rotating band roster that changed from tour to tour depending upon who could go. Though at one point they played regularly with 5-7 members, they generally play now as a three piece power trio consisting of David Combs, Ben Epstein, and Nick Popovici.
Defiance, Ohio is a folk punk band from Columbus, Ohio, named after the town of Defiance, Ohio, in far northwest Ohio, near Toledo. The band features a violin, cello, and double bass. They have released four full-length LPs, as well as a handful of split recordings. Their music has typically been released through smaller independent labels. They are known for their association with Plan-It-X Records, as well as anti-capitalist themes.
Sloppy Seconds is an American, Ramones-influenced punk band sometimes referred to as a junk rock band from Indianapolis, Indiana, that started in 1984. They gained notoriety in the underground punk scene with gritty and controversial songs like "Come Back, Traci," "I Don't Want to be a Homosexual", "Janie is a Nazi", "I Want 'em Dead" and "So Fucked Up."
Chris Clavin is an American musician and record label owner from Indiana, United States, with a strict DIY (do-it-yourself) punk ethic. He has been involved in numerous punk bands and ran Plan-It-X Records, a label founded in 1994.
Anti-Creative Records was an independent record label in southern California. The label's releases consist primarily of folk-punk and punk bands from across the United States. The label was founded in November 2004.
AJJ is an American folk punk band from Phoenix, Arizona, originally formed in 2004 as Andrew Jackson Jihad. Their lyrics handle themes of shyness, poverty, humanity, religion, addiction, existentialism, and politics. Singer/guitarist Sean Bonnette and bassist Ben Gallaty co-founded the band, and have remained its only constant members throughout. The band has released eight studio albums to date, with their most recent, Disposable Everything, having been released on 26 May 2023.
The Debt of the Dead is an album by the Bloomington, Indiana, folk punk duo Ghost Mice.
Mariachi El Bronx is the fourth studio album by the Los Angeles rock band The Bronx, released on September 1, 2009 through Swami Records in the United States and Wichita Recordings in the United Kingdom. It marks a divergence from the band's usual hardcore punk and hard rock sound in favor of a mariachi style. To promote and perform the album the band adopted the alter ego persona "Mariachi El Bronx", and have performed under both identities concurrently.
The Sissies were an American pop-punk band based in Bloomington, Indiana. Formed in 1998, the band released two albums before breaking up in 2002: 1999's Geography, released on Plan-it-X Records, and 2001's Look Back and Laugh on New Disorder Records. In 2004, Plan-it-X released a compilation album, Everything in the World, which included both albums and additional rarities and live material. That same year, the three members of the band reunited to do three songs at a single show honoring Plan-It-X Records' tenth anniversary.
88 Fingers Louie is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois, United States, which was formed in 1993. After disbanding in 1999, guitarist Dan Wleklinski and bassist Joe Principe formed the well-known punk rock band Rise Against. The band reunited in 2009, and has continued playing shows in Chicago, Canada, Belgium, Las Vegas, and Asbury Park. The band held a 20th anniversary show in 2013. The name comes from a Flintstones gangster who sells dodgy pianos.
Adults!!!: Smart!!! Shithammered!!! And Excited by Nothing!!!!!!! is a studio album by Bomb the Music Industry! which was released digitally on February 8, 2010 via Quote Unquote Records. Adults!!! is the only Bomb the Music Industry! album to not contain samples of television shows, movies, phone messages or other songs between tracks.
Noise By Numbers is an American pop punk band featuring Dan Schafer, Jeff Dean, Rick Uncapher, and Jimmy Lucido. Their sound has been described as reminiscent of Hüsker Dü, the Replacements, Dinosaur Jr., Naked Raygun and the Effigies.
Paul Baribeau is an American folk punk singer-songwriter from Grand Ledge, Michigan. He was signed to the independent record label Plan-It-X Records. His self-titled debut album was released on Plan-It-X Records in January 2004. In 2006, he embarked on a tour with Ginger Alford of Good Luck in which they collaboratively covered Bruce Springsteen songs. They subsequently released an album on No Idea Records, Darkness on the Edge of Your Town Tour, which contains studio and live versions of these covers. His second album of original material, Grand Ledge, was released on Plan-It-X Records in June 2007. Grand Ledge was recorded in a barn belonging to a friend of Baribeau's father, in Grand Ledge, Michigan. Baribeau's most recent album under his own name, Unbearable, was released on No Idea Records on March 10, 2010. He was referenced in Kimya Dawsons song "Tire Swing," from her album Remember That I Love You, which was used in the Juno (soundtrack).
Patrick Schneeweis, better known by his stage name Pat the Bunny, is a retired American musician, singer-songwriter, and producer. He has been the front man of notable folk punk and anarcho-punk groups such as Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains, Wingnut Dishwashers Union, and Ramshackle Glory. Originally based out of Brattleboro, Vermont, he lived in Tucson, Arizona, during the final part of his musical career. His writing often describes topics such as life under capitalism, drug addiction, and the importance of pursuing radical ways of relating socially and economically, usually through anarchism and the DIY ethic.
Good Luck is a pop-punk band from Bloomington, IN. The band is composed of three members: Ginger Alford, Matt Tobey and Mike Harpring. The band has released two studio albums, Into Lake Griffy in 2008 and Without Hesitation in 2011, along with an EP in 2010. As of 2020, the band is no longer actively touring or producing new music, although the band's social media pages are maintained and updated with occasional performances and information on other projects worked on by band members.
