Green Monkey Records

Green Monkey Records is an underground record label started in Seattle, Washington, US. It was established by local musician Tom Dyer and was active from 1983–1991 and from 2009 to present, with sporadic releases in the interim. It is currently headquartered in Olympia, Washington, US.

Green Monkey Records was established in 1983 by local musician Tom Dyer, who was inspired to begin recording and producing music after a recording session at Seattle's Triangle Studios. Using a "Teac four-track reel-to-reel and a Tapco 6200B mixer from a guy in a parking garage downtown," Dyer began recording and mixing music in his apartment in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood. Early clients included Mr. Epp and the Calculations, featuring Mark Arm (later of Mudhoney fame). After Dyer's landlord found out, the operation was quickly moved to the basement of a rented house on the north side of Seattle's Queen Anne Hill.

Between 1983 and 1991, Green Monkey Records released 44 albums. The label's biggest brush with commercial success came from the Green Pajamas' album "Book of Hours," a followup to the single "Kim the Waitress" that was two years in the making. The label's had reached its heyday by 1987, and by 1988, changing priorities (including the birth of Dyer's first child) and new responsibilities (teaching at the Art Institute of Seattle) had begun to impact the label. In 1991, Dyer sold the majority of his recording equipment and closed the studio, although he did occasionally release new material, such as the Green Pajamas' Caroler's Song EP.

Although Green Monkey Records has never enjoyed significant commercial success, the label does have a cult following. The label's sound has been categorized as "post-punk/pre-grunge Seattle" and "indy pop music—good honest, ballsy, delicate, garage-y, punky, folky, mildly trippy pop music". The label has received positive press from local "listener-powered" indie radio station KEXP as well as a number of indie music bloggers.

In 2009, Green Monkey Records released a 2 CD compilation album, titled "It Crawled from the Basement: the green monkey records anthology." The album featured 47 tracks by 32 artists. To celebrate, Dyer orchestrated a release party at the SoDo Showbox featuring nine bands: The Green Pajamas, The Icons, The Purdins, Capping Day, The Queen Annes, Prudence Dredge, Liquid Generation, The Elements and Slam Suzanne. Inspired by positive press, Dyer began releasing more material, including several reissues, but notably new material and new artists as well. As of December 2016, the label has released 52 more albums, with a significant number of contributions by Dyer or Jeff Kelly and the Green Pajamas.

...
Wikipedia