Public Eyesore Records

Public Eyesore Records is an American independent record label based in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1997 by sound artist Bryan Day in Decorah, Iowa, it began as a promotion and distribution platform for sound art projects by Day and his colleagues. The label's early releases featured artists from Iowa and Minnesota, focusing on DIY psychedelia and noise. Over the years, Public Eyesore has expanded its scope to include experimental music, avant-garde, avant-rock, free improvisation, and noise, releasing over 260 albums on CD, cassette, and LP as of March 2021, alongside digital releases on Bandcamp. The label also organizes concerts, tours, album release shows, label showcases, streaming events, and maker workshops on instrument invention and building. Its sublabel, Eh? Records, was founded in 2007 and focuses on minimalism, field recording, and electroacoustic music. Public Eyesore is known for its DIY ethos and has become a scene-defining presence in the San Francisco Bay Area, particularly among instrument inventors and sound device makers. The label is owned and operated by Bryan Day, with support from volunteers, and handles much of its audio production and mastering in-house.

Public Eyesore Records was founded in 1997 in Decorah, Iowa, by sound artist Bryan Day as a promotion and distribution platform for sound art projects by himself and colleagues. The label's first releases presented artists from Iowa and Minnesota, focusing on DIY psychedelia and noise. In 2000, the first label sampler, 'Analogous Indirect,' was released on vinyl, featuring contributions from notable figures such as Thurston Moore, Flying Luttenbachers, and Japanese guitar deconstructionist Solmania. By the end of 2001, the catalog had expanded to 25 releases, and the label began organizing tours for American bands in Japan, including Jad Fair, Monotract, and Jack Wright. In 2002, the label moved to Omaha, Nebraska, and began a extensive series of collaborations with local artists such as Naturaliste, Mighty Vitamins, and Gamma Goat. The sublabel Eh? was founded in 2007 with the intention of producing CD-Rs exclusively for tours, but it quickly developed into a cassette label focusing on minimalism, field recording, and electroacoustic music. Meanwhile, Public Eyesore increasingly turned to avant-rock and free improvisation—a focus it has maintained since. In 2012, the label relocated again to the San Francisco Bay Area and its current office in San Francisco's SOMA district. Also in 2012, a notable label showcase concert was held at Brooklyn's famous Zebulon nightclub, featuring the Nels Cline / Elliott Sharp Duo for acoustic guitars, the explosive free jazz of Amsterdam trio Cactus Truck, the acclaimed NYC band Normal Love, and a very eccentric performance by Bunny Brains. Within its now sharpened concept, the label, which is considered scene-defining in San Francisco, soon found its characteristic niche among the numerous inventors of instruments and sound devices there, marked by the Eh? sampler 'Anvil Hammer Stirrup' from 2013. Since then, numerous releases of experimental music with a DIY ethos have followed, some receiving considerable attention in the music press.

• 2021

  Catalog exceeded 260 albums across CD, cassette, and LP.

• 2013

  Eh? sampler 'Anvil Hammer Stirrup' released.

• 2012

  Relocated to San Francisco Bay Area; held label showcase at Zebulon in Brooklyn.

• 2007

  Sublabel Eh? founded.

• 2002

  Moved to Omaha, Nebraska.

• 2001

  Catalog expanded to 25 releases; began organizing tours for US bands in Japan.

• 2000

  First label sampler 'Analogous Indirect' released on vinyl.

• 1997

  Founded in Decorah, Iowa, by Bryan Day.

Independent label for experimental, avant-garde, and avant-rock music with a DIY ethos.

• 2000

  Analogous Indirect

• 2013

  Anvil Hammer Stirrup

1. 1Public Eyesore Records - Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org
2. 2Public Eyesore Records - Wikidatawikidata.org