Estrus
Shovelin' The Shit Since '87
Korero Press’s rich tradition of showcasing world-renowned graphic art will soon include the infamous purveyors of a unique brand of punk rock. Estrus: Shovelin’ The Shit Since ’87 is the complete, as-yet-untold, story of US garage rock powerhouse Estrus Records, which for nearly two decades churned out hundreds of releases from some of the biggest garage, trash, surf, and punk bands worldwide, among them The Makers, The Mummies, Man or Astroman?, and label head honcho Dave Crider’s drunk-punk quartet The Mono Men.
Shovelin’ charts the label’s highs and lows — from its highly successful hosting of the annual Garage Shock, arguably the greatest series of garage rock 'festivals', to the devastating loss of its warehouse in a fire that virtually wiped out its mailorder stock, as well as master tapes and precious personal possessions. Estrus is one of the few record labels whose cover art and other graphics matches the brilliance of its music, thanks to the contributions of US trash-culture visionary Art Chantry, as well as Alex Wald and Darren Merinuk, and the book is packed with many of its iconic visuals. It also draws on lively, extensive interviews, never-seen-before archival photos, oddball artefacts and more to give a fascinating insight into the major players behind one of garage rock’s most influential and successful independent record labels.
Chris Alpert Coyle is a nomadic music journalist whose pieces have been featured on CBS News, CBS Radio and KEXP. In 1994, while reading silently in his fourth grade classroom, he was stung by a hornet on the chin and cried like a little baby. He now has a wife and a dog.
Scott Sugiuchi has been designing for over 30 years. Highlights include work for Artisan Films The Blair Witch Project, the American Film Institute and countless bands, record labels and venues. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland, plays bass in four bands and is the founder of Hidden Volume Records, a boutique record label with more than 50 releases from bands around the globe.
Art Chantry is a designer most often associated with the logos, posters and album art he created for countless punk, grunge and rock bands and their labels. His work has been exhibited at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Museum of Modern Art, Seattle Art Museum, the Smithsonian and the Louvre. He is the author of the cult book Art Chantry Speaks: A Heretic’s History of 20th-Century Graphic Design and is the recipient of the 2017 American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Medal.
