Crypt Records

Crypt Records was launched in August 1983 by the New York-born Tim Warren (b. 1960), who had spent his boyhood with his family in the Philippines and Greece.[1] The family moved back to the United States in 1974, when Warren was 14.[1]

Warren spent his first four years as a young adult working in a record store in Amherst, Massachusetts before moving to Maine to work in a gas station — a job which allowed him to save a modest amount of money.[1] In October 1980 Warren returned to his New York City birthplace to take a job in another record store.[1] It was at this time that Warren first became interested in garage punk and other underground music of the 1960s.[1]

The label's first release was a compilation LP dedicated to raw 1960s garage rock.[2] Over the next three years there would be a total of 17 releases, focusing on rare 1960s garage and 1950s rockabilly music.[2]

In the fall of 1986 the label moved towards the reissue of contemporary punk rock with a reissue of 1970s band DMZ.[2] A mix of releases followed including pioneering bands from the 1950s and 1960s as well as modern punk groups.[2]

Warren moved to Hamburg, Germany in January 1990, where he immediately began booking European tours for various bands on the Crypt label.[2] The label rented a seven-room space in the spring of 1991, in which it opened up a retail record store in addition to continuing its manufacturing operations.[2]

Although home to the commercially successful New Bomb Turks, the label found itself in financial difficulties owing to slow payments from dishonest distributors.[2] With punk exploding in popularity in the United States, plans were made for a resumption of manufacturing operations there.[2] Still hampered by cash flow problems resulting from distributor non-payment, a manufacturing and distribution deal was signed with major label-affiliated Matador Records in August 1994.[2]

In 1997 the building housing Crypt Records was sold to a new owner, leading to an escalation in rent which forced the shop's closure.[1]

In January 1999 Warren decided to return to the United States, briefly settling in the small town of Truckee, California.[1] He moved across country in June 2000 to Frenchtown, New Jersey, bringing his label in tow.[1] A Crypt presence was maintained in Germany, with a new shop opened at an alternate location in Hamburg in September 2005.[1]

The label remained in financial difficulties, hindered in particular by the bankruptcy of Crypt's European distributor.[1] Warren was unhappy in the United States and found himself spending an inordinate amount on the repair and maintenance of a New Jersey home he had purchased.[1] He managed to sell the house in 2007 and returned to New York, briefly opening a record store in Brooklyn called "Cool and Crazy."[1]

This New York chapter also proved to be a short one and a return was made to Germany, this time to Berlin.[1] The label continues in existence in 2015 and is best known for its series of Back from the Grave compilation albums.