I'm gonna speak candidly for a bit in this newsletter (ha! as if I am ever not writing every newsletter like a personal letter to a friend or some shit... ANYWAY!)

I hate holidays... all of them, even my birthday most years. BUT some people who are close stressed to me recently that I should take holidays more seriously and as a "business" I could/should use this holiday season to try and boost sales or something. So this newsletter is going to be all about my Related Records holiday gift suggestions.

And the reason this email is going out when it is, is because if you want to ensure you get something before "the holiday" you need to place your order before I go to the post office next on December 5th. 

I've done this before and people seem to enjoy it! So for the rest of the year 2021 I am offering these 3 different sales, which is a fantastic way to find out about new music or introduce someone else to some cool new music. OR maybe you have a loved one who just got a record, cassette and/or CD player and you want to give them a cool boost for their brand new collection!
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Or maybe you have that one super weird friend that has an 8-track player and you want to surprise them with a new (as in made in 2015) 8-track! Check out this hidden/under rated gem. VARIOUS ARTISTS "Dick" 8-TRACK

I feel like the distro​ page is overlooked a lot and there is a ton of great stuff in there.
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Maybe there is only 1-2 artists on Related Records that you like, when was the last time you checked out their artist page to see if maybe I have added something related to them for sale? The artists that have the most items to choose from are

Did you know that there is a "Send as a Gift" feature on bandcamp? Well there is, and it's great! i've used it a handful of times to send friends a single or an album that I think they would like and tomorrow (12/03/2021) is the last Bandcamp Friday of the year and possibly ever. on Bandcamp Friday, bandcamp waves all of their fees and gives 100% of the money to the artists. It rules, and it has really helped a lot of artists get through the last 2 years because so many governments all over the world have done such a shit job of taking care of their citizens during the pandemic (Which is still a thing by the way, what the fuck?!) Anyway, I pay out the artists on Related Records twice a year for digital sales and the next time I pay everyone is coming up later this month, so if you already own something digitally, this is a great way to support your favorite artists and get them some money this month. ​

Anyway, here is what people are listening to on the RR bandcamp

My best friend Emily and I have been working on a secret project for the past few months and it’s finally a reality! @thebestfriends.podcast is here! Please go follow and listen. The first episode is up now and new episodes are coming out every 1st and 3rd Friday.

For those of you that do not know, Emily and I have been making art/performing together for almost 20 years now. She was a part of the foundation for many of the bands/projects I am known for like Fathers Day, Locking Your Car Doors, The Good Shows…etc since 2005 we have had this on again/off again performance art project called “The Best Friends” and this podcast is an extension of that. We are interviewing people we admire about everything but more specifically how their relationships effect the art they make and the lives they live.

Podcast is currently available on SoundCloud and Bandcamp but will soon be available everywhere else people listen to podcasts.

New Pre-Orders just went up for the another illustration from The Funny Uncles triple cassette album "Writin' Songs​" This illustration is for their jingles for Burger King. The shirt is available in sizes Small-6XL and is available in White, Gold or you can pay an extra $25 to get it tie-dyed by Emotron. The Emotron is best known for his electronic/noise/performance art and lighting his dick on fire, BUT he is also an amazing tie-dyer and has been making a living since the pandemic creating beautiful tie-dyed works of art. Check out his Instagram account @trondyes.
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The shirt is available in the online store or on Bandcamp

I started this sale a couple days ago on Instagram and have already sold out of a few tapes and am running low on a handful of other tape releases. Go to the Tapes​ page to see whats left.
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Here are some of the more recent releases still in stock.

Here are a few of the tapes that are gonna sell out real soon.

I lowered the prices on over 100 items on the Related Records discogs store. Mostly Indie, Punk and Noise stuff but there is really something for everyone I feel. Here are some of my favorites.

1. Shirts are ordered and will be shipped out sometime next week! So that means they will arrive safely in everyone's hands before the end of the month! woo hoo!!!
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2. I ordered 1 extra K O R N shirt in every size in case you or your friend missed out, you can still pick up one here in super duper limited supply.

I still have some cassette bundle boxes for sale Available in bundles of
-12 TAPES +VINTAGE CASSETTE HOLDER
-15 RANDOM TAPES!
-16 TAPES +VINTAGE CASSETTE HOLDER
-20 RANDOM TAPES
-24 TAPES +VINTAGE CASSETTE HOLDER
-42 TAPES +VINTAGE CASSETTE HOLDER

It's still hotter than hell in AZ and our houseless neighbors are suffering. All sales from either of these items goes to unshelteredphx which is a fantastic mutual aid group doing a lot to help these people with tarps, clothing, coolers and other necessities. 

Only a couple more tapes left! and still lots of shirts available thanks to my partner Sara from Later Operator! Sizes Small-3XL!

Barry is a 4 piece queer-pop group from London. I was introduced to them from friends/label-mates The Pooches and The Slugs! and I instantly feel in love! the music they produce reminds me of that glorious pop sound that was so popular in the early 2000's but yet so incredibly unapologetic for their weirdness and queerness in the most refreshing and pleasant way! The official release date is in December but we are hoping the records will be here sometime between October-November, but with the way vinyl is these days WHO REALLY KNOWS! it sucks! (I was originally quoted as them being done by August, then October so...) ANYWAY! check it out here! and pre-order the 7". also be sure to download their first EP which came out on Permanent Slump records in 2019

​The following items are almost sold out,

• 1 copy left of the "Let's (House) Party" cassette
• 2 copies left of Turqouiz Noiz "Sweat Lodge" cassette
• 3 copies left of Yairms "Part One" cassette
• 3 copies left of The Funny Uncles "Writin' Songs" triple cassette album
• 4 copies left of The Freaks of Nature "Songs For Savages" CD
• 5 copies left the "I Hope This Helps" cassette (100% of sales foes towards unshelteredphx)
• 5 copies left of Fathers Day "That's It!" CD
• 5 copies left of Drunk & Horny "Pool Party" CD and Cassette
• 6 copies left of Dinosaur Love "The Gospel" CD+Zine
• 6 copies left of the "Over My Head" mix tape
• 8 copies left of The Freaks of Nature "Songs For Savages" cassette
• 9 copies left of Space Alien Donald "Must Be Funny" CD and Cassette
• 9 copies left of Treasure Mammal "10 Years Of Cumming Full Circle" cassette

Pretty much since the beginning of the Related Records label, Dimitri and Ryan from world famous band Golden Boots have been big supporters of the label, and for the past 2 years they have had their own radio show in Tucson+the internet called "Burning Brain Radio" and on that show they have continuously played Related Records artists. They have asked me to come up with a solid 20 minutes or so of music for this upcoming episode on Saturday August 14th and I just wanted to mention here that I am real excited about it because it is entirely made up new and soon to be released music from Related Records. So if you want a sneak peek at what is coming next for Related Records, be sure to tune in. I'll post about it on instagram​ for sure when it happens.

So excited to announce the next release on Related Records! A cassette tape of music (mostly covers) by Jay Shingle

If you are unfamiliar with Jays work, he is a comedian (very awkward sort of anti-comedy) and a writer. He runs the @ordinarypeoplememes Instagram account and writes for @realoregano and @thehardtimesnews

I’ve been following him for just over a year now and noticed him doing these really great, funny, lofi covers on his Instagram stories. I shared one of the videos and said “I would love to see these covers on a tape” and jay did not hesitate to DM and be like “let’s do this!” So it’s finally coming together and will be released in August.

Check out the first single a cover of Pavement’s “range life”. Something that @jamesfella says “is completely nuts” LISTEN HERE!

I FINALLY GOT MY COMPUTER BACK!!! So I am finally able to make these mix tapes for people who donate $20 or more to unshelteredphx. They are a mutual aid organization who is helping our houseless neighbors in Arizona this summer. They have a goal of buying 1,000 water coolers for this marginalized group and continually does drives for tents, tarps, first aid and other supplies regularly. So far we have raised almost $300! I still have about a dozen tapes left. Donate $20+ to unshelteredphx and show me the receipt and I will send you a 40+ minute mix tape of inspiring punk music that has helped and inspired me throughout my life.

I am still offering mix tapes to anyone who shows me a screenshot of their donation of $20 or more to unshelteredphx. They are one of the only groups in phoenix that is actually doing something to help the houseless population in this city. Currently working towards of a goal of getting 1,000 (1 gallon) coolers to these people currently living on the streets in 100+ degree weather. This group also provides tents and tarps and other resources to this group regularly. Please help if you can.

The mix tapes are going to called "I hope this helps" and will include 40+ minutes of music that has helped me over the years. This mix is inspired by a mix CD I made for a 13 year old kid I never got the chance to meet who was going through a difficult time. My sister said "I have a friend, who has a 13 year old who is self harming and doesn't have any real interests other than air soft guns and violent video games... I know you were self harming at that age, so... what helped you?" and I said "punk music, if this kid doesn't get into punk music I am worried they will probably end up really hurting themselves or someone else" so my sister asked me to make a mix for the kid. When I made the mix and shared it with her to give to the kid she was upset by the amount of fuck-words, I explained how that sort of language is essential and actually really important > she asked the kids parents if I could give the kid the mix > they said no > i havent heard anything since. Every mix will be different but will fit within that idea/theme. 
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Now here is the shitty news... my computer that has all the music I am putting on thee mix tapes, is out of commission for another week or so. If you are expecting a tape, it's coming, but its gonna be a longer wait than i expected. And I still have about 10 more blank 40-60 minute blank cassettes left for making mixes so again, please donate to unshelteredphx and show me the screen shot, and i'll send you a mix.

New Man-Cat album comes out on Friday. I made a limited amount of these custom Related Records/Man-Cat Stickers and if you order the tape before Monday, I will include all 4 stickers for free. After that, you gotta buy them separately on the Related Records website.

I acquired some vintage tape holders/organizers and I decided to sell them on the Related Records website filled with tapes! Each one comes with an assortment of Related Records tapes, mix tapes and other random stuff. Click the images for full descriptions and to purchase.

I also want to remind you that I still have a handful of the 15 Random Tapes box and 20 Random Tapes boxes available.

Also have you checked out the new Books section of the Related Records online store? It's only got 5 things on it right now, but new things are going to be added in the next few months including a new album/zine from Dinosaur Love and a zine from Liberty Hodes of The Slugs! In the meantime, check out In Defense of Ska or Very Terri Issue #1 (both of which include a download code for the Ska Mix For Q mix tape that sold out within a few hours earlier this month), Moop by Mary Ocher, The Legend of Wild man Fischer, or The Gospel by Dinosaur Love

After sharing a really lovely/thoughtful conversation with my friend Quintron in January about "re-discovering" music that once meant so much to us  Quintron asked me "Ryan, I know you made me a Ska Mix CD once before, and it was good but I lost it. I also was wondering if you could make me a mix tape instead that sort of focuses on the history of Ska Music and I wanna hear more of the weirder ska music that you like." he mentioned "I really love the ska songs that you did in Drunk & Horny, the wild keyboards and raw recording style was so cool. I wanna hear more stuff like that!" So I began working on this mix tape for him around that time and saw that I had 15 of these C-90 cassette tapes, So I decided to of course make copies for friends and to sell. The tapes are $9.99 and feature 34 (mostly underground) artists playing ska spanning the entire genre (+as many sub genres that I could fit) from 1962 to 2020. Because this is a mix for Quintron who is a world-known professional organ player, this mix also leans heavy on the organ as well.

I recently was gifted about 5 big boxes of cassette tapes from 2 different strangers, I listed them all on the Related Records discogs store, but then when I went to put them away I realized I didn't have room for all of them, so I went back through all my tapes on discogs (and lowered the price on a bunch of stuff.) and took all the tapes off that were listed for a $1-$2 and put them in some boxes for sale on here. Check them out below, this is a great way to discover new music, or do an art project or if you want to recycle some old tapes to make mixes for friends or something. I am posting about it in this newsletter first and if there are any left over by the end of the weekend, I'll post the remaining ones on instagram​.

By the way, all of these cassette boxes, I am including at least 1 Related Records tape that is equal to or higher than the value of the box of random tapes you're buying.

​Hey! I got 2 things to let you all know about.

#1 - Related Records is on TikTok now!
After a couple years of trying something new, I have finally been talked into trying this platform and already I gotta say, I love it! I will be sharing short stories, info about Related Records artists and releases and this is probably where I will be sharing my FREE IDEAS from now on. (If you are not familiar, FREE IDEAS are something I share sporadically on the Related Records Instagram Stories, these are ideas that I think are alright, but know I will most likely never follow through on, so they are FREE for you to use, i do not need or even want credit)

#2 - It's ARIZONA's 109th birthday today!
You may be wondering, why this is worth sharing and its because, Related Records is based out of AZ & I personally have a real love/hate relationship with the 48th state. On one hand it is very easy & fun & inspiring to create art here. On the other hand it's full of angry white people & run by people who REALLY do not give a shit about it's citizens & especially during this pandemic I am constantly reminded of that & it makes me depressed. BUT there are a lot of amazing artists here including 14 out of the 27 artists on the RR restor..So I'm doing a sale on all ARIZONA based artists merchandise in the Online Store. This is not limited to the stuff put out by Related Records, it also includes stuff in the Distro, dig through there and get some stuff for cheap.

It has been almost a whole year since the last FREE digital Related Records compilation, This one is pretty fun, especially for you artists who are needing an excuse to make music again while in isolation. I made an FAQ page all about this one, including info on how to contribute.

I should *fingers crossed* be getting the new Treasure Mammal "Grammy Nominated" LP in the mail in the next week or two. And that also means I need to make room for all these LP's in my tiny office. So I am offering 3 different sales for Vinyl, Tapes and CD's. You buy 1 item for $10.99 (or $20.99 if its a vinyl) and I throw in 3 extra records from the Related Records Catalog+Distro for free. These will be curated based on whatever you pick. PLUS will I throw in extras like stickers and download cards...etc

I've got bad news and i've got some good news regarding the new Treasure Mammal LP "Grammy Nominated"

BAD NEWS - Due to some hiccups with the pressing plant, the release date for this record has been pushed back to November 7th which is also the 17 year anniversary for the Treasure Mammal music and performance project.

GOOD NEWS - We released a new song from the album for you to stream, its called "Team Work" and it was co-written by Owen Evans who you will know from the indie pop bands ROAR and Asleep In The Sea (who our sub label "Heirloom Records" just did a digital release of their album Avenue).

Anyway, check it out. Its a fun inspirational song that hopefully makes your day a little better. Make sure to get your pre-orders in, those will be shipped out as soon as the records arrive in my custody (which should be mid-October) The Gold version that comes with a cassingle of "Online Dating" is running low, so pick those up ASAP​.

"Worn Out" Mix Tape
A couple weeks ago I ruined two of my favorite pairs of pants and rather than throw them away I decided to make mix tapes with them. “Worn Out” is a mix tape made up of songs that have made a big impact on me, that have also come out over the last 2 years. Mix tapes range from 50ish to 60ish minutes and come in random colored cassette shells. Every mix at least features songs from Whitmore Thomas, Clipping, Special Interest, The Ex-Bats, Sailor Poon, Bruce Lee Band, Jeffrey Lewis, Crush Material, Barry, The Slugs, Yairms, Mooey Moobau, Jpegmafia and Kitten Forever most also features at least 7+ more songs. Anyway, it’s a fun mix. If you live in the USA it’s only $5, $12 if you live anywhere else. That includes shipping. It pretty much just covers the cost for everything. Not looking to profit off this, just spread some joy, help the post office a little bit and not let things go to waste.If you want a copy, you can DM @related_records on Instagram. Venmo @relatedrecords or PayPal paypal.me/RelatedRecords and in case you were wondering...
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Red = Big Bud Press work pants (purchased in 2018)
Black = Levis Slim Fit Jeans (purchased in 2015)

100% of the sales from downloads on the Related Records Bandcamp page this weekend will be going towards Mutual Aid PHX. If you would just like to donate, I am doing a costco run for supplies on Saturday or Sunday, so you can send donations here this weekend and know that's where the money is going, I will show my reciepts on the Related Records Instagram stories. There is also still "Heat Is Murder" shirts available in sizes Small-3XL and all the money from these shirts goes towards this cause as well. Last month, I did a run & raised close to $500.

I am so excited to announce officially that the newest artist to join Related Records is The Slugs from the UK! I first heard this group last November, I saw a video of them screaming "GIVE US! GIVE US YOUR SLUG MONEY!" for 15 seconds and was hooked! I followed them on Instagram, downloaded all their music on Bandcamp and after listening to all 3 EP's I sent them a message saying I want to release their music for them. By January, I had paid for their 2nd EP "Don't Touch Me, I'm too Slimy!" to be pressed as a 7". This was supposed to be ready to go by April, but because of COVID it wasn't ready until August. BUT THAT'S OKAY! it's finally here! ​

The Slugs are planning on doing a Q+A tomorrow (8/28 at 9PM in the UK / 1PM Pacific Coast) on the Related Records instagram and then sometime next week they will be reunited for the first time in months and will be live streaming a special performance. If you live in Europe, I suggest purchasing the 7" directly from them on their bandcamp page.

Hey it's me, Ryan, I got a new album and its official release date is today, but if you pre-ordered one, you probably already got it because I have been mailing them out as soon as I got them. Anyway, this is a follow up to my last album "Honestly" and I think its just as good as that one. It's got a couple stories, some old songs, a couple covers and a magic trick. On Friday I am going to be live streaming a performance around 5:30pm (Pacific Coast time) on the Related Records instagram​. I wanted to organize a whole live streaming album release show but I think It's just gonna be me.

All sales from this shirt will go towards supplies that will be donated to the PHX Mutual Aid Solidarity Network. which is an all-volunteer grassroots group operating in Phoenix, AZ. They are prioritizing folks who are sick, disabled, quarantined without pay, elderly, undocumented, queer, Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color. This group does not accept cash donations.​

This group is doing a lot of work with the homeless population in Phoenix right now and in case you are not aware, the city of Phoenix has very few shade structures and is forcing this community to set up camp in vacant parking lots in the middle of summer, the average temperature in Phoenix between the months of May-October is 102.
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Shirts were designed and paid for by @later_operator

Fathers Day related merchandise is selling quickly. Already sold out of the "Van Jamz" tape, the "Disneyworld" 7" and "Dad Music for Dad People" shirts in multiple sizes. ​

Back in December I requested the first two weeks of May off from my day job so Hi My Name Is Ryan could go on a little West Coast tour. Obviously that’s not happening now, so I am experimenting with a digital live-stream European tour with my friends from all over the world* Each show will start at 8pm CET (Central European Time) that is about 11AM on the west coast of the US and a few hours later if you’re in a different part of the US. This is also maybe an hour later if you are somewhere else in Europe. Time Zones are confusing so I’ll leave it up to you to figure it out for yourself.
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Click here for more info on the different shows, the artists playing them and how to support them.

*=USA and Europe

On March 20, 2020, Bandcamp waived their revenue share in order to help artists and labels impacted by the pandemic. The Bandcamp community showed up in a massive way, spending $4.3 million on music and merch—15x the amount of a normal Friday— helping artists cover rents, mortgages, groceries, medications, and so much more. It was truly inspiring.
But the pandemic and its impact on the music community aren’t over, so today, as well as on June 5, and July 3 (the first Friday of each month), Bandcamp is waiving their revenue share for all sales on the platform, from midnight to midnight PDT on each day.