The Committee to Keep Music Evil formed in 2001 after the Brian Jonestown Massacre's 'Strung Out In Heaven' tenure with TVT records expired. In conjunction with Greg Shaw and Bomp! Records, founder Anton Newcombe felt he needed to beat The Man at his own game. The Plan was to release BJM music not available through other channels, and to record new bands which we will be producing from time to time—while pursuing the goal of making the world unsafe for rock and roll.
The Committee released a number of albums from the BJM including 'Bravery, Repetition and Noise', 'Spacegirl and Other Favorites' and the 'Zero EP', as well as now rare collectible 7" and 12" singles, and releases from artists Floorian, The Lovetones and The Telescopes.
Fast forward 2007... The idea of bringing the Committee to a more powerful entity was being considered, and in the summer of '07, Cargo Records in the UK approached the Committee to form a partnership, which would concentrate on re-releasing the entire BJM catalog on vinyl -- which had not been done to date -- and also give the Committee a way to expand the catalog by bringing in new artists. In 2008, The Committee re-released several BJM LPs such as 'Satanic Majesty's Second Request' and 'Methodrone,' as well as adding releases from bands such as The Quarter After, and The Asteroid #4 to its roster.
Now in 2011, The Committee is yet again shedding its skin and morphing. February saw The Asteroid #4's second Committee release 'Hail to the Clear Figurines', and in July 2011, Anton officially stepped out and started his new imprint called 'A Records', based out of Berlin. Leaving the helm to Quarter After / BJM musician, producer & engineer Rob Campanella (Los Angeles), Rob is looking to the future to re-shape the original vision Anton started the Committee with - Continue to provide a home base for BJM fans, release new music on The Committee imprint, but most importantly - expand The Committee catalog by opening the doors to other artists looking to bring their psychedelic-tinged music directly to the Committee's rabid audience - and become the home base for all things psychedelic.
The Committee hopes to provide insight into everything that we've witnessed and friended over the years. We hope to build an infectious and influential reach that will be great enough to find the lost souls who haven't been witness to the family of Committee artists around the world, and open the minds of this new audience who might be wandering into the psychedelic world for the first time.