Thirty years ago, Stomp Records kicked off in Montreal with a simple mission: to give Canada’s independent punk and ska bands a home, a voice, and a way to reach beyond their own city limits. It was an ambitious idea for a couple of musicians with no business plan and even less money, a plan that should’ve crashed harder than a tour van on bald tires in a prairie blizzard. Instead, it helped ignite a national movement and built one of Canada’s longest-running and most influential independent labels. From day one, Stomp Records wasn’t just releasing records, it was building culture. In the pre-internet era, Canadian punk and ska scenes were thriving in isolation, each city a bubble. Stomp burst those bubbles, uniting bands from coast to coast, creating touring circuits, and turning hometown heroes into cross-country road warriors.
“This label is built on community, creativity, and helping each other get our shot,” says Stomp co-founder Matt Collyer. “We’re still here because the fans show up, the bands work their asses off, and we love every minute of doing this.”
Throughout the late 90s and early 2000s, Stomp helped define the next wave of Canadian punk and ska, not by chasing trends but by championing artists with grit, conviction, and personality. They supported small scenes through compilation series (The All-Skanadian Club) and got in the van with bands — literally and figuratively — helping develop careers from the bar circuit to international festival stages. As trends shifted and the music industry free-fell into the Napster era, most indie labels folded. Stomp didn’t. They embraced digital early, built a full-service ecosystem of booking, management, and publicity, and widened their sonic scope to reflect the beautifully messy realities of underground music. Punk, ska, rockabilly, hardcore, folk-punk, skate-punk, bagpipes, brass, blood, sweat. if it had guts and a pulse of rebellion, Stomp gave it a home.
That fearless curation brought countless Canadian subcultural staples into the world: The Real McKenzies, Wine Lips, The Dreadnoughts, The Flatliners, The Creepshow, The Anti-Queens, Brutal Youth, Belvedere, Bedouin Soundclash, Raygun Cowboys, PKEW PKEW PKEW, The Sainte-Catherines, Down By Law, Snuff… and many more who continue to fill rooms and make noise worldwide. It has never been a smooth ride. Along the way there have been industry collapses, floods, robberies, broken bones, car jackings, even literal Nazi attacks. Somehow, through all of that, a few Juno nominations, a win, and accidental gold and platinum plaques still ended up on their walls.
“The odds were stacked against us from day one,” says long-time Stomp partner Mike Magee. “Luckily Stomp Records didn’t, and still doesn’t, give one single flying f*ck about the odds.”
Three decades in, the mission hasn’t changed: artists first, community always, and a stubborn refusal to water anything down. And the stats speak for themselves: nearly 300 releases with distribution in over 190 countries, artists who’ve earned Juno recognition, and alumni who have gone on to perform in Simple Plan, Walk Off The Earth, Kings of Leon, The Stills, Patrick Watson and Broken Social Scene among a long list of others.
To celebrate surviving 30 wild years, and because they love any excuse for a loud night out, they’re celebrating with a nationwide run of absolute blowout shows. A toast to every late-night drive, every curb-side gear load, every sweaty pit, and every fan who ever found belonging in the chaos.
Upcoming Shows:
Dec 11 – Toronto – Lee’s Palace
The Dreadnoughts, The Creepshow, The Filthy Radicals
Tickets: https://www.ticketweb.ca/event/dreadnoughts-with-the-creepshow-lees-palace-tickets/13786114
Dec 13 – Ottawa – Overflow Brewing
The Dreadnoughts, The Creepshow, The Filthy Radicals
https://www.ticketweb.ca/event/the-dreadnoughts-the-creepshow-the-overflow-brewing-co-tickets/14579493
Dec 10th @ Turbo Haus
Capable, Doghouse Rose
FR: https://lepointdevente.com/billets/stp251210001
EN: https://thepointofsale.com/tickets/stp251210001
Dec 11th @ Turbo Haus
Dig It Up, Brutal Youth, Crossdog
FR: https://lepointdevente.com/billets/stp251211001
EN: https://thepointofsale.com/tickets/stp251211001
Dec 12th @ Foufs
The Dreadnoughts, The Creepshow, PKEW PKEW PKEW, K-Man and the 45’s, The Penske File, The Fake Friends, Boids, The Filthy Radicals
FR: https://lepointdevente.com/billets/stp250923001
EN: https://thepointofsale.com/tickets/stp250923001
Dec 13th @ Club Soda
The Planet Smashers, The Flatliners, Wine Lips, The Anti-Queens, Crash Ton Rocks
FR: https://lepointdevente.com/billets/stp251213001
EN: https://thepointofsale.com/tickets/stp251213001