Outpunk Archive
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Abstract
Founded by Matt Wobensmith, Outpunk was both a zine, published from 1992-1997, and a queercore record label, releasing music from 1992-1998. This collection contains original masters for almost all of the Outpunk zines, as well as a wide variety of documentation about the bands represented by the Outpunk label, including posters, fliers, photographs, and audio recordings.
Biographical/Historical note
In the early 1990s, the queercore movement was small and largely underground. Matt Wobensmith's writing on the subject, along with his subsequent foray into making queercore music more widely available, gave the movement a more public voice.
Inspired by the Riot Grrrl movement, Wobensmith latched on to the burgeoning DIY culture and translated it into an exploration of the styles, trends, and sounds of the queer, hardcore community by publishing seven issues of the Outpunk zine between 1992-1997. Outpunk zines discussed queer culture, punk rock music, sexual politics, the gay skinhead movement, and feminism.
As a record label, Outpunk provided exposure to queer-focused bands including Tribe 8, Pansy Division, the Mukilteo Fairies, Cypher in the Snow, Sta-Prest, and Behead the Prophet No Lord Shall Live.
After ending both the zine and the record label in the late 1990s, Matt Wobensmith remained involved with zine culture. Today he owns and operates Goteblüd, a zine store and archive in San Francisco.
Arrangement
Collection is arranged into three series: I. Zines, II. Music, III. Phonograph Records, and IV. Ephemera and Objects. Some series have been further arranged into subseries.
Items have been arranged with the original order kept intact; the only exceptions are oversized and dimensional materials, which are housed in separate containers.
Scope and Contents
The Outpunk Archive contains paper files, photographs and audio recordings relating to both Outpunk the zine and Outpunk, the queercore music label. These files include original artwork and flats for Outpunk zines; some administrative records; correspondence between the founder, Matt Wobensmith, and other artists; photographs of artists; copies of Outpunk record releases; and miscellaneous materials that arrived with the collection.
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Conditions Governing Access
Open to researchers. Appointments are necessary for the use of manuscript and archival collections.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Outpunk Archive; MSS 297; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Outpunk Archive was donated by Matt Wobensmith in 2010, with an accretion to the collection donated in February 2017. The accession numbers associated with these gifts are 2010.297 and 2017.086, respectively.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Audio materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Decisions concerning the arrangement, description, and physical interventions taken on this collection prior to 2017 have not yet been recorded. In 2017 an accretion of photographs was accessioned, rehoused in archival boxes and folders, and intellectually incorporated into the collection's Series 2.C. in accordance with the existing series structure.
