G7 Welcoming Committee Records is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 independent record label

Independent record label

An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...

 started by Chris Hannah and Jord Samolesky of punk band Propagandhi

Propagandhi

Propagandhi is a Canadian punk band formed in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba in 1986 by Chris Hannah and Jord Samolesky. The band is currently located in Winnipeg, Manitoba....

, and their friend Regal in 1997. The label is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, operates out of The Old Market Autonomous Zone

The Old Market Autonomous Zone

The Old Market Autonomous Zone, or A-Zone, was founded in 1995, in Winnipeg, Canada by local activists Paul Burrows and Sandra Drosdowech, who also co-founded Winnipeg's Mondragon Bookstore. Its name is derived from "Old Market Square," the historic Exchange District in Winnipeg's downtown core...

, and mostly gives out artists and speakers who have a radical point of view.

Political aspect

According to the G7 website, when the label was established, the founders hoped "to create a label that politically radical bands and speakers could unflinchingly support and call home; where the driving force behind the label's output was social change and radical thought; and where the structure of the organization didn't contradict itself by mimicking the structures of unbalanced power and hierarchy in the profit-driven corporate world." To this end the label incorporates the economic structure Parecon proposed by Robin Hahnel

Robin Hahnel

Robin Hahnel is a Professor of Economics at Portland State University. He is best known for his work on participatory economics with Z Magazine editor Michael Albert. He is currently a visiting professor at Lewis & Clark College....

 and Michael Albert

Michael Albert

Michael Albert is an American activist, economist, speaker, and writer. He is co-editor of ZNet, and co-editor and co-founder of Z Magazine. He also co-founded South End Press and has written numerous books and articles...

.

The name is a reference to the G7 (now, including Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, the G8

G8

The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...

) which brings together the world's richest and most powerful countries in yearly summits to discuss the global political and economic society and to make collective decisions. The label's website explains, "The G7 Welcoming Committee is an idea of resistance [...] A 'Welcoming Committee' to tell them, with words and actions, what we think of their power and neo-colonialism, around the world and at home, and that people are willing to fight back ..."

Associated bands

The following artists have released albums on G7:

• Bakunin's Bum
  Bakunin's Bum
  Bakunin's Bum, named after the anarchist philosopher Mikhail Bakunin, is a musical collaboration between Norman Nawrocki and Godspeed You! Black Emperor drummer Aidan Girt. Their first recording, Fight to Win! was released as a benefit for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty and features spoken...
  
  
• ...But Alive
  ...But Alive
  ...But Alive was a German punk rock band, which was founded in 1992 in Hamburg. Most of their lyrics were very political. When they announced their breakup in 1999, because of musical and personal differences, they consisted of the following members:...
  
  
• Che: Chapter 127
  Che: Chapter 127
  Che: Chapter 127 was a Canadian heavy metal band, active in the early 2000s. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, the band consisted of vocalist Meegan Riot, guitarists Brent Anderson and Ian White, bassist Brandon Edwards and drummer Daniella Booth....
  
  
• Clann Zú
  Clann Zú
  Clann Zú was an Australian and Irish band that formed in Melbourne in 1999.-Biography:The forming members drew inspiration from an eclectic mix of musical styles, such as punk, rock, folk, electronic, and classical. Their fusion of Celtic folk, electronic music, and rock has created a unique epic...
  
  
• Consolidated
  Consolidated (band)
  Consolidated was an American radical activist recording and performing group, formed in 1988 and best known in the early 1990s as an alternative dance/industrial music band. They were distinguished by left-leaning political activism and politically radical lyrics, as well as their innovative sonic...
  
  
• GFK
  GFK (band)
  GFK are a Canadian hardcore metal band, formed in Quebec in 1996. According to their biography, they are "a head-on, relentless blend of hardcore and metal that actually manages to thoughtfully and intelligently address issues of relevance to anyone living under the current downward spiral of...
  
  
• Giant Sons
• Head Hits Concrete
  Head Hits Concrete
  Head Hits Concrete is a political grindcore band that formed in April 1999 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Between 1999 and 2004 the band recorded a cassette demo, 3 EPs and split records with My Minds Mine and Bodies Lay Broken. Head Hits Concrete went on extended hiatus in 2004, but reformed for a...
  
  
• Hiretsukan
  Hiretsukan
  Hiretsukan is a New York-based band that formed in 1998 just outside of Washington, D.C. In the following years, they recorded their "Brown Bag" demo, and went out on a few small tours...
  
  
• The (International) Noise Conspiracy
  The (International) Noise Conspiracy
  The Noise Conspiracy is a Swedish rock band formed in Sweden in the late months of 1998. The line-up consists of Dennis Lyxzén , Inge Johansson , Lars Strömberg , and Ludwig Dahlberg . The band is known for its punk and garage rock musical influences, and its impassioned left-wing political stance...
  
  
• I Spy
  I Spy (band)
  I Spy was a Canadian hardcore punk band founded in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1991, relocated to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1994, and disbanded in 1996.-History:...
  
  
• Jamaica Plain
• Greg MacPherson
  Greg MacPherson
  Greg MacPherson is a Canadian singer-songwriter based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. MacPherson performs both as a solo performer and as part of a band...
  
  
• Malefaction

• Mico
  Mico (band)
  -History:Formed in the late 1990s by John Stewart , Mico originally existed as a 3-piece consisting of Todd Lapp , Troy "BDF" Fleischhaker and John Stewart...
  
  
• Painted Thin
  Painted Thin
  Painted Thin was a Canadian hardcore punk band, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba and active from 1994 to 1999. The core of the band consisted of vocalist and guitarist Stephen Carroll and bassist and vocalist Paul Furgale, with a variety of guest musicians, including James Ash, Dan McCafferty and Jason...
  
  
• Propagandhi
  Propagandhi
  Propagandhi is a Canadian punk band formed in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba in 1986 by Chris Hannah and Jord Samolesky. The band is currently located in Winnipeg, Manitoba....
  
  
• Randy
  Randy (band)
  Randy is a punk rock band from Hortlax, Sweden, formed in 1992. They were first inspired by skate punk bands like NOFX and Propagandhi but after the release of The Rest Is Silence and the depart of their bass player Patrik Trydvall, they radically changed their musical style and adopted an older...
  
  
• The Rebel Spell
• Red Fisher
• Rhythm Activism
  Rhythm Activism
  Rhythm Activism was a Canadian musical collective, revolving around the core duo of Sylvain Côté and Norman Nawrocki. The group, based in Montreal, performed a politically radical brand of "rock 'n roll cabaret"....
  
  
• John K. Samson
  John K. Samson
  John Kristjan Samson is a musician from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is a singer-songwriter and currently the frontman of the Canadian folk punk band The Weakerthans...
  
  
• Subhumans
  Subhumans (Canadian band)
  The Subhumans are a punk band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that formed in 1978.Known by pejorative, punk rock nicknames, original members were known simply as "Useless" , "Dimwit" , "Wimpy" and "Normal" .-History:Dimwit quit the band shortly after their first 7" was released to join...
  
  
• Submission Hold
• Swallowing Shit
  Swallowing Shit
  Swallowing Shit was a short-lived Canadian grindcore band, active in Winnipeg, Manitoba in the mid-1990s.-History:Swallowing Shit was formed in 1994 by vocalist Mike Alexander with guitarist Mike Koop of The Bonaduces, drummer Steve Dueck of The Undecided and, for one show only, bassist Dave...
  
  
• warsawpack
  Warsawpack
  Warsawpack was a Canadian experimental rap rock group. The band, from Ontario, defined its music as "an eclectic fusion of hip hop, jazz, groove and rock"....
  
  
• The Weakerthans
  The Weakerthans
  The Weakerthans are a four-piece Canadian indie rock band.-History:The band was formed in 1997 in Winnipeg, Manitoba by John K. Samson, after he left the punk band Propagandhi to start a publishing company. Samson joined forces with bassist John P...
  
  

It also carries spoken word material by Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky

Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...

, Ward Churchill

Ward Churchill

Ward LeRoy Churchill is an author and political activist. He was a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder from 1990 to 2007. The primary focus of his work is on the historical treatment of political dissenters and Native Americans by the United States government...

, Ann Hansen

Ann Hansen

Ann Hansen is a Canadian anarchist and former member of Direct Action, a guerrilla organization famous for the 1982 bombing of a Litton Industries plant, which made components for American cruise missiles. She was sentenced to life in prison, but was released after eight years. Hansen wrote of her...

, and Howard Zinn

Howard Zinn

Howard Zinn was an American historian, academic, author, playwright, and social activist. Before and during his tenure as a political science professor at Boston University from 1964-88 he wrote more than 20 books, which included his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United...

.

Compilation albums

• Return of the Read Menace
  Return of the Read Menace
  Return of the Read Menace is a compilation album, released in 1999 on G7 Welcoming Committee Records.-Track listing:# Screeching Weasel, "My Own World"# J Church, "Tightrope"# No Use For a Name, "Hybrid Moments"...
  
  (1999)
• Take Penacilin Now
  Take Penacilin Now
  Take Penacilin Now is a 2005 compilation album released on G7 Welcoming Committee Records. The compilation features almost every artist that has released material on the label...
  
  (2005)

External links

• G7 Welcoming Committee Records – Official website
• Propagandhi

• Profile and interview at Lost at Sea magazine
• Profile at Exclaim.ca