" Learning how to play a musical instrument is fine - it just gets in the way of true musical greatness." John Cage

The teenage Dave Swain set up Gore Infidel Records in 1991, in an attempt to make his own records and let people who wanted to hear the work have it. In short, it's all about the music itself and not an attempt to be a proper business at all (we will leave that to the experts.)

Fine in theory, but a hell of a hard job! Releases have all been self-funded and so, not exactly prolific. Initially working under the pseudonym SAN POP, (to seem more like a band!) early experiments mixed instruments, drum machines, radios, field recordings and vocals.
The material always has, and always will, mix 'n' match - from 'acoustic' single/multi instrumentation and songs to more electronic elements/voice samples/loops of recorded and self-generated noise. Simple form is usually the key, no matter what the 'genre' is deemed to be. (By the way, these genres are decided upon by other people and absolutely nothing to do with Dave himself!)

As a minute independent UK label, the purpose has never been to make money ( we are non-profit-making ) but to make the music available to anyone who is interested - cutting out all the middlemen, wherever possible. These releases are usually limited editions and can come in rather unorthodox formats and packages - see our  CDs / Records page, for details and availability.

Through it's part-time history of obscure releases, Gore Infidel Records has remained true to these principles - even if they do seem lazy, they are well-intentioned! Due to very limited resources and funds, we have only been able to maintain our existence via word of mouth, fanzine reviews, tracks appearing on compilations ( KAW records, Bliss etc. ), and occasional radio exposure (Mark Radcliffe and, more recently, Rob da Bank on BBC Radio 1, 'Mixing It' et al) as well as online broadcasts... the demo of 'Sportive' has appeared on too many podcasts to mention (as has the Wire Tapper 16 version of 'Media Monkey') Since then things have certainly snowballed, with 'Sportive', 'Goodnight America', 'Recuerdo', 'Media Monkey' and other tracks receiving international acclaim from listeners, radio DJs and reviewers alike. At last this work is being heard...and the Internet age has certainly helped spread the word in ways that were previously unimaginable.