Introduction
Chris Clavin (born Christopher Johnston; August 23, 1973) is a musician, anarchist and record label owner from Indiana, USA, with a strict DIY (do-it-yourself) punk ethic. He has been involved in numerous punk bands and runs Plan-It-X Records, a label founded in 1994.
Bands involved in
Clavin has been a part of many (primarily pop punk and folk punk) bands that have toured all over the world, some of them very influential in the DIY punk scene. Below is a partial list of the bands Clavin has played a part in.
- Last August
- Drowners
- The Ted Dancin' Machine
- Operation: Cliff Clavin
- Disarm
- Pink Ass Flowers (P.A.F.)
- The Trolls
- The Coug
- The Ground-Ups
- I Like Japanese Hardcore
- The Sissies
- Ghost Mice
- The Devil is Electric
- Captain Chaos (see below)
- Helter Skeletor
- The Jammy Dodgers
- Imperial Can
- Long Duck Dong
- By Blood
- Inky Skulls
- Tooth Soup
- Marcus, Andrew (30 December 2006). "The spirit of folk was everywhere this year, with a slew of tribute albums to various new hybrid forms -- from freak-folk to folk-punk and beyond". Salon Media Group. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
- "Plan-It-X Records: If It Ain't Cheap - It Ain't Punx!". Retrieved September 17, 2012.
Solo musical projects
Clavin started working on solo recordings in the fall of 2004 when he wrote a song and recorded it in the same day to give to someone as a gift. He tried to write and record one song a day. He only made it 8 days. Those 8 songs along with 7 others are on the first album, "May All Liars Burn in Hell". The idea behind his solo projects is to write songs without thinking about them, to be pure in writing and hold nothing back. Occasionally Clavin utilized his friends "Colorblind" Joe, McKayla or others for help. Primarily playing with acoustic guitar or ukulele, he has toured the US West Coast, Midwest, and Europe multiple times.
As Captain Chaos
When Clavin first started releasing solo songs, he did not want his typical moniker attached to them. Spoonboy (of The Max Levine Ensemble) gave him the name Captain Chaos. Though Clavin did not like the name, it stuck. He released six full-length albums, one split, and appeared on a handful of compilations and other small projects as Captain Chaos before using his real name on his solo work (see further below).
Captain Chaos discography
Early works
| Year | Title | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Captain Chaos | Spoonboy's Tape Label | Cassette |
| 2004 | Tour CD-R | Self-Released/Chaos Records | CD-R |
Full-length albums
| Year | Title | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | May All Liars Burn In Hell (a.k.a. Self-Titled) | The Scientist and the Duke Records | CD, Digital |
| 2006 | This is Cake | Crafty Records | CD |
| 2006 | Bloomington, Vol. 1 | Big Magic Records | CD |
| 2006 | Ireland | Valiant Death Records | CD-R |
| 2007 | The Fool | Anti-Creative Records | CD |
| 2007 | For The Devil | Fall of the West Records | CD |
| 2007 | Your Bright Eyes Are Gonna Kill Me For Sure | Crafty Records | CD-R |
| 2008 | Nice and Friendly/Captain Chaos Split - Have Fun/Die Hard | Sweet No Records | CD |
Box set
All six of the full-length albums (and a bonus CDR of cover songs) were available in a hand-crafted wooden box set with hand-made art. These boxes were made by Dan Treiber of Crafty Records. Fifty-one of them were made. The first 25 were made out of recycled 99-year-old barn wood. The second 26 were made out of recycled 1960 Canadian crate wood. The box set became officially available as of April 5, 2007. It is now out of print.
Compilations
| Year | Title | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Bella's Birthday CD(free!) | Plan-It-X Records | CD, Digital |
| 2006 | Live At Bandit H.Q. | DIY Bandits | CD-R |
| 2006 | Night of the Living Devilock: A DIY Tribute to the Misfits | Playground's Greatest Records/Pop Monster! Records | CD-R |
| 2006 | The Three Dollar Gallon | Crafty Records | CD |
| 2007 | Ponies in a Stable | Don't Stop Believin' Records | CD |
| 2008 | Thanks For The Floor | Crafty Records | CD |
As Chris Clavin
In 2008, Clavin decided to stop releasing songs as Captain Chaos, and instead use his traditional moniker. He began to tour solo again on a small scale, and has released one album so far.
Chris Clavin discography
Full-length albums
| Year | Title | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | The Roads Don't Lead Home. The Roads Lead Everywhere | Crafty Records | 12" vinyl LP |
| 2009 | Secrets (Chris Clavin / Sara Cilantro Split) | Plan-It-X Records | Cassette |
| 2009 | Chris Clavin / Madeline Ava Split | Plan-It-X Records | Cassette |
| 2010 | Chris Clavin / Andrew Lips Split | Plan-It-X Records | Cassette |
| 2011 | Waxahachee / Chris Clavin Split | Plan-It-X Records | Cassette, Digital |
| 2011 | Chris Clavin / Kyle Hall Split | Plan-It-X Records | Cassette, Digital |
Record labels
Clavin's solo projects have appeared on the following record labels (this list excludes compilations and smaller projects)
- Anti-Creative Records
- Big Magic Records
- Boom Boom Tapes
- Crafty Records
- Fall of the West Records
- Plan-It-X Records
- The Scientist and the Duke Records
- Sweet Now Records
- Valiant Death Records
- Rock-it Records