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LEBENSREFORM:
"Share this page, post a comment below, and mention at least two of your friends that 'like' LEBENSREFORM afterwards - we will draw a winner on May, 4th to get a Testpress of one of our records"

The Label

Horizons was a label... I did tapes and even one record (kind of - you will see in abit). There were some recordings that never saw the light of day...

It all started out in the early 1990s. I released three live-tapes of friends' bands. Two of 'em, 7 INCH BOOTS and INTRICATE, had studio tracks, that weren't released by then. As for 7 INCH BOOTS, they later would be available on their posthumous second 7". With INTRICATE, I still have to manage to get a grasp on the recording and layout. The third in this era was Swiss band WORNOUT. All three releases were a noble cause, because after expenses paid all money did go to the then well-known "Bundesverband der Tierbefreier" (an animal-liberation group). Of course, that was not a helluva money...

The label got revitalised in the LEBENSREFORM-days to promote some off-label stuff. The first recording we did was not an official HORIZONS-release, but I got it under my wings anyhow. It was more of an attempt to legitimize a real band story. Somehow I was of the impression, that a band "has to do" a Demo. But even more somehow, I knew that recording will be a record pretty soon. Nevertheless, I did some tapes and mostly handed them out at a Fanzine-fair at Neuss. And I made sure, Markus Haas of Per Koro would get one... and so the story goes. It had the song "Was!?" extra to the "Licht, Luft, Leben"-tracks, which later would be used for tape-compilations.
An official release, and Horizons #04, was the "Punkin'" tape. This was a pre-recording of the "Retor" material, which we wanted to get a grasp on ourselves. We used a friends help with his 8-track equipment. For further details, jump over to the Discogs entry.

THIRST was a mystery. You can see above, it is advertised as "lo-fi doom" - but what the hell is that anyway? To get an idea, you might think of a remixed and torn to pieces version of the unnamed last track on "Retor". Maybe some day, you will be able to understand...

Also unreleased are the later two tapes. I would especially recommend you do some research on DREI AMIGOS. It features LEBENSREFORM-early adopter Torsten Hempelt. Maybe I can get him to comment on this with some more knowledge...

What is missing in this ad (run in HORIZONS-zine as well as others, plus flyered out on occassions) is the later record that was flying under the my flag. Some might remember, some might know from recent publications - some might just wait until I can bring it up here (I am afraid, that's also a legal thing, but screw that... I will!)

You guessed it, the following month should hopefully see a digital transformation of some of HORIZONS-labels' legacy...

Advertisement for HORIZONS-Distro

This entry is no commercial break - it's history. Here we have the first offical mentioning of "Horizons", which I choose to brandmark everything I do in Hardcore. In 1989, if I remember this right, I didn't even know, there was more to come. But here it is. And what it was for many years is: a Distro.

Later on, the catalogue grew extensively. But it also got shut down - twice. The first time, due to lack of interest. The second time, because it was alot of financial trouble and killed alot of my time. I overdid it, to be quite honest. Very early on, I also did wholesale, first items being INSIGHT, EVEN SCORE and the "Only the Strong"-7" directly from Tony Brummel. Later on, started doing Scorched Records, of Ron Guardipee, with the RESOLUTION 10" and GALLEON'S LAP 12". But it was somehow Old Glory-Records, remember the East Coast-Iconoclast on Ebullition, that broke my neck. Well, I did... Whatever - it did not work out anymore, the distro, the wholesale. 

Back to the ad, the experienced reader might recognize the comical style used here. This drawing is by Bart Griffoen, and can easily be compared to the work he did for the PROFOUND-7" on Crucial Response. This thing here, was handed to me by Peter Hoeren. It was a sketch and Peters' supposed choice for the cover of the CHARLEY'S WAR 7". I might assume, not too many of my readers might remember this: there was some kind of quarrel about the layout of the 7". The infamous David "Speed" Strempel was wearing an AGNOSTIC FRONT-T-Shirt on the photo chosen for this 7". Apparently, Peter did not like that and chose to let this get retouched. Those were the days... Anyway, I asked Bart if he was okay with me using this thing for an ad, and it found it's way into the Step by Step-Fanzine of Sven Gagelmann. If you have not heard of that one, you will be seeing stuff here later on. Through Sven, I got to know not only himself, a strange but great mind and household name in early German-Straight Edge, but also other great guys like Uwe Korsch and Jan-Hendrik Meyer (aka Capt Cosmotic or Bassist for THUMB)... Vow, I am kinda impressed what goes along with one little ad! That's what this is about...