Since 1977, Bay Area punk institution Maximum Rocknroll has been producing a radio show, publishing a monthly magazine, releasing records, organizing shows, and supporting worldwide punk projects. As MRR enters its 40th year, they are undertaking theirmost ambitious project ever: creating a comprehensive online database of our record collection and music reviews. The project will also see out-of-print issues of the magazine fully digitized. They’re asking for your help to make it possible through an Indiegogo campaign.
Maximum Rocknroll’s collection is the largest assemblage of punk material history on earth. In addition to records, the archive is home to countless rare and unheard demo tapes, zines, photographs, one-of-a-kind record covers designed by the magazine’s founder Tim Yohannan, and flyers dating back to the genre’s inception, many of which will be digitized for the first time. MRR has been instrumental in punk history and historiography, and the archive and database will be an essential resource for record collectors, historians, and anyone interested in punk, hardcore, and garage rock. Imagine Kill from the Heart on steroids or Discogs for the what-we-do-is-secret crowd.
They have a massive amount of work ahead of them. They write, “We have dedicated volunteers on board to ensure that it gets done right. A professional archivist with years of experience inventorying, cataloging, and preserving media collections is living at the MRR compound in San Francisco to work on the project full-time. We have a programmer on board who has been building the database and a UX designer who will make it easy to use. Over 70 volunteers have already helped out with scanning and transcribing reviews. Our volunteers can make this project happen, but we need your help to cover the costs and guarantee a sustainable future for this essential punk resource.”
Maximum Rocknroll is and will always be a volunteer-run operation. They welcome Bay Area punks who want to help out in any capacity, especially needing volunteers for inventorying the collection and helping with preservation work. To volunteer, email archive@maximumrocknroll.com.
