Estrus Shovelin’ The Shit Since ’87

Estrus: Shovelin’ The Shit Since ’87 is the complete, as-yet-untold story of US garage rock powerhouse Estrus Records, which for nearly two decades churned out hundreds of releases from some of the biggest garage, trash, surf, and punk bands worldwide, among them The Makers, The Mummies, Man . . . or Astroman?, and label head honcho Dave Crider’s drunk/punk quartet The Mono Men.

Shovelin’ charts the label’s highs and lows – from its highly successful hosting of the annual Garageshock, arguably the greatest series of garage rock “festivals," to the devastating loss of its warehouse in a fire. Estrus is one of the few record labels whose cover art and other graphics match the brilliance of its music, thanks to the contributions of trash-culture visionary Art Chantry. Packed with iconic visuals the book draws on lively, extensive interviews, never-seen-before archival photos, oddball artifacts, and more, to give a fascinating insight into the major players behind one of garage rock's most influential and successful independent record labels.

Chris Alpert Coyle is a nomadic music journalist whose pieces have been featured on CBS News, CBS Radio and KEXP. In 1994, while reading silently in his fourth-grade classroom, he was stung by a hornet on the chin and cried like a little baby. He now has a wife and a dog.

Scott Sugiuchi has been designing for over 30 years. Highlights include work for Artisan Films (The Blair Witch Project), the American Film Institute and countless bands, record labels and venues. He plays bass in four bands and is the founder of Hidden Volume Records, a boutique record label with more than 50 releases from bands around the globe. He lives in Santa Fe.

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Dave Crider co-founded Estrus in 1987 as a way to release his then band The Roofdogs. After taking over as label head a few years later, Crider expanded the roster and watched his hobby inadvertently change into a cultural phenomenon. He lives in Bellingham, Washington. 

Art Chantry is a designer most often associated with the logos, posters and album art he created for countless punk, grunge and rock bands and their labels. His work has been exhibited at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Museum of Modern Art, Seattle Art Museum, the Smithsonian and the Louvre. He is the author of the cult book Art Chantry Speaks: A Heretic’s History of 20th Century Graphic Design and is the recipient of the 2017 American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Medal. He lives in Tacoma.