1995

Words of War was started by me, Zak Ruvalcaba as a fanzine in 1995 to promote hardcore and straight edge music. At the time, I was heavily into vegan straight edge bands* and desperately wanted to be active in the scene by going to shows, conducting interviews, and taking pictures of bands that I was into. Hardcore at that time was completely DIY and totally represented the punk ethic that I grew up with. The fanzine gave me an opportunity to be part of a rebellious DIY movement that felt real. After a year of interviewing bands (Integrity, Earth Crisis, Snapcase, 18 Visions, Slugfest, Earthmover, etc.) and going to dozens of shows, I released two issues of the fanzine and felt like it was time for me to divert my attention to releasing music rather than writing about it. Leaving the third issue half finished, I decided to focus my attention on Words of War Records.

* At the time, I was so into vegan straight edge bands that I ripped the name Words of War from the vegan straight edge band Raid. Words of War is the 8th track on the "Hands Off The Animals" album released in 1995.

1996

In 1996, I contacted Kurt from Catalyst Records and the boys from Unconquered in Reno and decided to release the first 7 inch under the name Words of War Records as a split between the two bands. The first 500 copies of the record sold out almost immediately. Before I even had time to repress the split, I was contacted by two local San Diego bands The Setup and Foundation. While I didn't necessarily have the money to release two records simultaneously and release a second press of a split, I made ends meet and got them out. The label's energy began to grow as we started receiving demos from emerging Southern California bands like Adamantium, Exist, Killswitch, Socratic, Countervail, and others. Even bands from as far away as Erie, Pennsylvania like Neverfall and bands from other parts of the world like Absence from Italy amongst others sent in demo tapes.

In the summer of 1996, Wes Eisold (American Nightmare, Some Girls, etc.) came to San Diego to visit his father, who from what I can remember was in the Navy and was stationed here in San Diego. He'd sent me a letter months before, saying that he had read my 'zine, liked it, and asked if we could hang out while he was in town. While visiting, he gave me a demo tape from a band named Fault. I liked the band so much, that Fault became the fourth 7 inch release on Words of War Records. In less than 6 months I had released 4 records and repressed one. From the outside, the momentum of the label was picking up; I was averaging 5-10 orders a day. On the inside, I knew I was losing money and had to do something about it fast. After deciding that the label just wouldn't survive releasing 7 inches alone, I picked one of the many demo tapes I had received and released the first CD by a Thousand Oaks, California band named Countervail (I was also a huge Unbroken fan and their earlier stuff reminded me of them).

1997

In 1997, as a senior in college, on the verge of entering a Master's program, trying to maintain internships and a fulltime job, and after using the majority of my financial aid money to fund the label, I decided to call it quits. I was simply losing way more money than I was putting into it. Other factors contributed to the demise of the label as well, including shady people ripping me off, distributors not paying me, and more importantly, my European distributor completely screwed me. For every release that I put out, I sent exactly half to him. Almost 1000 records and 500 CDs went to Germany to be distributed in Europe. Only once did I ever get paid.

2006 & Future

So what does the future hold for Words of War Records? Well, here I am, almost 10 years later, I'm in my 30's, I'm an accomplished professional in my field, I teach college students, I'm an author of 5 books, I own a Web consulting firm, I'm married to a beautiful wife, and have 3 amazing kids. On top of all of that, I still go to hardcore shows, I still collect records, I'm still vegetarian (13 years), and I'm still proud to be straight edge! With that said, I'm ready to begin the next chapter in Words of War Records. I never lost the desire to be a part of the scene, just ran out of money. 10 years later, I feel comfortable with were I am and I'm ready to release music once again! XXX