Probe Records started because originally I wanted to include a 7" in each issue of The Probe. The music on the 7" was to feature bands that were in The Probe. In Probe #2 I included a flexi with Liquid Courage and Tyrranicide. I interviewed both bands for the issue, but realized most people had never heard of them. In Probe #3 I included a double 7" of my favorite bands. After that I decided to stop the records. The problem was that Probe #3 was $6 because of the records, but many people only wanted to pay for the zine. The other problem was that my circulation was increasing and I couldn't afford to press as many
records as I did zines.
    However, what officially lead me to actually start "Probe Records" was the Your Mother CD. I thought it was one of the greatest full length CDs I had ever heard and couldn't believe they didn't have a record label to put it out. I knew the band well so it seemed like a good time to start a record label. At the same time there were a bunch of other bands I liked. I got songs from Turbonegro, The Loudmouths, Hickey, Whopper Breath, Mensclub, and Ringwurm for a 7" comp. Instead of including it with the zine I made it a separate release. I only pressed 1,000 and it was a damn good record. It's long past sold out. After that I did The Hickey full length. One of the greatest punk records of all time! The 1,000 LPs were all hand made. It came with a 14 page booklet and I sold it for only $6ppd. That was gone quick too, but I have a plenty of CDs left. After that I did the Ringwurm CD. I truly think this was one of the best heavy doom rock records to come out in the '90s. The problem was it was never mastered. Joe liked how it sounded straight from the studio so he just sent it to the pressing plant. It could have been heavier if I took it to Fantasy. These days I know the importance of mastering. Still an awesome CD.
    Anyway, at this point I did Death to False Metal volume 1 and I loved it. Punk bands covering '80s metal. I thought it would be a huge smash it. The only problem is that I still didn't have much distribution. Early on I put out all these great records and I only had a handful of small DIY distros. I sent out like 200 promo copies for zine and radio. I spent money on ads and no one could find the records anywhere. I was just an idiot for not concentrating on getting my distribution together. I didn't even know what a one sheet was. I also lost $5,000 in unpaid invoices. I was excited that people wanted the records and didn't do background checks to realize they would never pay me. I once spent $62 to mail 100 Your Mother CDs to Brool Records in Sweden and I never heard from them again. Just dumb stuff like that.
       Anyway, these days I'm trying not to be such an idiot. I make one sheets which has helped me pick up some more distribution. I no longer mail out 200 promos. I'm actually keeping records of stuff like sales and $ now. I never did that before, but I have to if Probe Records is to continue. I also put out a string of like six or seven 7"s in a row. I really liked all of them, but what I really want to do is get back to
how Probe Records started and concentrate on bands I love, not just records I like a lot. The upcoming Reina Aveja full length is a step in this direction.