About The label
One Voice, One Life, Resist! (OVOLR!) was formed in 1997 to release 500$Fine recording, ‘Forward’, following the passing of their bassist. The label has gone on to serve as a vehicle for releasing Richmond, Va-based punk band, books, and other matter related to punk rock.
If the label had a motto it would be ‘punk as culture not genre’.
History
In 1996, 500$fine bassist Patrick Daly lost his life in a car crash. At the age of 16, he was far too young to be leaving. But in his short time with us, Patrick had lead an amazing life. As a musician, he had began making music in his pre-teens, and with Gary Llama, had begun releasing music a short time later in the form of demo cassettes. And in those following years, he developed into a remarkable musician, a talented songwriter, and an amazing bassist. So following his passing, Matt and Gary wanted to do something with the music they had made with him, something more permamnent than a demo tape. So with the help of St. Edwards Church, a local church that had allowed bands to setup DIY punk shows for a few years, they setup a benefit to raise money to release a CD. Following the success of the show, the band submitted their last recordings to be pressed on CD. When the pressing plant asked for the name of the record label that was releasing it, Gary responded ‘One Voice, One Life, Resist!’, a phrase he had been thinking about as a way to encapsulate the lessons he had learned from Patrick’s short, but fruitful existence.
A few years later, Gary began recording his own solo work, and when it came time to release it, he chose the name again, this time as an acronym, OVOLR!, as that of the label. And this continued on with his solo work for the next few years. In 2011, Gary embraked on publishing his first book, and published it through the label with the addition of the imprint ‘Debackle’, named after the nickname of his old Cat.
At a certain point, Gary began noticing that some records friends had made, great records that he loved listening to, were nowhere to be found on the streaming services, so he opened the label to these artists. In some cases these recordings were bound to old formats, usually not the best quality formats either, like cassette and DAT, both of which were beginning to deteroriate due to the low stability of their natures. So he began contacting artists, and working to re-release these recordings. Using his skills gained from working as a mastering and recording engineer earlier in life, he began archiving these recordings to digital, and helping the bands release them.
Once the label was releasing these older recordings, he decided to extend the reach to newer recordings as well, offering a few friends the services of the label.
Over the years, Gary’s health has been complicated, and by a certain point, doing any of the label stuff was almost impossible for him to keep going with. So in an effort to preserve it’s functionality, the label was restructured, and brought on other people to assist in the work done to release these recordings, though Gary still serves as the figurative ‘steering’ of the label itself.
