Interview: Richie Krutch of Never Ran Never Will Records

In the hardcore scene, record labels come and go with regularity. It's not uncommon for a new label to appear and vanish in the space of a year, and that's especially true in this era of "tape labels." On the other hand, some will stick around for decades and have a moment where they seem to release all of the pertinent records of the scene. From Dischord to Victory and Bridge Nine to Triple B, there have been a few standouts in the brief history of the genre.

Richie Krutch (Wisdom In Chains, Z9!, Boxcutter) has been witness to nearly all of it and has recently announced his new label NEVER RAN NEVER WILL RECORDS. The announcement includes a handful of up and coming hardcore bands and I excitedly reached out to Richie to learn more.


Richie Krutch
Interviewed by Dan Craley
  • It seems you’ve been involved with Fast Break! Records since nearly the beginning, why start another label?

    Yea, I’ve been with Fast Break since day one, and still am.  Fast Break is a great label, did so many cool things.  It’s very diverse, all types of bands and releases.  I wanted to start something new that would be more focused.  Very specific to what’s going on in the HC scene right now.  Not to mentioned, it’s always fun to start something new.  NRNW will be laser focused on the newer young bands though, and strictly HC.

  • Never Ran Never Will is a hard name for anything. Have you been sitting on that name for a while?

    I have been, I actually wanted to use it for a Wisdom album awhile ago, but the boys shot me down.

  • You’ve already announced a handful of upcoming releases. How long have you been working on Never Ran Never Will?

    Been working on the idea for awhile now, talking to bands, seeing who would fit, who’s interested.  As far as the essentials, like LLC, websites, bank accounts, we just started working on that stuff in the last few months.

  • NoEcho.net recently premiered Missing Link's “Unchained” (check it out) from their forthcoming EP, No Saving Grace, and it’s aggressive in a way a lot of hardcore isn’t right now. Can we expect the focus of the label to be on the heavier side of the hardcore sound?

    Sort of, Missing Link is hard as fuck, relentless really.  The main thing is though, they are a new band, in this flock of dope new HC bands.  That’s the main thing with NRNW, we wanna document this special flock of new HC bands.

  • While interviewing Zac Barone on a recent episode of Post America Podcast, you mentioned the upcoming split between Carried By Six and Hold My Own. I believe you’ve also paired up PA’s Fool’s Game and Boston's Risk for another split. Do you put careful thought into the pairing of bands to share space on a release?

    Yes, I wanna make a thing out of the split releases.  I’d love a new track and a cover from an older band from the bands region.  Maybe make a series out of the splits.  A newer thing I’ve noticed with the younger bands is that they are less interested in albums, which is fine, and that’s why I think splits would be great.

  • Between Krutch and Wisdom In Chains, you’ve been on one side of several split seven inches. Have you established a formula you can share with the bands on your label on how to maximize the impact of your half?

    The main thing about a split, to me anyway, is that is should be birthed in friendship.  I’ve done a lot of splits with the bands you mentioned, and they’ve always started as an idea between friends.

  • With supply chain demands being what they currently are and a backlog at pressing plants, what formats will Never Ran Never Will be releasing music in?

    Mainly vinyl.  NRNW has some good connections, I don’t foresee us having the typical issues of other labels.

  • Are you able to share any release dates?

    Not at the moment, but I appreciate the help very much!

Dan Craley
Gotten Out By
Dan Craley

Dan started Getting It Out back in 2018 as a stand alone podcast. He’s been writing for music websites for over a decade and finally decided to start his own. Now living in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with his wife and kids, he briefly sang for Baltimore’s Pleasant Living.

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