Cowboy boots and dusty country roads are usually what comes to mind when people think “outlaw.” However, Punkerton Records is helping redefine what it means to go rogue. Their latest compilation, “Rock Against Trump,” is an anthology for a generation that refuses to be silenced. Brandon Allen Lewis, the owner of the label and curator for the compilation album, was kind enough to share his insight on the curation of the compilation album.
Brandon Allen Lewis, the owner of Punkerton Records. Photo taken and permission given by Brandon A. Lewis.
At 38 years old, Lewis doesn’t fit the stereotypical image of a punk rock label owner. A graduate of Ohio State with a degree in history, a former U.S. Army infantry veteran and a father of three daughters, Lewis brings a unique perspective to the industry. Four years ago, he launched Punkerton Records almost as a side project. Today, it’s his full-time passion.
Lewis says, “I can’t think of a better time to be into punk rock than right now since of everything going on,” referring to the current political climate that has fueled much of the music his label produces.
Lewis has a personal connection that drives his work: “Music has always sort of been my outlet … I feel like music’s probably, especially in at least the last few hundred years, pretty much the best way for people to express emotion through their art and craft.”
He continues, “Music got me through a lot of really awful things throughout my life. If I can, through what I do, get people’s music out that moves people and motivates people and just sort of helps them deal with the chaos that is life … that’s sort of my goal.”
Though the label is based in Columbus, Punkerton Records has expanded far beyond state lines. The label represents bands from across the United States and internationally, including artists from the UK, Germany, Canada and Italy.
“We went international pretty early on,” Lewis explains. “I think the first band we ever started working with was from Italy.”
He also talks about the early struggle of starting up a label in a new town, “Being that I’m originally from Texas, when I first started the label, it was during the pandemic and I didn’t really know a lot of people in Ohio … So we just started from the get-go releasing bands from Texas that I knew, and then it sort of just quickly blossomed out from that.”
While Punkerton primarily focuses on punk rock, Lewis emphasizes that the label is more than just a single genre. It has released hip-hop, metal, folk punk, emo and ska. “I put out whatever I like personally, and I have a pretty eclectic variety of music that I’m into,” Lewis said.
Album cover for ‘Rock Against Trump: Volume 1’. Cover art created by Brandon Allen Lewis. Photo provided by Punkerton Records.
On Jan. 20, the day of Donald J, Trump’s inauguration, Punkerton Records released “Rock Against Trump,” a compilation of politically charged tracks from various artists.
The album serves as both a musical protest and a fundraiser for six nonprofits: the American Civil Liberties Union, the Innocence Project, Planned Parenthood, Punk Rock Saves Lives, the Trevor Project and Six Feet Over.
This also isn’t the first time seeing a punk rock protest from a label. “Growing up, there was Fat Records. They had a compilation called ‘Rock Against Bush,’ and it was during Bush’s first term. That was like the punk rock compilation, and it was making people aware and trying to encourage people to vote,” Lewis explains.
The idea for “Rock Against Trump” came from multiple directions. Middle Out, one of the bands under Punkerton, suggested the idea of a benefit compilation. Lewis was then given the same suggestion again from a close friend from his home state.
“Same day after the election [2024], my friend Kennedy from an all-Black hardcore band out of Greenville, Texas—he’s like one of my closest friends—he’s like, ‘Hey, we’ve got this song because they’re really politically charged hardcore punk rock.’ I told him about this compilation. He’s like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it,’” Lewis said.
The overall project was a collaboration of the participating bands, some of them giving suggestions for organizations to support. One band requested that some proceeds go to Six Feet Over, a suicide awareness nonprofit, a cause that resonated deeply with Lewis, who lost his stepfather to suicide just before the pandemic in 2020.
Each charity has been handpicked or approved by Lewis, “We basically wanted to try to find what nonprofits are going to be the most active here in a few weeks when Trump takes office.” The release of “Rock Against Trump” on Inauguration Day wasn’t without consequences. Lewis anticipated some backlash but was determined to protect his artists from any negative impacts. “When I first released it, I got death threats and people were just sending nasty messages,” he reveals. “It was funny to me. There’s this misconception that people on the left are like weak or cowards or just different things.”
Lewis, who describes himself not as a liberal but as a “militant leftist,” found these attacks almost comical given his background, “I’m well educated on what’s going on. I saw combat in Afghanistan. I’m just an atypical, I guess, liberal punk rock guy.”
Rather than backing down, Lewis confronted the criticism while continuing to promote the record. His posts about the compilation went viral, helping to raise awareness and funds for the nonprofits involved. The backlash eventually subsided, replaced by growing support.
Album cover for ‘Rock Against Trump: Volume 2’. Cover art created by Brandon Allen Lewis. Photo provided by Punkerton Records.
“I haven’t really received much as far as any sort of death threats or anything lately,” Lewis notes. More recently, a post he made about international politics garnered tens of thousands of likes, significantly boosting his platform and, by extension, sales of the compilation. Building on the momentum of the first compilation, Punkerton Records is already working on “Rock Against Trump Vol. 2,” which is a revamped sequel with new album cover art and even more tracks.
Lewis is confident that the second volume will come together successfully, "We had 110 [submissions] on the last one, so the fact that we still got a month left and we’re sitting at like 36 right now is okay."
Unlike the first volume, which had some challenges partly due to an unexpected medical emergency, the second compilation will have both digital and physical releases. Lewis also notes that some artists who couldn’t meet the deadline for the first compilation now have their chance to participate.
“Outlaw music used to be very much country, but it was outlaw country that was not, in our house, let’s say, bootlicking pro-authoritarian music … So it sort of morphed into a genre that is what it is now,” Lewis said.
His motivation stems from personal connections and a deep concern for social justice, “With Trump in office and everything else going on, the fact that I have three daughters and a wife whose bodily autonomy is being stripped from them, and I have my trans friends who are essentially being told they don’t exist and that they don’t matter, and when I have my friends of color who are being told that they or their loved ones are going to be deported, or my Black friends who can’t even get pulled over without having to worry about getting killed.”
He goes on to acknowledge the privileged position that he has as a white man, “And more so than even just that, I also have a platform now, and there’s no one else doing it, not like we’re doing it. I hate that. I hate that they’re not. It sucks. I wish more people were.”
For Lewis, using his platform is a moral imperative, connected to his values as a parent, friend and citizen, “I am not setting a good example to my children if I’m not sticking up for them. I’m not being a very good friend if I’m not sticking up for my friends.”
Drawing on his military background, Lewis feels a particular responsibility to act, ”When I was a young kid, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and yet it is completely being dismantled right before our eyes, and literally no one is doing anything about it.”
If given the opportunity to broadcast a message globally, Lewis’s advice is simple but powerful: “To keep fighting, that the only way they win is if you quit.”
He expands on this philosophy, “It’s gonna get a lot uglier, and I don’t think people realize that it’s gonna get a lot uglier than it is now, but we just gotta keep fighting against the racism, against the fascism, against the stripping of our civil liberties and our freedoms.”
Punkerton Records exemplifies how outlaw music has evolved in the 21st century. No longer confined to the country genre of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, today’s musical outlaws span genres from punk to hip-hop, united by their willingness to speak truth to power.
Lewis shows great pride in his bands with them being his top priority.
“I don’t measure success by the amount of records we sell. I measure success by how happy the bands are,” he says.
His vision for Punkerton Records’s future speaks to this mission: “I want people to feel safe, like they can come to a label and whatever it is, we’ll support them because that’s important to me. I would want everyone to go, ‘Oh, that’s where I want to be because that’s a good place to be.’”
In a music industry often driven by commercial interests, Punkerton Records stands as a reminder that music can be a powerful voice for social change, a perfect example of outlaw music for our times. Through compilations like “Rock Against Trump” and its forthcoming sequel, Lewis and his artists aren’t just making noise, they’re making a difference.
