Who are the most important non-artists in Christian rock/metal history?

Not singers, bands, or songwriters...but the people who control labels, or produce, or some other ties...
Who would you say are the most influential or most impactful?

Here is my list...in no certain order.

1) Doug Van Pelt...started Heaven's Metal Magazine
2) Bill Roxx.... founder of Roxx Records / Roxx Productions  
3) Greg Nelson, Jack Hafer, Ray Nenow...founders of Refuge Records, with Pure Metal Records being an imprint of Refuge
4) Pastor Bob Beeman....founder of the "metal" church, "Sancturary"
5) James Kempner..founder of Frontline Records



Also, who is/are the founder(s) of Regency Records...would love to know who???...they would be on my list.


And yes, I counted 3 people as one selection for #3..lol...

Maybe Adel Meisenheimer who now owns Frontline thru Meis Music. She had the Frontline Rewind podcast as well but they are no longer doing it.

Rad Rockers and was it Cross Rhythms that you could trade in cd's and get credit back to spend?

mothy wrote:Rad Rockers and was it Cross Rhythms that you could trade in cd's and get credit back to spend?

Hahahaha, yeah, I remember them both. When I originally got out of Christian music (and Christianity) I sold a ton of music to Cross Rhythms.

Someone who deserves to be mentioned is Daryn Hinton.

What an incredible, if unheralded, influence she had on the scene.

From Wikipedia:

Spiritual conversion[edit]

In 1982 after Hinton's mother's death, her life changed with a born again experience with Christ. She walked away from Hollywood connections and pursued her newfound faith. Hinton states "I became a miracle junkie, loving a one on one relationship with God, walking in miracles and feeling HIM guiding me.^[9] Hinton, having never been a part of the music industry, managed three Christian bands that gained mainstream international attention.

Rock Bands[edit]

Stryper:(Managed/Financed by Hinton)^[10] Hinton talks about thinking the heavy metal band Stryper was using God as a gimmick and being turned around while seeing them perform in 1984^[11] in Stryper's 'In The Beginning' video.^[12][13][14] Stryper is recognized as the first openly Christian heavy metal band to gain recognition in the mainstream music world.^[15]


Holy Soldier: (Managed/Financed by Hinton) signed for debut record to Word Records/Myrrh Records and A&M Records.^[9][16] In 1989 Hinton signed Holy Soldier to A&M records and Myrrh Records (Word Records) as that label's first Hard Rock act.^[17] Their self-titled debut album was released in 1990 to critical and commercial acclaim. The band garnered two Dove Awards in 1991, in the hard rock song and album of the year categories.^[18]


Charizma from Sweden: (Managed by Hinton beginning 8/8/88) They were the first Christian band signed to a Russian record label. Hinton signed them to Russia's only record label at the time, Melodiya Records releasing the record 'Rock'in The World Together.^[19][9]

Van Pelt and Pastor Bob were the two that came to mind for me.

Nocturnal Iridescence for him putting together the Unblack Archives. (although he is a musician with his own project)
Looks like Deepfriar and The Bearded Dragon are also contributors.

Much of Christian black metal gets little to no recognition, even from the "mainstream" Christian metal scene.  The Unblack Archives is a comprehensive list of "unblack" bands you've most likely never heard of from around the world, as well as information on their status and releases.

I bet you never knew there were 102 (that's one-hundred-and-two) Christian black metal bands JUST from Brazil.  I sure didn't!

https://unblack-archives.blogspot.com/

ThomasEversole wrote:Nocturnal Iridescence for him putting together the Unblack Archives.  (although he is a musician with his own project)
Looks like Deepfriar and The Bearded Dragon are also contributors.

Much of Christian black metal gets little to no recognition, even from the "mainstream" Christian metal scene.  The Unblack Archives is a comprehensive list of "unblack" bands you've most likely never heard of from around the world, as well as information on their status and releases.

I bet you never knew there were 102 (that's one-hundred-and-two) Christian black metal bands JUST from Brazil.  I sure didn't!

https://unblack-archives.blogspot.com/

I only had time to do 1 band's update, all credit goes to NI. What a beast. He's a data entry / historian / Christian black metal guru. Mad props for Unblack Archives.

mothy wrote:Rad Rockers and was it Cross Rhythms that you could trade in cd's and get credit back to spend?

Yes, Cross Rhythms took trade-ins...

ThomasEversole wrote:

Stop doing that!!!  My blood pressure is up and you are making me dizzy!

LOL
Oh no. I stared at that GIF too long and made myself dizzy too.

Its all my fault!!!!

ThomasEversole wrote:LOL
Oh no.  I stared at that GIF too long and made myself dizzy too.

Its all my fault!!!!  

We've been saying that for years!  

Doug Mann and Gavin Morkel of R.E.X. Music -- brought us Believer, Circle of Dust, Haven, Detritus, etc.

Brandon Ebel of Tooth and Nail/Solid State undoubtedly has been a huge influence on the Christian rock and metal scenes. Along these lines, Jason Dunn of Facedown records deserves a mention here too. 

I also think the artwork of Dave Quiggle has been quietly but largely influential, particularly in hardcore circles. 

He’s been mentioned previously, but pastor Bob is a no brainer for sure.

How about Jimmy Swaggert? 

Now, before you say I am crazy.....I will say this is mostly tongue-in-cheek...mostly...but not all.


His being so outspoken against Christian rock/metal, on such a huge platform as his TV show, was excellent advertising for the genre.

Even Christian teens deal with the desire to rebel against their elders, and Jimmy helped unwittingly promote a safe way for church kids to do so..without having to get into drugs, alcohol, disobedience, sex, etc etc.

What do they say? There is no such thing as bad publicity, right?

Haha is Jimmy Swaggart still relevant? Aside from his disdain for Christian Rock and Metal, he just has bad theology.  But that’s a discussion for another time.  I remember him calling Pastor Bob “The Heavy Metal Pastor From Hell”. I know he was really hurt by that statement, but it backfired because when I heard Swaggart say that, I thought to myself that this Pastor Bob guy must be pretty cool.  So I checked out Sanctuary and subsequently many Christian metal bands as a result.

Swaggert I believe has his own network now..lol

Great topic. I would have to say Doug Van Pelt / Heaven's Metal / HM was by far the single most important force in Christian Metal history. I'm not sure any of these other people, labels, etc. that have been mentioned would have been as well known or successful had it not been for HM Mag before the widespread use and adoption of the internet. A close second would be any Christian bookstore that carried Heaven's Metal mag. and metal cassettes/CDs back in the day. They few that come to my mind from the late 80s and early 90s are Family Bookstores, Baptist Bookstores (now Lifeway), and maybe these were just local to Houston, Austin and San Antonio - Theophilus and The Sheppard's Shop.

And while we are talking Doug Van Pelt and the Austin/Central Texas area, I would have to give honorable mention to the late Blanche Pall. She was probably in her 70s back in the 90s and almost single handedly (to my knowledge) put on many "Texas Rockfest" 3-day festivals in Marble Falls, TX every summer and brought all of the biggest bands such as Tourniquet (twice, 93 and 97), Deliverance (2001), Mortification (a few times), Extol, Jesus Freaks, and the list goes on. She was my hero in my late high school, college, and early married life years. She brought Bride to San Marcos, TX when I was attending college there in 95 or 96, Jesus Freaks and Crashdog to the Salvation Army in Austin, TX in 1994, Mortification to the Ramada Inn (lol) in Austin around the same time, and probably countless other shows I couldn't attend or didn't know about. I had the pleasure of getting to know her a little bit and helping her with a few shows. As a result, I got to meet and hang out with Dale and Troy Thompson a few hours before their show in San Marcos.

R.I.P. Blanch.

Wigeon wrote:Great topic. I would have to say Doug Van Pelt / Heaven's Metal / HM was by far the single most important force in Christian Metal history. I'm not sure any of these other people, labels, etc. that have been mentioned would have been as well known or successful had it not been for HM Mag before the widespread use and adoption of the internet. A close second would be any Christian bookstore that carried Heaven's Metal mag. and metal cassettes/CDs back in the day. They few that come to my mind from the late 80s and early 90s are Family Bookstores, Baptist Bookstores (now Lifeway), and maybe these were just local to Houston, Austin and San Antonio - Theophilus and The Sheppard's Shop.

The Christian bookstores are an excellent choice.

For me, that store was The Lighthouse Christian Bookstore in Wilmington, DE over by Prices Corner.

My first introduction to Christian rock came in 1979/1980 because they had a room dedicated to nothing but Christian rock and they had a guy working there who was trying to get the youth into it. I got into Petra, Barry McGuire, David and the Giants, David Meece and Fireworks for my initial foray into Christian music.

Even saw my first concert there...as Fireworks came and played one night at the bookstore. I remember them pushing the bookshelves out of the way and all of us teens sitting on the floor, jamming with Fireworks.

Eventually, they did away with the little room and brought the rock/metal music out into the main music section.

Every week me and my best friend would head over, and anything that had a "metal" cover we bought...and of course, if it was from Pure Metal it was an automatic buy. I also remember how they would let you open a cd to hear it first before you bought it, which we usually didn't have the patience to do, but if there was nothing new that looked metal I can remember trying some cds hoping to get a surprise..lol. I also remember the stamp card they gave out..even if the casette/cd didn't have the buy 4 get 1 sticker (I think cds were 5 and 1 ?), the bookstore would stamp the card anyway.

Today, the building is still there but now it is a Mexican food store...and the mom and pop video store that was next to it is now some payday loan place or something.

I get a little sentimental every time I drive by it

I'm surprised no one mentioned Dino and John Elefante and the Pakaderm/Word Label that launched bands like Guardian when they left Enigma, X-Sinner, The Brave, Fear Not, etc. They also produced a some of the albums from Barren Cross, The Brave, Fear Not, etc.

In addition, the clubs at the sunset strip like The Whisky, The Rainbow, etc allowed Christian bands to play before they were signed like Guardian and Holy Soldier. Stryper under Roxx Regime became Christians around when they were signed to Enigma and changed their name to Stryper.

Wigeon wrote:And while we are talking Doug Van Pelt and the Austin/Central Texas area, I would have to give honorable mention to the late Blanche Pall. She was probably in her 70s back in the 90s and almost single handedly (to my knowledge) put on many "Texas Rockfest" 3-day festivals in Marble Falls, TX every summer and brought all of the biggest bands such as Tourniquet (twice, 93 and 97), Deliverance (2001), Mortification (a few times), Extol, Jesus Freaks, and the list goes on. She was my hero in my late high school, college, and early married life years. She brought Bride to San Marcos, TX when I was attending college there in 95 or 96, Jesus Freaks and Crashdog to the Salvation Army in Austin, TX in 1994, Mortification to the Ramada Inn (lol) in Austin around the same time, and probably countless other shows I couldn't attend or didn't know about. I had the pleasure of getting to know her a little bit and helping her with a few shows. As a result, I got to meet and hang out with Dale and Troy Thompson a few hours before their show in San Marcos.

R.I.P. Blanch.

That's a really fascinating story.  What was her motivation?  Can you tell any more about who she was and why she did that?

More of a local hero, but one who never gets talked about for having the impact he did in the Tri-State area, is Steve Hare.

In the 80's, Steve was the youth pastor at Faith City Church in Christiana, Delaware (his dad was the pastor), and he spearheaded a program called Rock House that brought in Christian rock/metal acts to play in concert at the church, then as they got bigger, to local high schools.

As part of the youth group, I got to see all of the shows for free by volunteering to be a grunt and help unload and load equipment for the bands.

Some of the bands that he brought to the Tri-State area..

Servant  (multiple times)
Prodigal
Petra  (multiple times)
Resurrection Band  (multiple times)
Jerusalem
First Love Band
Barren Cross (multiple times)
Found Free
Messiah Prophet
Whitecross


He helped to introduce Christian rock / metal to a ton of kids over the years.


Today, the church is still there, he is the pastor now, and the church has become almost entirely "urban". Definitely not the same church that it was back in the 80's.

Also, Steve released an album himself in 2013 that was actually very successful. So NOW he is actually an artist..hahaha
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_Like_Your_Own  

Another label owner worth mentioning is Matt Hunt from Retroactive Records / M8 / Bombworks.

There is a lot of great music we would never have heard of if it wasn't for him.