TRIBAL America

House label founded in 1991 by [a=Rob Di Stefano] that pioneered the darker, progressive house sounds that were popular in New York clubs in the 1990s. Di Stefano was a manager in [l=I.R.S. Records]' New York City office when he founded the label as [l=Tribe Records (4)]) but renamed it to TRIBAL to avoid confusion with another label called Tribe.

TRIBAL handled US distribution of UK-based [l=Guerilla] Records, founded by I.R.S. artist [a=William Orbit] and his manager [a=Dick O'Dell]. A UK subsidiary, [l=TRIBAL United Kingdom], was opened in December 1993 to release and market the label in Europe and was managed by [a=Richard Breeden]. Though not an official outpost of the label, [l=TRIBAL Portugal] was one of Di Stefano's many efforts to promote the Portuguese House music scene after his first visit to the country in 1994 and the connections he made with [a=Rui Da Silva], [a=DJ Vibe] and [a=António Cunha].

I.R.S. West Coast sales rep [a=Mark Davenport] joined Di Stefano in 1993 to form the core team behind TRIBAL.

The famous logo was created by Di Stefano with assistance from [a=Marts Andrups]. Graphic designer [a=Steven Newman] arrived at Tribal in 1993 when he was signed to the label as [a=Ofunwa].

When I.R.S.'s owner [l=EMI] closed I.R.S. in mid-1996, Di Stefano and Davenport reformed TRIBAL as [l=Twisted America Records].