Record Label
House label founded in 1991 by [[artist: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 [[label:I.R.S. Records]]' New York City office when he founded the label as [[label:Tribe Records (4)]]) but renamed it to TRIBAL to avoid confusion with another label called Tribe. TRIBAL handled US distribution of UK-based [[label:Guerilla]] Records, founded by I.R.S. artist [[artist:William Orbit]] and his manager [[artist:Dick O'Dell]]. A UK subsidiary, [[label:TRIBAL United Kingdom]], was opened in December 1993 to release and market the label in Europe and was managed by [[artist:Richard Breeden]]. Though not an official outpost of the label, [[label: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 [[artist:Rui Da Silva]], [[artist:DJ Vibe]] and [[artist:António Cunha]]. I.R.S. West Coast sales rep [[artist: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 [[artist:Marts Andrups]]. Graphic designer [[artist:Steven Newman]] arrived at Tribal in 1993 when he was signed to the label as [[artist:Ofunwa]]. When I.R.S.'s owner [[label:EMI]] closed I.R.S. in mid-1996, Di Stefano and Davenport reformed TRIBAL as [[label:Twisted America Records]].