Atakra is the nom-du-plume of Sam Atakra, also known under the persona of Atakra Productions and Sam Haozous.
History
editAtakra Productions was created as a concept art advocate organization in 1987 by Sam Haozous, grandson of notable Chiricahua Apache artist Allan Houser in order to promote and exploit contemporary artists and bands who may not have known or know how to merchandise themselves in a rapidly advancing technological society. The original concept was the brainchild of "Sherri Frost", a Northern California club promoter and noteable scenester in the punk rock community in league with "Sam Haozous" who had recently moved into the region to attend college and promote the punk rock ethic to others involved in the punk rock "scene".
The first Atakra project consisted with a nationally distributed "zine" that sold over 1,500 copies nationwide and had six subsequent issues dedicated to reviews, collages, artwork, and gossip that had been cultivated amongst the USA-based punk rock community.
In 1991, Atakra morphed into a radio personality on the local and cassette-trading community with a noteable radio personality on Arcata-based college station KHSU. Eventually Atakra came under fire by local community leaders and church groups for broadcasting tributes to controvercial punk bands from around the country as well as occaisional dedications to anti-hero media personalities like Charles Manson and fringe celebrities like Dead Kennedy's frontman, Jello Biafra. The Atakra radio presence was rapidly shut down by the KHSU management due to financial considerations and threats by doners to their community fund.
1992 through 1994 opened new doors to the Atakra persona in the form of nationwide video exposure in the package of six video collages of varying lengths, usually with a minum of 45 minutes, but at times lasting up to two hours. With a subject base ranging from homosexuality to the modern condition, and even a two hour anti-tribute to deceased frontsman for the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, the Atakra "vision" again went nationwide with a distribution of over 200 video tapes to groups, organizations, clubs, and individuals interested in underground culture and music /video not available to popular culture.
In 1994 Atakra into an internet personality dedicated to the preservation of obscure punk rock and industrial music bands and articles that had been published amongst the many mediums that were rapidly advancing due to the new media revolution. Print media became an increasingly important forum for the "atakra ethic", which was exploited in a nationwide distribution of collage videotapes that were still on playlists in "Rave Clubs" around the world which have an "industrial music" format.
Personal tragedy hit Sam Haozous in 1994 with the death of his grandfather, Allan Houser. Numerous pending projects were dropped at the urging of friends and family and Sam Haozous entered the corporate business world with a two-year stintinto broadcast media working for CBS Broadcasting.
The tail end of 1997 brout Sam Haozous, now known as Sam Atakra to San Francisco. Sam Atakra began actively searching out for punk rock, synthpunk, and art-punk bands that he could finance for the Atakra Productions record label.
After a year-long search, Sam Atkra discovered The Phantom Limbs based in Oakland, California at a performance with Sixteens at a little-known bar in Oakland California in 1999. Atakra Productions pledged to fund the release of The Phantom Limbs first vinyl release "Hot Knives and Hornets" on the spot, and it was released in a timely basis as the first record on the Atakra Productions roster, Atakra 001.
This is a work in progress.
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