Cleopatra Records

Cleopatra Records started in 1992 when Brian Perera scraped together every penny to license Motörhead's first album, On Parole. That debut release set the tone for a label that would become the go-to home for goth and industrial music in America. Perera had been designing band merchandise since his teenage years in the mid-80s Los Angeles scene, selling stickers and T-shirts for rising acts like Guns N' Roses and Jane's Addiction at gigs and indie stores. That grassroots hustle became the foundation of a label that now spans over 2,000 releases across a family of sub-labels.

The label's sub-labels each carve out a distinct niche. Hypnotic Records handles electronic and ambient music. Goldenlane focuses on rockabilly and surf. Stardust covers classic pop. Purple Pyramid dives into progressive and psychedelic rock. Deadline goes punk and alternative. X-Ray Records targets hardcore and metal. This structure lets Cleopatra release everything from archival material and tribute albums to new works by legacy artists like The Zombies, Blue Cheer, and Hawkwind, while also giving emerging acts a platform. The label's catalog includes Grammy nominations for John Lithgow, Kenny Neal, and Judy Collins, and Paul Oakenfold's A Voyage into Trance became Cleopatra's first Billboard-charting album.

Cleopatra expanded into film and television through Cleopatra Entertainment, releasing projects like the Street Survivors documentary about the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash, which sparked a landmark 2018 legal case affirming the right to produce unofficial biopics under free speech protections. In July 2023, the label launched a live-action reboot of Shin Ultraman on digital, Blu-ray, and DVD. More recently, in January 2025, Cleopatra Entertainment put out a new Ministry album featuring re-recordings of early synthpop classics. The label also ventured into alternative fashion, creating a line of thigh-high socks for retailers like Hot Topic. Based in Los Angeles with a headquarters in Austin, Texas, and a west coast office on Hollywood's Sunset Strip, Cleopatra ships globally and continues to operate as an independent entity under Perera's leadership. [edit]