Chainsaw (USA)

Chainsaw was a zine published by Donna Dresch out of Olympia Washington that later developed into a recording label.

Chainsaw existed from the late 1980's to the early 1990's during which time four issues were released. Musicians and writers featured in Chainsaw include Lois Maffeo, Juliana Lueking, G.B. Jones, Larrybob of Holy Titclamps, Jena von Brucker, editor of Jane Gets A Divorce, and Candice Pederson. Chainsaw was an early queercore zine and was also influential for the emerging Riot Grrrl scene, since its primary focus was on women in music.

The fourth and last issue of Chainsaw was produced by Donna Dresch as a cassette tape, which heralded its inception as a recording label. "In 1991...Chainsaw developed from a zine into a record label. This began simply enough when she made a compilation cassette of her favourite bands and started to sell these while on tour with Fifth Column," relates Amy Spencer in the book DIY: The Rise Of Lo-Fi Culture.

Donna Dresch was also a contributor to many other zines including Jigsaw by Tobi Vail; Outpunk; J.D.s by G.B. Jones and Bruce LaBruce; and was featured on the cover of issue five of Homocore zine, produced by Deke Nihilson and Tom Jennings.