Cleopatra Records is an independent record label based in Hollywood and headquartered in Austin, Texas. Founded in 1992 by entrepreneur and music visionary Brian Perera, the label has become synonymous with innovation and fearless creativity.

The label’s origins trace back to Perera’s teenage years, when he designed and manufactured band merchandise—stickers, T-shirts, and more—sold at gigs and to indie stores. Cleopatra also ventured into alternative fashion, creating a notable line of thigh-high socks for retailers like Hot Topic.

From the start, Perera’s ambitions were bold. He recalls “scraping together every penny I could find” to finance the label’s debut release: licensing Motörhead’s first album, On Parole.

Recorded with the band’s original lineup of Lemmy, Larry Wallis, and Lucas Fox, the album, initially shelved by the band’s label, became a fittingly daring debut for Cleopatra. The label quickly cemented its reputation as a disruptive and dynamic force.

Recognizing a gap in the market, Perera resolved to bring life to overlooked music by recreating his own record collection through Cleopatra’s CD releases. Albums by Kraftwerk, Hawkwind, Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett, and Tyrannosaurus Rex’s Steve Peregrin Took struck a chord with collectors and built a loyal following.

But Cleopatra’s ambitions extended far beyond reissues. The label spearheaded the U.S. Space Rock/Kraut Rock revival of the mid-1990s, releasing albums and organizing tours for luminaries like Nik Turner (ex-Hawkwind), Helios Creed, Chrome, Pressurehed, Amon Düül II, Nektar, and Brainticket.

By 1994, Turner, Creed, and Pressurehed had even joined forces with Del Dettmar (another former Hawkwind member) for a groundbreaking U.S. tour that reignited Space Rock. Cleopatra’s Purple Pyramid imprint continues this legacy, delving into progressive and avant-garde rock.

Meanwhile, Perera’s love for gothic rock and industrial music fueled Cleopatra’s growth in another direction. The label signed first-wave goth icons like Rozz Williams (Christian Death) and Andi Sex Gang (Sex Gang Children), alongside second-wave acts like Nosferatu, Rosetta Stone, Leæther Strip, and The Electric Hellfire Club.

While many fans still associate Cleopatra with gothic music, this was only one aspect of its multifaceted identity. The label’s foray into electronic music saw Paul Oakenfold’s A Voyage into Trance become Cleopatra’s first Billboard charting release.

Cleopatra also championed punk and British underground bands such as The Vibrators, U.K. Subs, and The Damned. The latter’s 1996 comeback album, Not of This Earth, was a Cleopatra release. The label revived Hollywood’s glam-metal scene, working with acts like Quiet Riot, White Lion, Warrant, Cinderella, Bulletboys, and L.A. Guns.

Cleopatra’s X-Ray imprint, meanwhile, made waves in hip-hop, releasing albums by SX-10 (featuring Sen Dog of Cypress Hill), KRS-One, Westside Connection, and DMX. Notably, Layzie Bone’s It’s Not a Game landed on the Billboard Top 100 in 2005, marking a milestone for X-Ray.

Cleopatra’s diverse roster also spans country, blues, and reggae. Acts like The Oak Ridge Boys, T.G. Sheppard and Sammy Kershaw highlight its country offerings, while blues legends like Junior Wells, Arthur Adams, and Eric Gales have also found a home at the label. Cleopatra’s visionary approach to reggae was exemplified by the remix of Bob Marley’s “Sun is Shining” by Funkstar Deluxe, which became a global EDM sensation, selling over a million copies and reshaping genre boundaries.

A cornerstone of Cleopatra’s success is Perera’s strategy of acquiring and revitalizing artist back catalogs. Icons like Todd Rundgren, Melanie, William Shatner, Judy Collins and Ministry have benefited from Cleopatra’s careful curation of significant portions of their past output. Goldmine magazine hailed Cleopatra’s reissue campaign of Melanie’s archive as “one of the most significant of recent years.”

Neither is this eye for preserving great catalogs restricted to artists alone. The label has also purchased a number of record labels, including the seminal punk concerns New Red Archives (Anti-Flag, Jack Killed Jill, UK Subs etc) and Kung Fu Records (the Vandals, the Ataris, Blink 182). In late 2024, the label also became the exclusive distributor for Mammoth WVH, the project of Wolfgang Van Halen, son of Eddie Van Halen.

Beyond music, Cleopatra has ventured into publishing, releasing the Space Daze genre history, the Motörhead 1975 photo book, and autobiographies by Todd Rundgren, Dale Bozzio (Missing Persons), and Nik Turner. The label also produced biographies of The Cure, Rozz Williams, and Hanoi Rocks.

Cleopatra’s mainstream success includes William Shatner charting on Billboard and Grammy nominations for John Lithgow, Kenny Neal, and Judy Collins.

The label has also influenced the legal landscape of the music industry. In a landmark 2018 case, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Cleopatra’s Artimus Pyle (Lynyrd Skynyrd) biopic movie Street Survivors documentary, affirming the right to produce "unofficial" biopics under free speech protections.

If one factor encapsulates Cleopatra’s legacy, it is Brian Perera’s relentless vision. By remaining true to its mission of spotlighting deserving artists and forgotten gems, Cleopatra bridges past and present, merging underground and mainstream. As Perera explains:

“Breaking down barriers between genres, generations, and global music cultures is our mission. By championing a diverse array of artists, Cleopatra creates a melting pot of artistic expression, challenging boundaries and reshaping the music industry’s landscape.”