History.
Written June 22, 2024
On December 7th, 2010, the website RabidGorilla.com was launched. My purpose for doing so was to teach myself how to use the WordPress content management system. After my ‘Hello World.” post, I started posting memes, jokes, links to YouTube videos, …anything I could find. The website was a mirror of my Facebook page and It didn’t get any visitors, with good reason.
At the time I was also deep into the hobby of collecting bootleg recordings which I found and downloaded by way of bittorrent programs. I began a Song of the Day featuring a track from my collection that I hosted on Soundcloud. It quickly became the most popular item on the website and after a few months I redesigned the site so the music was the focus.
Despite my eclectic taste in music, the site gained in popularity and as it did, I was inspired to keep adding new content and finding new ways of promoting the site. I went from posting individual songs to posting entire concerts. To keep the music available I had to purchase advanced plans on Soundcloud.
I tried advertising programs and posting ads on the website but it never gained the audience it needed. The cost of hosting the music could no longer be justified and so I shut the site down in April of 2012 with a promise to return.
Jump ahead to 2016.
I repurpose the site to promote a new business venture: Rabid Gorilla Video Production Services. I had started recording friends and local musical acts with the videos being hosted on YouTube. The business never took off but the videos of the local (Central Maine) punk-rock scene were mildly popular. And they were a blast to make. I thoroughly enjoyed traveling around Maine to record friends and young people who appreciate original live music. From August of 2015 to April of 2019, I recorded over 175 shows from over 75 different bands.
In 2017 I temporarily closed the site again for another re-invention. This time I called it Rabid Gorilla Records. It was a record label that I developed to promote some of the bands I had met and recorded in the past: Angusisdead, Frankie Moon, and Uncle Spudd. Later on I was contacted and ‘signed on’ with a band of young punk rockers from Portland called The Chives.
On April 24th, 2019 I released a physical CD compilation of 21 songs by bands that had been featured on the website. It was a limited printing of 200 copies and most have been given away. The bands on the CD allowed me to produce the CD using the studio recordings of songs that had been on the site in the past. The collection is available on Bandcamp.com.
Although I was unaware at the time, that would be the last act of Rabid Gorilla records. The website has been closed and I have lost touch with the local music scene. I retain the URL for the next incarnation, …whatever that may be.
To be continued.
Since 2010, Rabid Gorilla has been inhabiting the internet in one way or another. It started without form or direction but soon found its purpose. For two years I used the site to share and promote bootleg music recording that I had downloaded from other sites.
The site went dark for a while but in the Summer of 2015 I started recording music acts and publishing original content. The videos were fun to make and appreciated by a small audience.
With the friends and contacts I had made in the Maine punk music scene, I was able to put together the Rabid Gorilla Compilation CD. I had 200 copies printed, gave away most, and sold a few through Bull-Moose Records.
Personal reasons and the COVID outbreak caused the site to go dark again shortly after that.
Present:
Written June 16, 2026
I have started working on the site again after using it for an unrelated project. (I built a WordPress website for a business to see how it would look). For a little while I was combining personal content with music. As of this morning (June 16, 2026), I have removed my own opinion pieces and stories and left the bootleg music and original Rabid Gorilla music videos.
Going forward, I will add my own, non-music related content to www.DaveColbert.com while building www.RabidGorilla.com into a self-sustaining, profitable company.
The Future
As much as I enjoy it as a hobby, the real future of Rabid Gorilla,…if it is to have one after I’m gone, is as an institution… separate from my own whims and opinions. If I expect other people to get involved… and I do. I need other people if this is going to work, …then, it’s only fair to keep myself somewhat separate from the organization.
I will, of course, be looking to bring on partners that share a similar world view and goals. I will also remain as the ‘host’ of the site so I expect some of my personality will come through in the content. If you want more Dave, please see DaveColbert.com.
An organization is made up of people and people cost money.
I have no money.
So, .. how do I get people involved without offering money? … by offering partial ownership of the company itself.
Ownership of the brand, the site, the content
I’ve been looking into Employee Stock Ownership Plans, Employee Ownership Trusts, and Worker Cooperatives. I don’t know the exact structure yet, but I want for Rabid Gorilla to be owned by the people who actually do the work.
Running the site, making content, managing social media and growing the company… These are all jobs that I want to create. When the company starts making money, these will become paying jobs.
The reason I want to create such jobs, primarily, is to employ myself so I can dedicate more time to the company and to creating content.
The future of the site:
What will it look like when it ‘done’? (it will never be done)…But when it’s worth going to, what will visitors find there?….
- An events calendar of independent house shows, club shows, and concerts. Sortable by size of venue, region, date, and by punk music subgenres (metal, folk, alternative, etc).
- Band pages with music samples, artwork ,lyrics, pics, & links
- Music/Scene News
- Finding Band Members Bulletin Board
- Social hub
- ? ? ?
The long-term future of the Rabid Gorilla company:
Paul Newman, after becoming one the most popular (and talented) movie stars in the world, .. and after becoming a race car driver (because he loved it).. After that.. He and a friend entered a salad dressing into a contest being judged by Martha Stewart. They won the contest with the recipe that we now know as Newman’s Own.
That was 1982 and Paul didn’t need the money. So, he set up the Newman’s Own company so that all of the after tax profits are donated to charity.
….(I’ve purchased the URL rabidgorilla.org.just in case)
Someday the company profits will flow into a charity which I would like to ‘give back’ to the music scene. Music scholarships and providing musical instruments for under-privileged kids…. That kinda stuff.
For a better idea of what I have in mind, check out:
https://www.northamptonartscouncil.org/jsb-fund
That was set up by some friends of mine after Scott, a mutual friend, died way too soon. He loved music and so they keep his spirit alive with this project.
This is just a little of what I have in mind…. A little of my dream.
I’m working on a way to present my vision in such a way that it will attract ‘my people’ and get things off the ground.
Merch: