Wax Trax! Records is an independent record label in the United States. Wax Trax! began as a record shop in Denver, Colorado opened by Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher. They sold the store in 1978 and, in November of that year, opened a new one under the same name at 2449 North Lincoln Avenue in Chicago, Illinois in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. This store would become the center of the new wave, punk rock and industrial music scenes in Chicago.
"As important as Chess Records was to blues and soul music, Chicago's Wax Trax imprint was just as significant to the punk rock, new wave and industrial genres." (Richard Giraldi, Chicago Sun-Times) [1]
The original label was purchased in 1992 by TVT Records, and subsequently discontinued in 2001. In 2014, it was re-established by Julia Nash (cofounder Jim Nash's daughter).