"The sense of innovation, imagination and freedom was really appealing"

1991 was a hugely significant year for the music scene in the Pacific North West, historically very much a backwater compared to (say) New York, Los Angeles, Detroit or Nashville. Most obviously, it saw the release of Nevermind (something to which I'm bound to return next month) and the moment that grunge exploded into the mainstream - but it also gave birth to the now legendary Kill Rock Stars record label, profiled by Daniel Dylan Wray for the Guardian back in April on its 30th birthday.

While Wray acknowledges that some KRS bands saw themselves as "antithetical" to grunge, the truth is that there was no simple opposition or rivalry between Seattle and Olympia. Kurt Cobain cited KRS acts as an influence and Nirvana played shows with Bikini Kill; indeed, he was in a relationship with the band's Tobi Vail for a while and Kathleen Hanna inadvertently came up with the name for Nirvana's breakthrough single. Both bands appeared on the same KRS compilation, together with other luminaries of both cities such as Melvins and Bratmobile.

The latter's Allison Wolfe describes the context in which KRS came into being  - a community energised by youthful DIY spirit, fanzine culture and a willingness to speak up/out and challenge gender inequalities - as "a powerful coming to consciousness". Regardless of the fact that the likes of Elliott Smith and the Decemberists subsequently found a home on KRS, I suspect that the label will always be synonymous with riot grrrl and feminist punk - Heavens To Betsy, Sleater-Kinney, Huggy Bear et al.

As seems grimly inevitable whenever women dare to stand up for themselves, there were threats and backlash. As Wray observes, sadly "the rallying cries and on-stage monologues the riot grrrl groups voiced are issues still being fought today, including abortion rights, body autonomy and women's basic safety". All of which, it seems, is giving KRS added impetus to carry on. In the words of founder Matthew "Slim" Moon, "It's awesome young people give a shit about what we did and we're able to do stuff now in the same spirit. We're also more consciously saying we are feminist, queer and political than we did 30 years ago." Here's to the next three decades.