NO APOLOGIES

In an unusual move, Epitaph Records has announced that the company has named retail and marketing executive Andy Kaulkin as acting president to fill in for founder Brett Gurewitz, who has been undergoing treatment for drug addiction. The L.A.-based independent label, best known for launching the Offspring to success and then losing the band in a bitter split, had hoped to keep the change quiet, in part to protect Gurewitz’s privacy.

But a recent story in Rolling Stone suggested that the company, whose current roster includes Rancid, NOFX, Pennywise and the Voodoo Glow Skulls, was in disarray. A spokeswoman for Epitaph, noting that Kaulkin had served essentially as Gurewitz’s “right-hand man,” says that everything is running as normal.