Kathleen Cei photo

Los Wells, of Safety Meeting Records.

Chances are, as you're reading this, someone somewhere is finishing a CD. It's recorded and mixed, and they're itching to get it out into the world where others will hear it. The question is: How the hell do you do that?

Some drop their discs into padded mailers in the hopes they'll reach the A&R branch of some record label and not just end up unheard at the bottom of a mountain of demos. Some tuck that CD into their back pocket and leave it there, hoping someone in the biz will pop into one of their gigs and offer them some plum deal. And others take matters into their own hands - they come up with a name for a label, stick it on the CD's cover and order up a few hundred copies. They don't need anyone else's approval to treat this disc like a real release. If they're ambitious, they'll rope in some of their friends' bands to use the same label name. A brand is born. Duties are assigned. The ball's rolling, and a new adventure is born in seeing where it rolls.

Across Connecticut, dozens of people have done just that, putting whatever resources they can spare into boosting a homegrown record label. Some are musicians. Some are friends of musicians, eager to help out and spread their friends' music to the masses. And several of those small labels have come to a head, pushing their releases and their acts hard enough to be recognized by name. Some have means of distributing their releases beyond where they live, and some rely on street-level promotion and a set of free hands to carry that box of CDs. Some are nationally and internationally recognized. Each label has its own methods, its own priorities and personalities. These are some of their stories.

ANTFARM AFFILIATES
antfarmaffiliates.com
The Antfarm Affiliates comprise like-minded hip-hop artists who write lyrics, lay down beats, produce and record tracks, release albums and put shows together. Sketch tha Cataclysm, one of AFA's top artists, performs with live bands, raps about social problems and artistic struggles and doesn't wear shoes on stage. The soulful Rising Sun Quest is rising in the NYC scene with his old-school sound. The Phenetiks are a four-man group whose youngest member, the Protégé, just released his debut EP, Untitled is Hard Enough. And perhaps the best examples of Antfarm style are Othello and Nemesis Alpha of D_Cyphernauts, who teach high school English by day and host a hip-hop showcase called Enter the Cypher every third Friday at Cousin Larry's. At that show, you'll learn everything you need to know about the potential of hip-hop in CT. — Sean Corbett

ASBESTOS RECORDS
asbestosrecords.com
Asbestos Records #1, released in 1997, was an unassuming compilation of mostly local punk and ska bands called The Best Bands You'll Ever Hate. Now they're up to Asbestos #49, and what was once a rough-around-the-edges basement operation is now one of the more legitimate labels in the state. Founder Matt Flood always had a knack for putting on shows and throwing parties (at which bands would play) that people actually wanted to go to, en masse, making the Asbestos House an appealing place to be for anyone involved in the punk/ska scene. Selling CDs isn't as easy as getting people to attend parties, but Flood's mysterious ability to pair otherwise ignored music with a receptive audience has been enough to keep the label running for over a decade. As of late, they've been taking out-of-print ska records that shouldn't be forgotten - like Better Late Than Never by the Slackers and Big Daddy Multitude by Mustard Plug - and re-releasing them on vinyl (both were originally produced in CD form on the now-defunct Moon Ska label). — Mike Sembos

COSMODEMONIC TELEGRAPH
hozomeen.org
Cosmodemonic Telegraph has released, by label head Rich Martin's estimation, about 50 CDs since 2000 (full-length albums, EPs, singles and compilations), an impressive number on its own, made even more impressive by the fact the label deals overwhelmingly with acts from the New London area. Cosmodemonic can be classified, Martin says, "not so much as a sound as it is defined by location." The sounds themselves include garage rock, folk, pop rock, indie rock, punk, funk and Americana - the sound of a small but creatively fertile city. The label, Martin says, "capitalizes on the energy of the bands, so they can help each other. It helps build a little momentum, helps younger bands get in the door." The label's longevity and recognition, he says, help new bands score reviews in the media. In recent years, Cosmodemonic has released a series of CD singles "that look like classic singles," Martin says, "with an A side and a B side. It gets a lot of bands releasing stuff, keeps bands active and out."
Martin says he's worked with distributors occasionally in the past, but mostly he's worked with local stores and regional radio. "We'll do the consignment end and the other end," he says.
Some key acts: Fatal Film, Brazen Hussy, Low-Beam, the Can Kickers, Incognito Sofa Love. — Brian LaRue

DIRT FLOOR RECORDS
myspace.com/dirtfloorrecords
Dirt Floor Studio, the Chester studio operated by singer-songwriter/producer Eric Lichter and his wife (and fellow musician) Sandra Lichter, is a proudly analog affair that turns out an earthy, organic and frequently intimate sound. It only makes sense, then, that the modus operandi of the label Dirt Floor Records is similarly homey and grassrootsy. The label's roster, made up of about 10 regional singer-songwriters, is "more of a gang than a label," Eric says. "Artists are accepted by vote. It's sort of a majority rule scenario. We constantly gather new people."

Lichter's hands-on approach to recording extends to packaging. He's bought up a bunch of recycled cardboard CD sleeves and rubber stamps. He says he's looking into getting a vinyl press. And while Dirt Floor has no proper distribution, its artists play out frequently. "The albums are all out there, on the road," Lichter points out. "We try to get groups of artists together, touring. We just advertise it [as] a Dirt Floor Night. We have concerts here [in the studio], too." The efforts of each of the label's artists, he says, "all trickle down to the rest of us." Some key acts: Eric Lichter, Sandra Lauren Lichter, Patrick Dunn, Laura Meyer. — Brian LaRue

EXOTIC RECORDINGS
exoticrecordings.com
Run by Keith Saunders and Meredith DiMenna - who front Saint Bernadette, one of the label's most popular and successful bands - Exotic Recordings produces, releases and promotes hard-driving, fun, sexually charged rock for people who get bored by the same old things that flood the market today. Working closely with other artists and labels in Danbury, New Haven, Bridgeport, Asheville, N.C., Los Angeles, New York City and Minneapolis, they're also looking to expand globally with digital and physical music, maybe even vinyl. Also on Exotic Recordings are hockey rockers the Zambonis, the Tom Waitsian bluesman Brian Grosz, the Casio electronica duo Shoot Yer Wads, the melodious and hooky J DiMenna and their fast-rising star, the Asheville, N.C.-based singer/multi-instrumentalist Jar-e, who recently toured with Toubab Krewe.
Meredith DiMenna admits Exotic Recordings, like the whole industry, is in flux. "Running a business based on a product that's so easily stolen can be difficult," she says. "We can't ignore the fact that people who used to buy, now just steal."  — Sean Corbett

FIREHOUSE 12 RECORDS
firehouse12.com
When Nick Lloyd renovated a rundown old firehouse on a sketchy bock of downtown New Haven into the ambitious, architecturally magnificent Firehouse 12 complex, the prospect of running a bar/lounge, a classy listening room and a state-of-the-art recording studio must have seemed like plenty. But one missing element soon became obvious - a record label.

Taylor Ho Bynum co-founded Firehouse 12 Records and is also on its roster. Beyond Bynum's genre-bending cornet explorations ("Madeleine Dreams," a six-part musical interpretation of an acclaimed novel by his sister Sarah Shun-lien Bynum's novel Madeleine, was released recently), Firehouse touts CDs by drummer/pianist Tyshawn Sorey, the Peter Evans Quartet, John Hebert, Carl Maguire's Floriculture and - in a burst of bravado shortly after the label was launched - a nine-CD set from the prolific jazz legend and Wesleyan professor Anthony Braxton. Some of the discs came about after the artists got to know Firehouse 12 from playing there live. Nearly all of them were recorded, mixed and mastered right at Firehouse studio, whose studio is also used by several other local labels (including Firehouse bartender Carlos Wells' Safety Meeting Records).

"It's going better than I ever could have hoped, running a free-jazz record label in this economy," Bynum gushes, adding that the label's sales are evenly divided among their own Web site, Amazon.com and the distributors that get them into specialty shops. "It's such a niche music, our core audience tends to be a collector audience. So we put a lot of care into the packaging and artwork. One of the reasons it's so great to have Nick as a partner is his strong aesthetic sense."

Given the label's bustling and ultrahip surroundings, the passion comes easily. "Once we decide to record the artists, that means we believe in them. What's gratifying is that people agree with us. With Mary Halvorson, the press response was overwhelming. And this is someone making really skronky noises on a hollow-body guitar." — Christopher Arnott

HORIZON MUSIC GROUP
horizonmusicgroup.com
Horizon Studio, in West Haven, has been recognized for years as one of the finer recording studios in Connecticut, a facility where musicians can get a clean, professional sound. Horizon Music Group, headed up by the studio's owner, Vic Steffens, is an outgrowth of the studio, a means of developing and promoting artists, and the label's releases are similarly noticeable for their polish and professionalism. The artists HMG boosts aren't stylistically alike - there's pop-rock, folk-pop, roots rock, prog rock, jamband fare and so on - but they're united by a certain classic pop sensibility, a recognizable timelessness. Some of the more recognizable names in the regional club scene have put out CDs on HMG (Christine Ohlman, the Breakfast, Seth Adam, Mighty Purple, the Limit) - all acts made up of musicians who can play well and whose material is certainly accessible. — Brian LaRue

KILL NORMAL RECORDS
killnormal.com
Kill Normal Records was started by members of the Flaming Tsunamis when they were still in high school, a more industrious group of skacore kids than most. In addition to releasing their own material they've also put out albums by local favorites Call It Arson, They and the Children and Via Audio, among others. Their 17 CDs released to date provide an interesting cross section of local music in the 2000s so far. In the past year, the label has been relegated to the back burner as its staff focuses on other things, but they've been doing what they do since 2002 and deserve some recognition.

"Kill Normal as a company has entered into an indefinite hiatus from recording and releasing music," says co-founder Ethan DeAngelus. The records are still available though. — Mike Sembos

MEZZOTINT
mezzotint.com
Mezzotint was started as a vehicle for releasing Mark Mulcahy records, and those of his previous bands Miracle Legion and Polaris. While technically operating out of Springfield, Mass. these days, Mulcahy's New Haven roots will ensure that he's included in any list of local musicians indefinitely. The recent Mulcahy tribute Ciao My Shining Star isn't on Mezzotint, but with Thom Yorke and Frank Black among those paying homage to his songs it's sure to send flocks of new fans to the Mezzotint site to find out what they missed. One deal there offers four of the best Miracle Legion releases for $18 - on cassette. Those four albums would be the centerpiece for an official collection of Connecticut-produced music, and should be included in a welcome package when people relocate to the state, as mandatory listening. Though Mulcahy doesn't have a star on any walk of fame, spreading the word to others of his music will help build his cult following to greater proportions and give him the long-awaited credit he deserves. — Mike Sembos

MOSAIC RECORDS
mosaicrecords.com
While some are bemoaning (or celebrating?) the end of the CD era, the continued relevance of Stamford's Mosaic Records just goes to show that jazz fiends are some hard-copy-buying box-set-loving completists. The label, founded in 1983, survived the end of the LP era and weathered the transition to CDs by basically making limited-edition collector's items - with copious and erudite liner notes, rare photos and often previously unreleased recordings, generally pressing around 5,000 copies of each release. "The concept is to [assemble] an artist's body of work and present it to the public with both the reverence and respect it deserves," says CEO and partner Fred Pustay. Mosaic has continued
through the MP3 era as well(no dinky downloads, thank you).

MYSTIC MUSIC ARCHIVE
mysticmusicarchive.org
The Mystic Music Archive label started out as a jam session among a bunch of old friends in Spring of 2007. A trio of Mystic-area music-scene veterans - Alex Pellish, Mat Tarbox and Rich Freitas, who used to play together in a few popular bands in the '80s and ‘90s (17 Relics, Delta of Venus, Skimbleshanks) - got together primarily as a way to try out Pro Tools and the other new equipment in Pellish's recently constructed basement recording studio. What began as rough improv jams soon blossomed into more polished arrangements by Pellish. Other Mystic-area musicians were invited to the studio to flesh out the songs, and MMA's first 12-track album was released: Sodium Lights, Post Signal.

"We are sitting on a treasure trove of catalog releases that have yet to be made digitally available," says Freitas. "The purpose of MMA is to bring recorded music from Mystic to the broadest possible audience."
Though much of MMA's catalog consists of remastered re-releases from Mystic's heyday in the ‘90s, Freitas actively encourages his archive contributors "to look at the site as a place to release new music." In addition to Sodium Lights, that so far includes Luke Hunter's Dizzying Heights and Magpie's Paper + Plastic. Soon to come are new releases from New London's Low-Beam and an all-electronic effort from Sodium Lights titled The Space Scape.  — Kathleen Cei

SAFETY MEETING RECORDS
safetymeeting.net
The culmination of the many years Los Wells has spent working behind the scenes with local bands, Safety Meeting Records is one of the most trusted names in New Haven's indie-rock scene. With a roster mostly drawn from New Haven and mostly made up of musicians who've been playing for years (bands like M.T. Bearington, the Mountain Movers, the Vultures, Titles and Quiet Life, among others) Safety Meeting has demonstrated high quality control and, through Wells, the musicians and their friends, it's gained a momentum most local bands aren't able to build on their own.

There's no Safety Meeting sound, but many of the bands play modernized psychedelia or Americana, or aggressive but arty rock. "I try to work within genres," Wells says. "I go to where I buy records, then get the bands out there, doing shows. The rest is just schmoozin' and luck."

Of course, there's also the fact Safety Meeting presses most of its releases to vinyl instead of CD. "It's a collectible thing," Wells says - and by focusing on vinyl and digital downloads, he adds, "I don't have to worry about getting a distributor." — Brian LaRue

SKIPPING STONES RECORDS
skippingstonesrecords.com
This Waterbury-based indie-pop label is run by a husband and wife duo, William Knapp and Christine Jewell, who are also known for hosting Popfest New England for the past six years. Releases include local bands like Knapp's own Singing Bridges, nearby bands like the Brooklyn-based Besties and faraway acts like the Charade from Stockholm, Sweden. Connecticut hardcore fans may remember Knapp from behind the mixing board at (now-legendary long-defunct club) the Anthrax, and as drummer from the oft-reunited band 76% Uncertain or shorter-lived projects like CIA, Reflex From Pain and even the first incarnation of Shelter - but nothing on Skipping Stones is anything like that. Melody, simplicity and warm vibes are the hallmarks of a typical Skipping Stones release. The very name of the label suggests a return to innocence and an appreciation for simpler times. — Mike Sembos

SLING SLANG RECORDS
slingslang.com
George Engel, founder of Southington-based Sling Slang Records, started the label simply to put out records by his son Gabe's band, Big Mistake. Years later, his passion for pushing local music burns just as brightly. Sling Slang often works with artists who cast genre and subculture to the dogs. Bands like Flu combine metal, hardcore, and good, old-fashioned alt-rock; Jared McCloud plays acoustic music with a hard-rock edge; and the And Band describes their style as "cowpunk." And their roster keeps growing at an alarming rate. Over the past few years, they've subdivided into a metal division (10 Foot Reach) and an acoustic rock imprint (Skinny Pond Records). In 2006, Engel and artists on his roster even became happenstance activists when music licensing agency ASCAP came knocking at the label's all-ages music venue. ASCAP insisted that the shows, which featured Sling Slang artists almost exclusively, included covers of popular ASCAP-protected music. Engel scoffed when the agency tried to charge an increased licensing fee, and rightly so. He's been enabling Connecticut musicians to release their original music for years. Scott Genereau, who has recorded and produced almost every Sling Slang record since 2004, notes that Sling Slang is into cooperation rather than competition. He cites Engel's comradeship with fellow local label head Rob DeRosa, as well as the label's emphasis on getting its artists to attend one another's shows. "We're all basically trying to re-create Seattle," says Genereau. "And we all know that." — Dan Barry

SPARE CHANGE RECORDS
sparechangerecords.com
Founded by Roman Garbacik (former vocalist for Century Media death metallers Scar Culture), East Hartford-based Spare Change Records is coming up on six years this February. Their roster reads like a SWAT team of punishing local metal: End-Time Illusion, Our Final Chapter, When the Deadbolt Breaks, Pristina ... the list goes on. Garbacik emphasizes low prices and strong support for the scene through a hard-working, D.I.Y. ethic. Recent releases include discs by Burning the Memory and Maegashira. Unsigned metal acts are invited to submit their demos at the label's Web site. — Dan Barry

STILLBORN RECORDS
stillbornstore.com
Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta has one of the most business-savvy minds this side of the Wu-Tang Clan. He parlayed the success of his band into a minor empire that includes his own line of clothing and his own record label. Together with Jay Reason (who fronts local punk band the Distance), he founded Stillborn Records, a haven for hardcore and metal bands both local (Dead by Wednesday, With Honor) and national (Fuck the Facts). Stillborn recently signed Strength For A Reason and Abolish, and its most recent releases are discs by the World We Knew and Thy Will Be Done. In true hardcore-punk style, they keep all their prices low to make their merch as widely available as possible. — Dan Barry

THIN MAN MUSIC
myspace.com/thinmanmusiclabel
Local music aficionado Rob DeRosa operates on a clear principle: If you like local music, you try to give something back. He talks about voting in the Advocate's annual Band Slam in reverential tones, like it's a civic duty. He hosts an exclusively local radio show, "Homegrown," every Thursday on Wesleyan's WESU FM. He books all the musical talent for Meriden's annual Daffodil Festival, which has rapidly become a who's-who of Connecticut's best talent. He's also the one-man army behind Thin Man Music, home to rockers like the Manchurians, Frank Critelli, the Sawtelles, the Furors, and the Peacock Flounders. He started the label with Roger C. Reale to put out a handful of Reale's tunes; those tunes were the beginning of the Manchurians, Reale's band and Thin Man's mainstay. "It was kind of a whim over pizza," says DeRosa about the decision to start the label in 2000. He describes his roster as "people who are friendly with each other in the first place - so it's kind of a community." He says he puts out records "just for the chance of somebody hearing the stuff. We break even on most of the records, because the production costs are low, and we don't do huge runs." — Dan Barry

TIDES RECORDS
tidesrecords.com
Even though Alan Veniscofsky started Rane while still in high school, he was already on the path to making music his career. Veniscofsky now owns and operates Tides Recording, a studio in Hartford that works with artists such as Brian Jarvis, David Cain, Otherwise, Mile Marker Zero, and Bill Carleton. Veniscofsky, who also works for high-end microphone manufacturers Telefunken, releases his recordings under the Tides Records moniker. His records, which most often feature pop and rock bands, are marked by a clear, warm feel and excellent attention to detail. Tides' latest release is Columbia Fields' Bridging The Gap, a collection of piano-driven alt-pop. — Dan Barry

TWIN LAKES
myspace.com/twinlakesrecords
Instead of herding artists through a gauntlet of fees and contracts, the Connecticut record label Twin Lakes operates like an allied musical collective. Founded by drummer Michael Keifer, the label started as an outlet for his band MYTY KONKEROR, but grew into something greater when New Haven's Closely Watched Trains came on board for a debut release.

Since then, Twin Lakes has become an open setting for any band with a do-it-yourself mindset, Keifer says. According to him, the label won't throw money at a band's studio time, but Twin Lakes can put in legwork for printing records, booking shows, promotions, and online distribution.

The setup is skeletal, but this might be the boot camp Connecticut bands need to get their heads out of the clouds and into the game. For Keifer, determination and vision are more important than musical style: "I don't like the idea of defining us by a specific genre. What's going to matter is whether or not an artist is saying something bold, thoughtful, and relevant with sound."

Twin Lakes is currently based out of North Branford, and looking to help bands who help themselves.
— Anthony Fantano

E-mail editor@hartfordadvocate.com