Htfd Advocate: Did It Themselves...

Local music makers have started their own record labels to promote their music, and the music of their buddies
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

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