2011 was a year filled with projects and collaborations with several Maine artists…

Earlier this year, we added the Maine music video page to the website.  There are currently 114 videos spotlighting the amazing talent of Maine’s music scene.

We created a “Music from the State of Maine” group on Soundcloud, which is open for any Maine artist to submit their work.

We designed the packaging layout for The Cool, a cover band comprised of adults with developmental disabilities and mental health challenges from Momentum.  The cover artwork was designed by one of the band members, recorded, mixed and mastered by Shaun Curran at Napoleon Complex of  Somerville, MA and organized by Oscar Romero (Gully, Foam Castles, Endless Jags).  You can learn more on their Bandcamp page.

We have worked extensively with José Ayerve (Spouse, Bullyclub) on his latest project, A Severe Joy.  This new material moves away from his normal guitar-driven, 80s influenced rock and focuses on something closer to indie electronic pop.  Along with this new sound, he wanted a new look, which includes masks and lights in his live shows. To accentuate this idea, we tried to be a bit experimental with the packaging for the debut album.  We used vellum letter envelopes, a single folded sheet of paper and writing done in his own hand. We also collaborated with [dog]+[pony] on a video for his song ‘Catapult.’

As for 2012…

We have begun work on a series of 10 limited edition A Severe Joy plexi-disc releases.  The project presented some unique challenges, including a short turnaround time to complete the concept and design, a unique 8.5 inch size and setting the look and tone for the other nine releases.  The first one is available for pre-order from Bandcamp.

A full aseverejoy.com website is nearly complets, and will be going live soon.

Etheria Sparrow’s debut “Journey to Etheria” will be released later this year and features another Factory Portland designed album cover.

Stephen served on the nomination committee for the New England Music Awards, listening to the music of 150+ area musicians over a couple of weeks and submitting ranked choices.  The awards will be presented March 9, 2012 at Hard Rock Café Boston and feature performances from Ron Noyes Band, Jen Kearney, Frank Viele and The Manhatten Project, Mission Hill, and Twin Berlin.

Lastly, our merch shop launched at the beginning of  2012 and features items from A Severe Joy, Spouse, Bullyclub, and Factory Portland.  We’ll announce any deals or new items on Facebook and Twitter.  Send us your thoughts on additional items you’d like to see added to the store.

Thanks for following our progress as we continue to assist artists with their contributions to the Maine music scene. We’re looking forward to an exciting 2012!