Label: Equal Vision Records 

Band Members: Chaney, lead vocals; Spencer Trinidad, guitar; Wesley K. Jones, drums 

Type of Music: Power Pop/Rock 

Management: Josh Terry, Workshop Management 

Booking: Brad Wiseman, Sequel Music Group 

Legal: Bryan Christner 

Publicity: Erica DelGenio, erica@bigpicturemediaonline.com 

Web: housepartiesband.com 

A&R: Dan Sandshaw, Equal Vision Records 

“Braindead” is the new single and video for this newly signed outfit from Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas. With splashes of emo, late ‘90s pop/punk and alt-rock they bowl the audience over like a ton of bricks. “It’s a high energy song,” says Chaney about the new single. “The meaning is not too deep. It’s an anthem for stupid people.” 

Chaney and guitarist Trinidad met in 2020 and began writing songs. Upon releasing an EP they found drummer Jones online. They officially were recognized as a band releasing original material in 2021. From there they pursued the typical avenues playing live, with an “emo night” in Dallas being their first venture. Through the process of releasing material online and doing a fair amount of touring they caught the attention of Equal Vision Records. 

“Actually, Equal Vision was really the only label that would give us the time of day,” explains Chaney. “DIY and being independent is really cool, but it’s really hard financially. I just felt being on a label would get us more traction. Also, people can follow a label and it’s another way to discover and gain new fans and stuff. It’s also really hard to get opportunities when you’re independent. If you have a specific vision of something you want to do a label can help create those opportunities and get things done.” 

While House Parties is currently on the road promoting “Braindead” their game plan is to release follow up singles in the coming months, with an EP and album in the works for 2024. 

“I feel like pop-rock is a thing right now,” says Chaney. “I see bands getting bigger doing pop-rock or are super emo. I don’t think pop-punk is as relevant as it used to be, like in 2014 and 2015. But it’s interesting to see older influences like Linkin Park and Blink-182 coming into some of the bands now. We get a lot of Paramore references.” 

For their next single release they are considering incentives associated with it, such as contests where fans can win handwritten lyric sheets and tickets to a show. 

Label: SideOneDummy Records 

Band Members: Chris Colasanto, guitar, vocals; Tommy Eckerson, guitar; Milo Duhn, bass, vocals; Alec Westover, drums, vocals 

Type of Music: Punk 

Management: Dan Doyle and Trevor Chesler - 918 Management 

Booking: Jason Parent - Sound Talent Group 

Legal: Henderson Cole 

Publicity: Daniel Cooper - Lucky Bird Media, daniel@luckybirdmedia.com 

Web: carpoolny.band 

Label Manager/A&R: Phil Bender-Simon 

Says Chris “Stoph” Colasanto of Carpool’s signing with SideOneDummy Records, “I’ve been buying shit from SideOne since I was 11 years old. It’s a very full-circle, wild moment to be on that label now.” The band has also signed with Sound Talent Group. 

With phenomenal friends and family supporting them, Colasanto says “Rochester's the number one city on Earth. They picked us up and put us on their shoulders, so it means a lot.” Releasing their 2018 EP independently (re-released with Old Press Records, now part of Acrobat) they performed in-studio at Audiotree in 2020 for wider promotion. Summer 2023 brought a tour supporting Cliffdiver (also on the SideOneDummy roster). Cliffdiver and manager Dan Doyle pushed for them to be heard. 

“I could go on forever about how much I love our team,” says Colasanto. “They’re great people. Referring to Doyle as a “true Western New York cat—cordial, kind, and cooperative,” Doyle ran a venue where 

 Carpool played frequently and the band invited him to join them on tour. Manager Trevor Chesler is a “nose to the grindstone, locked and loaded, man on his game,” and Colasanto describes label manager Phil Bender- Simon as “one of the realest people I've ever met in the industry, an absolute blessing and a dream come true. It’s a pure, genuine interaction every time.” 

The shift in momentum is already obvious. “Marketing, press, rollout— everything is official,” emphasizes Colasanto. “The song [“Can We Just Get High?”] is streaming better than any other song we have released. SideOne [gave] us an avenue to be ourselves and do our own thing, while pushing and marketing so people can latch on.” 

Bender-Simon shares that Carpool have great energy and felt like close friends immediately. “Their music has been stuck in my head for three years. It’s that incredible wide-eyed feeling when you hear something truly great.” 

The signing included an advance and one-album commitment, with an option for two more. Album My Life In Subtitles is scheduled for release in March. – Andrea Beenham 

Label: MNRK Heavy 

Band Members: Mike Schleibaum, guitar; John Henry, vocals; Aaron Deal, bass; Travis Orbin, drums; Nico Santora, guitar 

Management: Mike Schleibaum and Tito Picon 

Booking: U.S.A.: Jonathan Willson - Sound Talent Group, EU/U.K.: Marco Wazel - Avocado Booking 

Legal: Beverly Davis 

Publicity: Atom Splitter PR 

Web: darkesthour.ffm.to/perpetualterminal 

A&R: Carl Severson and Steve Seabury 

“We have a Patreon. We have a fan base. We have two and a half decades worth of music. We don't need to be on a label!” Meet Mike Schleibaum of D.C.’s Darkest Hour, a metal outfit with 25 years of history that includes over 10 record deals over nine full-length releases. On February 23, they will be releasing their 10th full-length. And until recently, they were adamant that they were done with record labels. After all, they’d already wrapped in the studio; possess their own global booking agents; and have self-managed themselves for years. 

Somewhere between the band’s 2017 independent release and now, however, DH realized all that time receiving orders, shipping albums, chasing royalties etc., was time taken away from what the band loved to do most—play. So after a bit of a post mortem, Darkest Hour began wondering if a label could help. Coincidentally, this is also when MNRK Heavy joined the chat. 

“There was a longtime friend at MNRK Heavy who contacted us and was like, ‘Hey, you guys are killing it… but how are you going to do this upcoming release?’” explains Schleibaum. MNRK Heavy is a subsidiary of MNRK, formerly known as eOne, who released Darkest Hour’s The Human Romance in 2011. What caught Darkest Hour’s eye was the label’s focus on up-and-coming artists, not just known acts. However, Darkest Hour have the battle scars to know what labels want in return, and the band wasn’t going to budge on royalties. 

Much to Schleibaum’s surprise, the label pitched making its money in places the band wasn’t already. “I can't say that it's as simple as they gave us all the digital money and all the publishing and blah, blah, blah— but they gave us everything we wanted and what no [other] label would give us: a deal that ends, but in good faith.” Basically, the band and label will check in after each release and see if the partnership is still fruitful. No “three-to-five release minimums.” 

When asked to share some knowledge on surviving the ups and downs of the industry, Schleibaum had this to say: “Practice. Do things slowly. Like, if you're gonna practice a set, practice the song slower than you normally plan to get everybody's group muscle memory together. Practice at home, the stuff that's really hard, slower. And if there's nothing that's hard, either you don't know how to practice, you're not listening, or you guys are not trying hard enough. You have to be as hungry to learn about practice as you are learning about success.” 

Raised in the small town of Greensburg, Kentucky by his grandparents, McDaniel is one of Nashville’s most tenacious, overcoming all of the many obstacles life has thrown at him and turning it into something valuable. A natural entertainer with an unmatched work ethic and disarming charisma, Chase’s true secret to his success lies within his genuine connection and open conversation with his fans.

“Chase is not only talented and smart but is truly someone who makes his own luck. He has a determination that inspires our entire team to dig even deeper,” shares Big Machine Label Group CEO & Chairman, Scott Borchetta. “He has a clear vision, and we can’t wait help make that vision a reality.”

“Scott and the team over at Big Machine Records have understood what fuels me and my dreams from the first meeting. It just clicked,” said Chase McDaniel. “I can’t express how grateful and excited I am to work with them, learn from them and grow this thing together.

chasemcdanielmusic.com/tour

Label: Yep Roc Records

Type of Music: Americana / Indie

Management: Chris Tetzeli and Nate Meese - 7S Management, nate@7smgmt.com, 303-565-5690

Booking: N/A

Legal: David Wykoff - david@davidwykofflaw.com

Publicity: Anna DeNelsky - Shore Fire Media, adenelsky@shorefire.com

Web: jobiriccio.com, instagram.com/jobiriccio

A&R: Mariah Czap

Singer-songwriter Jobi Riccio caught her big break when she entered and won Citizen Vinyl’s Asheville, NC NewSong Music competition in 2019. Her prize was the professional production of her record by producer and musician Gar Ragland, who also sponsors the contest. Ultimately this led to the completion of her record Whiplash, which dropped in the summer of 2023, and to a deal with Yep Roc Records. 

“Gar knew some folks at Yep Roc through the North Carolina connection and sent them my record,” Riccio recollects. “They were super into it and that’s how I got my deal with them. He spoke with some other labels but I felt that Yep Roc seemed the most artist-driven; they really championed their artists being at the creative helm of everything.

“After I was offered a potential deal, I flew out and met with the folks at the label,” the singer continues. “I played a small showcase for them and Red Eye Distribution, who’s now my distributor. They were phenomenal people and we had the best time. It was clear that they’d listened to every single song on Whiplash. They were fired up about it as a whole body of work and about me as an artist.”

Work on Whiplash began in 2020 but due to the pandemic, it took some time to complete. Several singles from it have been released, the latest being “Lonely Tonight” in August. When Music Connection spoke with Riccio she was on a brief hiatus before stepping back out onto the road in November for a tour of the Northeast.

The NewSong Music contest is sponsored by Ragland’s Citizen Vinyl. In addition to his studio, he also runs a pressing plant and the indie label NewSong Recordings. “At the top of the building there’s an old radio studio where people like [bluegrass originator] Bill Monroe and other folk and bluegrass musicians would play when they’d come through North Carolina,” Riccio explains. “Whiplash was the first record done in [Ragland’s] studio since he acquired it.”

NewSong Music was launched in 2001 followed by Citizen Vinyl in 2020. Interestingly, Riccio’s entry was recorded as a voice memo on her phone rather than professionally. Given the minimal requirements, such contests should be within nearly any artist’s grasp.

Label: Atlantic Records and TAG Music

Band Members: JULES IS DEAD

Management: Joanne Setterington - Indoor Recess Inc.

Legal: Lyndra Griffith-Harnden - Edwards Creative Law

Publicity: Christina Kotsamanidis

Web: julesisdead.com

A&R: Gabe Saporta and Karina Szlasa (TAG), Pete Ganbarg (Atlantic)

JULES IS DEAD, a solo artist from the city of Barrie, Canada, represents somewhat of an iteration of the vintage emo/pop-punk movement during the early 2000s. The singer-songwriter was born nearly two decades after fellow Canadian rockers such as Sum 41, Simple Plan, Avril Lavigne and Fefe Dobson blazed a trail in the popular genres with classic debut albums and iconic videos. Jules was introduced to emo during the global pandemic of 2020, when she turned to her father’s old pastime for recreation.

“My Dad had the video game Rock Band when I was younger and then it went in the basement for a really long time, until [the Covid-19 lockdown period] and then I started playing it because I was extremely bored at my house,” recalled JULES IS DEAD. “[That’s how] I found bands like AFI, My Chemical Romance, Paramore, and Jimmy Eat World.”

Having been inspired by a new found love for emo from the 2000s, the young instrumentalist embarked on a solo career as well as a side-project with a riot grrrl band, after the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions concluded. Jules started performing acoustic renditions of music by the aforementioned emo artists at live venues in the city of Barrie. With lyricism influenced by Fall Out Boy and a Goth Rock aesthetic reminiscent of Amy Lee (from Evanescence), Jules also began uploading cover songs to social media platforms such as TikTok. Subsequentially, Jules’ riot grrrl band gained notoriety, fanfare and the admiration of one of the most recognizable names from the golden era of emo, Gabe Saporta (the lead singer of Cobra Starship).

“TAG Music, which is Gabe’s label, found the band,” Jules said. “He followed us and reached out to us. We did a meeting with him and then the band turned into just me. So, they flew me out to Los Angeles and we did five demos in five days and then at the end of the week we showed them to Atlantic Records. They have a joint venture with TAG Music and they signed me, which was crazy!”

Jules signed with Atlantic Records and TAG Music last November. This year, the 17-year-old released original songs like “My Own Hell” and “Red Is My Favorite Color.” In a full circle moment, Jules recently recorded a new track with Hunter Burgan from AFI. Soon, Jules would like to add more dream collaborations to a growing music catalog by teaming up with recording artists like Davey Havok (from AFI), Pete Wentz (from Fall Out Boy) Death by Romy and Meet Me at the Altar.

Label: Big Loud Rock

Type of Music: Alt-Pop

Management: Nicolette McCann at TWIST MUSIC Group

Booking: N/A

Legal: Rachel Guttmann - Taylor Guttman 

Publicity: Sam Rosenthal at Notorious Noise & Nicole Rich at Big Loud Rock

Web: srryimbizzy.com

A&R: Ava Boney & Lloyd Norman at Big Loud Rock

The artist known and embraced by millions of TikTok followers as BIZZY came by her professional name organically, as an homage to a childhood where she literally couldn’t sit still. As she writes in her website bio: “It was a nickname my dad gave me when I was three because I was always running around like a little psychopath with way too much energy. I chose BIZZY to be my artist name because it feels like the purest and truest version of myself.”  

The Washington, DC-bred, Nashville-based singer-songwriter—who majored in Creative Industry Studies at Belmont University—has been living up to her moniker big time since April 2022, when a brief clip of her song “Anybody” went viral on TikTok. She was working at her server job at a Mexican restaurant when she got wind it was blowing up—and to date it has 18.7M views. 

BIZZY’s success with “Anybody” and her equally infectious follow-up “Just Yet” (8.4M views to date) gained her instant industry attention, but she was adamant—at least initially—about staying DIY, despite meeting many “nice” people at major and indie labels she had long dreamed of connecting with. As she warmed to the idea of signing a deal, her criteria was simple—that those running the label cared about her as a person first. “Numbers will go up and down,” she says, “but I need you to be invested in who I am beyond that.”  

In conjunction with the release of her recent single “I Don’t Get Breakups,” BIZZY announced her signing with Big Loud Rock, the new alternative/rock imprint of Big Loud Records. Big Loud Rock approached BIZZY in the beginning, along with many other labels. She had put them in the ‘maybe’ pile because she knew their parent label was country heavy. The singer’s first question was, How would they deal with a non-country artist?  

“As I released more songs,” she says, “new labels would call and others would drop out. What stuck out about Big Loud Rock is that they continued to show up at every show—and when they showed up, there was always a whole team there supporting me. They offered me a good deal, but it still took me eight months to sign it. I knew they were committed when they told me I could take all the time in the world to make my decision. I also appreciate their dedication to artist development.”

Label: Big Loud Records

Type of Music: Country / Americana / Folk

Management: N/A

Booking: Marissa Smith and Josh Garrett - United Talent Agency, marissa.smith@unitedtalent.com, josh.garrett@unitedtalent.com

Legal: N/A

Publicity: Rachel Heatherly - Big Loud, rachel@bigloud.com

Web: zandiholupmusic.com, instagram.com/zandiholup

A&R: Nate Yetton

2023 has been a banner year for country artist Zandi Holup. She connected with several well-placed industry players, which led first to a joint publishing agreement with Kara DioGuardi's Arthouse Entertainment and Turntable Music in partnership with Universal Music Publishing. Ultimately that resulted in a deal with Big Loud Records. Label A&R rep Nate Yetton reached out to Holup when the young artist's publisher sent him some of her music.

“Nate was scouting alternative country artists,” Holup recalls. “He asked if I’d like to meet with him so I went in with my publisher Ben Johnson and played five or six songs acoustically. The same day he said that he wanted to sign me. It was a dream and I couldn’t believe it was happening.”

Of course this raises the question of how she came to the attention of Big Loud in the first place. “There’s a guy named Rob Stevenson with Sparta, a distribution company under 300 Entertainment,” Holup explains. “He handled distribution for one of my songs and after hearing my body of work, called Nate and suggested that he check me out.

“I signed my publishing deal around the beginning of January,” the singer continues. “That happened because I’d been in a songwriting session with Kylie Morgan and we’d written the song ‘If He Wanted To He Would’ together. She suggested that we meet for a second session and bring in another writer to help clean it up. She recruited Ben [Johnson] who also runs the publishing company Turntable Music. After the session, Ben asked if I wanted to sign a publishing deal, which, of course, I did. Later he took me to meet Kara DioGuardi, president of publishing company Arthouse Entertainment. I hustled in Nashville for six years before I got to this point. If you keep going, something will happen.” Observant readers will recognize DioGuardi’s name not only as an industry powerhouse but also as a judge on ABC’s American Idol for two seasons.

Holup’s debut with Big Loud Records is planned for sometime within the next year. Co-written with Stefanie Joyce and Brian Alexander, the single “Gas Station Flowers” dropped in early October. In recent months the country artist has played a number of support dates and currently has 75,000 Instagram followers.

Label: Infinity & Records / UMG

Type of Music: Pop

Management: Tony Beard, tony@tapmgmt.com 

Booking: Marty Diamond, mdiamond@teamwass.com 

Legal: Jonathan Koby

Publicity: Cara Wodnicki, cara@cswpublicity.com 

Web: olivialunny.com

A&R: Jerry Deifer 

Olivia Lunny is a singer-songwriter from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada who is building her career on solid ground. She comes from a strong family that supports her talent. And she’s appropriately taken the steps to establish herself as an artist in her native Canada. She is now poised to take on the U.S. music scene, as well. 

In recent weeks Lunny scored her U.S. Top 40 radio debut with the single “Timezone.” This is a major accomplishment, not just for her as an independent songwriter and artist, but for her label Infinity & Records, as it was their first Top 40 radio debut, as well.

The 23-year-old artist began in her teens, with an early break at 14 years old performing at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Raised on Stevie Nicks, Norah Jones, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran, Lunny was propelled into the next level of musical status at 18 when she appeared in 2019 on a Canadian musical reality program called The Launch. She won the competition, with a song called “I Got You,” and that set her on a trajectory that continues in earnest.

“Winnipeg was a very collaborative town where everybody played in each other’s bands and wrote songs together,” says Lunny. “But when I wanted to make more music that was of a specific pop sound I realized I would have to move from Winnipeg. I never knew how I was gonna make that move, but being on The Launch, pardon the pun, really launched me onto the Canadian music scene.”

In 2020 Lunny won the Young Canadian Songwriter Award from the SOCAN Foundation, signed an initial deal with Universal Music Canada/Virgin Music and released her debut EP To the Ones I Loved. In 2021 Lunny released an eponymous full-length album that spawned hits like “Who Could Say No” and “Sad to See You Happy.”

The young songstress partnered with her main producer and songwriting collaborator A.J. Healy, who she came to know from The Launch experience. And she has been the first signing for Infinity & Records by her brother Christian Lunny and Jerry Deifer.

“Jerry has a ton of experience with record labels in the U.S.,” explains Lunny. “They really believed in me. It was right place, right time. I had had some success independently and they wanted to help me take things to the next level. Infinity & Records offered a proper deal, whereas that TV show deal was pretty aggressive and like a 10-year commitment. With this new situation I definitely have a lot of creative freedom. I get to make the final call on things, which doesn’t happen all the time.” – Eric Harabadian

Label: Hopeless Records

Band Members: Zayna Youssef, vocals; Jayce Williams, guitar; Sean McCall, guitar; Ryan Cullen, bass; Chris Kearney, drums

Type of Music: Emo/Punk influenced

Management: Joe Marro, joseph@lessermatters.com, kirk@lessermatters.com

Booking: Lisa Schiffman, lschiffman@tbaagency.com

Legal: Paul Sommerstein, ps@paulsommerstein.com

Publicity: Brandy Robidoux, Brandy@hopelessrecords.com

Web: instagram.com/sweetpilll; linktr.ee/sweetpill

A&R: Eric Tobin

Five-piece band Sweet Pill measured out melodies on the road for a substantial part of the past few years. The investment paid off when the quintet was offered opening duties for Michigan band La Dispute. Kirk Harrington, La Dispute’s manager, also recognized potential in the band and he partnered with Joe Marro, Hopeless Records labelmate The Wonder Years’ manager. Together they formed Lesser Matters, which became Sweet Pill's management company. The investment earned further dividends when Eric Tobin, A&R rep with Hopeless, saw the band at an L.A. show. He flew out to Chicago to catch another set and to offer a deal. But he wasn’t alone in his interest. The principle of scarcity kicked in and three other labels made swift offers. Ultimately, though, Hopeless carried the day.

 “It was pretty organic,” singer Zayna Youssef recalls. “Eric Tobin at Hopeless liked Where the Heart Is, the record we put out with [previous label] Topshelf. Early this year he talked to our manager who let us know [of his interest]. But other A&R people also heard [about] it. We had one offer come in and then three more immediately after that. It was overwhelming because we’d just released our EP the previous year and went on our first-ever U.S. tour.”

Tobin was determined to sign the band, but Youssef remained circumspect. “This was all new to me and I didn’t want someone to own my music forever,” she recollects. “But Hopeless really wanted us and even put up money to consult a lawyer. Tobin was extremely genuine throughout the process and that’s what got me. He kept sweetening the pot and believed in us. We sent the contract back and forth a few times. It wasn’t like ‘Here you go’ and we jumped on it.”

Now signed to Hopeless Records, the four-song EP Starchild is in the works with a target release of spring, 2024. Meanwhile, the lead single “Starchild” debuted in late September. In addition to a number of dates, Sweet Pill played fabled fest South by Southwest in early 2023. The band’s first headlining tour is slated to kick off in April commensurate with the drop of Starchild. – Rob Putnam