Time To Rock: Husky Records at UConn

Hi Eeveryone, Ricky here,

One area where UConn has always surprised me is with its complete diversity of student organizations.  I always tell prospective students that if they have a hobby or something they want to get involved with, there is a really good chance we have a club for that.  When I first came to UConn, I had really wanted to find a way to connect my passion for music with my knack for business.  Luckily, I stumbled upon Husky Records, a student-run record label on campus.

Originally, Husky Records was started in the early 2000s under the name “Husky Entertainment”.  Unfortunately, the name was too confusing for some people who thought we were a general entertainment club.  We later changed our name to Husky Records so people knew that we were a record label that dealt mostly with musicians.

I started off in Husky Records as the Secretary.  I felt this was the perfect job for me because although I didn’t know much about the music industry, I wanted a way to get to know the organization better and be on exec.  Two short years later, I was elected president of Husky Records.  It was been a great year of ups and downs for us.

Last semester, we had two main goals.  We really needed to raise money for things such as a new sound system and professional recording.  To do this, we hosted a handful of bar nights off campus where our DJs performed.  Our artists also performed at UConn’s Late Night.  This event raised a great deal of publicity for our artists as well as helped increase our funds.

We also wanted to have a stronger focus on developing our artists both musically and professionally.  Every other Friday we held “Artist Development Sessions” where we would get together with our artists and critique their music while also discussing various ways to help get themselves found.  The artists really seemed to enjoy these sessions and find them helpful.  Furthermore, there was real improvement in their performances after each time we met.

This semester will be my last one at UConn and will probably be the most exciting so far for Husky Records.  We will be officially launching our new site at uconnhuskyrecords.wordpress.com.  This site will feature a blog function where we will update people on what is going on with the UConn music scene and will also have profiles of all of our artists, DJs, and producers.  We will also have a couple of our artists receive professional recording at Killingsworth Recording Studio in New York.

Finally, we will be putting on our annual festival called UConnaroo.  The event will take place on April 15^th at the Student Union Mall and will feature not only our artists but others as well from the region.  In an effort to collaborate with other parts of campus, the show will be MCed by the gentlemen from the UConn Tonight Show.  Also, we will be accepting donations all day to support the VH1 Save The Music Foundation which helps provide musical instruments for students in schools that cannot afford them.

Husky Records has been a tremendous learning experience and a place where I have had some of the best experiences of my high school career.  If you like music or want to get involved, feel free to check us out on Mondays or reach us through our website!