Midcoast Records logo
Midcoast Collective have been hard at work providing a platform for Milwaukee’s renaissance of emerging artists and radical voices. Since early 2021 they have been hosting a concert series at both The Cooperage and Cactus Club that prioritizes young, LGBTQ+ and POC artists, showcasing the diverse nature of our burgeoning music scene while also raising money for relevant social justice causes. After gradually expanding into a bona fide art collective complete with several departments, Midcoast Collective are excited to announce that they have launched a record label, Midcoast Records.
We spoke to label treasurer Jonathan Brown, label/visual arts admin Steph Siegman and communications lead Sean Scheuler about what the organization has been up to.
Siegman shares how Midcoast was originally conceptualized. “Initially it grew out of a couple of us participating in UWM’s band showcase. We were originally going to do it in my one-bedroom apartment kitchen, and it didn’t end up happening, but one of us had a connection with The Cooperage so we brought on more people and it just kind of snowballed from there.”
Eclectic, Multi-Genre
Photo courtesy Midcoast Collective
Midcoast Collective
Midcoast Collective
Since they started during quarantine, Midcoast’s first handful of shows were live streamed. They have encouraged Milwaukee and Midwest artists of all backgrounds to apply to perform, often resulting in eclectic multi-genre bills with artists who normally may not play shows together. On top of that, each show fundraises for different grassroots or mutual aid-based social justice causes ranging from Butterfly Collective to Milwaukee Autonomous Tenants Union to Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression to Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee and more. Thus far, Midcoast have collectively raised nearly $8,000 for the community.
“As we were going forward,” Siegman continued, “we had a lot of moving parts. We had people who were production-oriented with streaming, we had people who were doing art for promotional materials, and then we had a lot of musicians on the team. About a year and a half in was when we started thinking about becoming an artist collective where we would collectivize resources for not only our team but also the artist community as a whole.”
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“We wanted to essentially be a grassroots space where you can come and have political dialogue in a space that’s explicitly anti-capitalist,” Schueler added. “There’s a blind spot when it comes to local artists coming together for something political, and that’s a big thing that Midcoast wanted to fill.”
“There were just so many talented people in the same place,” Brown said. “But we were always just working towards a show. We realized that it would be a disservice to everybody with all this talent to not do something bigger than ourselves.”
Prioritize the Artists
Their record label is designed to prioritize the music and artists, not money. Each artist will keep all the rights to their music and masters. “We’re here to support artists in the careers they want to have,” Siegman said. “We’ll be working on sharing skills so that all of us have a general understanding of recording and running sessions, mixing, distribution and things like that. Instead of it being a vertical structure, it’s horizontal so that everyone else on the label can help each other out. That’s what we mean by collectivizing resources.”
The inaugural artist roster on Midcoast Records will be WaxCherubs (Siegman’s solo project), Seanie (Schueler’s solo project), Jonny B (Brown’s solo project), .Wav, .Weave, DizzyRandoms, Cradle P. Lavender, DJ Megadon, Dahlia and Tetra Hernon; more will join the label in time. “We want to take artists’ goals and wrap them in with the label’s goals,” Brown said. “Some just want to get their songs to 500 plays. Some want to tour. I’m in the process of building a studio right now, and Midcoast Records will have full access to that studio.”
Midcoast are taking a break from shows for a couple months to focus on internal restructuring in addition to the record label. Many of the artists have projects already in the works to be released in the coming months. “We’re all volunteering our art for each other,” Schueler said. “We’re going to continue platforming and fundraising for those who don’t get represented because no one actually wants to hear from organizations that actually critique capitalism, and we want to welcome that dialogue, celebrate each other, hold ourselves accountable, and learn and grow together while we do it.”
Visit Midcoast Collective’s Linktree and website for more info.
