EXIsT music is a non-profit arts / music and social awareness organization comprised of artists in the pioneer valley of New England

There are many of us "starving artists" reaching for those seemingly intangible grapes at the top of that fabled tree, and we need yr help.

When EXIsTmusic began in late 2001, we set out to do more than our staff(?) and a low(no)-budget could possibly handle.

In our year and a half of our initial operation we did manage to put on two successful-ish benefit shows that showcased area favorites, unknown songwriters and experimental rock acts in the area. The first was to benefit The Flywheel  performance space in Easthampton as well as SAFE PASSAGE(safepass.org), the halfway house in Northampton MA for battered women and children. With very little promotion, the show turned out to be the most successful the space had seen so far that year, bringing forth funds and awareness for both causes.

The second installment was a collaboration with a very passionate humanitarian aide youth group called KALILA, with which we worked together to benefit The Dehli House. Once again, the pairing of relevant social issues and new, local music made the show a success.

During all this, we recorded and duplicated our bands' CD's in our basement 8-track studio and handed out over 5,ooo copies for free at various shows, festivals and dorms throughout Mass and NYC.

After the second show, funds, direction and energy were drained, and we thought it best to break. Now, two years have passed and morale is up and we are running again. We now have more help running things and quite a few new projects in development. The basement studio run by Chris Fortin has built itself up to now be a fully functioning digital recording station with access to Zing Recording Studios in Westfield Ma.

As well as promoting the Valley's arts scene in general, we will also be releasing new music as well as some of the music that we've been producing over the past 9 years that has not yet had the chance to be heard by the majority of ears.

In these silences, something may rise out of the rubble left over from the scene that never was, but could have been...

word 

~j2