About Aux
Our Story
Music is something none of us can go without. I certainly can't. Perhaps you are different, though I doubt you are much different than me. I grew up in rural New York listening to the sometimes fuzzy broadcast of WEQX, one of the best radio stations in the United States. I went to college to study athletic training and ended up running the campus radio station, WSUC, while handling virtually all of the CDs that came in to the station. I managed a punk band, a band that given a major label budget could have been part of the late 90s early 00 pop-punk movement (think A New Found Glory / Midtown / Yellowcard). Someday I may revisit the songs and give them a proper release.

All of this influenced the start of Aux. The start of a label that is designed to support bands that I love, bands that I feel should be heard on a much broader scale.

In 2003 I was handling show promotion / street marketing efforts for the Syndicate. Part of what I did was to help with Stage when they came through town. This put me in front of many of the people in the Syracuse music scene and on Stage's first stop through town, a couple guys in a band saw me working and introduced themselves to me, passed on some contact info and enjoyed the rest of the night. I didn't think much of it since - at this point I was working on my PhD and wasn't managing bands or even thinking of the label. Just about a year passed and in the fall of 2003 Stage came back through Syracuse and sure enough, there were the two guys I had met. They reintroduced themselves and I remember two distinct words from that night. We're ready.

Those two guys turned out to be half of Merit. I got a demo from them, met for an hour and saw them play at Bridge Street Music Hall. They went on at 1:00 am and there were seven people at the show. I have pictures of the night and they sold it. I was in and so began the start of Aux Records in September 2003.

Merit recorded When We Fight at Subcat Studios in the winter of 03-04 and we released the CD in April 2004. Supported by the single Man On A String, the album had a lot of success on college, commercial and satellite radio. The CD is still our biggest seller and paved the way for the label to expand. In January or February 2005, a former student passed along one song from For The Horizon. I loved the track and the band was recording an EP so I made the move and added them to the roster. It was a big departure from Merit's style, perhaps foreshadowing the coming years.

Merit's drummer introduced me to this band from CNY that was making music unlike any that had been done in this area. The band then known as M725 put out more sound than many 3-pieces that I had ever seen. They eventually changed the name and recorded their album along over the course of about 8 months. This was The Pilot Lies.

During this time Merit was ready for a second release, the self-titled double EP. This release helped land the band on Warped Tour in 2006 and added even more airplay to the band resume.

At the same time as TPL and Merit's releases, we signed Anorexic Beauty Queen. After months (or maybe even a year) of talking with the band via IM, we got together and This Little Light was born. ABQ toured on the release as far as Texas, seeding copies across the majority of the country.

After three releases in under two months, we needed to focus on promoting the current roster. It was just about a year from ABQ's album that we connected with caleb micah. Caleb, who is best known for his work in Long Since Forgotten, set out to write a country record. With the exception of The Living Are Here, the closer on his EP Come Home, he failed. In that failure was an amazing pop-rock record. Hook-filled songs that you can sing along to filled the release. One more band that didn't quite sound like the others that preceded the release.

Adding to the diversity of Aux was Mike Watson of Anorexic Beauty Queen recording a solo disk. It was recorded live with no overdubs, no retakes. This was the first CD I had the chance to produce. (There will be more.) The release was designed to be digital only but we did a short run of CD-Rs in natural packaging with wax imprints and handmade inserts. It was truly a hand crafted release. It's something a bit raw but very genuine.

So what is Aux?

A record label

A record label that also manages bands

A record label that manages bands and promotes shows

A record label that manages bands, promotes shows and does it all for the love of the music.

Discography
AUX001 - Merit - When We Fight (April 2004)
AUX002 - For The Horizon - If All Else Fails (July 2005)
AUX003 - this one never made it out
AUX004 - Merit - Merit (May 2006)
AUX005 - The Pilot Lies - Do Things Look Any Better? (May 2006)
AUX006 - Anorexic Beauty Queen - This Little Light (June 2006)
AUX007 - Merit - Sampler 2007 (August 2007)
AUX008 - caleb micah - come home (September 2007)
AUX009 - Anorexic Beauty Queen presents Michael Watson - Mistakes adn All (December 2007)
AUX010 - Dropcard Compilation with Syracuse.com and SubCat Studio, 2008 Taste of Syracuse (June 2008)
AUX011 - Honor Bright - Build Hearts From Stars (Reissue) (August 2008)

Who is next?

Thanks for supporting independent music.
-Ulf