Ericrock is the project / hobby / creative output of Caleb Chabot, a brave and handsome local dude. He is writing this, and has decided that he will switch to the first person narrative starting in the next sentence. I live and work in Boston MA, and i'm growing very bored and lazy in my old age. In some semblance, i'd describe Ericrock as a multi-faceted production company, although i'd hesitate to use the word "company" as it's closer to a non-profit art and social venture.

Although the umbrella name Ericrock was appropriated in 2002, it saw earlier lives with various other names, including birth as a record label (Eric Records) in early 2000. With an amorphous shell and a flirty soul, we've adapted and adopted many faces, adding show promotions, and a bunch of random artist services to the resume.

Ericrock is the project / hobby / creative output of Caleb Chabot, a brave and handsome local dude. He is writing this, and has decided that he will switch to the first person narrative starting in the next sentence. I live and work in Boston MA, and i'm growing very bored and lazy in my old age. In some semblance, i'd describe Ericrock as a multi-faceted production company, although i'd hesitate to use the word "company" as it's closer to a non-profit art and social venture.

Although the umbrella name Ericrock was appropriated in 2002, it saw earlier lives with various other names, including birth as a record label (Eric Records) in early 2000. With an amorphous shell and a flirty soul, we've adapted and adopted many faces, adding show promotions, and a bunch of random artist services to the resume.

So i've been doing this thing since high school, which means 12 or 13 years now. I've gone through a lot of name changes (BPS, Coleoptera Records, Eric Records, Ericrock), and i've done any number of types of projects (playing music, recording music, live music, live sound, publishing, and on and on). Ericrock as a brand sort of came around to signify the incorporation of live events along with the record label back in 2002-2003.

As the years progressed, i've taken a less active role in the show promotions side of things, but i've done a lot more freelance stuff in terms of design/graphics... stuff that really doesn't have any SPECIFIC link to the Ericrock label -- although my clients are still primarily bands or musicians & artists. It didn't seem to appropriate all of this work under the Ericrock label, so in the phyletic sense, i'm backing it up one branch on the tree so that Artproof is sort of my catch-all umbrella, of which Ericrock (the label and anything pertaining to it) is just one arm (Artproof Music or APM). Sometimes i'll just brand something as 'Ericrock', other times i'll use 'Ericrock/Artproof Music' - it's all the same thing, i just sort of pick and choose when to use the longer version if it's appropriate. Likewise, if a project is primarily design or artwork related, i use the branch Artproof Design (APD).

Separating my other services from the label also helps keep my work separated, and doesn't require that all of my clients associate themselves necessarily with my label. Some of the services i provide as artproof: web hosting, web design, graphic design. I've also got a few utility websites/CMS in development intended to provide easy/free tools to artists & musicians, such as a customizable digital download code generator/hosting platform (beta is used in Ericrock's download manager nicknamed Digimon) and a php newsletter management utility (will be implemented/tested soon as Ericrock's mailing list engine).

To check out my currently empty portfolio site: artproof.org.

I grew up in the northern maine woods, and didn't really start listening to music until high school, at which a time i became heavily involved in punk music. Unfortunately, the woods of northern maine have very little in the way of a punk/DIY culture. The solution, naturally, was to just create our own scene! Able to count the number of bands (of any genre) on our own two hands, we pretty much did whatever seemed comfortable and without any rules as to what a "punk" scene was supposed to be like, which in ethos, was probably the most punk thing we could do. "We" in all of these references refers to the revolving cast members of the first bands i worked with, members of which went on to form the first Ericrock band... Lowfive (which i eventually joined a year or two into the saga). In our early years, we were based strictly out of northern maine, and created a little pocket scene which spawned several young and like-minded bands. This is probably one of the most satisfying things i've accomplished in the history of Ericrock!

After the release Lowfive's (and the label's) first CD, we parted with the snowy forests of northern maine for the warmer waters of... central maine! Here we found a breathing but emaciated DIY/punk scene struggling to expand. At this time i was living in Boston, although the band (all of whom i considered to be as much a part of Ericrock as myself) was still living in Bangor. With my first taste of a vibrant musical smorgasborg, i felt even more obligated to bring some of that spirit back up to maine with me and inject some vitality into our own scene. This is when we added hall shows to our operations, and officially changed the group name to Ericrock.

Things moved pretty quickly from here on out, expanding into southern maine and eventually bringing the operations home with me to boston, where i basically just bought a bunch of equipment and started offering a lot more services. I was going to school for media arts production, and was able to incorporate a bunch of that stuff under the umbrella, because... why not? I've since slowly drifted away from maine after leaving the band (and one of the happiest periods of my life) and because of work and expenses yada yada yada. That said, Maine will always be an important part of Ericrock. As long as we have friends and contributors living the life up north, part of the heart will be there as well!

I used to have a big list of rules and policies to which i strictly adhered. After a bunch of years of doing this, i've come to realize that there's no point in having the rules, as i bent them as often as i followed them. There is no rule that applies universally - everything has a unique set of circumstances. I've since abandoned rules in favor of a general set of show ethics to which i stay as close as possible as often as possible.

I take care of all of the bands who play for me, in the form of food, lodging, gas money, or some combination of the three. Touring bands have it the hardest out there, so they are treated first and foremost. I try to put together the most interesting shows i can; sometimes this means stacking a show with similar bands, other times it means juxtaposition of crazy different styles. It always works if you bring a good attitude! Also, we never charge a set admission; i'd rather have a full room and take $50 at the door than to have 10 people and get the same $50. Pay what you can and we'll be cool!

I try not to think of the label as a business. That said, if you're looking to make a lot of money, get an agent, and hit the big times... you're probably not a good fit. If you're into progressive copyright and alternative distribution models, and think that truly organic grassroots promotion is the only way to go, then we're jiving.

I prefer to do business on a handshake and with a shared goal. I'm not too fond of contracts, and i really only do them if the band requests it. Every release is taken on a case by case basis, depending on the band, the scope of the project, and our overall vision for the release. Label bands are treated well, and the label really doesn't take much of a cut of anything beyond operating expenses. Our goal is primarily to build a catalog of music we love, and to help the creators of that music get it out there (via small distro, local retail, online distro, and digital downloads). Although it isn't a top priority, we also do some degree of national & international distribution when it's beneficial and/or necessary to do so.

We try to give our bands something they wouldn't have otherwise, which varies from project to project from fancy design work, production/post-production services, web design & label hosting, pro gear and pro 'tude (LOLZ), or just plain old financial assistance. Even if a band is on top of all of those things, we still do our best to contribute somehow, as we like to have at least one helpful hand in the creation of every release.

We're not a genre specific label. To date, the only shared characteristic of the roster has been that all of the bands have had a prior relationship with the label and we've become friends. The only factor that will make or break the deal is that i have to love your music as much as you do!

I accept unsolicited material, but i won't always get in touch unless i am interested, ya dig?

It's hard to put your heart and soul into something and keep it free from personal politics. As a result, Ericrock is a pretty progressive venture. While everything is done on a case by case basis, we generally like to march by the beat of our own drum. Sometimes you just need a traditional cynic around to remind you that things don't always have to be how they are traditionally done. We're not "anti" anything; we're "also" everything! There are no rules to art and we like to experiment by applying that same philosophy to commerce and the music industry in general.

Most of what we do is free or for donations, and at the best of times we are a low-profit venture. All too often in this scene, money gets in the way of the tunes, the fun, and the overall experience of the subculture. My goal is to invest some personal money, put it aside, and to see what happens to the "music business" when money isn't a factor. Most people/bands with whom i've worked and many people who've come to our events/purchased stuff from our bands/hired me for a service have commented about how unique and special their Ericrock experience has been. That, to me, is the stuff that keeps me going and ensures that Ericrock will always exist in some form or another.