Madison Major (she/her), Contemporary Music ’21
Instagram: @champ.major
Website: https://hoodedwonder.com/
Creative / Research
Project Description
With the support of Eugene Lang College and the Eugene Lang Opportunity Awards, I was able to see my senior thesis into fruition this year and I founded a micro-label called Hooded Wonder Records. Hooded Wonder Records is a specialty independent record label and artist collective that focuses on embodied musical forms and multi-faceted uses of recorded art to elongate the listening experience. It will also serve as an inevitable long-form documentary project of the curation of life within its culture and craft.
What Form will your Final Project Take?
Resource, Long Term Living Documentary, Record Label, Artist Collective
Who was supporting you in with work?
David Birkin (my senior thesis advisor / professor for the class Arts Senior Seminar)
How has this project has been impactful or transformative — for you personally or for those this work has impacted:
The project means so much to me, as I feel it is the culmination of my four years here at Lang. In my major, Contemporary Music, I was provided with such a strong conceptual background on the theories of listening, sharing, and creating musical art. For me, these ideas needed to live somewhere where they could continue to be shared and revisited with a community. In the development of this project, I was also able to share and promote the work of peers and friends (a great majority who are either Lang students or Lang alumni). It is such a wonderfully impactful feeling to share in the joy of other’s creative work and how they see the world through their own singular lenses.
What would you do differently? How would you advise a student who is going to do something similar?
If I was to partake in the planning of this project again, I would make sure to give myself plenty of time. Especially, because reaching out to others requires the scheduling to work out!
Short summary
This experience was challenging, a ton of fun, and very personal and special to me. It takes a ton of work to start a label, but all aspects were creatively controlled by me which felt fulfilling. I was also able to collaborate with other artists I respect and enjoy, which was equally gratifying.
