Phoenix Becoming the Next Musical Hotbed?

As a middle finger to the major labels, Modern Art Records has formed a strategic partnership with Epic Records to mine deep into Phoenix's underground music scene.

"[Epic] recognize that independent labels is the only business model that's making money on the label side of things," Modern Art Records co-founder and Chronic Future lead guitarist Ben Collins tells Spinner. "They needed some fresh blood. They need the ideas. They've really come to us, and luckily, they've given us the kind of money that makes us competitive in the world. But at the same time, it allows us to maintain ways to be successful and work with the system in ways that they just can't."

In late 2006, Collins and the rest of Chronic Future formed the label, which also includes Miniature Tigers, the Medic Droid, Back Ted 'N Ted and the Cover Up. The partnership was created after Daniel Werner, of Epic's A&R division, e-mailed Chronic Future through their MySpace page to inquire about their then-deal with Interscope. He received a return reply from Collins with information about Modern Art Records.

"I went to check out the website," Werner says. "It was mostly a courtesy to the band. I wasn't going there to be amazed, in fact, but that's what happened. It's very unusual for me to look at any indie label and like every single one of the artists on the roster."

Werner flew to Phoenix to meet with Collins and to see a Modern Arts Records showcase. He was left even more impressed. "It's just so rare to come across a label that's that consistently exciting," Werner says.

Collins is putting his money on Phoenix being the next hotbed of musicians, after New York, Seattle and Los Angeles. "We don't want to pigeonhole our sound for ourselves," Collins says. "That is why Phoenix is going to be more successful than Seattle. Grunge had an end date. With Phoenix, you have so many different sounds that we don't really have a signature. We just have great quality. That's what's going to set us apart."