Student-run record label AEMMP Records unveiled its latest EP, Things & Stuff, on April 22 at a release party held at the Conaway Center in the 1104 S. Wabash Ave. Building. 

The event featured performances from the two artists who split the EP—Scott Nadeau, a senior business & entrepreneurship major, and The Sea Empty. The event also featured performances from David Cline and the band Out The Car Window, both Columbia singer-songwriter groups. 

Cline, an acoustic musician, opened the show with songs from his own EP, Knock Knock, and was followed by Out The Car Window’s short set.

Nadeau had two songs on the EP in addition to being a part of the class that runs AEMMP. Last semester, Nadeau was on a compilation that AEMMP released called day//night, but this is the first AEMMP EP he has been featured on. 

Nadeau said he has wanted to be a part of AEMMP since he first started attending the college. 

“During orientation, AEMMP was giving away the compilation records that AEMMP had put out that year, and I listened to them back to front and I was like, ‘These bands are amazing. I hope that I can do this some day,’” Nadeau said. “Here I am years later.” 

The Sea Empty, a trio of singer and guitarist Dennis Huston, drummer Teddy Thornhill and bassist Rick Nitz, closed out the show. While the other musicians had more indie and folk sounds, The Sea Empty brought its own rock style to the event. 

“We’re all in this thing for the same goal—making awesome music that gets loud and rocks out,” Huston said. 

All three musicians come from different backgrounds but linked up two years ago to create the band. 

“When we came together as a band, we kind of pulled from our three different backgrounds to put together our first album,  Strange Matter, but this was an opportunity for us to say, ‘We’re together, we’re writing music as a group and let’s just sit together and hash this stuff out,’” Huston said.  

AEMMP, which stands for Arts, Entertainment and Media Management Practicum, is offered as a practicum course in the Business & Entrepreneurship Department for students to experience what working with a record label is like. 

“I have been in there for four semesters, and it is the most valuable music industry experience I’ve had while at Columbia,” Nadeau said. “It’s like working at a real record label—it is working at a real record label.” 

Sarah Thomas, a senior business & entrepreneurship major, has been working with AEMMP for two semesters on its events team, which books the venues and bands for AEMMP events. 

“Not a lot of people know about the class, and it is really great hands-on experience you can learn a lot from,” Thomas said. “We’re putting on actual events, we’re doing marketing plans and putting out actual music and having a hands-on experience, but it’s nice that it’s not your own money at the end of the day. We get money and we want to make sure we put it to good use, but it’s nice having the school behind us.”

Things & Stuff is now available on AEMMP Records’ Bandcamp page and physical copies are set to be available soon.