Hartford-based music label Funnybone Records was created as a way to foster and encourage a community of artists in the area, and far beyond. “That has to be the bare minimum of what a label should do — support artists. It’s also responsible for being aware of the environment and the ecosystem it’s participating in,” said Funnybone founder and West Hartford native Dylan Healy.
“I’m a musician myself, a composer and a concert promoter,” he said. “I’m interested in the whole product.”
Healy started Funnybone as an undergraduate at the University of Hartford in 2016 because “I didn’t see a lot of platforms dedicated to local artists. I had interned at the Ba Da Bing label (home to Sharon Van Etten, The Wickies, Jane Sheldon, Dimples and many other acts) and worked with some of my favorite artists. After that, the idea to start a label myself was really strong. I was recording an album for Ashly LaRosa, who records under the name Figurine and asked her if I could start a label with that album, ‘View from Inside.’”
Funnybone Records founder Dylan Healy with some of the label’s releases. (Siara Watrous)
Running a label, Healy said, is “definitely a full-time job in itself. I do have a full-time job already — I’m an educator by day with West Hartford Public Schools, but the rest of my time is spent planning new releases, having meetings with the artists, designing the artwork and packaging.”
Healy said Funnybone currently has a roster of “25 artists from all over the world,” but by design over half of them are from the Hartford area. The label’s participation in the process can vary.
“I put them all out, but a handful of them are done at my own studio,” he said.
Funnybone has a website to purchase digital tracks, but it is also proud to have its products carried by local independent record stores and small businesses, including Story & Soil Coffee in Hartford, Redscroll Records in Wallingford and Turn It Up Records in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Funnybone’s latest release, out Feb. 19, is “Melt in Your Hands” by the experimental/ambient pop artist Ayla Loon who grew up in Virginia and is now based in Oregon. The album is full of short, memorable, well-crafted songs which benefit from careful production, a swirl of production styles and nods to genres from Baroque pop to soul grooves. Ayla Loon’s artistry goes beyond song craft, and Funnybone clearly understands the multi-layered approach that needs to be taken to best appreciate the music. The label describes “Melt in Your Hands” as a fluid, intimate body of work shaped by motion, improvisation and release.” Song titles include “Taste of Ice,” “Flight,” “Flying Down” and “Can of Worms.”
The cover of the new Ayla Loon album “Melt in Your Hands,” which will be released by Funnybone Records Feb. 19. (Courtesy of Funnybone Records)
Healy calls Ayla Loon “so incredible, an amazing bedroom pop/jazz artist. They can do anything — watery pop piano, airy vocals. The songs play off the imagery of ice falling. It’s all so beautiful and moving.”
This is Funnybone’s third project with Ayla Loon, starting with “Cross Current” in 2022 followed by “Under Ice” in 2024. “They’re very self-sufficient as a musician but also as a producer,” Healy said of the multi-instrumentalist.
Healy realizes in today’s music industry there’s often no reason for a strong independent artist to join up with a label, since key traditional label responsibilities such as production, distribution and promotion can often be handled by the artists themselves. “For artists today, it can make sense to remain independent. Some artists are apprehensive of labels, and rightly so. But there’s a place for artist-forward progressive independent labels,” Healy said.
Healy used to be one of the organizers of the multi-disciplinary Hartford arts venue The Wherehouse, which closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That was such a blast,” he recalled. “We had house shows, collaborated with local venues, had gallery shows and did so much.” Healy wants the Funnybone label to be the same sort of supportive environment and gathering place. “I hope it enhances the network of musicians, as well as the visual artists who do the artwork for these albums and others. I hope for it to be an inclusive queer environment, too. Most of the artists on the label identify as queer. As a promoter of live shows, I love booking all kinds of spaces. For these artists to be able to play live is important and crucial for everyone. Through the music and the live shows, the goal is to be memorably immersive.”
Funnybone Records artist Mx. Autumn at work in the label’s studio space. (Jasmine Jones)
For himself, Healy sees Funnybone as “the connector of my creative aspirations and my social environment. These artists are my friends. The hope is to focus on quality rather than just putting out a lot of records. I want the artists to be able to elevate their creative practice. I want there to be more opportunities for them. I want to connect them with more and better resources. Also, I want to participate in the model of how the music is consumed.”
He thinks Hartford is “an amazing place” to grow his label. He prizes the Connecticut music scene for its generous, noncompetitive spirit.
“I grew up in West Hartford. I was living in the West End neighborhood of Hartford for several years. It was such a neat pocket of geography. There were so many artists there and we could walk to each other’s houses,” he said. The Hartford area has always been my home. It’s a hard place to leave for so many reasons. This is a special place to be an artist.”
Some of the artists on the Funnybone label have never even been to Connecticut. Ayla Loon has only toured to Hartford just once.
A promotional image for recent Funnybone Records releases. (Josh Jenkins)
Besides Ayla Loon, artists currently on the Funnybone label include the lyrical Hartford pop band Carey, New Haven indie rock act The Tines (led by skilled local producer S.G. Carlson), Connecticut-based singer/songwriter Darling (formerly Niamh), New Haven’s djqt, Hartford’s Greetings, Meriden native Human Yo Yo, Maine-based West Hartford native takeout, New York’s Mx Autumn, Rhode Island’s Never Kevin, multi-disciplinary artist neon amor, the duo Joann Fabrix, Brooklyn-based Hartford native John Airfield, Kelly Quigley from Queens, Number One Babe from Rhode Island, New York singer/ songwriter Rosalíe the Connecticut trio King Bongo, New Haven resident Luke Ellington (who’s originally from Philadelphia), solo artist Mary Fraud, dream pop duo Max & Haley, Mild Monk from California, Hartford native Mobéy Lola Irizarry, East Hartford’s Ym and the keyboard pop trio Zanders.
Asked how his own music-making endeavors fit into the label he runs, Healy said “It’s funny. I notice there’s this clear separation with what I do for other artists. I’ve just been in the process of pitching my own project to labels.”
His primary band is Stadia, named for a Dungeons & Dragons avatar he was reluctant to let go of once it had died in the roleplaying game. He wants Stadia to always be collaborative. As with the label, there’s also a social aspect. “I consider it a friendship project. I could perform these songs by myself, but I prefer performing it with an eight-piece band.” Stadia builds its sound with the conventional guitars, drums and bass but also harp and violin.
Given how sensitively he approaches his label-running activities, Funnybone may seem an odd choice for a name. Healy reveals that it came from the physical sensation sense of the word rather than the sense of humor one. “You know how when you hit your funnybone, there’s this involuntary reaction? You can’t really help responding.”
That’s what this music means to Healy.
Dylan Healy’s band Stadia, which exemplifies his vision of music as community. (Jasmine Jones)