MASS MoCA Launches New Record Label With Malawi Roots Album
The museum partners with California based Hen House Studios, focusing on live group recordings.
The Kasambwe Brothers perform at the Hunter Center
- Ryan HarperMASS MoCA has just announced the launch of MASS MoCA Records, a collaboration with the Venice Beach–based producers at Hen House Studios. Museum officials say the label, planned as a three-year pilot, is intended to provide an alternative to the conventional commercial music model by centering its focus on the creative curation and cultivation of artists, residencies, and live performance.
The museum in North Adams has always been an arts-forward venue for music performance and sound art. Wilco’s popular bi-annual Solid Sound Festival has become a signature event at the campus. Now MASS MoCA’s new label will draw on the production expertise of Hen House Studios founder Harlan Steinberger, who specializes in recording live, collaborative sessions that emphasize immediacy and place. Steinberger is known for his work with artists including Willie Nelson, Particle Kid, and Sunny War.
The Kasambwe Brothers. Album cover painting by Clement Kammwamba
“MASS MoCA Records is a recording and distribution collaboration born out of our shared love of music and the artists who make it,” says Kristy Edmunds, director of MASS MoCA. “By joining forces with Hen House Studios and tapping into the remarkable number of music studios and intimate venues in the Berkshires, the ingredients for a hand-made record label were all around us.”
The Kasambwe Brothers
The label’s inaugural release comes from The Kasambwe Brothers, a multi-generational band from Malawi that has been performing together for nearly four decades. Their connection with the museum began in 2024, when they took part in a residency at MASS MoCA that included rehearsals, a public performance, and a studio recording.
The group’s self-titled album will be released in stages, beginning October 24 with three tracks: “Mtima Wanga” (“My Heart”), “Getu” (“Gertrude”), and “Ahedi” (“Head Teacher”). The songs blend Malawian roots traditions with pointed storytelling. The Kasambwe Brothers are well known in Malawi for their willingness to address difficult social issues in their music, alongside more personal and lyrical themes.
The Kasambwe Brothers perform at the Hunter Center. Image by Ryan Harper.
Looking Ahead
Later in 2026, the label will release new work from Black Nile, a Los Angeles jazz duo from the same Compton scene that produced artists such as Kendrick Lamar and Kamasi Washington. Black Nile completed a residency at MASS MoCA earlier this year and performed on campus.
For Steinberger, the project is an opportunity to record live collaboration. “Though technology today can work wonders, the digital world has de-humanized us,” he says. “I believe in an older-world method that emphasizes the magic of a band making music together in one room, playing off the creativity of the moment.”
According to the museum, the establishment of MASS MoCA Records reflects the museum’s effort to expand the ways it supports artists, with music and sound now taking a more formal place alongside its work in visual and performance art. By combining Steinberger’s recording approach with MASS MoCA’s role as an international arts center, the label aims to create new pathways for musicians to create work in a venue dedicated to amplifying artistic voices.
The Kasambwe Brothers’ first three tracks are now available, with the full album to follow on October 24. More information can be found at Massmoca.org.
--
