Life of Nutmeg

Last week, we heard about some would-be Tiny Desk Contest entrants in Portland, Maine, where the local music community has mobilized around the contest before submissions are even open.

Victoria Karol of local music blog Hot Trash Portland teamed up with digital production house Knack Factory. They brought nine area acts together and volunteered to help them film their Tiny Desk Contest videos. (Desk and all!)

“There is such wonderful talent here in Portland, and these nine bands are only the tip of an iceberg,” Alex Steed, a partner at Knack Factory, told us in an email.

Jeff Beam (pictured above), Jargon Party (below), SeepeopleS, Sara Hallie Richardson, Oliver Waterman, Five of the Eyes, Joel Thetford, Lovers of Fiction and Spencer Albee all got together on a very snowy Tuesday to shoot their entries.

“I was just really proud. It was the first nasty snow of the season, and not only did no one call out, everyone was early!“ Steed wrote. “Even the audio engineer, who had moved to Maine from Florida just two weeks before, was the first on the scene. Everyone was overwhelmingly psyched to be a part of it.”

Photos: Lindsay Heald/Knack Factory

We’re looking forward to hearing more stories of artists coming together around the Tiny Desk Contest — that’s what this thing is about, after all. And don’t worry if you can’t get into a production studio. This contest is about the music, and remember: Last year’s winning entry was shot on an iPad.