Helping Everyone Live Longer

Hello everyone,

Four years ago today, a good friend of mine by the name of Gordon Riker was killed while riding his bike down Huntington Ave in Boston. Gordon was a classmate of mine from MassArt, a friend, a fellow designer, and someone who I really respected artistically. Gordon would have turned 23 a few weeks later.

Approximately a month after Gordon passed away, a young woman named Kelly Wallace was killed while riding her bike at the intersection of Cambridge Street and Harvard Ave in Boston. Gordon and Kelly had been friends and soon after his death she had begged people to be careful when riding. Kelly had  “wishful thinking” tattooed on her arms and had been described as someone who got along with everyone. I didn’t know Kelly, but we share many friends and I feel like I would have liked her if I had.

It was quite the shock that two deaths like this happened so close to each other in the same city within the same circle of friends. Immediately afterwards, there were a slew of tribute concerts, fundraisers, and ghosts bikes to honor Gordon and Kelly. Also, a few friends of Kelly’s decided start up a non-profit organization titled H.E.L.L. (Helping Everyone Live Longer). While it raises awareness of bike safety, H.E.L.L.’s main goal is give out free helmets with the proceeds they receive. In it’s highly successful first year, H.E.L.L. gave out over 300 helmets to folks throughout the world. H.E.L.L. shut down in Summer 2008, and was left with an uncertain future…

In late 2009, Andrew Murray restarted H.E.L.L. with the permission of those who originally ran it. Andrew narrowed the focus of H.E.L.L. to the Boston-area in order to play a greater role in the local community. They still hand out bike helmets, and also sponsor and organize cycling-advocating events in the Boston area.

Last April I moved to Burlington, VT. Soon after getting here, I got involved in the local music scene and started a DIY record label called Get Stoked! Records with two friends of mine, Michael Wierzbicki and Matt Kimball. All we wanted to accomplish was to try to help friends of ours put out some awesome music for others to hear.

I’m very excited to announce a project that we’ve been working on for the past 6 months. Get Stoked! Records will be releasing “One H.E.L.L. of a Compilation”, a collection of music from friends of Gordon and Kelly, bands they liked, as well as people that may have known someone else who got into a bike accident or just want to support H.E.L.L.’s mission. The compilation is really diverse and is from musicians from all over including Boston, other parts of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Florida, and New York. A bunch of songs on the comp will be exclusive, new, and rare songs.

The compilation will be released on CD and hopefully a very limited run on vinyl (most likely it’ll be a 2 or 3 LP set). Not only is it a collaborative music project, but there are also 10+ artists that are contributing artwork that will be included in the insert along with bike safety information.

There isn’t a release date at the moment. We’re still waiting on some bands to submit music and are working on the artwork. We hope to start pre-sales sometime in the next few months. In the meantime, here’s a list of some of the confirmed bands. There are more bands to come!

The single asterix (*) is for bands that are submitting rare songs. The double asterix (**) is for bands that are submitting new and exclusive songs. 

  • A Loss for Words
  • Actor | Observer **
  • Attica! Attica! (ex-Marathon/De La Hoya) **
  • Autochrome **
  • Bike to the Future
  • Born Without Bones
  • Brian Marquis (formerly of Therefore I Am) **
  • Converge *
  • The Credentials
  • Darkwoods *
  • DJ Flack
  • The Faux
  • The First Annual ** (ex-Guns Up!)
  • Fly Upright Kite **
  • Form & File **
  • Four Year Strong *
  • Freezepop *
  • Ghost Robot Ninja Bear ** (ex-Nakatomi Plaza/De La Hoya)
  • Ghost Thrower (ex-Therefore I Am) **
  • Giant Target **
  • GraveRobbers
  • Harvest Escaper
  • Jason Anderson **
  • Late Nite Wars **
  • Lie Captive (from Plattsburgh, NY) *
  • Life & Limb **
  • Luau
  • Lucy Grace
  • Our Lives (members of Vanna, Always & Forever, Seeker Destroyer)
  • Paint it Black *
  • Peter Long **
  • Powerwolves **
  • Roadrage **
  • Ten Thirty Nine **
  • Therefore I Am
  • Think Again
  • The Tower and The Fool (ex-Therefore I Am, ex-Hot Rod Circuit)
  • Transit
  • Stand Accused
  • Unrestrained (from Vermont)
  • Vanna **
  • Villain
  • Wolf Whistle
  • Wrong Body **
  • yellowbirddd (ex-Fly Upright Kite) **
  • Young Victorians (ex-Lucy Grace)

ALL profits will be going to H.E.L.L. to help buy more helmets, lights, and to work on bike safety programs. Get Stoked! Records will not be making any money off of this beyond paying off what it cost us to put out.

Keep an eye on this site for updates on this project. Please tell your friends. If you’re in a band or are an artist that would like to contribute, feel free to get in touch at GetStokedRecordsVT at gmail dot com. I can’t promise anything but there may be room for more contributions. I will know more over the next month as everything comes together.

Thanks everyone,
Justin

+Stay Positive+

 

 Please check out http://helpingeveryonelivelonger.org/