Makeshift Music

Makeshift is a collective and independent record label

Makeshift is first and foremost a collective of Memphis artists, and secondarily a record label. As a collective, we are rather open-ended with no real structure or organization. Historically, we have focused on music. As explained below, however, the goal of the Makeshift collective is to further creation and distribution of Memphis art in all of its forms. The label arm of Makeshift, in contrast focuses its energies primarily on releasing records in the traditional sense.

The goal of Makeshift is to nurture the creation of art in Memphis

Art might be best defined as any work done for the sake of the work itself. In this context, anything created out of freedom (a song, a garden, a sandwich, a piece of furniture, etc.) might be called a work of art, and it is this concept of art that forms the foundation of Makeshift. It is our goal for Makeshift to serve as an outlet (and a motivator) for the creation and distribution of Memphis art.

Who runs Makeshift?

As mentioned above, the collective aspect of Makeshift is not run or organized by anyone. The label is run by

(We also have a robot publicist named Bernie).

 “Whatever does not spring from a man's free choice, or is only the result of instruction and guidance, does not enter into his very nature; he does not perform it with truly human energies, but merely with mechanical exactness"— and so when the laborer works under external control, "we may admire what he does, but we despise what he is.”
                        –Wilhelm Von Humboldt