To “make it” in the music business, you need more than a catchy song. You need to present your material in a way that stands out and makes people want to listen to your music. A unique album cover, t-shirts with your band’s name on it and a website are all great ways to get your band noticed. Towson student and Harford County, Md. native Chris Muccioli and his company, Never Sleep Again Media, are doing everything they can to help local bands become mainstream.

Muccioli became interested in graphic design when he was in 8th grade. “I was asked to join a band and I noticed everyone else had logo’s, so I dove into it and looked at what others were doing and started from scratch and learned all the programs,” said Muccioli. His grandfather, who was also a graphic designer, helped Muccioli learn programs such as Photoshop and soon after, his freelance design business was born.

Never Sleep Again Media has had a big impact on aspiring musicians. “I work with a lot of local bands and most that I’ve worked with are raising their status and getting known and other bands are seeing their artwork and notice they’re getting more attention because of the artwork,” said Muccioli. Never Sleep Again Media consists of only Muccioli which makes his time very valuable. “It’s very time consuming [being in a band and running a company],” Muccioli said. “In the band, I have been put in charge of everything, I’m the only one that takes initiative to do stuff so I book shows and respond to messages on our Myspace page.” School assignments also occupy his time and get in the way of projects he would be working on for other bands.

To get ideas for a bands artwork, Muccioli does a few things. “I’ll listen to their music, talk with them on the phone or meet with the band in person,” said Muccioli. The band and Muccioli usually bounce ideas off of each other and discuss what would be best for the band.

When you look at Muccioli’s designs, one thing stands out. They are very “clean” images. “I’ve been pretty good and getting all around different styles, but my favorite would probably be the clean-cut but still having elements of grunge style,” said Muccioli. “I don’t want to go overboard and destroy the image to the point where you can’t tell what it is. I really like the sleek, streamline, Apple version of it where it is clean and professional version.”

Being in a band and working along side other bands has given Muccioli a great perspective on the ever-changing local music scene. “I’ve been in the scene for so long, I’ve really seen the quality improve and they have wanted more and more out of their designs,” Muccioli said. “You’re not seeing the home basement-publisher throw a font on their-call it a c.d. anymore. Very rarely will I see that anymore.”

In addition to Never Sleep Again, Muccioli has recently started a clothing company called Beauty In The Dischord. With all of these projects going on for Muccioli, he hopes to open up his own design firm and combine all of his ventures into one when he graduates from Towson University. Never Sleep Again and Chris Muccioli are great assets to local bands. They give bands a look that appeals to people and entices them to stop, look and listen to the music.

Never Sleep Again Media Myspace Page

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Another album cover Muccioli designed.

T-shirts by Muccioli's new company, Beauty In The Dischord.