Best known for manning the boards at The Glow Recording Studio just outside of town, engineer Jesse Mangum (a finalist in this year's Flagpole Athens Music Awards, BTW) has announced the launch of a new, EP-only record label, MOEKE Records.

Below, you can hear the first taste of the imprint's output, a new tune from local pop group Brothers, a band we included in this week's list of AthFest picks:

The tight, tireless "Palettes" is reportedly taken from an upcoming Brothers EP, the follow-up to last year's Street Names (Flagpole review).

Says Mangum:

MOEKE (pronounced "moo-kuh") is in many ways a record label in the more traditional sense of the term in that I (the label) "foot the bill" for however much studio time is required to make an EP (3–6 songs) with a band of my choosing, banking on the hopes that it will be well received upon release. The goal is to work closely with the band to produce the best possible product, one in which we are both mutually happy with…

Naturally, it's very unlikely that any of these EPs will sell enough units for me to recoup my "investment" fiscally, but that's not my primary motivation. At the risk of sounding pretentious, this is really about "art-for-art's-sake" before anything else. It's an opportunity for me to be involved in the creation of something I really believe in.

Mangum also explains that the project is an opportunity to further some of the creative relationships he's spent the last few years developing, adding, "The only qualifier to be a potential 'signee' to the label is that it has to be an artist/band who has enlisted my services at my standard rate at some point… It helps me in deciding who I want to make a record with if I know what I'm getting into."

For more info on The Glow, visit the studio's website.