“The entirety of the hip-hop scene, a good chunk of the urban R&B scene, the Latin scene, the reggae scene, it’s all in here.” 

Aaron Moynihan is referring to his hard drives containing 20+ years of music he’s helped produce. “This music is a deep fabric of the city.”

“Hartford gets painted in a lot of different lights, few of which note the decades of musical history beneath our feet.”

We’re at Soul Cube Studios, Moynihan’s studio in Parkville. Moynihan has been behind the boards since he was a kid, when a youth outreach program set him up Trackhouse under the tutelage of producer Von Allen. Almost immediately what began as a diversion program became the pivot around which his world turns.

“I didn’t have anything to grab onto [until then],” he said, “And I really grabbed onto music, because there was support, it was just standing next to me. That’s all I needed.”

Within three months, he was making money. Four more, and Moynihan was Trackhouse’s engineer. He’s been stoking that fire ever since. He’s worked through good times and bad, through Trackhouse’s closing, through the shift to streaming, a move to Virginia and getting his graduate degree at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Hartford is his homebase, though; he returned almost 8 years ago, when his daughter was born, and hasn’t looked back. Now Moynihan works with local artists like Fuego Base and Simoné Renae, as well as international acts like Dre Island, one of the many artists who see Hartford as a go-to for artists from Boston, New York, and other larger cities. “They come out here because it’s cheaper, it’s private, it’s tucked away, and we deliver high-level work.”

Through it all, the producer remembers the place that produced him, and the circumstances – that’s why he also runs another entity, the non-profit Make Waves.

Make Waves has helped between 300 and 400 kids over the years. Genres and focus shifts – kids these days are more interested in producing than rhyming – but the program’s positive impact remains unchanged: “Once they have the consistency of a place to come to, people they’re familiar with, people they like being around, inspiration – it’s really magical what happens, and it happens fast.” Mentees often just need to know someone hears them. “The payback that I get from that work, it’s giving me chills right now, is far beyond what I’ve ever made financially.”

The mentorship program has always relied on partnerships – Compass Youth Collaborative and the Peace Builders have been strong allies, and Hartbeat Ensemble is a current partner. As with raising a child, it takes a village – or, rather, chorus – to keep these invaluable programs going. If you want to help sustain or support Make Waves, reach out to Moynihan.

Of his journey thus far, Moynihan said: “I feel blessed to have been able to take that journey with so many artists here because there’s so many untold stories – and we’re part of them; all of them.”