THE BIGGER BEAST STORY…
Bigger Beast Records is a full service boutique independent record label and management company formed in January of 2024 by internationally touring recording artist, Frank Viele.
In 2007, Viele graduated #1 in the School of Business at Marist College and was given the prestigious Wall Street Journal Award. Throughout college, Viele interned for some of the biggest record labels in the industry including Virgin International, EMI, Capital, Universal, Atlantic, and Blue Note.
Upon graduation, the major label industry was in flux and a financially feasible job in the major label segment wasn’t in the cards at that time for Frank. Rather Viele moved back to his home state of Connecticut and found himself being the artist, not the guy helping to build the careers of artists, as he had originally dreamed.
More than 15 years later, as a recording artist, Viele has performed over 1,000 shows across the United States and more, his walls are filled with independent music awards, and his experience is endless after countless tours sharing the stage with icons like John Waite, Zach Myers of Shinedown, American Idol Winner Lee DeWyze, Foreigner, Ambrosia, Bob Marley’s Wailers, Howie Day, and more.
After a stint in Muscle Shoals, Alabama beginning in 2020, eventually leading to recording a record with Grammy Winners Jimmy Nutt and James LeBlanc, Viele saw how far he had gotten himself as an independent artist and believed it was time to officially start his own record label versus releasing his first Muscle Shoals album under somebody else’s. This album, entitled “The Trouble With Desire” will be released in February of 2025 as the first official album released under Bigger Beast Records!
Other singles and albums will follow from independent artists across the globe as Bigger Beast works to become a household name in the boutique record label segment of the industry.
Bigger Beast Records’ mission is centered around the ideas that great music needs to be heard, artists have a better chance of making an impact if they work together, and that music plays an integral part in promoting perspective, understanding, diversity, and the human condition throughout modern society.
With an emphasis on both the history of the music industry and the rapid changes in the modern artistic climate, Bigger Beast Records is an artist focused entity striving to promote music that inspires the world around it and leaves a lasting impact.
THE TEAM:
FRANK VIELE
PRESIDENT/FOUNDER
Valedictorian of the Marist College School of Business in 2007 and winner of the prestigious Wall Street Journal Award, Viele vividly remembers the awards ceremony that his parents and siblings came to before his graduation where the top members of the graduating class were acknowledged.
Each student was handed their award and then a subsequent announcement was made by the Dean of the college as to where each student would be working after they graduated. Graduates were announced to have major jobs at places like Morgan Stanley, IBM, and the like. And then Viele was given his award, the final award of the night, and the Dean ended his night by saying “Frank Viele, number one in the school of business and winner of the Wall Street Journal Award has decided to pursue a career in music”.
You could hear a pin drop in that room. All the people in attendance weren’t sure if they were supposed to applaud, as if they weren’t sure whether the Dean was joking.
And that day, in retrospect, was a defining moment for Viele and probably was the beginning of what would become Bigger Beast Records 17 years later.
Throughout college, Viele interned for some of the biggest record labels in the industry and fondly remembers the little things like updating Ben Harper’s MySpace page while working in the Virgin Records International Department and hearing demos from Jet and Death Cab For Cutie while interning for the Atlantic Records Product Management and A&R Departments, to hanging up posters to promote the new KT Tunstall Record in the main window at Tower Records while interning for EMI, or mailing out Coldplay promos to radio stations while interning for Universal.
Upon graduation in 2007, the major label industry was in flux and a financially feasible job in the major label segment wasn’t in the cards at that time for Frank. Rather Viele moved back to his home state of Connecticut, built a band, and eventually began touring the country. Making his first full length album with his band Frank Viele & The Manhattan Project in Glen Cove, NY with producer and famed saxophonist Richie Cannata (Billy Joel) at age 23, Viele shockingly found himself being the artist, not the guy discovering artists as he had originally dreamed.
More than 15 years later, as an artist, Viele has performed over 1,000 shows across the United States and more, his walls are filled with independent music awards, and his experience is endless after countless tours sharing the stage with icons like John Waite, Zach Myers of Shinedown, American Idol Winner Lee DeWyze, Foreigner, Ambrosia, Bob Marley’s Wailers, Howie Day, and more.
After a stint in Muscle Shoals, Alabama beginning in 2020, eventually leading to recording a record with Grammy Winners Jimmy Nutt and James LeBlanc, Viele saw how far he had gotten himself as an independent artist and believed it was time to officially start his own record label versus signing to somebody else’s. This album, entitled “The Trouble With Desire” will be released in 2024 as the first official album under Bigger Beast Records.
Experience, kindness, and perspective are key elements in a leader and Lee Totten maintains a 10 out of 10 on all three of those categories. As a senior member of Bubble Up, Lee Totten has first hand experience creating website, social media, and digital marketing content for some of the largest artists in the music industry.
But Totten’s creative and entrepreneurial journey goes much further. Lee is a nationally touring singer/songwriter who’s performed over 1,000 concerts across the United States, maintained endorsements from major brands including Jaegermeister, and has shared the stage with such noteworthy artists as Barenaked Ladies, Third Eye Blind, Everclear, and The Offspring.
An outside the box thinker, a poet, and folk rock troubadour bursting out of the nineties rock surge, you simply don’t leave a Lee Totten conversation as the same person you were walking in.
An artist that doesn’t take no for an answer, a community builder who consistently seeks to raise the creative community around him, and a true impact player in anything he wraps his brain around, Lee Totten brings perspective from both sides of the music industry and a passion for making sure that hard working artists find their audience.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR/PROGRAM COORDINATOR
LEE TOTTEN
Blessed with a gift to build hope and connection, the impact of Kala’s incredible music is only paralleled by her ability to communicate with, collaborate with, and facilitate other artists - yielding a powerful artistic community. Currently serving as the Connecticut State Troubadour, in between her over 200 performances a year, Kala hosts regional songwriter workshops, runs multiple monthly songwriter rounds, and hosts open mics, with the goal of fostering the growth of her surrounding artistic community.
Building a successful original music career from the ground up, Kala’s experience as an artist, songwriter, accompanying musician, and session musician, brings a truly important perspective to Bigger Beast Records, acting as the consistent voice of the mission driven indie artist.
With an understanding that not all artists share the same goal, Kala’s position in Bigger Beast Records allows her decades of experience as an independent artist that has tied her talents to impactful missions including her work in sound healing, mental health awareness, youth education, theater projects, and meditation; to permeate the artistic community we strive to create and foster appropriate channels for Bigger Beast artists to grow their reach via non-traditional avenues.
ARTIST RELATIONS/PROJECT MANAGEMENT
KALA FARNHAM
TOM D’ADEMO
MARKET DEVELOPMENT /PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Award winning songwriter under the moniker “Me, Like Many”, Tom comes to Bigger Beast Records with a passion for community and all things music! Backed by a degree from the University of New Haven in both Music & Sound Recording, and steeped in entrepreneurial experience in digital communication, graphic design, social media, and content development, Tom brings marketing and organizational experience to Bigger Beast alongside his talent as a songwriter, recording engineer, and producer.
Managing projects behind the scenes including artist support and content development as well as external projects like event management, street teams, and market development, Tom is a goal oriented team player who makes an immediate impact on any project he touches.