Some wait to graduate to get a seat at the table in the music industry, but others like Michael Mucthison build the table themselves.
Michael Mucthison is a philosophy student at UNLV, set to graduate in December with a bachelor’s degree and attend law school after. But before coming to UNLV, Mucthison served for eight years in the U.S. Navy, then returned to San Francisco and found a love for making house and techno music. Mucthison is one of the founders of Vudeux Records, an independent record label that signs established and up-and-coming artists all over the world. Vudeux Records also secures spots in well-known and top festivals for their artists. Mucthison says, “Vudeux Records is a label I started almost 10 years ago. When I had just gotten out of the military, I got really involved in music production, and it was kind of therapeutic for me being you know getting to be creative and artistic after experiencing combat and war and all that … It was an outlet for me to kind of decompress from all that … I got to learn from some very creative types, who were kind of immersed in that world and it stuck with me. I loved it. It was just so therapeutic and so pure to me, so that’s pretty much how I got linked up into electronic music. And then, what came of that was we started a record label together, which pretty much we ran all the way up until COVID.”
After COVID hampered operations at Vudeux Records, Mucthison made a decision to move away from San Francisco. “Especially with COVID hampering our operations, it made me realize that I need something a little more stable and secure … This is a great opportunity to just come back to school and finish my degree and do what I kind of have been kind of toying with my mind for a while, which was law school … I took it as a sign. Everything else is shut down, I can’t do anything else, so I might as well finish this. And it’s been fruitful and productive for me.”
With plans to go to law school, Mucthison doesn’t plan on leaving the music industry, saying, “After law school, I am heavily leaning towards getting involved in entertainment law, so managing artists. I’ve always managed artists, even with Vudeux Records. I’ve had around 20-30 artists from all over the world, not just in America … So we had artists all over the world and we were able to do that even without any sort of concrete legal knowledge … If we were able to achieve that without a lawyer on the team, I think with a law degree, I can achieve much more and have a much more foundational understanding of the ins and outs of the business.” Although many pursue a path that strays away from creativity, Mucthison notes, “Music and art and creativity is something that is always going to be in my psyche and something I identify with long into my senior years.”
Mucthison plans on relaunching Vudeux Records after law school, and Vudeux Records can be found on Facebook or on vudeux.com.
