By Miharu Sugie, News Staff

As passionate artists like Alexa Marsi, a sophomore english major, prepare for live performances on campus this fall, students dedicated to supporting artists both within the university community and from the Boston area are working to integrate Northeastern’s artists into the local music scene more than ever.

These students are part of Green Line Records, a media enterprise that helps local and Northeastern artists with promotions, event-planning, licensing, recording, distribution, design and more.

“We’re using the summer to restructure the organization, an ongoing project that’s been going on for about a year now,” said Joey Lafyatis, president of Green Line Records and junior music industry major. “The fall will hopefully bring a fresh start to an organization that is looking to make a real impact on the arts at Northeastern.”

This summer, Lafyatis said he wants “to create a foundational template for how a record label is run.” This way, the organization can sustain its growth into the future instead of restarting every time organization members leave.

“I want an organization that operates on a professional, industry-standard level. I want students who participate in Green Line to get an authentic experience that will help them truly understand aspects of the music industry,” Lafyatis said. “I want to sign artists who work hard, sound good and are on the edge of success and I want to help bring them to that success. Green Line operates in between a learning experience and the real music industry and I want us to be fulfilling both of those purposes.”

Since last week, the organization has been hosting The Acoustic Summer, a studio series featuring local acts and artists signed to Green Line Records. There, the artists improvise and perform covers “to produce high quality audio and video of musicians next door,” said Lafyatis. Videos of performances by Green Line acts like Bonfire Blue, Underwater Bear Ballet, Greg Marquis and The Great Destroyers and local acts not signed by Green Line Records like Grace & The Carnivore, Anjimile and Ben Bullock from The Symbolics will be uploaded to Green Line’s account on YouTube. Lafyatis also plans to host monthly concerts at afterHOURS in the fall and spring semesters, so local and Green Line artists can collaborate together.

Masi, who performs in a solo project called Pasture Dog, said that Green Line Records is the solution for artists looking for “creative spaces,” especially since “it can be hard for kids to get their hands on recording equipment, or even find decent places to practice or write music.” In addition, Masi said that the organization “helps to network various musicians and ultimately fosters a superhyphencreative environment on campus, and reminds the community that music and art are big priorities for us.”

Through the monthly concerts in afterHOURS, Lafyatis hopes to expose Northeastern students to the local Boston music scene, which has a plethora of genres and styles.

“Boston doesn’t discriminate by genre as much as it does by talent and it’s definitely there:<cut semicolon><colon> we’re a hub for young musicians,” Lafyatis said. “I think a huge part of this is because of the college scene that you can’t find anywhere else. The music scenes that people get involved in seem to graduate with those individuals, and each one settles into its niche within Boston.”

Although Masi thinks that her hometown of Woodbury, Conn. has an unrivaled music scene with “unbelievably raw and perceptive music,” she admits that Boston is a huge market that welcomes young musicians.

“Being in a city, with such close proximity to industry professionals, consumers and creative peers just really creates a highly accessible creative environment,” Masi said.

In this hub of music, Masi said she is excited to prepare for her performances as Pasture Dog with Green Line Records in the fall semester.

“Playing music is one of the most cathartic, illuminating and all-around wonderful things I can do, and any time I’ve been able to connect to people through my music has totally validated and reconciled a lot of the personal motives and feelings that went into the music in the first place,” Masi said. “There is simply nothing like it.”