For more than two decades, Omad Records has helped develop and build the careers of exceptionally authentic recording artists. Based in New York City, the label was founded in 1995 by Academy Award winner and Grammy Award nominee John DeNicola, a musician/songwriter/producer known for co-writing the #1 hit single “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” and “Hungry Eyes” for the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. With its past feats including the discovery and signing of Kara’s Flowers (later known as Maroon 5), Omad Records remains dedicated to cultivating the singular vision of each artist in its eclectic catalogue.

Omad Records had its inaugural release in 1996 with Different, the critically acclaimed sophomore effort from alt-rock/pop band The Sighs. That same year, Omad Records signed Kara’s Flowers and DeNicola co-produced (along with Tommy Allen) the band’s debut album, which soon paved the way for their breakout success as Maroon 5. Omad Records’ early releases also include Acoustic Junction’s Strange Days, a 1999 album featuring a track co-written by Nicolas Cage.

Through the years, DeNicola has lent his production finesse to virtually every Omad Records release. The label’s latest output includes the 2015 debut from singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Arwen Lewis (daughter of Moby Grape’s Peter Lewis), who reinterpreted a dozen songs from her father’s legendary band. Produced by DeNicola, Arwen was praised in the pages of Mojo by esteemed rock critic David Fricke, who wrote that the album “affirms the Great American Songbook that always lurked inside the Grape’s all-American psychedelia.”

Other Omad Records’ releases include the debut album from Rust Dust, a one-man project helmed by singer/songwriter Jason Stutts. Produced by DeNicola and recorded in his barn studio in rural upstate New York, Diviners and Shivs achieves its stripped-back yet striking folk/blues sound thanks largely to inventive use of ambient miking techniques, direct-to-tape recording, and Stutts’s captivating resonator-guitar-based performance.

Another Omad offering released in 2017: Wait On Another Day, the reunion record from The Sighs. The band’s first album in over 20 years, Wait On Another Day was produced by DeNicola, with Ed Stasium (The Ramones, The Misfits, Marshall Crenshaw) and Peter Keppler (David Bowie, Eels, Philip Glass, Katy Perry) assisting in mixing five of the tracks. Omad Records also put out the second EP and first full-length from Fovea, a New York City-based art-rock four-piece whose debut EP Fear Of was produced by DeNicola and released by Omad Records in 2016. “Fear Of” reached Top 20 on the College Radio Charts.

Legendary Founder of Moby Grape, Peter Lewis’ released “The Road To Zion” with Omad Records in 2018. Produced by John DeNicola along with Peter Lewis of which Take Effect says “on par with the greatness of anything he has done both on his own or with Moby Grape”. We agree !!!!

2019 saw the debut release from John DeNicola “The Why Because” in which John sings and plays his version of songs he has written for other artists including the hit songs “I’ve Had The Time Of My Life” and “Hungry Eyes” . John’s version of “Hungry Eyes” topped the Billboard AC chart at #22.

The Sighs founding member Tommy Pluta’s debut solo EP entitled Breathe is due late summer 2021 and coming this fall is John DeNicola’ follow up to his Billboard charting “The Why Because” entitled “She Said”. Nine new songs written by the Academy Award winning writer along with 2 cover songs “Morning Dew” and “Can’t Find My Way Home”.

Along with his Delaware County barn studio, DeNicola owns and operates a studio in Manhattan. With both facilities featuring a wide variety of rare analog equipment, Omad Records offers a creatively fertile recording environment that helps make each of the label’s releases so undeniably distinctive.