Sam Monaco

Sam Monaco is a musician and community leader dedicated to creating opportunities for people to connect through music and art. As the Founder & Executive Director of two recording studios — [the square] and Monaco Studios — and an affiliated nonprofit (Equal Measure Arts), Sam’s recent work has centered on expanding access to professional recording, audio engineering training, and arts programming for students and under-resourced artists.

After spending his formative years playing drums in rock bands while immersed in Portland’s vibrant music scene, Sam attended Sarah Lawrence College in New York. He focused on musical performance, live sound engineering, photography, and writing, before graduating with a BA and spending the next decade in New York City. There, Sam developed a career as a studio manager and business administrator for visual artists, facilitating sales, coordinating exhibitions, and building relationships with internationally-renowned institutions like the Met, the Louvre, and the British Museum. During this period, he also released three albums and embarked on several national tours with his indie rock group Chamber Band, who in 2017 developed a hit podcast musical called 36 Questions (with Broadway talent Jonathan Groff and Jessie Shelton).

Since returning home to Maine in 2020, it has been one of Sam’s greatest joys to help nurture the music scene that raised him. Through his studio and nonprofit leadership, he has led collaborations with Maine Academy of Modern Music, Maine College of Art & Design, and community radio station WMPG (where he volunteers as a host of their weekly Local Motives program featuring live musical performances and interviews). Sam has also developed a wide range of partnerships with local schools, recovery programs, and other organizations to offer recording workshops, live events, and educational initiatives centered around creative expression and community building. As Executive Director of DocSong, he is excited to further the organization’s mission of fostering empathy and understanding through documentary songwriting.

Sam lives in Falmouth with his wife, their two children, and two rescue cats from NYC living their best lives in an 1840s farmhouse. If he’s not in the studio or catching up on emails, he’s most likely somewhere outside with family or friends, biking, kayaking, or traveling.