Nineteen ninety-seven marked the conception of the entity known as The Awareness Program. Founder Mitchell Gruich was playing shows with his then band The Moontracers while attending a local junior college. He began making contacts with local bands and subsequently designing and producing compilations featuring their music. He credited these compilations to the name "Awareness Records." Mitchell's experiences making these compilations helped to quickly hone his own aesthetic ideals. Thus The Awareness Program was born from the idea that design should not only prove functional but visually representative of the aural concept it represents.

    The two years Mitchell spent at junior college provided him with the opportunity of meeting Vernon Fuscello, a fellow musician. Vern was working with his ongoing musical project Heroes For Sale when he offered to feature a song on one of Mitchell's compilations. This collaboration led to Vernon recording The Moontracers and eventually other local bands. Vern's home-recording and Mitchell's D.I.Y. design became the trademark combination of The Awareness Program.

    When Mitchell moved to Hattiesburg in 1999 (to study design at the university level) he quickly began exploring possibilities for the expansion of The Awareness Program in his new environment. A show was soon set up at the independent coffeehouse The Cubbyhole. The show featured three acoustic rockers from the Coast and was set up and recorded by Vernon and Mitchell. Once the producing and mixing of the tracks was complete Mitchell set out to put his design principles and education to work. The result was the first "official" release to bear the name "The Awareness Program" and consequently set the precedence for releases to come.

    The continuous efforts of both Vernon and Mitchell produced many shows and releases for the fledgling label. Their ongoing mission led to a meeting with Baton Rouge artist Skip Allums of Estereo. Skip shared The Awareness Program's passion for spreading the message and music of fellow musicians. Since moving to California Skip has worked on infiltrating the indie scene a la Awareness Program style. To this day the three musicians that comprise The Awareness Program continue their efforts at keeping the label afloat.