Phoenix Indie Rock Shines on Ryan Clark's First Hookworm Records Compilation (Phoenix New Times)

Ryan Clark almost didn't live to see his passion project become a reality.

It was October 3, 2021, two days before a private listening party for Hookworm One, the upcoming debut release from his label, Hookworm Records.

He called his wife to tell her his left arm was numb and his chest was tight. By the time she got home, "I had fallen asleep and my left arm was blue," Clark recalls. She got him to the emergency room, where they sat him in a wheelchair.