BREWER - What began a little more than six months ago as a fun exercise in a Brewer basement at the outset of the pandemic now involves recording contracts, a record label, a new YouTube show due to launch soon and even “American Idol.”

The Facebook group Quarantine Karaoke has become a global sensation, and no one is more surprised and gratified than its creator.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in mid-March, Joseph Meyers, then a resident of Brewer, sought a therapeutic outlet, and like he usually does, he turned to music to make him feel better.

“I was in the living room with my wife, and things were getting shut down, and the hits just seemed to keep coming,” Meyers said during an interview with The Maine Edge.

Meyers had been a member of Bangor area top-40 cover band Trendy Robots, and prior to that, a progressive alternative band that focused on original music called Most of Us Can Stand.

Seeking a positive outlet to channel his feelings about the grim pandemic news, Meyers decided to go to his basement where he has a piano.

“I regularly go down there to play and record music, it’s just part of who I am,” he said.

Meyers recorded a song and posted it on his personal Facebook page with the status: “Quarantine Karaoke.” As he walked up his basement stairs, he realized that he felt better, calling it a “therapeutic event.”

“When I woke up the next day, I had the thought that more people should do that, it really does help you cope with things.”

That was the moment he created a Facebook group called Quarantine Karaoke, then uploaded the first video, and encouraged people to join, share and record themselves singing their favorite songs from home. Within the first 24 hours, 10,000 people joined his group.

“All I did was click a button and say ‘go.’ It really blew up from there,” said Meyers.