In 1991, Heck created the AIDS Music Project to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and normalize discussing safe sex. In this endeavor, Heck pursued the idea of an AIDS benefit alternative rock compilation. He partnered with fellow Brown alumni Chris Mundy (a
Rolling Stone senior writer) and Jessica Kowal (a freelance writer for
Newsday) to produce the album
No Alternative, the third album in the
Red Hot Organization's (RHO) AIDS Benefit Music series.
No Alternative, released on
Arista Records in October 1993 featured original tracks from the alternative rock scene of the 90s. The album received an A+ review in
Entertainment Weekly and was described by Rolling Stone as "a jaw-dropping compilation of musical gems." Heck's subsequent productions include:
Red Hot + Bothered,
Offbeat,
Red Hot + RIO,
Red Hot + Rhapsody,
Red Hot + Indigo,
Red Hot + RIOT,
Red Hot + RIO2, Red Hot + FELA and Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell. In 2004, Heck was honored by
Brown University as the recipient of the John Hope Award for Career Public Service. Heck co-produced
Dark Was The Night (2009), an AIDS benefit album that raised over $1 million and featured artists like
The National,
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings,
My Morning Jacket and
Jose Gonzalez. In 2013 Heck produced a 20th Anniversary reissue of
No Alternative on vinyl (
Sony Legacy) for
Record Store Day. In 2019 Heck produced Love is the Drug, a campaign in N. Carolina featuring live music pop-up events with video storytelling focused on raising awareness around Harm Reduction and Opioid Addiction. The project was funded by a grant from the
Open Society Foundation. In 2020 Heck invited another Brown alum, fine artist Keith Mayerson, to create a portrait of
Dr. Anthony Fauci as a part of a limited art edition fundraiser for
Treatment Action Group (TAG). ==Music and film credits==