John Mayer signed to Aware Records.
John Mayer . After his appearance at the 2001 South by Southwest Festival , he was signed to Aware Records , and then Columbia Records , which released his first EP , Inside Wants Out . His following two full-length albums -- Room for Squares ( 2001 ) and Heavier Things ( 2003 ) -- did well commercially , achieving multi-platinum status . Room for Squares is the debut studio album by American musician John Mayer . It was released through Aware Records and Columbia Records on June 5 , 2001 , the album peaked at number 9 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart .