ReAmp Studios Mission: to educate youths and aspiring artists

This charming sign reflects the grassroots mindset of the team at ReAmp Studios.

 

A few weeks ago, our very own Melissa Northway asked if I could write an article on ReAmp Studios’ celebrating their one year anniversary since opening up their flagship studio, Studio G, in Tustin and their new partnership with the School of Rock. Being an avid fan of all things music, (albeit a complete ignoramus when it comes to anything that happens in the studio), I was thrilled and jumped at the chance to see what happens behind the scenes!

 

The team at ReAmp is made up of founders Stefani Rose, Daniel Martin, and studio manager/ head engineer Joshua Brooks. The experience and talents of these three combined is enough to convince anyone that they are in more than capable hands when it comes to helping people who want to take this road in music.

Stefani is a multi-talented creative soul. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University and is a producer, actress, singer/songwriter, co-founder of StarBeat Entertainment, and Hourglass Independent Records and Films. She specializes in the creative aspects of recording, production, and talent development, and, the most important role of all: a mother of two!

 

Daniel, aptly known as “The Fifth Beatle” in his circle, (Sir George Martin, we salute you!), is a music producer extraordinaire. A multi-instrumentalist that studied at Fullerton College and UCLA, he is co-founder of StarBeat Entertainment and ReAmp Studios.

They started working together in January 2013, collaborating as vocalist and producer. They got on so well, that in October of 2014, they decided to start their own company, combining their interdisciplinary talents and finding a studio in Tustin, California.

 

They ended up finding a jewel of a studio, built by the original owner who specializes and builds studios internationally, went to extremes to ensure it was fit for recording and designed it similarly to major recording studios. With about two feet of acoustical treatment surrounding the entire studio, it’s pretty impressive, considering they are in the flight path of John Wayne Airport!

 

In just a short period of time, ReAmp has had many artists, both local and from afar, like rapper, Fetty Wap, use their Studio for their projects. They also have done voiceovers for Fortune 500 companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Best Buy, PepsiCo, Walmart, UNICEF and Home Depot. Focusing on all genres, their label, Hourglass Records and Films, distribute their music through UK based company, Ditto Music.

Stefani and Daniel were kind enough to welcome myself, and fellow Dandelion Moms contributor, Claire Kahn Cannesson, for a tour of Studio G, and answer a few questions:

 

How did you decide what, how, and where you were going to open up a studio?

Stefani: “You’ve got to dream big! First we decided we should buy a building with a recording studio, an animation department, a film department and…so we looked into what costs would be. What does it cost to build a compound like that? …on a whim, I started thinking, well, maybe there’s something that’s already built, that someone’s trying to get out of. We might get lucky. Well…we found this place on Craigslist! There was a listing…Unbelievable!”

After purchasing the studio off Craigslist, they equipped it with top-rate instruments, and refurbished the Amek APC 1000 consul, built by world reknowned designer Rupert Neve. The consul is only 1 of 7 in the world, and has its very own history, built in the UK, traveling to Japan, then coming to Minnesota, and finally, to Tustin, California. The soundboard itself is pretty impressive! When kids come to them, they often say it looks like a spaceship!

There are many studios throughout Orange County but ReAmp Studios has a very important mission: to educate youths and aspiring artists interested in pursuing a career in music by giving them the direction they need to be successful.

Please share with us how you’ve partnered with the School of Rock Tustin?

For me, music is just like any other career path. It starts, really, in elementary school. I started singing early on. We had weekly music classes in elementary school. In middle school I was in the choir and theater, and then, after that, I went to a high school of performing arts.

By the time I was in 4^th grade, I knew this was my journey. My parents also knew. Most kids who are super talented or creative, are identified early on. (when a child is musically talented or gifted at sports it may be an adult that sees it first )…”Oh my gosh, that kid has an arm! He’s going to be a baseball player!” and then the family starts to guide them towards baseball”…it begins at an early age. This is where I feel we have lost out as a whole community because we’ve taken music out of the early education system. We don’t give kids the opportunity to explore the one thing they may excel at.

Music can be a healthy career path. Just because (one) wants to pursue music doesn’t mean you have to drop out of school, do drugs, and act like a rock star.

School of Rock is a franchised nation-wide school. We’ve partnered with their Tustin branch. School of Rock teaches kids about music, they teach lessons, and how to perform live. At ReAmp we focus on artist development, songwriting and recording.

The recording aspect is such a huge deal…with kids using their laptops (to record themselves), we want to educate them on how to record properly, how to really create a product, and also how to monetize it.

As a society we are constantly devaluing music, so by teaching the kids to value music, in education, it allows them to see their own worth as future artists. Music is devalued by consumers who are not paying for the music they enjoy listening to. Which means the writers, musicians, artists, producers and studios are not getting paid. 

Teaching kids to value music as a craft, you begin to reeducate future consumers and make the change for the greater good. 

It’s like the person who makes your coffee in the morning, you wouldn’t just walk in a Starbucks and take their coffee!

People have gotten used to the idea that music is free or comes from this huge industry, so what’s one song if I take that or what’s one movie if I watch that …that’s hundreds of peoples jobs that you’re actually devaluing…by not paying the 99 cents to download a song or not paying 7.99 to download a movie…you’re killing an industry that actually gives back in so many ways.

I think that’s part of our mission as well…trying to educate kids about that…how many kids have Spotify accounts; do they even understand that streaming music is killing the industry? How many people are illegally downloading films? There will be no industry jobs in the future because you’re doing that. I work hard to make this super clear to young artists: you are trying to pursue this creative endeavor, and yet, you’re like, “Oh, it’s Warner Bros., so who cares?”. Actually, that 99 cents or $7.99 goes to the hundreds of people that made that movie or helped create that song. It’s hard to wrap your head around it. It requires a lot of advocacy. It’s especially a hard concept for teenagers that don’t have a lot of money, that just want to listen to their favorite song or see the latest film to hit pop culture. But if you start educating those artists who are pursuing that career, then maybe they can “infect” the rest of the world and we can have a turnaround in the entertainment industry and be valued again.

We have 3 programs that we are implementing for kids.

Our 1^st course is the Cover Program (4 weeks).

Because Youtube is so popular. Kids come in and want to record covers but they don’t own the song, they don’t own the rights to them and sometimes the versions are not appropriate for a 9, 13, or 16 year old. So we talk about how to get the rights to these songs and how to make them your own. Each week we work on the song. First week, we rearrange the song to make sure it’s appropriate, we talk about the lyrics to make sure they are age appropriate, then we work on a rendition of it. We recreate it in house (whether it’s on piano or guitar…rebuild it in the right key, the right tempo for them). It’s a lot of fun!

This program helps start one’s artistic journey. Even if you sing someone else’s song, you have ownership in how it was created now. I think that’s a really big first step to becoming your own artist. It’s not just singing a karaoke version of it, but singing YOUR version of it.

That idea comes from my theatrical background. It’s like Shakespeare. Shakespeare has been performed for hundreds of years, over and over again, but always with different twists, in different styles, with a different creative look at how these characters function. The same can be said with a timeless song you can bring in a song, and even though Mariah Carey performed her way, you can perform it your way. And that’s part of learning how to be an artist…and once you know how to do that really well, you can start writing your own material.

Our 2^nd program: Artist Development and Song Writing (16 week course)

We start at ground zero: What is a song, and genre? What is the function? Why choose this format as artists and as consumers?

We go through what music the student likes, what those songs look like. How do we mirror that? How do we “steal from the best”. When you’re an artist, you constantly want to look at where your history and understand where your style comes from. We start to break down songs, what are they singing? Why are they saying this? How are they delivering it? Understanding all of this allows the student to start to understand the creative process.

Artists like Taylor Swift, have the fame that they do and the longevity that they do, because when you look at the music, they’re actually making smart decisions. Even though we might view them as flash-in-the-pan pop choices, I think they’re a little more calculated. Taylor Swift is a very calculated business woman. When you look at her history, the songs that she has chosen and what has really propelled her career, it’s brilliant.

During the 16 weeks, I really try to encourage these students to make smart choices. When you’re writing, don’t just write for yourself, but write for your market. Write so people listen. That’s what will make the difference between just being somebody who wants to pursue music as a “hobby and have fun” versus someone who wants to start thinking about it as “have a career”.

The 3^rd program is the Production Program.

This course is for kids who are genuinely interested in how a studio functions, what all the gadgets do, and how to make music by using technology.

Interestingly, if one visits their homepage, one sees a definition of re-amping from Wikipedia: “Re-amping is a process often used in multi-track recording in which a recorded signal is routed back out of the editing environment and run through external processing or a reverb chamber. Re-amping is often used to “warm up” dry tracks, which often means adding complex, musically interesting compression, distortion, filtering, ambiance, and other pleasing effects.”

 

In a way, ReAmp studios is doing just that, but on a human, social level. Youths who exhibit a passion for music have the opportunity to receive guidance and direction without going to Los Angeles, Nashville, or New York!

On top of providing excellent educational programs, they also offer something for the young ones who may be tired of parties at Pump It Up! or Chuck E. Cheese’s. They offer a party package where a group can come into the studio for 4 whole hours, to record a cover song and an in-studio video, all under the direction of a party host and engineer! So much fun, yet so educational!

 

To learn more about their amazing team and studio, visit: https://www.reampstudios.com/.

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