Ann Arbor's Neutral Zone teaches teens the business of music-making with 'Bust Out the Jams'
Isaac "Gameboi" Castor performs Feb. 12 with Soul Transit members Daniel Sagher and Jordan Siden, from left, during the Youth Owned Record CD release party at the Neutral Zone's B-Side in Ann Arbor.
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com
Making music is one thing — it's the fun stuff, the easy part, said guitarist Ryan Shea, 16, after his band, The Architects, wrapped a recent set in Ann Arbor. Managing others as they produce music is another challenge entirely.
Shea helps out with Youth Owned Records, the Neutral Zone teen center's youth-run record label, which just released its fourth teen compilation album, "Bust Out the Jams." The experience has been a useful window into the process of taking music from the idea stage to the finished product.
"Most of our artists hadn't worked in a recording studio before," Shea said, but their comfort builds with time. Yet there are many aspects of working with musicians that have little to do with music.
"Some bands are easy to work with. Some bands show up on time and have their stuff together. Some bands have issues between band members," said Shea who helped decide which acts would make the cut for the album.
What resulted was "Bust Out the Jams," an 11-track, nine-act, multi-genre lineup of youths who've built their skill sets at Ann Arbor's Neutral Zone.
Youth Owned Records was founded in 2001. "Bust Out the Jams" is the label's first compilation since 2006, said Neutral Zone staffer Ingrid Racine, who mentored the teens.
Youth Owned Records is run as a business, Racine explained, from recording and mixing music to clearing copyright to digital distribution and putting on shows at the B-Side, the Zone's concert venue. The label even pays The Orpheum, the center's recording studio, for recording time. It pays only "at cost" for studio time, but it does pay.
Artists who work with the label are asked to sign contracts, and any profits are split 50-50 in the case of individual releases. For compilations like “Bust Out the Jams,” any money earned goes back to the label.
But Racine cautions the teens that hardly anyone is making money making records these days, and they shouldn't expect to.
"I tell all of them: Get your merch together. Book some shows. That's how you're going to make your money," because between studio time, digital distribution and the copyright process, the label is just hoping to break even.
"Bust Out the Jams" went into production last spring. Some 300 albums were printed, and they'll sell for $10 each. The project was partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign, which raised $2,130 of the $2,000 Youth Owned Records was seeking. After recording wrapped in summer 2010, teen producers at The Orpheum, working with Carlos "L05" Garcia, mixed the album. Teens also helped develop promotional materials and put on a Feb. 12 show at the B-Side. Bust Out the Jams is also available on iTunes.
Attendees of the Feb. 12 show paid $5 at the door, which goes back into Youth Owned Records, and guests who arrived hungry could buy a plate of pancakes and bacon for $3, with those funds going back into Breakin' Curfew, the teen center's annual talent showcase.
Everything, it seems, is a business calculation. Everything about the Youth Owned Records experience is meant to prepare the teens for the real thing.
The experience has already paid off for several acts featured on "Bust Out the Jams." Emcees Isaac "Gameboi" Castor and Oren “O.D.D.” Bregman opened for funk-rock group The Macpodz last year at the Blind Pig, while funk quintet Sole Transit opened for the Macpodz’s five-year anniversary show at the Pig the day before they took the stage at The Neutral Zone.
Sole Transit might be the most Macpodz-like of them all. One of the Macpodz's calling cards is that they play without a guitarist. Band manager Matt "Tuna" Altruda explained that the instrument tends to overpower all others. Sole Transit has a guitarist but doesn't have a vocalist.
Racine said that working with groups like Sole Transit is one of the best parts of her job. The band's "first real gig" was a Breakin' Curfew show in 2009, and since then the band has signed a recording contract with Youth Owned Records.
There are a number of EPs in the works with other teen acts, Racine said. It's an exciting time. Racine has been signed to a record label before but she's learned just as much working with the teenagers, who lack neither in ambition or energy, but do need direction.
"At this point I'm just trying to keep up," Racine said.
James David Dickson can be reached at JamesDickson@AnnArbor.com.