In this 48 Volts, Soapbox gets interviewed! We've gotten a couple emails from people interested in trying to start cooperative music studios like ours. Here are some of our answers to a few email questions we've received. We welcome folks asking questions and trying to learn from what we've done.
First of all, what challenges have you had in establishing your place of business and what have you learned from these challenges?
When we started Soapbox, we didn't have any prior business experience. Having spoken with friends who ran non-profits, they seemed to face many hurdles and we thought going the business route would be easier. Initially it seemed easier but we faced many unexpected challenges. Navigating local city politics, researching commercial law and ordinances, and understanding how commercial real estate works were all daunting challenges. Sometimes we wish there was a manual we could've followed, but we just try to learn as we go and not beat ourselves too much if we make a mistake. It seems like the only way to really learn is to stumble a lot and gain experience, and to try and focus on long term goals.
The other challenge we faced was staying motivated. Everything goes much, much slower than you want. Combined with the regular business challenges, it can feel like you are moving backwards sometimes. What has helped us is recognizing when we are losing interest or motivation and trying to change our strategy so that we can move forward. One example of this is that we changed our model from an automated service model (online booking, hourly rehearsals, impersonal, few repeat clients, etc) to a much more personal and cooperative one (a few regular clients who we get to know well). We realized it was more interesting and fun for us to foster closer relationships with a few people instead of trying to provide services for as many people as possible. Additionally, this approach was more in line with our overall mission to create a supportive community of musicians. But we are still learning and face new challenges everyday.
What is expected from members?
Members are expected to be respectful of the space and other members. Basically things only work if we trust one another. We want members to feel comfortable communicating with one another, and we want them to feel like they have shared ownership and say in the space. This doesn't mean there are no conflicts, however. Conflicts are inevitable but hopefully by keeping lines of communication open many problems can be prevented. Monthly co-op meetings help with this.
Who maintains the resources? (gear, security, utilities, rent, facilities)
Soapbox manages repairs, rent and utilities, and a lot of shared gear. We keep the lights on. Members can also share their gear but they maintain it themselves. Not all gear is shared, however. There is sort of an ongoing discussion about what gear is shared and a constant negotiation of space.
Do you have a designated cleaning/maintenance crew or are members expected to clean up after each other?
No, members are expected to try and clean up after themselves. Soapbox will sometimes go the extra mile, however. We also try and organize a more intense "spring cleaning" type thing where all members meet up at once and we do a full cleaning.
How are costs split among members?
Costs are split equally among members via a flat monthly rent per band. This rent covers monthly utilities, maintenance, and Soapbox fees & expenses.
What resources are shared?
We try and share large items that take up space. PA system, drumkit, a few amps. Computer system and much of the recording equipment. It would be impractical / impossible to have two drumkits or two computer systems in place. But these shared resources can change depending on the members.
Would you say your location has helped you or maybe not hurt, but limited you? How? Why?
Both, probably. There are advantages to being off the beaten path (lower costs) as well as disadvantages (zero foot traffic). At first we thought it would be better to be in a foot traffic type area, but there is a huge downside to that which is that parking is more difficult. I think we are sort of in the middle of those two extremes - we are not really located near any commercial centers but we are close to where people live. Advertising the space can sometimes be difficult because of this, for some it seems close to them but for others they feel like we are in the boonies.
What would you say are the best selling points to your studio?
Community oriented cooperative, shared resource model. Trying to foster supportive and helpful relationships between members so that everyone can achieve their goals.
Finally do the organizers consider it a successful business venture? What would you define as success?
Yes. Our goal was to find a way to share resources in a sustainable and supportive way. Success for us is to keep the doors open and maximize the usage of time and resources of the space. We want people to be in the space playing, rehearsing and recording music everyday. That is already happening and we just want to keep that going as we slowly improve.
48 Volts: Starting a cooperative recording & rehearsal studio
2012 Summer Songwriters Wrap-up
At the end of June, Soapbox Music partnered with Rock The Cello to host a first-ever week-long summer songwriting workshop for middle school students at the Chicago Waldorf School and Soapbox Music in Logan Square.
The workshop itself was envisioned as an experiment-- an investigation into the possibilities at the intersection of teaching and creativity. Organizers asked themselves and camp participants a series of questions: What is a song? What are some approaches to creating a new one? How can this process be made collaborative? Everyone involved had a great time and learned a lot-- whether about writing songs, micing string instruments, or the logistics of summer camps and large-group CTA rides.
The week began with two days of guest presentations on five varied approaches to songwriting. After each presentation participants were encouraged to experiment with the new approaches in their two-person 'bands', and then to share their song fragments with the larger group. Our three bands were The Goats, The Creepers, and The Freaky Zs and W on Keys.
Monday's first presentation was Approach 1: Pattern & Improv, where the goal was to build simple melodic patterns from a minor pentatonic or major scale, and use these patterns to make a new song. Approach 2: Rhythm Pattern featured guest percussionist, songwriter and recording engineer Farsheed Hamidi-Toosi. We experimented with combining rhythmic patterns vertically and horizontally to make some really interesting short compositions!
Tuesday's presentations began with Approach 3: Chordal Pattern, which a few of the students had some familiarity with from their participation in the Bass Clef Bandits ensemble. During this presentation we experimented with root/5th accompaniments and the 12-bar blues form. Following this, Approach 4: Chance Music featured special guest Billie Howard-- songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and member of Chicago's A.pe.ri.od.ic ensemble-- and resulted in some really crazy-sounding and awesome music! Approach 5: Lyric, also led by Billie Howard, was the final presentation of the day.
On Wednesday, participants were encouraged to draw on their Monday and Tuesday experiences to create final songs with their band-mates. All three bands came up with interesting and unique new tunes!
The week finished with two days in the recording studio, where the final songs were recorded live and mixed by the participants with the help of recording engineer Farsheed Hamidi-Toosi.
We're all looking forward to hosting Soapbox Summer Songwriters again next year, and may even need to split the group into two sessions!
48 Volts Interview with Nnamdi Ogbonnaya of Swerp Records
About a month ago, I stumbled across Nnamdi Ogbonnaya after reading a post on the venue & studio space Space Jam Chicago's facebook page. A few minutes later I was listening to Nnamdi's bandcamp page and was sort of locked in a dizzying mind spiral for a few hours trying to understand what was happening. What really grabbed me was the raw energy and musical exploration I was hearing. It was the sound of an artist who devoured and absorbed a wide range of music and was fearless in expressing himself in any way possible. Every song is different and can be delicate, complex, serious, harsh, simple, silly, weird, and everything in between. Finding out that Nnamdi was a member in a couple of other bands including the Para-Medics, I was officially intrigued.
A few weeks later I started reading a bunch of stuff about Swerp Records, which is a new record label highlighting bands from the south suburbs of Chicago. Bands on the label include The Para-Medics (video), Water House, Freudian Slip, Ratboys, Nervous Passenger (video), jt royster, and Nnamdi's Sooper-Dooper Secret Side Project (video). I had never heard of any of these bands before but after listening to their soundcloud sampler reel I knew there was something special going on here. There is an unusually high percentage of awesomeness, and I found that the ambition and energy apparent in Nnamdi's music extended to these other bands.
Over the years I've been lucky to be a part of a few small-yet-energetic music communities that grew from just a few friends hanging out sharing and making music. Friends that support, encourage and challenge each other to put out new music, and to be as creative as possible. Creative ideas bounce around wildly, each idea spawning a dozen new ones and everyone feeling inspired and part of the community, even those that aren't necessarily making music. The energy propels everyone forward, ripples farther and has a greater impact than anyone involved ever expected. Memories are made, and the energy is carried out in a diaspora as individuals travel to new locations and meet new people.
Swerp feels a lot like that. I really like their energy and vibe, which is why I wanted to interview Nnamdi and get some more info on the new record label. I feel like these bands deserve all the attention they can muster, so take a minute to check out their music and buy their records. By the by, Swerp Records officially launches May 22nd, 2012 but for now you can follow them via their Facebook and website.
What is the story behind the name Swerp?
Honestly I just like to make up words and funny sounds. People think it's creativity but it's really just me having a very immature sense of humor. Maybe it's a little of both. I like to tell everyone a different story about what the word means so everyone is confused with all their different stories. Regardless of my intentions, my friends took it and just started using it to describe anything, using it as a greeting, chanting it at shows. It kinda grew into this cool thing with connotations of badassery surrounding it.
Who runs the label? How did it start?
The record label was started by my friends Nix (Matthew Nix) and Dragon (Jonathan Mondragon). I know that I and a lot of other people wanted to start a collective of bands, but every way we tried to approach it just didn't seem to line up with our original intentions. Basically, we all knew that we have all these friends in awesome bands that we know are really cool and that other people will dig but it seems like no one gets past a certain level of exposure. [Whether it's] from getting discouraged or just [being] bored with the same shit, a lot of really awesome bands dwindle away. I think Nix finally said "Screw this." He has always been super supportive of local bands and he sees potential in places where others are too ignorant [to see]. The both of them got together and just decided that they want something different to happen, and they want to do it right so they did it and we are all super hyped.
Why a Chicago South Suburbs record label? What suburbs are represented?
That's where most of us are from. That's where we played some of our first shitty shows. That's where most of our progress happened. The majority of us are from the Oak Forest, Tinley Park, Lansing, Crete area but not all the people on the label are from around there. Julia from Ratboys is from Lousiville and JT is from somewhere in BuFu Michigan.
What is it like to grow up and play music in the south suburbs? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
For me it was pretty cool. My neighbors never complained when I would be drumming in my garage for hours at a time and I know they had to get at least a little annoyed. I would have, but they were chill about it. Sometimes little kids would just walk in our garage and watch us practice too. In winter I had to move my drums inside which meant I got to play less. I'm pretty sure I was completely oblivious to the music scene until I was actually in a band, but there are some really good bands that came from where I'm from. One of the bad things is that there were only like two venues in the area. Being a teen without a car we didn't have many options. Those places got kinda played out so we decided to start having shows at my friend Shaun Burks house, and when he moved the shows migrated to my house. I know my friend Tommy had occasionally been having house shows for a while before that, but like I said I was pretty oblivious to what was going on musically until I started doing it myself.
Do you have a desire to connect and expand with the city of chicago or other suburbs? Do you identify with the wider chicagoland area? The midwest?
Yeah dude. Expansion is the key. Personally, I'm always looking to make music with different people. Even now I'm in a few bands that aren't on this label. We are always up to connect with new bands and artists from anywhere. I've never really felt deeply connected to any area, the interesting people is what sparks up any feeling of connection that I have with any area. In that regard, the midwest is dope because I know the most people here. As for the record label, I'm not sure if they will be adding more bands anytime soon, but definitely in the future when things start settling in.
Can you give a brief overview of some of the artists on the label? There appears to be a diverse range of styles represented. I also notice a few members (such as yourself) play in multiple bands.
Yeah I'm in The Para-medics, Water House, Nervous Passenger and of course Nnamdi's Sooper Dooper Secret Side project. My friend Brendan Smyth is in Nervous Passenger, Water House, Freudian Slip and he also plays in my project. The reason I'm in multiple bands is because music is the only thing I enjoy doing so I have made sure I get to play as much as possible. Brendan is an alien drum wizard and everybody wants him to be in their band. The groups are all really different which rules. They are all cool in their own way. The Para-medics was the first band I was in that started in highschool as a two piece between me and Dylan Piskula. It's just fun instrumental music that people have labeled as Math Rock. Ratboys, who is folky and just has great warm vocals, is one of my favorite bands. I wish I was born a girl so I could sing like Julia. hahaha. Freudian Slip to me is the perfect mix of zany, poppy, and catchy. I legitimately love all the bands on this label which is awesome and I don't think is the case for most artists on any label.
What is your connection to the punk / diy scene?
I go to shows. I have lots of friends in bands. I know some vegans hahaha. That's about the extent of my 'scene' knowledge. But honestly, I just love music. I may play in a punk band, or start a rap project but it's all strictly just for the enjoyment of making music that makes me and other people happy. I'm really not super into scenes, all though I do support getting involved because there is a lot of cool shit happening. All I'm saying is people shouldn't limit themselves into one small category because then they miss out on a bunch of other really neat things.
What is the ultimate goal and vision for the record label? What do you hope to achieve?
I think the ultimate goal is to just promote and support these artists in whatever way it can to the best of its ability and hopefully have these artists start getting a lot of people that love these bands as much, if not more than we do. It's also trying to get people into something new and unique, and I think we are all eager to make this all happen.
If your record label was personified as a sea creature, what would it be? What would it eat?
Now here are the questions I like! It'd be a Sea Moose with octopus tentacles and gills for eyes, it'd only eat the pickled toe nail clippings of Paul Reubens for main courses and for its annual dessert it would eat the parents of whichever Vienna Boys Choir member is the runner up in a game of musical chairs. Oh. And it would drink Sprite.
Any shout outs, upcoming events, or announcements you'd like to share?
Go add the Swerp Records facebook and check out Swerprecords.com for more info. Thank you anyone who checks this music out. We really are psyched when people message us or talk to any of us, so do that. I will hopefully be touring a lot within the next three months so look out for that. On July 22nd we have a giant all day show of cool bands around our area. It is called "The Big Show" and it's usually in Matteson, IL. Other than that, thank you and everyone just stay positive.
For even more info, check out this video featuring interviews and footage of Swerpers:
Photo credit: Sammy Mitchell
Interviewer & Editor: Farsheed Hamidi-Toosi