Help out my local music scene.

[Stanley Design]

I wasn't sure if I wanted to make this thread or not. I shot a PM to JT about it a couple weeks ago but haven't heard back from him. Anyway, here's the scoop.

As my profile says, I live in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. It's a city of about 35,000 with 60,000 in the immediate area. We have a thriving music scene but realistically the youth music scene has no place to call their own. There are no rehearsal studios operating in town and there are no dedicated venues for performances below the 19+ crowd. What we do have is a few people who are generous enough to let 60 kids get loud in their living room and a very limited amount of halls available to be rented and turned into a venue for the night.

The past year and a half I've been slowly pulling the resources together to open a permanent location for youth music development in my town. Focusing on a fully equipped rehearsal hall/venue, live recording studio and general all around place to help out the music scene. I started a committee with some of the main all ages promoters in my area and we came across a funding grant that Pepsi is doing. Entered my idea to gain some extra funding to help get the ball rolling and was accepted.

So here I am, out of 241 applicants for $10,000 I'm in 14th place. Top three voted applicants at the end of August receives their funding. You register an account and can vote for 10 different things a day until the end of August. There's no spam or junkmail from Pepsi, and I know it's kind of a hassle to do these things, but it's free and easy and can really help out my community.

So here's the link of what we're about and what we'd like to do.
http://www.refresheverything.ca/char...sicdevelopment

Other than that, all advice related to running a music related business is welcomed! I have some people working through business degrees on the committee, and have been working with my local government who have provided a lot of help so far. I have so many groundbreaking ideas for the venue that I really want to share them all. But I've already rambled long enough.

Mods, if there's anything wrong with this thread, please contact me about it. I have nothing but the best intentions.

[Stanley Design]

Wow, come on guys, no support for a longtime member?

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Not buying in any bass gear?

[Stanley Design]

Haha already have that area covered

[Stanley Design]

So although this has been a real flop on Talkbass, I was on the local evening news about this last night and currently sit in the #2 spot across Canada. Top 3 spots receive $10,000 grants. All I need to do is maintain enough votes to secure my spot and the youth in my Community will be that much closer to having a place to call their own.

http://www.refresheverything.ca/char...sicdevelopment

[basstotheface]

It really only took 10 seconds tops.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Have to agree, it does only take 10 seconds to do this.

[robd]

it took no time...good luck

[TobyBass55]

Yes, It it really doesn't take much effort to vote in the Pepsi grants.

My son's school got one of those Pepsi grants for technology equipment in June. It is a really good program. It is worth taking the time to vote for the project he is proposing!

[KeithBMI]

I voted for you.

I'm expecting a kickback when you get that $10,000

[projectMalamute]

As someone who has been doing economically marginal music of one kind or another for over 20 years now I do not understand the proposal.

You do not need a 1500 dollar drum set to make music. You do not need two 750 dollar 4x12 guitar cabinets to make music. You do not need 1000 dollars to come up with a pair of monitors and some cabling. For the love of god you don't need to pay someone for a logo design.

I'm all for the idea of all ages venues getting some funding, but I can't get behind blowing most of the money on a bunch of toys at Guitar Center.

[bass12]

Originally Posted by projectMalamute

As someone who has been doing economically marginal music of one kind or another for over 20 years now I do not understand the proposal.

You do not need a 1500 dollar drum set to make music. You do not need two 750 dollar 4x12 guitar cabinets to make music. You do not need 1000 dollars to come up with a pair of monitors and some cabling. For the love of god you don't need to pay someone for a logo design.

I'm all for the idea of all ages venues getting some funding, but I can't get behind blowing most of the money on a bunch of toys at Guitar Center.

I subscribe to the maxim "if you're going to do something, do it well" and was happy to give you my vote, Stanley. Good luck to you!

[stratovani]

Always happy to help out a fellow Hoser! I had a bit of trouble finding it, but with a bit of digging I found it, and voted for it. Good luck!

[projectMalamute]

Originally Posted by bass12

I subscribe to the maxim "if you're going to do something, do it well" and was happy to give you my vote, Stanley. Good luck to you!

And I subscribe to the maxim "if you can't put together a drum set that sounds not adequate, not good, but outstanding for way, way less than 1500 bucks you are the wrong person to be making purchasing decisions with grant money".

If the 'hardships' that need to be addressed consist only of the lack of such extravagances as 1500 dollar drum sets, 800 dollar 4x12 guitar cabs, and professional graphic design work you are doing better than almost any DIY venue anywhere; and the grant money would be better spent on someone who needs it.

The idea that someone would claim that such things are necessary to maintain a youth oriented music scene is completely bonkers. In fact, it's beyond bonkers. It's grotesque. The notion that it is impossible to get by on the same cheap Pearl Export or Tama Rockstar that everyone else in the history of rock bands made do with points to such a sense of entitlement that I can barely wrap my head around it.

[tom once dead]

I voted. But why no bass cab?

[bass12]

Originally Posted by projectMalamute

And I subscribe to the maxim "if you can't put together a drum set that sounds not adequate, not good, but outstanding for way, way less than 1500 bucks you are the wrong person to be making purchasing decisions with grant money".

If the 'hardships' that need to be addressed consist only of the lack of such extravagances as 1500 dollar drum sets, 800 dollar 4x12 guitar cabs, and professional graphic design work you are doing better than almost any DIY venue anywhere; and the grant money would be better spent on someone who needs it.

The idea that someone would claim that such things are necessary to maintain a youth oriented music scene is completely bonkers. In fact, it's beyond bonkers. It's grotesque. The notion that it is impossible to get by on the same cheap Pearl Export or Tama Rockstar that everyone else in the history of rock bands made do with points to such a sense of entitlement that I can barely wrap my head around it.

I went to a publicly funded elementary school that specialized in the Arts. That school saw the value in being well equipped - not with shoddy, second hand equipment but with good, solid instruments. To me, that approach makes perfect sense. Has it occurred to you that, for one thing, we're talking about the Canadian dollar and, for another, that the estimates provided on the site are rough and that there will, in fact, be a lot of other hidden costs involved in setting up the facility in question? And you're clearly not a drummer if you think that a $1500 kit is "extravagant"

[Stanley Design]

If I can grab a drumkit for cheaper I will, they wanted some estimations for what I would be spending the money on so I wrote down some estimates. Remember I live in PEI, Canada. Music gear isn't cheap here and I don't plan on decking out the entire business with falling apart gear or gear that will be falling apart after a year.

Two 4x12 classic cabs from Avatar would cost me $1500. If I can't find anything of quality used locally for cheaper I will be spending the money on them.

Same goes for drums, as you suggested a Tama Rockstar kit, if there's nothing used locally and I need to buy new. A new Tama Rockstar 5 piece kit on Musiciansfriend is $830 CAD, a Sabian B8 performance cymbal pack is 270, and a decent set of double kicks will cost me $200, that's $1300 right there.

I already picked out a new mixer. It's only going to cost me ~650, so I'll be saving $450 off my initial estimation.

I've already paid for the logo design work, I have a graphic designer friend and he helped me out for $60. Yes you need professional work.

The website has to be done well as I plan on having online streamed performances, hosted downloads and all other sorts of ideas in the works. It can't be done sloppily and it's going to take time/money.

Talk to any kid in our all ages scene, talk to any of their parents. They will tell you our town needs this. All I'm trying to do is my best to do something about a problem that nobody else will fix.

[stratovani]

Originally Posted by Stanley Design

If I can grab a drumkit for cheaper I will, they wanted some estimations for what I would be spending the money on so I wrote down some estimates. Remember I live in PEI, Canada. Music gear isn't cheap here and I don't plan on decking out the entire business with falling apart gear or gear that will be falling apart after a year.

Two 4x12 classic cabs from Avatar would cost me $1500. If I can't find anything of quality used locally for cheaper I will be spending the money on them.

Same goes for drums, as you suggested a Tama Rockstar kit, if there's nothing used locally and I need to buy new. A new Tama Rockstar 5 piece kit on Musiciansfriend is $830 CAD, a Sabian B8 performance cymbal pack is 270, and a decent set of double kicks will cost me $200, that's $1300 right there.

I already picked out a new mixer. It's only going to cost me ~650, so I'll be saving $450 off my initial estimation.

I've already paid for the logo design work, I have a graphic designer friend and he helped me out for $60. Yes you need professional work.

The website has to be done well as I plan on having online streamed performances, hosted downloads and all other sorts of ideas in the works. It can't be done sloppily and it's going to take time/money.

Talk to any kid in our all ages scene, talk to any of their parents. They will tell you our town needs this. All I'm trying to do is my best to do something about a problem that nobody else will fix.

Don't listen to the naysayers, Stanley. You're doing the right thing, and you should be applauded for it.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by Stanley Design

If I can grab a drumkit for cheaper I will, they wanted some estimations for what I would be spending the money on so I wrote down some estimates. Remember I live in PEI, Canada. Music gear isn't cheap here and I don't plan on decking out the entire business with falling apart gear or gear that will be falling apart after a year.

Two 4x12 classic cabs from Avatar would cost me $1500. If I can't find anything of quality used locally for cheaper I will be spending the money on them.

Same goes for drums, as you suggested a Tama Rockstar kit, if there's nothing used locally and I need to buy new. A new Tama Rockstar 5 piece kit on Musiciansfriend is $830 CAD, a Sabian B8 performance cymbal pack is 270, and a decent set of double kicks will cost me $200, that's $1300 right there.

I already picked out a new mixer. It's only going to cost me ~650, so I'll be saving $450 off my initial estimation.

I've already paid for the logo design work, I have a graphic designer friend and he helped me out for $60. Yes you need professional work.

The website has to be done well as I plan on having online streamed performances, hosted downloads and all other sorts of ideas in the works. It can't be done sloppily and it's going to take time/money.

Talk to any kid in our all ages scene, talk to any of their parents. They will tell you our town needs this. All I'm trying to do is my best to do something about a problem that nobody else will fix.

Check out the likes of used gear tho, Peavey, Traylor, Marshall etc etc.

You could kit up a good few rooms pretty well

It would also help to be able to keep some in reserve for when something breaks etc.

[Marco A. Mayer]

Wait, how do I vote? There's no vote button or anything similar on the website.