Project Safe Neighborhoods

New music coming soon! This summer we produced beats and recorded with four new artists (one is missing from the photo above) over the course of 120 hours in the studio. The guys recorded a ton of material and we’re mixing the songs right now. Look out for the new stuff on SoundCloud and on the next compilation. Big thanks to Youngstown Cultural Arts Center for providing the recording studio space, and to the U.S. Department of Justice for funding the studio time (they dabbling in the music business now).

Joel E. Smilow Clubhouse At Rainier Vista 2013

Thanks once again to the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative and their 2013 Community Matching Grant, we got the keys to the recording studio and music room at the Joel E. Smilow Clubhouse at Rainier Vista and put on yet another successful Bars & Beats work training program from September to November. With music production as the driving force, our youth earned stipends by putting life skills into practice in our professional studio working environment. Work readiness skills including communication, time management and organization, goal setting, public speaking, and relationship building laid down the foundation of the Totem Star curriculum. Through the course of the program, youth learned basic skills on the drums, bass, guitar, and piano, and how to produce beats in the recording studio using a digital audio workstation. Kore Ionz video producer Jeff Santos visited the program and shot footage of the youth in action, with a short documentary currently in the works featuring music produced by the youth. Program participant and youth recording artist Isaiah Bridges sums it up best: “Totem Star is a place for me to be myself and get off the streets to do something positive for my community.”

Special thanks to the Joel E. Smilow Clubhouse at Rainier Vista for generously donating the recording studio and music room for the duration of the program. Totem Star would also like to extend an enormous amount of gratitude to all of the local restaurants and other sponsors who donated family style meals to nourish our youth before each session: `Ohana Belltown, Pyramid Alehouse,Frontier Room, Lottie’s Lounge, Tutta Bella, Uli’s Famous Sausage, Dahlia Bakery, andBent Burgers. Together we raised over $9,000 in community matching, all for the youth!

Aki Kurose Middle School Academy 2013

Shortly after our last summer work training program with the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration we connected with Neighborhood House (who has been serving diverse and marginalized communities in Seattle since the 1900s) to start our first after school program in partnership with Seattle Public Schools. In January 2013 we launched our Bars and Beats pilot program at Aki Kurose Middle School Academy, located in our home neighborhood of Rainier Valley in Southeast Seattle, proclaimed by the U.S. Census Bureau as “the most diverse zip code in America,” with 59 languages spoken in the district.

With a school population of 97% students of color, 87% Free or Reduced Lunch, 20% English Language Learners and Special Education, and a 20% mobility rate, the goal of Totem Star is to use our Bars & Beats music production program as a conduit to increase reading, writing, and mathematics skills, as well as tackling social-emotional development issues. By providing quality arts education instruction in line with the Seattle Public Schools K-12 Arts Plan, Totem Star strives to fill the gaps in access and achievement.

Totem Star worked with 20+ students from January through May 2013, with student ethnicities including African American, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Latino, and East African. Students expressed their artistic creativity through programming beats, writing lyrics and sharing with the group in a public speaking format, recording in a studio setting with a digital audio workstation, and producing and starring in a music video for their original song “Let Your Light Shine,” soon to be released on YouTube.

“Rising to the top I got my own feeling / I’ve got a chance to get to the top / Feeling so excited I’m gonna work / I’m gonna play and have so much fun,” exclaims Anthony Johnson as he dunks a basketball over Totem Star video production manager Kizamu Tsutakawa in the music video. “Let your light shine / Be heard don’t back down / Show who you truly are,” sings Lashaiah Dickerson in the hook, reminding her peers that anything is possible through hard work, perseverance, and a positive attitude.

Metrocenter YMCA 2012

In the summer of 2012 we brought our mobile recording studio back to the Metrocenter YMCA for another work training program in partnership with the Juvenile Rehabilitation Program and YouthSource.

“The resistance of your existence of your appearance is disappearing because we all stuck in fear,” explains Tré “A$htre” Garrett in the group’s stand-out collaborative track “Money and Soul.” Brandi Crockett continues, “They want to strip us of our culture and humanity / They’re always trying to take away all of our sanity.” Jacob Moreno sums it all up in the hook, “They want to keep us in the hood / They want us in the dirt / We at war with the Feds / So stack up on that heat / I’m talking about that knowledge cause they hungry for the power / Keep your money and your soul / Your money and your soul.”

At the end of the summer program Totem Star received news that we were selected by the City of Seattle, the Office of Film + Music, and One Reel as a featured youth-serving organization at Bumbershoot 2012 “in an effort to raise awareness on the positive impact they’ve had on our music community.” KOMO Newsradio visited our table at the festival and invited the youth for an in-studio interview, which broadcasted to thousands of listeners. Listen to the interview featuring Gilford “Yung Gilly” Smith here.

Youthsource 2011-2012

As we said our goodbyes on the last day of the 2011 summer program at the Metrocenter YMCA, the youth asked us when they would be able to get back in the studio with us. Concerned with a gap in service, we approached the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration with the idea of offering something during the school year that youth from all our previous programs could attend. Within a month the Totem Star after school open studio was born at YouthSource.

Sessions were productive, with youth showing up early to sign up for the precious studio time. Some amazing tracks were produced, like “La La La” by A$htre, featuring a sample of The Delfonics classic hit “La-La (Means I Love You).” Amazing poet Robert Ofrancia recorded our first two spoken-word pieces, “Gettin’ Older” and “Why Is It You Love People You Hate,” while Young Dre displayed his youthful grasp on lyrical excellence on “Is That You.”

Metrocenter YMCA 2011

In the summer of 2011 we partnered once again with the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration and YouthSource to do a work training program, this time at the Metrocenter YMCA. With an emphasis on initiating social justice dialogue during recording sessions, the youth produced the track “Reality,”which shares the story of the intergenerational struggles their community has faced and is constantly working against. The raw power of the song brought Lori Kesl, regional administrator of the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, to tears when she came to visit youth in the studio. Towards the end of the program radio personality Tony Benton invited the youth to his StreetBeat program on KUBE 93. The on-air interview broadcasted to 11,000 listeners.

Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative 2011

Shortly after our first program at Rainier Community Center we were encouraged by our dear friend Kate Becker (now an Advisory Board Member) to apply for the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative Community Matching Grant, which was the very first time we ever applied for a grant. After months of waiting, we were awarded $19,054 to do a Spring 2011 program at the Northwest African American Museum and The Royal Esquire Club, with both venues generously donating space and volunteer services as part of the community match! All for the youth!

Each session began with a family-style dinner with meal donations by The Royal Esquire Club, Frontier Room, Lottie’s Lounge, Tutta Bella, Pyramid Breweries, The Beachcomber, and more. After dinner a van donated by YouthSource picked up the youth in Columbia City and transported them to the Northwest African American Museum, where our recording studio was set up. After the sessions, youth were picked up by the van and dropped off at their homes – talk about comprehensive youth services! It’s amazing to see how the community comes together full-circle to support a group of youth doing positive work.

By the end of the three months, the youth had produced a track called “Oromo” with the hook “My block stay hot, bro, even in the winter / The game’s not easy every corner there’s a hater / Somebody got shot police asking questions / Another act of violence that could have been prevented.” It’s up to all of us to keep the youth safe.

Rainier Community Center 2010

It all started here. In July 2010 we ran our very first work training program, which we called “Making the Band,” at Rainier Community Center in Columbia City. Our longtime friend Amanda Justen called us out of the blue to do a summer program with youth released from juvenile detention. Thus began a three-year long partnership with the King County Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration and YouthSource. Check out the track “Crazy” produced by the youth from our first program: “I been grinding so hard / trying to get these chips / but the system won’t change / and we can’t get rich / man it’s crazy.“