A few years ago, Nolan Conrad started coming around TMC to DJ. After a few months, he was working at the studio, learning the ropes of audio engineering. Nolan was an electronics student at the time, working local music gigs and with KPBS, the public media outlet on the SDSU campus. With DJing, he understood the equipment, the music, the groove, but …
Nate Lark didn’t think of music as his life’s purpose when he was younger, but it became a creative outlet during one of the most difficult periods of his life and eventually grew into a mission: creating music that helps people feel seen, understood, and less alone. Nate’s early passion was basketball. A standout athlete with legitimate …
When Alec Johnson first walked into The Music Company, he wasn’t looking for a studio space or a performance opportunity. He was looking for a way forward. Alec is a music therapist who works primarily with children on the autism spectrum. His work centers on helping young people develop self-regulation, communication skills, and confidence through …
When Hakim Ahmed moved from Minneapolis to San Diego about a year and a half ago, he was recording music using any means that he could. “I was recording in random basements, recording in my vehicle, recording in my home…even thinking of building my own studio.” But it was an ongoing challenge to find somewhere to record that could provide the audio …
Before Donovan Maes began recording at The Music Company (TMC), most of his songs existed as rough demos recorded on an iPad or phone and rarely developed beyond that stage. Music had been a part of his life for years. He started violin at four, picked up guitar a few years later, and during the pandemic taught himself more seriously using online re …
A Career at the Crossroads of Film & Music TMC Impact Story: Abby Donaldson When Abby Donaldson arrived at The Music Company, she was standing at a familiar but fragile point in many creative careers: she knew what she wanted to do, but she didn’t yet know if there was a sustainable way to do it professionally. Abby had just graduated from San Die …
Beach Break Sessions Impact Story: Marlon Funaki By the time The Music Company first encountered Marlon Funaki, momentum was already building – but he was still working toward the larger career he envisioned. Marlon grew up in Southern California, starting in middle school band before expanding into drums, guitar, bass, and eventually music pro …
TMC played a pivotal role in opening doors to new opportunities in Hannah Geller’s music career. As a local alt-rock artist actively building her presence without a booking agent or label, Hannah relies heavily on social media to reach new listeners. Because traditional booking is difficult for independent artists, opportunities to showcase her liv …
The Starting Point: Talent Without a Path Kurtis McNevin, known professionally as Broken Hill, didn’t arrive at The Music Company (TMC) with industry credits, financial backing, or a safety net. He arrived with something far more fragile: belief that music could still become a real career, even as the window felt like it might be closing. After gradu …
Rediscovering Creative Home — and Reconnecting With His Band Rafa Pondé has decades of experience as a musician, but he arrived in San Diego without a creative home base. He’d been writing, touring, and producing for years, yet still needed a space that felt welcoming, affordable, and equipped for the full-band sound he envisioned. When a friend ment …
Two Brothers, One Journey: Leveling Up Through Education and Community Connor and Trevor Drake had been DJing and producing separately for years, mostly on laptops and prosumer gear. When they finally teamed up, they knew they wanted to push their sound further, but professional studios felt intimidating, expensive, and out of reach for artists stil …
Finding Their Footing as a Band and a Community That Believes in Them Andromeda, two brothers and two lifelong friends from San Diego, had been grinding for months, bouncing between rehearsal spaces and local shows, trying to turn a handful of original songs into something real. They weren’t new to music, but they were still figuring out how to turn …
