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 graduating from San Diego State University, Kurtis found himself at a crossroads familiar to many artists. He had been producing music for years and recording friends throughout college, but his experience was almost entirely DIY, with bedroom setups, borrowed spaces, and makeshift studios. He had no professional studio background, limited financial resources, and growing pressure to move on from music altogether. Music was what he wanted to do, but it didn’t yet feel viable as a long-term path.
Rather than waiting for opportunity to find him, Kurtis chose to act.
The Intervention: Access Begins with an Open Door
During TMC’s early studio build-out, Kurtis walked in and knocked on the door. TMC’s leadership team welcomed him in, gave him a tour, and took the time to listen to what Kurtis was trying to build.
That moment, being invited inside and taken seriously, became Kurtis’s first real exposure to a professional studio environment, and the start of a defining chapter in his career.
The Transformation: Environment, Access, and Belonging
At a surface level, TMC gave Kurtis access to professional studios, instruments, and analog gear, tools he had never been able to work with consistently. But for Kurtis, the deeper impact wasn’t just equipment.
“More important than the physical gear was the access to a community.”
TMC provided something he had never experienced before: a place where music wasn’t something squeezed into late nights, but it was the work itself. Being immersed in a dedicated creative environment shifted his mindset entirely.
“I removed myself from the bedroom and put myself in an environment that was for professional music work. That shift alone changed everything.”
The Growth Engine: Learning Through Collaboration and Repetition
At TMC, Kurtis was immersed in daily collaboration with artists across genres, including rappers, reggae artists, vocalists, and live musicians, many of whom he would never have encountered otherwise. That exposure allowed him to develop skills electronic producers rarely get to practice at scale, including vocal tracking, recording live instruments, and adapting to different creative workflows.
Those experiences compounded quickly. Kurtis stayed late, often well past scheduled hours, not out of obligation, but out of excitement. He describes being genuinely happy to come to work every day and eager to return the next morning. For him, that consistency was a signal he had finally found something worth committing to fully.
The Catalyst: Mentorship and Leadership in Action
One of the most influential relationships Kurtis formed at TMC was with Randall Jones, an internationally experienced DJ and producer and a member of The Music Company’s Board of Directors. Randall had toured globally and built a long-standing career in electronic music, and he was actively investing his time, expertise, and equipment into TMC’s mission.
Randall initially came to TMC donating and setting up analog gear from his own studio. When he heard Kurtis’s work, the two connected immediately. For Kurtis, seeing a working artist with a global career who was also deeply engaged in community leadership made the future feel tangible, not abstract.
Randall continues to view Kurtis as a protégé, exemplifying TMC’s hands-on board leadership model, where experienced professionals directly support emerging artists.
That mentorship mattered. Kurtis describes his growth during this period as exponential.
“Randall’s mentorship, and the ability to work on music across genres was a catalyst. My growth just hockey-sticked.”
The Outcome: Confidence, Career, and Sustainability
With growth came confidence, not ego, but belief. Belief that he belonged in higher-level creative rooms, with more experienced collaborators, and that he could continue learning at that level.
“TMC gave me the confidence to get into the rooms I’m in now and to keep learning once I’m there.”
That confidence opened doors Kurtis never expected to walk through. He began by taking on mix work wherever needed, gradually becoming more selective as his skills and artistic vision sharpened. In parallel, he developed his own DJ and artist project.
Today, Kurtis is represented by United Talent Agency (UTA) for worldwide bookings. He collaborates with internationally recognized artists and producers and tours regularly, including a recent residency in Ibiza and upcoming shows across the U.S. and South America.
While he’s careful not to claim he’s “finished,” Kurtis is clear about what has changed:
“I’m more confident in my ability to sustain a good, healthy lifestyle through music.”
Why This Story Matters
Kurtis’s story is not about overnight success. It’s about what happens when talent is met with access at the exact moment it might otherwise slip away.
TMC gave him:
- A professional studio environment when he had none
- Daily, hands-on experience across genres
- Mentorship from working artists and engaged board leadership
- The confidence to pursue music as a real career
- A pathway into the creative economy in San Diego and beyond
Kurtis showed up. TMC gave him the platform to turn effort into momentum, and momentum into a livelihood.
For new artists walking through TMC’s doors today, his story answers a critical question clearly: with access, community, and hard work, a career in music doesn’t have to be hypothetical. It can be real.
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