North Hollywood High School students take a risk, join the battle that can help your passionate musical careers.
On January 6, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) announced its participation with the Soundtrap Music Studio app and the Young Producers group’s 5th annual SoCal Beat Battle. Even though it isn’t well known, the SoCal beat battle was first introduced in the early 2020s during the pandemic in order to encourage creative students to challenge themselves by making their own original songs.
Students from fifth to twelfth grade can turn in three songs into one category: producer, vocalist, instrument, and a new section, band. Through the Soundtrap app provided by Schoology they can submit to the link on the flyers or official Young Producers website.
Even though the due date to submit the application is April 17, the final event won’t be held until May at the Spotify headquarters, where finalists can compete in order to benefit through their artistic skill that are often overlooked due to academic pressure.
Jacob Becker is a member of one of the many bands at NHHS, Grupo Altorango. Becker emphasizes, “I know like a lot of the talented kids here [that] deserve that [opportunity].” Highlighting that many can use this program in order to publicly showcase their talents if they hadn’t been able to before.
With such an expressive hobby, wanting to show it to the world can be crucial to becoming known and to getting over being overwhelmed by such a big crowd. Alfredo Bilbao explains that students who are “really passionate about letting others see [their] talents [is something] incredible.”
Not only can students be heard by other musicians through the SoCal Beat Battle, but they can get recognition and be sought out by the professional judges that are present. A member from the same band as Becker, Miguel Olmos, explains, “If they see our talent, [if] they see potential in us, they could get us somewhere.” He explains that the music industry is “all about the connections, at the end of the day” which is why getting to know famous people can be essential to growing as a musician.
An alumni from NHHS, Evan Williams, serves as an example of this potential seeing as he was the winner of the same Beat Battle in 2022. He used his skills as a cellist and a guitarist not only to win the competition but also to
participate in other programs such as the LA Phil Fellow, which gave him training and preparedness for music composition.
Robin Sharp, the music teacher at NHHS states, “That was a student in my jazz band, orchestra, and AP Music Theory class, and that student went on to become a film composition major at USC.” He expresses that Williams was a great musician and guitarist that took opportunities that made him what can be considered successful.
Although it can be stressful or nerve-wracking to compete in this program, students can open up about their passion for music, get useful feedback, get connections, and show off their creative side.
