Our Story
Founders Jonathan and Lanisha met in Philadelphia the summer of 2019 when Jonathan was DJing for a music festival that Lanisha curated. The two part-time artists bonded over their love of creating music and formed a friendship-mentor relationship where Lanisha would help Jonathan with songwriting and performance, and Jonathan would help Lanisha develop her production and mixing skills. This relationship helped to highlight the importance of creative partnership, as the two would collaborate to release four solo and collaborative projects over the next two years.
After graduating from Brown University with a B.A. in Commerce, Organizations and Entrepreneurship, Jonathan advocated to provide opportunities for under-resourced youth in the education space as a math teacher, management consultant and college access nonprofit director. In these roles, Jonathan met many young, talented artists and musicians who viewed their creative talents as hobbies, and not as a viable means to earn income. This hit close to home, as Jonathan never felt genuinely supported to pursue revenue streams through art until he was well into adulthood.
Lanisha graduated from Lehigh University the College of Business and Economics with a B.A, in Supply Chain Management. After graduation they moved to Philadelphia where they worked in digital media helping businesses build their brand awareness and sales through digital media solutions. After learning what they could from the industry they shifted her focus to art. Teaching at studios and schools in the Greater Philadelphia area, Lanisha saw how art education impacted students' confidence, growth mindset, and ability to work collaboratively with their peers. As an independent artist, Lanisha carries a strong belief that arts education is necessary for healthy student development, and should be considered when teaching students viable career pathways.
After bonding over these shared beliefs, Jonathan and Lanisha created FamFrequency Productions as a response to these questions: “Why are the arts not generally presented to young people as viable or practical careers? Why do young musicians often look at their talent as a hobby, as opposed to a legitimate skill to generate streams of income?”
The two founders experienced a general lack of career support with regard to the arts. Music and the arts are presented as enrichment and culture, but not as professions. There is often not a clear path to career when it comes to being a creative entrepreneur. When a young person says that they would like to be a consultant, a doctor, a lawyer, a computer engineer or a teacher, they are provided with a “track” of sorts. They know what majors they should concentrate in, how many years of schooling are required, what fellowships and internships exist that will give them experience, as well as what communities they can join to build their networks in this field.
At FamFrequency Productions, we strive to be this career resource and accelerator for music producers. We are looking to empower the young music community with the entrepreneurial skills to generate intergenerational wealth. We also look to generate more representation for women and people of color to contribute to the largely homogenous music producer and audio engineer community. It is important that we usher in a generation of artists who are empowered with the knowledge to avoid exploitation.
