Sophie Moser 0:02
Hey, I'm Sophie.
Sophia Barber 0:04
And I'm Sophia.
Sophie Moser 0:05
And this is the That's Showbiz, Baby! podcast.
Sophie Moser 0:12
Hey, Sophia.
Sophia Barber 0:13
Hey, Sophie and hey everyone listening. Welcome back to our third episode.
Sophie Moser 0:19
We wanted to kick off the episode today with a fun little segment that we're definitely going to bring back in the future. We're going to call it this day in music history and give you some fun facts about what happened. This is definitely Sophia's world of interest. So I will let her take it away.
Sophia Barber 0:38
Thank you so much. So this day, October 13th in 2008, Beyonce released her iconic single, "Single Ladies" (Put A Ring On It). And this song. I love it so much. It was at the top of the charts for four non-consecutive weeks. And during the last of which digital downloads of "Single Ladies" increased by 157%. So it had a really good week of digital sales. It also reached number one on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart where it remains for 12 consecutive weeks. Sophie, do you have any thoughts on this song?
Sophie Moser 1:18
I mean, honestly, my first thought is that it really just takes me back to high school dances. That's what I got for you.
Sophia Barber 1:28
Amazing.
Sophie Moser 1:30
But we're gonna move pretty quickly because we have another exciting duo who's coming on the show to talk with us today. And we are actually going to introduce another new segment which is going to be called behind the scenes. And something Sophia and I are really interested in is concert production. We do a lot of this ourselves. And we definitely want to take a look about- take a look at how other people are doing that here, um, at USC. And so we are going to invite Connor Christ and Grant Conley to come on and talk with us about their recent show, which was called The Empowered Music Showcase.
Sophie Moser 2:14
Today we're talking to Connor and Grant. They're two music industry students here at USC. And they're going to take us behind the scenes of the Empowered Music Showcase. So Connor and Grant thank you guys so much for being here.
Connor Christ 2:26
Thank you for having us.
Grant Conley 2:27
Yeah, happy to be here
Sophie Moser 2:28
Yeah.
Grant Conley 2:28
Love you guys.
Sophie Moser 2:30
Can you guys- *laughs* can you guys tell us a little bit about yourself and how you ended up at USC.
Connor Christ 2:36
So my name is Connor, I'm from the DC area. So I'm from Northern Virginia. And I'm currently a sophomore in the industry program at SC. And so my whole life I played guitar, I was really big into classical guitar, and I just knew I needed to be in the music industry. And now I'm here. Whoo!
Grant Conley 2:54
Good stuff Connor. Connor and I are both sophomores. We're both music industry majors. We actually met at the like Thorton luncheon that everybody goes to-
Connor Christ 3:04
like, the first day, it was pretty cute.
Grant Conley 3:06
Yeah, then we went to class and the rest was-
Sophie Moser 3:08
so wholesome.
Grant Conley 3:10
Um, but yeah, Connor and I've been been doing everything together since like, very, very beginning that we got here. I'm from South Florida. And similar to Connor, I was a musician in high school, went to an art school and played drums. And I just I started managing my jazz band from high school and I realized that like the managing part is cooler than the actual playing of it. Not that I don't like drums, still a passion, but like, the business stuff was- and the networking and all that I felt like was way better. The mouthpiece on on me was better than the hands. So I figured that this is the perfect route to take. And then I found this guy and we've been doing everything together and it's been electric.
Sophia Barber 3:54
Yeah, that sounds really familiar. Sophie and I also met like, at the beginning of freshman year, and people make lots of jokes about Wow, you guys really do everything together. But at least you guys don't have the same name.
Sophie Moser 4:07
Yeah Facts.
Sophia Barber 4:10
Okay, we like to ask all our guests and this is kind of putting you on the spot so I apologize. But is there any song recommendations you can give us? Some artists you've been listening to right now?
Grant Conley 4:21
I'm so tempted to plug my friends but I'm not going to. Um, I've been listening, call me crazy, but I've listened to a lot of Role Model recently. Um, I know that's very like, Tik Tok. I swear to God, I like good music. I play jazz. Yeah, new new songs that have been coming out of that guy have been just so so freakin cool.
Connor Christ 4:47
Yeah, I've been listened to a lot of French house.
Grant Conley 4:49
*laughs* He really has.
Connor Christ 4:52
The French electronic scene is crazy. And then also, there's this one guy that Grant put me on. His name's Mort Garson and he made this album in what year was it?
Grant Conley 5:03
1976
Connor Christ 5:04
1976 it's called Plantasia. If you have not heard Plantasia listen to Plantasia.
Grant Conley 5:10
Yeah.
Sophia Barber 5:11
Wait, is it the one about like, where he writes music to different plants?
Grant Conley 5:15
Yes. Exactly. It's one of the first synth albums of all time, and it's just perfectly orchestrated in a way that-
Connor Christ 5:20
It's just beautiful.
Grant Conley 5:24
It's honestly, like, it's producer porn. That's what it is. It's literally-
Sophia Barber 5:29
I'm pretty sure. I've played one of those songs, like for my plant, the one that's like for a rattlesnake plant or whatever.
Connor Christ 5:35
Yeah, we got to start doing that.
Grant Conley 5:36
Yeah we gotta start doing that for all of our plants
Grant Conley 5:40
But that is a good question.
Sophia Barber 5:41
Um, Sophie?
Sophie Moser 5:43
Yeah, we have one other kind of fun question before we talk about the show. Kind of what kind of what part of the music industry do you guys have the most interest in? Is it like live event production? elsewhere? Like, where are you really interested in?
Grant Conley 5:58
Um, well, that's the thing. I- I like it all. Like I literally haven't found a part of the music industry that I'm not like, I can do that.
Connor Christ 6:07
Especially coming as musicians to
Grant Conley 6:09
Yeah,
Connor Christ 6:10
Like- we've been on both sides of like playing and throwing
Grant Conley 6:13
A hundred percent. Yeah, it's so helpful when you're a band and the guy throwing the show knows how to tech up the show. It's helpful when the guy like, putting on the show also can like play guitar and drums
Connor Christ 6:25
And just tune up instruments too
Grant Conley 6:26
Yeah, it just makes things so much easier. Like the Empowered Music Showcase for us was easy, because we understood what it what they needed at all times. We were like, Oh, crap, the, you know, rehearsal space, just got, like the cops came in one time. And we'e like noise complaints. You can't be playing at your garage. And we're like, alright, I know you guys need a rehearsal space. Because if I were you, I'd need that. And the kind of like knowing the background of it helps in every aspect from managing to throwing shows to even playing like, literally everything,
Connor Christ 7:01
Especially with a live side to like, both Sophia and I work on the production team at Thornton. And so, the live stream has been a big part of, I'm assuming all of us. Yeah. And so with COVID, it's definitely been looking a lot different.
Grant Conley 7:15
And I feel like that's a good question to ask like, oh, yeah what part of the industry do you fit into? But, you know, the go to question is, or the go to answer is like, Oh, yeah, we're in college. We don't have to decide. But the crazy thing is, there are like industry greats out there who still haven't decided, like I do think that a lot of these- these people are just dipping their toe in different waters. They say the average millionaire in the music industry has six different forms of income, which is like a complete- like that could be live streaming and like literally like eight different other aspects of the industry. So we never really have to decide.
Connor Christ 7:47
Except for law. I know I'm not into law.
Grant Conley 7:49
I know I'm not into law.
Sophia Barber 7:52
Amazing. So moving on to talk about the Epowered Music Showcase. Can you guys give us a brief description of the show? Just like a general intro.
Connor Christ 8:04
So yeah, it was the inaugural show for Gigstream TV, which is a new startup streaming platform for showcases. And they had four SC artists. Four super talented women out of the sophomore pop program. And so it was a live stream fundraiser that raised money for the groundswell community project, which is a surf therapy group that gives therapy to women who have gone through trauma.
Grant Conley 8:33
Like in sex trafficking and stuff. It's like a really, really noble cause. The guy who put it on, his name is Tom Tom Lebouf. He is like a huge Florida surfer just like me, and well not that I'm a surfer, but he's a big Florida guy. And he is like trying to find a way to do music, surfing, and like charity organizations and he managed to do all three-
Connor Christ 8:57
Yeah it really checked all three of his boxes.
Grant Conley 8:59
into the show. I was so impressed and Gigstream was actually started by this company called Pro Systems AV. They're the guys who tech up Coachella, EDC and Ultra. And they basically were like, holy crap, we're we have all this equipment. And we have all these skills to throw shows-
Connor Christ 9:18
But no show.
Grant Conley 9:19
-but no shows. So they're like, Okay, what are we going to do about it? Instagram Live is stupid. Like we got to start our own thing. And they you know, they started Gigstream TV and this is their inaugural show. They have more coming like every month now.
Connor Christ 9:31
Yeah no, they have a whole platform coming up and they're planning on throwing shows every month.
Grant Conley 9:35
Yeah, it's like the new wave of like, just high quality, like fire.
Connor Christ 9:39
Very high quality.
Grant Conley 9:40
Really, really nice looking live streams. It's like the, like caviar of live streams.
Connor Christ 9:47
They got Rebecca Jade to host it who's a local San Diego singer. The show itself is based out of San Diego, because that's where their warehouse was.
Grant Conley 9:55
You said local San Diego singer? She's won a Grammy. She sings with Sheila E. And like a bunch of like, she's, I think she's sang, um, backup to Michael Jackson or something like that. And like,
Connor Christ 10:13
Yes, something like that.
Grant Conley 10:14
I don't know she did some crazy backup singing stuff. And she's also just a really nice lady. So she was a perfect moderator. And you know, the way the show worked is, you know, the artists went and did a set. And then in between each set, all four, they had Rebecca hop on camera and do a little like fundraising spiel for Groundswell. And they sold like they fundraised, a bunch of , or auctioned off rather, a bunch of like speaker system, speaker systems and like, speakers and stuff.
Connor Christ 10:40
Yeah some of the sponsors brought in some speakers to auction off and there was a lot going on. They had interviews with the artists too playing.
Grant Conley 10:48
It was just an all around fun day. If I'm being completely honest.
Connor Christ 10:51
Really fun day, yeah.
Grant Conley 10:52
Yeah, it was just a lot of stuff was going on. And honestly, I think the biggest flex from the entire show was
Connor Christ 10:57
Just seeing a concert.
Grant Conley 10:59
Yeah. It was so fun. It was literally just us, like four of us and like some of the videographers and photographers like Jon Joei from Concerts was there, Kitty Huang was there and literally, Matt Garfinkel, he's also on Concerts, he's in special events. We were all just there and they were the four of them, were just tearing their hearts out performing for like the five of us. And we were-
Connor Christ 11:23
Just jumping up and down.
Grant Conley 11:24
We were going as hard as we could like the five of us were attempting to like mosh and stuff. Like it's so fun.
Sophie Moser 11:33
Yeah, no, that's so fun. I miss live music so much like actual live music. Um, but I guess kind of like throwing it back to the beginning. Um, how did you guys kind of decide on like a female empowerment theme for the show? How did that come about? Like, how did the concept get started?
Connor Christ 11:50
So it was really a lot of Tom. He was the one who organized the entire event, and he's the one that founded Gigstream.
Grant Conley 11:57
But at the same time, it's also just that's the that's like a go to lineup, the four of them are really, really good friends: Tippy, Ellie, Cordelia and Maddie.
Connor Christ 12:05
Because they're all in the pop program together.
Grant Conley 12:06
And they're all just homies. They're literally all just like best friends. And it's honestly just inspiring to see such a friend group just do such amazing things, with, you know, their music and also their careers. And, you know, that lineup kind of just fell into place with the theme. And I believe it's a quote from Tom, when we were talking about this way earlier, he goes, there's nothing more badass than working with four awesome women. And that's so true. Because this show is just so professional and seamless. And it's impossible to tell that these people were college students. It literally felt like they were the most professional artists I've ever seen. And you know, that means- that's empowerment right there. Like it was just right in front of ya. Everything about it was just so, you know, empowering to us even.
Connor Christ 12:52
And just in a time with COVID, too, because I feel like in the industry, we have so much going against us right now. And to just putting an event on like that to begin with was empowering in itself.
Connor Christ 13:02
And with that focus towards women empowerment? Yeah.
Grant Conley 13:07
Bring it right home. We left the stage thinking like, holy crap, we need to, we need to do so many more of these or like something else, we were literally so happy to just be in a room with music playing that we're like this can't stop. So we're eyeing new or the next version of this in any capacity as we speak. We're at the drawing boards planning the next one. And it's just because I can't get the feeling out of my head of just seeing like a band of musicians. Just goddamn rocking it. And it was- it was amazing. I'm chasing that feeling every day.
Sophia Barber 13:46
Yeah, that's amazing. I'm so glad you guys got to experience that. For the venue. Does Gigstream- Do they own that warehouse? Is that where they're permanently going to set up all of their streams they do in the future? Or was it like a renting for the night and they're going to do other national venues? What did that look like?
Connor Christ 14:05
It is their warehouse where they house all of their equipment that they would use at festivals. And so they just converted half of it. They set up a stage, they set up their festival stage setup just in the warehouse. So it was pretty interesting to just come into this warehouse, like where are we? And then we turn the corner and there's this whole stage set up and we're like, oh my god,
Grant Conley 14:28
And behind the camera like the cameras will get the stage, right? But then right behind it is just a bunch of like cases filled with sound equipment just stacked up to the roof. And it was literally just a storage facility. It's literally just a storage facility that they just organized. And it was it was beautiful the way they did it.
Sophia Barber 14:47
Yeah. So you guys were brought in, kind of for assistance for the business side of it. What were- what is an overview of your responsibilities and what did you guys do for the event?
Grant Conley 14:58
So, on the credits, we were credited as directors of marketing. But, our role in this resembled more producer than anything else. Um, what that meant was, you know, obviously, we did have the marketing role, which is where we reached out to blogs and publications and other ways of promotion. You know, like emailing lists, and stuff
Connor Christ 15:18
And then we ran a little Instagram campaign too
Grant Conley 15:21
I mean just like, the basic stuff for that. I mean, we also were just on phone calls every day with the new people just like hey, wanna help out with the show? Just, we're starting from scratch. It's us just doing it.
Connor Christ 15:32
Lots of phone calls.
Grant Conley 15:33
Lots of phone calls. Um, but I mean, other than that, the producer side of it the reason we weren't- I wouldn't say that we were just marketing directors is because we also were at every single rehearsal with the band.
Connor Christ 15:45
Yeah, we were with the band and anything they needed leading up to the show. We were there to help them with we mentioned this earlier, but like when the cops came to bust the rehearsal, we were the first ones to help them find a new space to go. Like whether it be filming just behind the scenes stuff working with Kitty and Jon.
Grant Conley 16:01
We organized ads to run for it through just like filming the rehearsals because they were so fun and charismatic themselves. We were like, let's go to the desert and film something crazy.
Connor Christ 16:12
Yeah, we were about to go to the desert to go shoot a promo campaign. But it was the weekend where it was insanely hot.
Grant Conley 16:19
It was 110.
Connor Christ 16:20
Like, insanely hot. And that day we were like do we need to do this?
Grant Conley 16:25
Then the most beautiful thing happened, we showed up to the rehearsal that night. And it was just a whole vibe. Everybody was-
Connor Christ 16:32
It was a whole vibe.
Grant Conley 16:32
A whole bunch everybody was it was it was in this like garage that we- that I mean, the pop kids have literally like put like the floor down sweep it out have literally changed the entire thing to fit like what classifies as a rehearsal space. And you know, wrote the setlist on the wall in chalk like, it's just such a ground up
Connor Christ 16:34
Yeah it was just the most like quirky, like perfect environment.
Grant Conley 16:54
It was grunge. It was peak grunge. And we were like, we just have to film the promos here. And they were, they were so like- they were beautiful. And I've never been like more confident running like any ad in my life. It was so- they were just so quirky and fun and charismatic. And it was just- it fell right into place. Because they're such like, fun people to be around.
Sophie Moser 17:18
Yeah, that's awesome. So you guys kind of talked a little bit about the creative process of figuring out what you were going to use in your social media, like marketing assets. And, um just in the interest of learning a little bit more about how you just ran your marketing campaign. What were some of the technical things like what did you have to do with Instagram to kind of get that out? What were- I know, you talked about reaching out to people, but just more on the social media side? What did some of those responsibilities look like?
Grant Conley 17:44
Something that Connor said that was probably the best point that anybody had made throughout the entire marketing process is- about Instagram campaigns- was he said, Yeah, it'll get it to people's phones, but no one's going to do anything with it. Everybody's just gonna keep scrolling. So we needed to find an ad that was like eye catching, and in a way that people would actually engage with it that showed character
Connor Christ 18:07
We just needed branding from the beginning too. Because the second that you can link, like Tippy's posts with Cordelia's post with Maddie's post, it makes it far more unified. And so in my opinion, like when you're starting a campaign, you need to really go for that unified process. So that way they see it's a thing rather than just one person plugging something.
Grant Conley 18:28
Yeah, if it's a dude, just saying, like, yeah, stream, my new music, you're just gonna keep scrolling. But if you see like, a community of best friends coming together, like to put on, like a show that is, you know, ground up type thing like it was, that's, you're gonna look at it every time. Like it's, I mean, obviously, not every time but it was definitely better than the alternative I'd say, for sure.
Connor Christ 18:52
And aesthetically, like Jon Joei, he did the editing for us. He does editing concerts. Yeah, he is a wizard. Jon Joei. But um, just aesthetically, he really kept it all the same. And it just looked pleasing on the eyes, which is what matters when- Because Instagram is a visual platform and you have to catch people like that. Which is why having video media and having something visually appealing is super, super important.
Grant Conley 19:17
That Tik Tok attention span.
Connor Christ 19:19
Yeah.
Sophia Barber 19:21
Well, Jon is the king of that, that so you brought in someone good.
Grant Conley 19:26
and he's happy to do it. Jon is such a- such a bright soul. When I- when we were talking about going to the desert to film originally- we had fully planned this out by the way, like we were going to do it. If it was not 110 degrees.
Connor Christ 19:37
Jon made us an entire list. He said make sure you bring water, make sure you bring sunscreen.
Grant Conley 19:43
He made me a Google Drive link with all that I needed to bring. Downloads for like my phone to make it, make the ram better and stuff to film and all these filters I should use for this and that.
Connor Christ 19:54
But that's something overall that I think was so special about the event was everybody that was working with it recognized the importance of it, and just how it brought everybody together. Because the cause was there. And the timing was there. Nobody has done this in a while. And so everybody that we worked with was super happy to be on board. And it was just a really special thing to be a part of.
Grant Conley 19:56
I agree. Hundred percent. Well said Connor.
Sophia Barber 20:20
Yeah, how- Because the market is super oversaturated with virtual concerts right now from literally March. How do you guys? or How did you guys work to make this event unique and stand out and draw people's attention versus other virtual events?
Grant Conley 20:38
I mean, yeah, so to me, it was because it wasn't just like a live stream concert with music. And that's it. That's not what this was. In my opinion. This wasn't even like, this didn't really feel like a live stream concert, like you would typically see on Instagram or anything. It was a fundraiser, it was packed full of like YouTube level content. It wasn't just like some artists sitting in their bedroom strumming on a guitar, Like, this was fully produced, as if it were a concert made by like, the Coachella people, which it was.
Connor Christ 21:11
Yeah, that's what I was gonna say what really made me be like, Oh, crap, was the production value. Because the people at Gigstram and Pro Systems like, that's their job is to throw high quality concerts and-
Grant Conley 21:19
That's all they know, and they know it well.
Connor Christ 21:28
Yeah, no, I haven't seen that many high quality live streams in terms of like, the actual stage full lighting, the production, the mixing. Like it wasn't, yeah, it like grant said it. It was definitely a step up from an Instagram Live.
Grant Conley 21:42
In a lot of ways.
Connor Christ 21:43
No shade on Instagram Live.
Grant Conley 21:44
Yeah, and the best part. The best part about it all is, I mean, it made money. Like it fully made money. Um, the, you know, Groundswell project that we were raising money for? Yeah, we got them- we got them some big bucks. Like they literally, I mean, that's a great, that's a great thing, raise money for a good cause. And you know, that's a pat on my back, like pat on our back.
Connor Christ 22:06
It let- it let performers perform, it let people who like the performers see them perform. Which kind of a win win for everybody.
Grant Conley 22:13
Yeah, literally, everybody won in the situation and it felt great.
Sophie Moser 22:17
Yeah, that's awesome. I'm kind of going off of that. Since you guys were so involved in the marketing side. Do you have any thoughts about what really helped? Like you talked about kind of carving out your niche on social media, and just what made you guys unique. And do you have any thoughts on what kind of translated that into actual attendance at the concert? Because I feel like it can be hard sometimes to you know, you get people's eyes on it, but then to like, pull them over to actually be engaged to actually show up when it's live?
Connor Christ 22:45
Well, I think a lot of it was the group of artists too.
Grant Conley 22:48
100%
Connor Christ 22:49
Because Cordelia, Maddie, Tippy, Ellie, they've all had shows together back last semester. And that was the rep of Oh, look at these super talented pop kids that are coming together. And just as a group, like, they're definitely known as a squad of musicians. So I think together, they brought an audience, for sure.
Grant Conley 23:12
Yeah, they definitely have their own brand to them. That's not just female empowerment. It's also like this, this, and the other. It's like so much that they bring to the table that you just can't take your freaking eyes off of. It's- It's so just they're like, they're set together, the four of them, and they just lead into one another, they all bring a completely different vibe to them. I know that's not directly answering your questions on how to get people on live streams. But I literally think personally-
Connor Christ 23:39
The content itself is important.
Grant Conley 23:41
Yeah.
Connor Christ 23:41
Because at the end of the day, like we're all making content, you know. And so if the artists aren't delivering, then you're not going to be able to get an audience.
Grant Conley 23:51
Yeah, it's a big personality thing, in my opinion, the idea that they have friends, and you know, I guess followers and fans that really, really just like who they are, as people will, you know, that'll take it a step further from just like casually listening to someone's song, that'll take it to the step of, oh, they'll go to everything you try to do, which is to be said a lot about, like, what makes an artist you know, blow up. You have people like Tyler The Creator that fell in love with him because of his personality. And I feel like these, like all four of these girls have the exact same quality that people fall in love with their personality
Connor Christ 24:24
Completely. And I also just think overall, just in terms of the entire event, like the name itself, like the Empowered Music Showcase. Like it stood for something, in my opinion. So that's also what I think helped differentiate it to bring some more attention to where there might not be otherwise.
Grant Conley 24:44
I have nothing to add. That was beautiful Connor.
Sophia Barber 24:49
Great job, Connor. Would you guys be willing just for people who are listening that might be curious what the day of a show looks like to run us through you guys, and what you guys were up to on that day.
Grant Conley 25:02
For lack of a better term, we were raging. The audience- Yeah, like they had a lack of an audience for the show. They were performing for nobody except for like the four of us. So we were jumping around like it was our job. And we kind of gave the artists something to play for. Yeah, in anything that was probably our biggest role.
Connor Christ 25:21
Yeah, we're talking about before how, like, we were working with the artists so closely up to the show, and being there for them that moment- because as an artist, it sucks to perform to nobody. And while like, it's something I took for granted, for sure. Like, especially with COVID and everything, like it was kind of our job to almost bring back the familiarity of being at an actual concert. Which is something I hadn't experienced before.
Grant Conley 25:51
Like I would-
Connor Christ 25:52
It was definitely interesting.
Grant Conley 25:53
For example, Alex the guitarist for the band, Alec Shaw, he was my roommate last year, one of my really probably one of my best friends in the world. And he was playing on stage. And he played a cool lick. And I went, *Thumbs up motion* and he like, nodded at me and was like, yeah, and then played it again. Like, that's the kind of audience engagement that you can't get anywhere else. So I mean, we were trying to like, do well, you know, photography assets, and this and that. Ya know we weren't the ones taking them. But we were trying to, like get content or whatever, we came in there thinking that we had like-
Connor Christ 26:21
sorry, sorry, I just got a call.
Sophie Moser 26:24
No you're so good.
Grant Conley 26:25
We had- we thought we had a job to do, which was during the concert, but then when they started playing, it was just so insane to see live music that we just had to stand up, put our phones down, and just dance. And it was awesome.
Connor Christ 26:42
Yeah, like the majority of our job was definitely beforehand. And so it was kind of nice to just have the benefits of it and just hang out, you know?
Grant Conley 26:51
We experienced the show with everybody that's viewing from home.
Sophie Moser 26:54
Yeah, that's awesome. I think one thing I know, Sophia and I both watched some of the live stream. And something that stuck out to me right away was the visuals that you guys had. And I know that you probably weren't, you know, directly involved in this, but maybe just touching a little bit on how you were able to kind of get that element, who did the visuals, where that came from?
Connor Christ 27:14
So yeah, that was all Pro Systems. And this is definitely something we've brought up before. But the professionalism for the actual production and the event itself, is what took it to the next level, in my opinion. Because just like you said, the lighting, and the mixing, and all of our technical aspects of the show, were just there.
Grant Conley 27:35
Yeah, it was the best- it was state of the art best everything. The screen that they had, the one that the visuals were being cast on, was-
Connor Christ 27:42
It was gorgeous.
Grant Conley 27:42
Yeah, it was, it was insane. And like perfect quality.
Sophia Barber 27:47
Wow, that- it was really impressive. I tuned in and I was obsessed with you guys, amazing job. What was the biggest challenge that you guys faced throwing a virtual show? Or was it your first show?
Grant Conley 28:01
Well, we'd helped- worked on Concerts Committee with y'all, of course. So we did, Sir, that was the first I guess, live stream that we all worked on. Um, but uh, this show was unlike any other in terms of the- what we had to do to get it, which was get people to watch a live stream, which is-
Connor Christ 28:22
It's tough task.
Grant Conley 28:23
That's an uphill battle.
Connor Christ 28:24
It's an uphill battle. And especially because the longer we go on, the less live streams are going to matter.
Grant Conley 28:32
So for our show, we're talking about. Four artists. Four hours. Like that's not an easy thing to tell people to be on for, like not everyone is free for four hours. How do you make it? How do you make the product so perfect, that they'll clear their schedules?
Connor Christ 28:45
Well, yeah,and especially like, in my opinion, I just think live streams remind people of why we're watching live streams in the first place. So it is kind of it's kind of depressing to put it like that. But that's why when we do have live streams, we have to give it our all and really step up the actual bar. So then it's worth people's time.
Sophia Barber 29:07
Is there anything else about the show or about you guys that you would want to let our listeners know about?
Sophie Moser 29:13
Open ended.
Grant Conley 29:15
I just think that the biggest recurring theme from all of this that Connor and I've talked at- talked at length about is just when you're doing a show with people from any aspect, it's such a community thing to the point- because we're all SC students, we're all homies, we all like do everything together. And then when we're- when we have a common goal, which is throw a show together, we're always just hanging out and trying to plan stuff and, and it was just the most like enriching experience just to hang out with these people every day and have a common thing to work towards. And when it actually happened, that was awesome too. But that didn't even need to happen for it to be awesome. Like the show didn't need to happen for this to be an enriching experience.
Connor Christ 29:58
Completely and just like the fact that we're able to take what we're good at, whether it be performing or whether it be marketing, and just put it towards a good cause.
Grant Conley 30:07
Oh facts.
Connor Christ 30:08
Especially like, with everything going on, it's more important than ever to just build that community like you were saying,
Grant Conley 30:15
Build other people up, which brings you up.
Sophie Moser 30:17
Yeah, that's awesome. Well, thank you guys so much for coming on, for giving us a little bit of insight on the Empowered Music Showcase. And I can't wait to see what you guys do next. I'm sure it'll be awesome.
Connor Christ 30:29
Thank you guys for having us it's been a blast!
Grant Conley 30:30
It's good to see you guys. I missed you guys a lot.
Sophia Barber 30:34
Thank you all for listening. You can find us on Instagram at sophia.productions. And please go rate, download, and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai