It’s late afternoon in a New London recording studio. It could be midnight or dawn. The lights are low and the dark walls are heavily soundproofed so that off-mic conversation has a hushed, almost confessional quality — even if the discussion is about ordering pizza. There are four small rooms: a control center with its mixing board and computers and a window for direct visual contact with the adjacent “live booth,” where vocals and/or instruments are laid down; a side lounge area; and the entry foyer with a small glass-top display counter for merch. Tall cans of Arizona iced tea and large bottles of energy drinks seem to be placed on every available surface.
Thirty-one year-old Andrew “Suave-Ski” Camacho is seated behind the mixing board and, on a low-slung couch just behind him, is 19-year-old Krystalia “K. Rose” Arroyo-Casey. They’re communicating via talk box into the “live room,” where 19-year-old Kela “Kela Nore” Parker is helping Demarcus “Markeyy” Green, 17, nuance a few syllable-happy lines in a rap song he’s written and recording. Camacho’s son, 9-year-old Cayden “King Cay” Camacho, is on a fold-out chair next to his dad, watching carefully.
When Green’s cadence is properly rehearsed, Camacho hits PLAY and the tune’s beat and spare musical hooks burst out of the speakers. It’s a mid-song section and Green, nodding in time with the sounds and his own previously recorded voice, leans into the microphone from atop a tall stool. As Camacho punches-in on the digital recorder, Green delivers the troublesome verse with confidence and swagger.
When he’s done, Camacho clicks OFF and, in the sudden silence, everyone nods as Parker high-fives Green.
“You like that one?” Camacho says, seeming to hold his own judgment as he eyes Green through the glass.
“I think I got it, right?” Green says hopefully.
“You tell me,” Camacho says. “Do YOU think you got it?”
Parker and Arroyo-Casey are watching the exchange closely, as though they THINK Green recorded a good take but are waiting for Camacho’s thoughts.
Green takes a breath and nods and, as though pleased with the conclusion he’s drawn, says, “Yeah. I liked that one.”
Camacho smiles. “I liked it, too. Come on in and we’ll give it a listen.”
They do. It’s a take. Pizza is ordered.
Class is in session
This recording session, held a few weeks ago, takes place during the inaugural semester of the Artflame Music Academy. The first class of six students was held in January and, when the course ends on March 31, it would be perfectly appropriate if they exit the program to the strains of Kanye West’s “Graduation Day.”
On the other hand, given that Artflame is a non-profit, quick-immersion class covering every aspect of the music business — with a focus on hip hop — each grad will, like Green, have written and recorded their own anthems as per the above scenario. There will be a compilation CD featuring work by all six young graduates and live performances at a still-to-be-finalized album release party.
Who needs Ye?
Hip hop vision
Artflame is the realization of a dream for New London’s Camacho, an established rapper, producer and entrepreneur who has released several albums and videos and tours across the country with a growing international fanbase. Comprising 20 overall sessions, the Artflame curriculum is divided into four sections of five tutorials each: the Music Business, Making Music, Music Media and Music Marketing.
The Artflame course is free of charge, and students were selected after auditions at the Garde Arts Center, which is a main sponsor of the program.
“As part of our efforts to help young folks during the pandemic, we raised funds to start a Department of Youth and Community Engagement with New London activist/city councilor Curtis Goodwin, who co-founded the New London Talent Show,” says Steve Sigel, executive director of the Garde. “Andrew is committed to helping young artists, so we’re proud to help and advise Artflame as one of a series of youth arts initiatives and programs.”
Camacho runs the academy with his manager Peter Helms II, The pair oversee tangential, for-profit multi operations the Helms Media Group (focusing on corporate clients) and Creative Konnections (targeting individual artists). Helms also run Main Plug Entertainment, an artist management outfit running the careers of Camacho and four other rappers.
“Artflame comes from having Cayden around me and my music since he was born,” Camacho says. “From the time he was 5, he started to freestyle while I was recording songs for my albums. He’d want to jump on the mic and start recording and he was really good. At 7 he was even better, and we started to record HIM and his own songs.”
King Cay has indeed released his own material and performed at such venues as Ocean Beach Park and the New London Talent Show among other venues. It was his youthful exuberance, ambition and musical potential that started Camacho to think in a larger context. As he’d done for himself in building his own career from scratch — after extensive self-education on YouTube — Camacho registered King Cay with ASCAP, the performance rights organization that processes songwriter and performance royalties.
Show me the money
“Once I did, Cay started receiving royalties,” Camacho says. “He’s 9 years old and he’s getting royalties! And I couldn’t help but imagine how many other young artists there are out there who don’t know how to get royalties or actually register themselves as recording artists and take a professional approach because music IS a business. It’s fun and entertaining first and foremost, but it’s a business. It’s something that can lead to much more success if you take the right approach and do it the right way.”
At the time, with Camacho’s Suave Ski entity gaining momentum through album and song streams and video exposure, he and Helms created Creative Konnections and Helms Media. Their expertise includes videos, photo shoots, digital marketing, music distribution and cover art design.
When those companies were up and running profitably, Camacho says it seemed perfectly natural to start a nonprofit, educational side-organization to helped young artists with a functional intro to the ins and outs of the machinations of the music industry. And since one of the pair’s assets is a fully equipped multi-track studio, the concept of Artflame includes not just tutorials on business but also music production, engineering and recording and, perhaps most importantly, songwriting.
“This class is our first rollout, and it’s been fun, and I think it’s providing valuable lessons,” Camacho says. “We’re encouraged and hoping to grow it as time goes on. Right now, it’s kind of a proof of concept, so we’ve kept it small so we could hyper focus on these young artists, and it’s been exciting to see it happening and what might happen next. We’re hoping the next class might have 20 students.”
‘You have been accepted’
Green, relaxing after his time in the vocal booth, says he’s always been into music and was influenced early on by Michael Jackson and Eminem. He got into writing his own songs and his mother and aunt were impressed.
“My aunt saw an ad for the (Artflame class) on Facebook and signed me up and I didn’t even know about it,” Green says. “Finally, she told me and I said, ‘OK, that’s cool.’ But the truth is, I was kind of scared …’ The Suave contacted me and said, ‘Are you still interested in this program?’ And I said, ‘Yeah! Of course I am!'”
Green says he didn’t expect to learn about the business aspects of music; he’d been anticipating the writing and recording parts. “But I’m so glad we learned all the behind the scenes stuff. Now I know not only what to do inside a studio, I know how not to get scammed by a label and make sure I get royalties.”
Arroyo-Casey, who got into hip hop when she was 10, is an alum of the New London Talent Show and Thompson sent her a Facebook link to the Artflame auditions. So did her father.
“I thought, well, you know, why not?” she says. “I hadn’t been active in music for about a year and a half and I wanted to get back into it so I went to the auditions. About a month later they called and asked if I wanted to be part of it. I said, ‘Cool! Let’s do it!’ So far, it’s been a fun and great experience.
“And it was like actual school. They sent out emails explaining the goals and we got packets with what we were going to be doing. The studio work has been fantastic and the business stuff … I didn’t know much about any of it until Peter started giving us his insight. They know we’re young and don’t know how to deal with royalties or building a brand or producing or building a song.”
Camacho says the tentative plan is to schedule the next Artflame course in last spring or early summer. “What we’ve learned while teaching these young artists is how talented THEY are,” he says. “They’re eager and work hard but they also have fun and potential. I believe any one of them could take their music to a big audience if they’re willing to work at it.
“The thing is, right here in New London County, we have such an amazingly diverse area with so many ethnicities and so many different types of artists. I don’t think there are a lot of programs like Artflame and we designed it to fit this demographic. Our job is to instill the work ethic and knowledge to make it as a major artist in today’s climate. This class has reinforced my belief that we’re on the right track.”
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