Brothers reach out to local youth through music

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

With loads of bad news peppered across newspaper pages, two Santa Barbara brothers have set out to provide some good news for local youth through music.
Cory and Mike Cordero-Rabe, owners of The Sound Lab, said they opened the studio one month ago not only to make a living and have a place to practice, but also to reach out to local children in a positive way.

“There’s a lot of bad news out there,” Cory Cordero-Rabe, 28, said. “We just want to give them something to look forward to”
Beginning tomorrow at 11 a.m., the two brothers said they will open the doors of The Sound Lab at 812 E. Gutierrez St., and allow anyone who’s interested in using their space to do so. Free of charge.
“We’re not sure how many people are going to show up,” said Mike Cordero-Rabe, 31.
He said they will help anyone who wants to learn to record their own music, and at the end of a half hour or so, send them away with their own CD.
Cory Cordero-Rabe, a hip-hop artist, said he wanted to open a studio so he and three bands he works with would have a place to rehearse and record. He acts as the studio engineer, while Mike Cordero-Rabe focuses on promotions. The men said their goal is to open the studio doors to the public on the first Sunday of each month.
But the men also hope to regularly provide music camps for a diverse array of children from Santa Barbara. And if the first camp, which concluded yesterday, was an indicator, the brothers seem to be on the right track.
Fifteen children signed up for the inaugural camp. Most of the participants attend Cold Spring School in Montecito, where Cory Cordero-Rabe works.
During the five-day camp, participants learned the ins and outs of working in a recording studio, how to use different instruments and a thing or two about marketing.
At the end of the week, the children had all written an original song, designed album covers and played a role in the recording process. Mike Cordero-Rabe said some of the children just wanted to play instruments the whole time, while others were more interested in learning about the studio.
Though the first camp was heavily attended by students who live in the affluent enclave of Montecito, Cory Cordero-Rabe said he hopes a more diverse crowd attends three camps scheduled this summer.
“I think it will benefit the haves as well as the have-nots to get together,” Cory Cordero-Rabe said.
In order to ensure this happens, he plans offer scholarships to the city’s boys and girls clubs.
The brothers said the weeklong camps will cost $250 per person.
As the camp was concluding yesterday, Nathaniel Hodson, a sixth-grader, said he enjoyed learning about how a recording studio works.
Hodson, a guitar player whose parents are both music professors at Westmont College, said he’s into Led Zeppelin and The Beatles.
“I just love to do music,” he said. “It’s really a blast.”
The studio will be open to the public tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.