May 8, 2017

Meet Lawrence Grey of Young Producers Group

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lawrence Grey.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Lawrence. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I fell in love with electronic music in high school. While studying music at NYU, a friend put me in touch with an alternative to incarceration center in Brooklyn that was looking for someone to teach music production to the 14-17 year olds that were mandated by the courts to be there. I had worked a lot with kids growing up all over LA and loved it, but these kids coming out of Juvi were a new thing for me. These kids were all basically from East Brooklyn and I’m from West LA, two places that could not be more different. When I told them I was gonna teach them how to make hip hop, they looked at me like I was insane. But as soon as I got out my computer and showed them the beats I was making and that I could record them, any walls came down and we were just two musicians working in the studio. That experience moved me and I realized that there were no programs designed for kids with different backgrounds to come together like that. I decided to create a company that could make that happen and fill the major gap between music at school (if it’s there any at all) and the music students actually listen to. I could see the company in my mind and I knew that if I didn’t do it, someone else was going to do it worse. It was a calling that I couldn’t ignore.

I went to UCLA, got a Masters in Education and started YPG right after I graduated in 2013. I ran it by myself for 3 years, building it up and shaping the curriculum. Now I have two instructors working for me in 8 schools and 5 nonprofits across Los Angeles and the program is continuing to grow. Lots of exciting stuff on the horizon!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Making this thing happen has been the greatest challenge I’ve ever faced. Spending my high school and college years making music and working with kids actually didn’t prepare me much at all to start a music education company that deals with primarily public schools. While UCLA was great for connecting with public schools around LA, they didn’t teach me anything about starting an education company. Thankfully, I learn quickly and the classes we offer are one-of-a-kind.

Music production also almost never happens in schools. It’s a wilderness, you have to lay down foundations and start from scratch. That offers a great deal of challenges, but is also an amazing opportunity.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
The mission of Young Producers Group (YPG) is to improve the creative, cultural, and academic skill sets of students through project-based, interactive, digital music instruction. We are dedicated to fostering fun and creative environments for young people to learn how to make the type of music they actually listen to. Hip hop, techno, and other styles of electronic music become tools for young people to connect across socioeconomic boundaries. Collaboration and musical development are vehicles for personal and social growth with YPG.

YPG provides a creative community for youth at all skill levels and from all different backgrounds. In-school, after-school, and summer programs connect kids across Los Angeles through the exploration of audio production, beat making, recording, and electronic music performance. With Ableton Live music software as the engine of this exploration, we’re helping kids discover the joy of making music. YPG provides free music production software to schools and students. We offer unique, project-based curricula to guide K-12 students through the process of making music. Professional development programs help traditional music teachers, theater teachers, and others integrate music technology into their classrooms. Private lessons are also available.

As far as I can tell, we are one of the only education companies that is as much designed for kids in public schools as it is for kids in private schools. I am very proud of the fact that we are operating outside of the system that separates kids based on socioeconomic background. I guess it takes a musician to not think like a traditional businessman!

What were you like growing up?
I’ve always had a ton of energy and enthusiasm. My whole life, I’ve operated at 0 or 100. I get swept up in the things I love, always have. I started playing guitar around 11 and writing music quickly became a compulsive obsession.

I’m born and raised Los Angeles. I have a great family with two little sisters that I adore. My sisters and my parents are all very creative, intellectual people that I am so grateful for.

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