Dive deep into the Denver music scene with season two of "Underground at the Showcase," the official youth-produced podcast of the Underground Music Showcase (UMS). New episodes launch on January 30th on all podcast streaming platforms.
Season 2 Highlights:
Inside scoop: Hear candid conversations with top local artists who rocked UMS 2023, including Destino, Corsicana, Dandu, Horse Bitch, The White Moms, LOBO LARA, Fruta Brutal, iZCALLi, Grace Devine, Rootbeer Richie & The Reveille, Fuya Fuya, and Dead Boyfriend.
Capturing the energy: Recorded live at the iconic HR Meininger Company during UMS 2023, bringing the festival energy to your ears.
Empowering youth: This project is powered by Youth on Record (YOR), UMS co-owner and provider of a year-round podcasting internship program for young creatives (18-24).
This podcast emerged as a UMS project stewarded by YOR, who became a co-owner of the festival in March 2022. YOR runs a year-round podcasting internship program, teaching young creatives ages 18-24 skills in storytelling, production, interviewing, and more. Underground at the Showcase is a project undertaken by these talented youth podcasters, who are being prepared for work in the growing podcast industry.
"The Underground at the Showcase podcast was an experience of a lifetime,” YOR intern Xavier Gauthier said. “It was so much fun getting to research and interview upcoming musicians from all over the world and local to Denver. We spoke with artists from all walks of life and each one brought an extremely unique energy and perspective to the table. Even now, I follow all the artists and bands on social media and streaming services to keep up with their latest projects. I hope to be featured on the podcast in the future, but until then I'm truly excited to even be a part of the process to create something so profound. It's an inspiration to hear the challenges and journeys these artists took to get to where they are today. I'll always take away the advice and knowledge given to us by such hardworking and passionate musicians we interviewed."
YOR’s Youth Success Manager David Ladon is the executive producer of Generation Collaboration and supports all podcast interns as they learn the professional skills required to thrive in the audio arts and entertainment industry.
“I love that we are able to create this container of Underground at the Showcase, and then hand it over to the hosts and producers to make it their own,” Ladon said. “You definitely see their personalities shape the conversations. They are all musicians and you can see how they bring their own artistic lens to the conversations. In particular, the partnership between UMS and Youth on Record creates this unique opportunity for our interns to get professional experience while building their creative portfolio. One of the highlights for me this season is having Genevieve from Dead Boyfriend on the show. She was a podcasting intern at Youth on Record and hosted Season 1 of the podcast. We were just thrilled that she returned for season 2 as a guest. Also, the hip-hop trio The White Moms performed live, which was so much fun, and a first for this show.”
Listeners of Underground at the Showcase will hear candid conversations about songwriting, motivation, community, identity, mental health, and more.
In their featured episode, Miguel Avina from iZCALLi opened up about the ways the trio has come into their own over the last fifteen years.
“At the beginning, we were just a Mexican band,” Avina said. “And anywhere we’d play, we’d be the Mexican band, and we’d be playing Cinco de Mayo and Dia de los Muertos…and even at the UMS were like the Mexican band…we owned that. We thought we were the best Mexican band…one day we just realized, hey, we don’t have to be ‘the Mexican band.’ We can be a great Denver band, and just be a band, and to keep expanding that idea that we don’t have to limit ourselves with that label…We still play those Cinco de Mayo shows and Dia de los Muertos, but it doesn’t define us anymore.”
You can find this podcast on all major platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, and Amazon Music.
About Youth on Record:
At Youth on Record, we believe that all young people, including those who are at-risk and written off, have the ability to turn their lives around. We are committed to ensuring that the youth we serve graduate from high school and are ready to enter the workforce, and transition to college or enter advanced technical training and careers.
Our programs empower thousands of teens in some of Denver’s most vulnerable communities to make life choices that positively impact their future by teaching them to develop the coping tools, inspiration, and wherewithal to succeed in today’s world and to become leaders of tomorrow.
Underground at the Showcase is one of those crucial programs. Not only is it a way to plug program graduates into careers, but it presents an opportunity for current students to learn critical technical skills and prepare them to enter the creative industry.