Dive deep into the Denver music scene with season three of “Underground at the Showcase,” the official youth-produced podcast of the Underground Music Showcase (UMS). New episodes launch on October 29th on all podcast streaming platforms.

Season 3 Highlights:
 

• Inside scoop: Hear candid conversations with top local artists who rocked UMS 2024, including Los Mocochetes, The Mañanas, Wheelchair Sports Camp, Virgi Dart, Blankslate, iies, Mr. Knobs, Jami Duffy, Beasts of No Nation, Kayla Marque, Kid Astronaut, Nina de Freitas, and Siembra Soundsystem. 
• Capturing the energy: Recorded live at Impact Days during UMS 2024, 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 podcast was hosted, filmed, and engineered by former podcast interns Rowan Petersen, Clara Kay, Mars Williams, and Jacob Garret. Rowan Petersen also edited and mixed the podcast.

“The UMS Podcast was a life-changing experience for me as a member of the podcast production team,” YOR Podcast Intern Clara Kay said. “This opportunity helped improve my interviewing and production skills while giving me the chance to engage in genuine conversations with local artists about their experiences and insights as full-time musicians in today’s ever-changing industry. I’m thankful to my team for cultivating such a welcoming and creative environment.”

Additional production support for Underground at the Showcase was provided by Ryan Conarro and the podcast was mastered by Executive Producer David Ladon. 

"This year's season features some big names in the local music scene in an intimate setting with just one host per episode,” Ladon said. “Consequently, we end up with evocative conversations that incorporate themes of race and identity, gender in the music scene, mental health and wellness, Denver politics, and creating community through art. These candid portraits paint a picture of a dynamic and deeply intertwined community in which artists articulate a feeling of admiration for, and reciprocity with, their fellow musicians.”

YOR’s Youth Success Manager David Ladon is the executive producer of Underground at the Showcase and supports all podcast interns as they learn the professional skills required to thrive in the audio arts and entertainment industry. 

“Each year, we work with a new set of producers and hosts who have come through our podcast production internship,” Ladon said. “They all come to the podcast with a range of skills and experiences. Over the three days of recording, I watched them grow in confidence as they really took ownership of the production. I feel privileged to share this experience with them.”

Underground at the Showcase offers listeners moments of levity, reflection, and inspiration through conversations about music and its intersections with gender, culture, sobriety, technology, and more.

In one special episode, youth host Jacob Garrett interviews Avery and Lucas from the band Beasts Of No Nation. They explore how Afrocentrism influences their music, how culture and lineage influences their music, and share insights on managing the dynamics of working within a large ensemble.

“It’s really important to embrace the beauty of diversity,” Avery Jacob, lead singer of Beasts of No Nation said. “But it’s also important to embrace our origins and take things back to the beginning and deconstruct things we have learned that have been harmful, there are aspects of culture that are sometimes harmful … We are stewards of culture, we can create culture in the way that we communicate and the way that we build community.” 

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. 

For more visit youthonrecord.org and on social media @youthonrecord