A Positive Spin: Remixed
A Global Launch Event for the New Non-Profit
At Impact Hub LA in DTLA
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Galvanizing the Music Community to Create Tangible
Social Change in an Age of Mass Incarceration
LOS ANGELES, CA – October 9, 2015– Give a Beat is proud to announce A Positive Spin: Remixed, the new non-profit organization’s global launch event in Downtown Los Angeles, on Saturday, October 24, 2015. The inspirational event starts with a daytime electronic music production/DJing workshop for youth from 3:00pm to 6:00pm at Impact HUB LA. Scratch DJ Academy will provide gear and instructors for the workshop. The main event will follow, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm, featuring performances by Pleasuremaker (aka Joey McGuire) of Afrolicious with the legendary Sandra Izsadore and Gato on percussion. Alex Simpson, the Associate Director of California Innocence Project, and exonerated football player Brian Banks will also make presentations. Moving to nearby Pattern Bar, A Positive Spin: Remixed will culminate with an after-party from 9:00pm to 2:00am, featuring DJ Garth, Wiseacre, Tamara, Sascha Lahti, and more.
The workshop is free to registered youth participants. Early bird tickets for the main event are $20 with a “music changed my life” story (discount code provided upon submission) or $40 without. General admission at the door is $50 and VIP tickets are $75. For ticketing details, please click here. Impact Hub LA (workshop & main event) is located at 830 Traction 3A, Los Angeles, CA 90013 (213-325-1271; http://impacthubla.com). Pattern Bar (after-party) is located at 100 West 9th St., Los Angeles, CA 90015 (213-627-7774; http://patternbar.com). For additional information, please visit http://www.giveabeat.org.
Give a Beat was founded by Lauren Segal and Virginia Cheung, both known for their humanitarian work with NextAid, which harnessed the power of music to support sustainable development projects in Africa. Once again bringing together a community of music lovers, musicians, artists, activists, promoters, and entrepreneurs, the new non-profit organization will raise awareness about our nation’s mass incarceration epidemic and support youth development and entrepreneurial programs through live music events and online platforms. Greg Lucas, best known for his work with the world famous Preservation Hall Jazz Band, was also instrumental in launching the new organization.
Event Details –Give a Beat Flyer - A Positive Spin
A Positive Spin: Remixed celebrates the birth of Give a Beat, which provides music lovers with a unique channel for activism and philanthropy, while enabling change in the face of inequality. The event breaks down into three parts: a youth music workshop, main event, and after-party.
Workshop
• Sat. 10/24/15, 3:00pm – 6:00pm
Impact Hub LA
The daytime music workshop program will provide instruction to youth, primarily from Los Angeles organizations such as A Million Drops, A Place Called Home, Everyone Deserves a Chance, Notes for Notes, and The Advot Project. Organized by Andrea Giardina Graham, aka DJ AquaVee, A Positive Spin: Remixed’s workshop will be led by LA-based professional DJs, such as Mr. Choc and DJ Lillyanne (Headinghome/Futurehouse), who will be paired with the gear that they know best, to instruct and mentor the youth participants in DJing skills and electronic music production. Scratch DJ Academy will provide gear and additional instructors. The workshop portion of the event is free to registered and confirmed youth participants.
Main Event
• Sat. 10/24/15, 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Impact Hub LA
After the youth workshop, the Hub will transform into a lively event space for a special evening filled with inspired conversation, compelling art, tasty food, and great music… all for a good cause. A Positive Spin: Remixed’s mixer event will feature live performances by Pleasuremaker (aka Joey McGuire) of Afrolicious with the legendary Fela Kuti-collaborator Sandra Izsadore and Gato on percussion. Alex Simpson, the Associate Director of California Innocence Project, and exonerated football player Brian Banks, who lost his youth to wrongful incarceration, will make presentations. Also presenting will be filmmaker Karen Criswell (Koncept Films), whose upcoming documentary, Shift Forward: Re-Defining Life After Loss, addresses the collateral damage of incarceration from a unique perspective.
In addition to supporting the workshops as an instructor, DJ Lillyanne will also hit the decks at the main event. The evening will include live art, spoken word performances by LA youth, hors d’oeuvres, and beer/wine. Early bird tickets are $20 with a “music changed my life” story (discount code provided upon submission) or $40 without. General admission tickets (includes snacks and beverages) will also be available at the door for $50 and VIP tickets are $75 (includes tax deduction, goodie bag, and drink ticket). For details, please click here.
After-party
• Sat. 10/24/15, 9:00pm – 2:00am
Pattern Bar
A Positive Spin: Remixed’s after-party, which will take place a few short blocks away, will feature DJ Garth (Wicked SF), Wiseacre (theLIFT), Tamara (Universal Rhythm), Sascha Lahti (Beat Anomaly), and more.
America’s Mass Incarceration Epidemic –
The United States loves to lock people behind bars more than any other country on the planet. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2.3 million people are incarcerated in our country. While we only make up 5% of the world’s population, we account for an estimated 25% of the world’s prisoners, according to the ACLU. Federal spending on prison costs the U.S. $80 billion a year (The Hamilton Project/Brookings Institution).
Through active collaborations with music producers, promoters, artists, and socially conscious companies, Give a Beat raises awareness about America’s mass incarceration epidemic through live music events and online platforms, while providing dance and world music lovers with a unique channel for activism and philanthropy.
“Give a Beat is launching programs that aim to address and transform the racist and profit-driven policies of mass incarceration,” says Give A Beat Director Lauren Segal, “Our goal is to bring down the walls of injustice and support those trapped inside with love, compassion, forgiveness, and real life opportunities to live dignified, creative lives.”
Lauren Segal, Give a Beat Co-Founder, President, & Director –
Lauren Segal is best known as the Co-Founder and Director of NextAid, an LA-based organization that supported sustainable development projects in South Africa and Kenya for a decade. Determined to find innovative solutions and having been influenced by LiveAid, Segal became inspired to engage in her own brand of activism and quest for social justice at an early age. While earning a bachelor's degree from University of California, Santa Barbara, in Political Sociology, she developed an interest in harnessing music as a vehicle for creating positive social change. She became enveloped in the dance music scene and started building relationships with influential electronic music DJs, marking a pivotal time in her life.
In 2000, she was hired to help produce the largest outdoor dance music event in Mexico's history at the time, the ACA World Sound Festival, which was attended by 60,000 people from around the world to experience 75 global musical artists. A percentage of proceeds from the event supported the Million Wishes Latin American Charity in the building of a kindergarten and a generous donation was made to an HIV orphanage in Acapulco.
Her experience in Acapulco led to the inception of NextAid, “the next Live Aid,” in 2002. Imagining the potential of the international dance music community, NextAid was born in order to help children in Africa orphaned by AIDS. Through NextAid, Segal coordinated over 100 charity events, organized several benefit CD projects, and initiated dozens of campaigns, earning NextAid the role of a leading activist organization in the dance music industry.
For Segal, a tireless public servant, social action is the most fulfilling aspect of her life. Her efforts have raised immeasurable awareness and hundreds of thousands of dollars for humanitarian projects. A recipient of the prestigious 2010 African Goodwill Ambassador Award, Segal has been featured on VH-1, KPFK-FM, various panels addressing African issues, and in numerous publications. Her current focus is Give a Beat, the new non-profit organization that she co-founded with Virginia Cheung, to change the lives of at-risk youth and communities impacted by mass incarceration.
Virginia Cheung, Give a Beat Co-Founder & Vice President –
Virginia Cheung is a non-profit development professional with experience in helping small- to mid-sized organizations create and implement fundraising strategies and organizational infrastructure.
Greg Lucas, Give a Beat Founding Board Member & Treasurer –
Greg Lucas is the Director of Development for the world famous Preservation Hall Jazz Band. He has over 25 years in the creative industries, developing brand partnerships and activations to leverage pre-event marketing initiatives, on-site media, and post-event rich content distribution to maximize ticket sales and exposure for sponsors.
Give a Beat is a California-based 501c3 organization that provides music lovers with a dedicated channel for activism and philanthropy, while facilitating change in the face of inequality. Serving as a catalyst for tangible social change by bridging global electronic dance music culture with youth and families impacted by incarceration, the non-profit:
• Partners with youth organizations to provide impactful music workshops
• Shares inspirational stories that demonstrate the transformative power of music
• Creates a mentorship and entrepreneurial program for previously incarcerated individuals
• Generates gift-giving campaigns for exonerated individuals and their families
Give a Beat is a community of music lovers, musicians, artists, activists, promoters, and entrepreneurs that cares about the current state of domestic affairs and wants to create tangible opportunities to make a significant impact on vulnerable communities around the United States. Music is the organization’s inspiration, mode of communication, and conduit for change. The organization draws on the positive elements of dance music culture, a community that fosters peace, love, compassion, understanding, and unity by celebrating music together.
Supporters –
Supporters include Creative Visions Foundation, Electronic Music Alliance (EMA), Everyone Deserves a Chance, Fusicology, Universal Rhythm, Amoeba Records, Impact Hub LA, Pattern Bar, Scratch DJ Academy, SubPac, Green Galactic, and Jordan Strong.
Links –
• Give a Beat Official Site – http://www.giveabeat.org
• Give a Beat Blog – http://giveabeat.tumblr.com
• Give a Beat Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/giveabeat
• A Positive Spin: Remixed Facebook Event Page – https://www.facebook.com/events/378103405723536
• Main Event Tickets – www.giveabeat.eventbrite.com
• Workshop Registration – https://giveabeat.typeform.com/to/XTviWv
• Give a Beat Twitter – https://twitter.com/igiveabeat
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