Investing in our youth is investing in our future!
By spending so much time in the Dominican Republic, Neeks found that there are so many talented kids and young adults that could thrive in the world of DJing and music production, if given the opportunity.
”Since I decided to spend a lot of my time in this beautiful island to find peace and creativity, it only made sense to give back the only way I know how - by offering my talents to the new generation”. - Neeks
HELP NEEKS CREATE A MUSIC PROGRAM FOR YOUTH IN THE DR
Help get this music program kick started in the DR and beyond! Click the button below to donate directly to Inspire DR. Be sure to email donations@pelonkey.com to let us know how much you’ve donated so we can allocate it to the proper programming.
Thank you!
Partnerships in this Program
Neeks runs a program offering to creatives and professionals in the music industry to come and experience the DR, get inspired and have a guest class getting to know the young adults at Inspire, and teaching a guest class at the after school program.
Brandon Miranda was one of those guests. That experience blossomed into a partnership of the two in conquering creating this program together for the youth in the Dominican Republic, and beyond. Read more about their story in partnership below!
Neeks and Brandon presenting a certificate of completion to Max for his work in their DJ and Production classes.
Nicole Gallub, aka Neekola is an entrepreneur and entertainer performing as a DJ for over 15 years, running a nationwide entertainment company called Pelonkey for 8 years, and producing music / remixing music for 5 years. She has experience touring and performing around the world, including top events Tomorrowland, burning man @ Distrikt, Ultra Music Festival and has even played for the White House Correspondents after party for NBC
Brandon Miranda is a Los Angeles-based producer and mixing engineer. He has credits for artists including NoCap and TiaGold and has worked as the lead engineer for Diddy’s Love Records. He currently is on staff for Mike Caren's "Artist Publishing Group" (Charlie Puth, Bazzi YoungBoy). As a producer, Brandon specializes/ in writing music for synch licensing written for shows including The Game, Finding Happy, and Netflix’s Selling OC and composed the back score for Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse announcement in 2021.
Nicole and Brandon connected through Soundfly, an online mentorship music education program focused on 1-1 mentorship programs. After having done some work together, both discovered a mutual passion for music education. Upon meeting, Nicole had recently completed renovations on her mixed-used recording studio/apartment rental in the Dominican Republic and extended Brandon an invitation to stay in exchange to work with the boys at InspireDR.
Upon Brandon’s arrival to the island, both discovered a great synergy and aligned vision to offer music workshops on a larger scale. During the first round of workshops, Brandon and Nicole taught the students the basics of Music Production and DJ’ing.
“We wanted to center the workshop around a career-focused approach towards music. The goal was to train the students in the basics while illuminating the multiple paths one could take if they found interest in cultivating a music industry career. By the end of the session when asked if ‘music is fun?’ as well as ‘would you consider getting a job in music’ all 9 boys raised their hand” - Brandon Miranda and Nicole Gallub
The workshop structure itself lasted for 2 weeks, with 4 sessions per week, and was concluded by an award ceremony in which the students were able to play their beats and DJ a live set. Each session lasted roughly 1.5 hours and was driven by a hands-on, experiential approach to pedagogy.
“I tried to lecture as little as possible and leave the majority of the class sessions to allow the students to create their music. I’d hover around and help out when I saw needed but made sure to give each boy space to develop their unique relationships to music making” - Brandon
Following this first session, Nicole and Brandon now have the vision to scale the program. “We want to go deeper and have been planning out the next in-person round with the intent to raise money for improved gear, potentially bringing more volunteers, and offering an advanced/intermediate class as well. We also want to see if we can partner with the neighboring girls’ program ‘Mariposas’ for this next round!” - Nicole.
Between now and then, Nicole will continue to work with the boys on the ground while Brandon keeps in touch via their team WhatsApp group. “I’ll be bugging the boys to keep sending me songs so I can provide feedback and even open work opportunities.” - Brandon.
As of now, the duo has secured partnerships with ASCAP and Ableton to provide complimentary licenses for the boys, opening up tangible career opportunities for the students of InspireDR.
“Both of us have a strong feeling that this is only going to grow and are tremendously excited to see the students’ musical journeys unfold” - Nicole and Brandon