Friends of Noise was founded in 2016 with the intention of providing Portland adolescents with a secure, all-ages music venue. The huge ambition is now about to come true after years of fundraising and a pandemic that stopped almost all live music.
The Off Beat, an all-ages, alcohol-free venue in Portland’s Kenton district that was formerly the Dancin Bare strip club, will open its doors next year thanks to Friends of Noise.
Andr Middleton, executive director of Friends of Noise, stated, “We hope that it is a safe, welcoming, and inclusive third space for young people, where they can find their voices and where they are producing events for their community, by their community.”
According to Middleton, the Off Beat will have a 400-seat event area that can accommodate local and traveling bands, open mic nights, dancing, and everything in between.
For teenagers interested in a career in music, it will also act as a training ground. All of Friends of Noise’s performances, which are now hosted at several locations throughout the city, are manned by individuals under the age of twenty-five.
According to Middleton, they are running sound, working at the entrance, creating posters, and taking pictures. Life skills are being taught to them.
A recipient of The Oregonian/OregonLive’s 2024 Season of Sharing holiday fundraising campaign, Friends of Noise provides courses that teach youth anything from how to put together a PA system to how to deal with stage fright to how to create and market their own merchandise.
> Contribute to the Season of Sharing general fund or Friends of Noise. The code Season2024 can also be texted to 44-321.
According to Middleton, we’re educating children not just how to play music but also how to become financially literate. What is a W-9? What is a W-2? What is an invoice? They are gaining knowledge about the specifics of turning a pastime into a vocation.
Today, 20-year-old Fox Newey works as a live audio engineer full-time and is a member of IATSE Local 28, a union for theatrical stagehands. However, she received her first paid sound job through Friends of Noise just three years ago while attending Ida B. Wells High School.
She finished the Live Set program, which is administered by a nonprofit organization that teaches teenagers how to run sound for live events.
“I was given free reign and kind of thrown into gigs where I would just have to figure it all out, either by myself or with one other person,” Newey added. I was able to quickly get up and solve problems thanks to that.
When Middleton presented Friends of Noise to her class as a sophomore at Lincoln High School, 19-year-old Erika Leung learned about it. He mentioned the need for a graphic artist, and soon, Leung was designing posters for Friends of Noise shows.
According to her, they assisted me in developing my graphic design abilities, which are what ultimately enabled me to reach my current position and discover my business love.
Leung is currently a freshman studying management and applied economics at Cornell University. One day, she wants to work in the nonprofit sector using her degree.
Friends of Noise has a staff of 3.5 full-time equivalents. Through their classes, concerts and work opportunities, the nonprofit reaches some 3,000 young people each year, Middleton estimated, with expenses of about $922,000 this year.
Friends of Noise is funded by grants, individual donors, and from the money raised through its event services division in which young people are hired to run sound and staff events for other clients.
Friends of Noise signed a lease for the space Dec. 5, and The Off Beat is aiming for a soft opening in March. The remodeling plans call for all-gender restrooms, a raised ADA viewing platform, a T-shirt printing studio, recording studio and office space. Middleton also has plans to offer a summer music camp, Black Rock Camp for the Resistance, with the instruments Friends of Noise inherited after the Rock n Roll Camp for Girls closed in 2023.
And while opening The Off Beat will be the culmination of eight years of work, Middleton said it won t be the most important legacy Friends of Noise will leave.
The legacy will be that network of young people who ve had a shared experience that continue to look out for each other well into their adulthood, he said. If I can help these kids today create that web, that thread, that tapestry, I think that will have a profound impact on the livability and the camaraderie that a town like Portland usually thrives upon.
The Oregonian/OregonLive
What your donation can do
$25:Provides a young person three Friends of Noise concert tickets.
$50:Purchases a young person a pair of professional grade earplugs.
$100:Funds a weekend s stipend to a sound engineering student.
Samantha Swindler covers features for The Oregonian/OregonLive andHere is Oregon. Reach her [email protected].
Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today toOregonLive.com.
Season of Sharing 2024
-
Serendipity Center offers support, skills to children with behavioral challenges: Season of Sharing 2024
-
St. Johns Food Share has groceries for anyone who needs them, no questions asked: Season of Sharing 2024
-
How Oregonians can support Season of Sharing, our holiday campaign: Beat Check podcast
-
Community Transitional School offers a small school option for Portland s homeless children: Season of Sharing 2024
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!
