New Ferndale Company Showcases Michigan's Cultural Mindset

"Getting the word out" seems simultaneously easier and harder than ever in 2013, with so many shareable outlets feeding an essentially amorphous audience. Which digital podium can provide a band, an artist, a creative collective, the loudest voice for their art?

How to get the word out when there's just so many words and so many ways, so many bands and so many channels. 

Ferndale-based Workspace PR (WSPR) approaches the monster of modern media fittingly, as broadly as possible, free of any illusions and boosted by a range of experience.

WSPR (or, if you like: "Whisper") is a quartet of new-styled publicists embracing labors of love by promoting all of the invigorating/endearing creative efforts of myriad Michigan artists. Perhaps endemic to the "share-era," WSPR's not bounded by "clients" and instead has begun its first six months embracing / undertaking / endorsing "things we like..."

The Underground has never been so alive. Instead of a lantern shone into a corner, WSPR hope to illuminate the whole cavern of local culture. 

"I think when we set out, one of the goals was to become tastemakers," said WSPR-co-founder/music-writer Rachel Skotarczyk. "We wanted WSPR to be a hub of goodness. If it's coming from our camp, you'll know it's good. We wanted to build that trust and that reputation."

WSPR could be propping "events, bands, artists, ideas, products or something as simple as a mindset," said WSPR's Chris Johnston (also co-owner of the Woodward Avenue Brewers). "Much our work as a PR 'Collective,' at this point anyway, is to help the thrust that's naturally being felt in Detroit. Only a small part of that would we label as "clients."

WSPR's Nicole Allie: "I think the fact that the four of us are all musicians and have toured and paid our dues is a real advantage."

Allie currently plays in a newer band (Water Cops) and recorded/toured extensively with New Grenada.

"When I'm working with a band who is either on tour or trying to get people to hear their record, I am asking myself what I would want or need from WSPR because I've been there," she said.

Allie, along with WSPR's Ryan Clancey (of Jamaican Queens) speaks for all of them when she says: "I know how hard it can be."

That's WSPR's edge; promoters who've been there, on one side or the other, banging their heads against the wall to exasperatingly tap the attention of an audience, any audience. 

Beyond utilizing their music-industry experience (Johnston has 10+ years experience playing/recording/touring local rock outfit 19 Wheels), Skotarczyk notes that "it was always appealing to us to bridge some musical gaps. For instance, building shows that highlight a few different genres of music, i.e. hip hop, indie, and electronic, and creating that space to unify the community."

Self-promotion is often a stumbling-block for creative types. 

"I think a lot of artists struggle with that because it takes the focus off their art, avenues in which to promote may seem elusive, or because most of us don't like to sit around and stroke our egos all day," Skotarczyk said. "I mean, that's what self promotion ends up feeling like. I know how hard that is, I hated to do it for myself, so again, it makes me happy that WSPR can ease that stress for the artists."

W.S. could also stand for "wide-spread." You can stream MP3s from the range of bands currently under their inherently-elastic banner here - https://soundcloud.com/wspr-detroit - including Passalacqua, Phantasmagoria, Lettercamp, Chrome Sparks and more.

Also endearing about WSPR's "MO" is that they're fueled by genuine enthusiasm for their quasi-clients.

"That also means," said Skotarczyk, "that a lot of it ends up being a labor of love because we understand that musicians don't have a lot of money. "

Allie seconds that, indeed: "I think a lot of our ideas come from a place of genuine excitement. We really believe in this stuff."

So Saturday, January 19th, WSPR is hosting a free concert at the Loving Touch to essentially launch, introduce or "showcase" their new PR "collective." 

1/19 @ The Loving Touch: Ferndale-based jazz-juked psyche-rocking tilt-o-whirl Bars of Gold will headilne, along with Toledo-based neo-punk duo Silent Lions, Ferndale/Detroit-hybrid of spindly-grooves and operatic pop Phantom Cats and rousing post-hardcore outfit Nice Hooves. 

"This show is not meant to be a showcase of what we're all about," Johnston clarified, "but more of a showcase of the mindset we celebrate."

More info here.