In the Stu’ With a True Music Guru: Spy Hop’s Nick Allred

Nick Allred knows how to strive from within when learning a new instrument or style of music. From the time in elementary school when he found his uncle’s guitar in his basement and quickly began learning its secrets, to his forays into DJing and, more recently, composing film scores, he has largely been self-taught in everything from writing lyrics to music theory.

“The ethos is dispersing knowledge and allowing a safe space for kids to be themselves and create and grow.”

“It takes a lot of self-drive to achieve the passions or the ambitions you’re going for, especially with film or audio,” Allred says. As the Audio Mentor at Spy Hop, the after-school media arts center that’s known for cultivating students’ creative voices, he imbues this bent toward self-study into how he teaches.

“The ethos is dispersing knowledge and allowing a safe space for kids to be themselves and create and grow,” Allred says. In his courses, which include DIY Music Recording, Audio Apprenticeship and Resonate, a hip-hop bootcamp, Allred says he strives to facilitate self-reliance in his students, using a somewhat hands-off approach that helps them build their own confidence and a more unique brand.

“We love art so much that we want to study it. And we don’t only study it, we want to do it, too.”

This encourages the uninhibited development of creativity. Many kids already have songs in their heads screaming to be recorded, while others are simply curious about the technical side of audio. “We’re a niche group of people,” he says. “We not only love art, we love art so much that we want to study it. And we don’t only study it, we want to do it, too.”

Part of the Audio Apprenticeship includes running Open Studio sessions every Friday. During this time, apprentices help record demos for others, even local bands from outside Spy Hop — like Almond Extract, a group from Skyline High who recently visited to record an entire album.

“They are truly a group of young legends,” Allred says of his apprentices. “They write their own music, play their own instruments and they’re learning how to record. I give them instructions on what mics they may need to use, help figure out what they’ll be trying to capture and they do it from there.”

“I want these kids to be confident in who they are, whether that’s as a musician or a person.”

Allred’s approach helps foster the personal vision that each student inherently possesses. Their varying backgrounds and prior experiences just inform how they think to communicate what’s important to them, and his instruction builds on that. One success story Allred mentions has to do with the rapid growth of a student who initially came to him without much knowledge of rap. Allred says this student was recording their very own beats and rapping over them even before they completed the Resonate course.

“They wrote songs for Wake the Great Salt Lake and wrote a rap about saving the lake,” Allred says with more than a hint of pride. Yet another alumnus, Allyson Katana, who plays in the local punk band P.S. Destroy This, even returned to Spy Hop as a music mentor after years of volunteering and guest speaking.

“My goal is for students to find their potential and overachieve it,” Allred says. “I want these kids to be confident in who they are, whether that’s as a musician or a person. I want them to have confidence that they can take wherever they go.”

At the end of the Resonate course, after students have learned all the elements of hip-hop — songwriting, beat-making and other aspects of the culture, like graffiti and breaking — they put on a concert for an audience at a local venue and show off the confidence they’ve earned. Last year, the concert was held at Soundwell. Allred was still new to being a mentor, and it had an impact.

“It’s a large venue and a large crowd,” he says. “Parents, friends, people coming in off the streets … It’s very heartwarming and inspiring on my end to just see these kids work so hard for a year.” Allred has a hand in the work, and it’s clear he couldn’t be more proud to be a part of his students’ creative journey.

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