Happy 10th Birthday to We the Beat, Santa Barbara’s Eclectically Rooted Music Promoter

Rounding out a decade of showcasing eclectic music and artists (all up and coming), We the Beat started knowing absolutely nothing about the music industry and has now amassed a sizable following, not just fans from Santa Barbara. In 2013, We the Beat was merely an online blog, talking about new music and new artists, but now (with the help of streaming services and large music platforms) We the Beat has turned into the place to find new music, from all different genres, to add to your playlists, carefully curated by cofounders Kirk Reed and Blake Nania. The independent music promoter highlights and brings in music from all over the world (including alternative group Rüfüs Du Sol, who the two were aware of before they became wildly popular), but always with some type of Santa Barbara connection.

I spoke to Reed and Nania about their 10-year anniversary and their experience working in the music industry. What started as an interest in music has become a full-time passion for the two entrepreneurs, now deep within the music scenes in both Santa Barbara and Las Vegas.

“We both wanted to get into music, didn’t exactly know what that was … the idea was to come up with a new company, a new vision that ties in the blogging and discovering new music, along with the shows, which of course have gone hand in hand for us the past 10 years … it was all rooted in ‘We love music,’” said Nania.

With both Reed and Nania being students in Santa Barbara, the Isla Vista music scene is something hard not to be affected by. Music is literally coursing through the small beach town. So, with music surrounding them, the two decided to make something out of their love for it.

“We just started because we had to. And because we loved it. We wouldn’t let anyone say no; we just started doing it,” said Reed.

Although We the Beat focuses on a range of up-and-coming artists from all different parts of the country, or even the world, a local entertainer will still be involved in the show in some way, essentially ensuring that each show stays rooted in their Santa Barbara origins.

“An early original idea we had was to book touring talent or bands from out of Santa Barbara to headline the show, and then always book a local. Putting the local on stage, literally, with a bigger artist, to give them more shine and to give them more fans. Combining those was always in the original plan — to always work with the local scene, always put on local bands, and to have them perform on the stage and connect them with bigger artists and bigger bands which in turn helps the local bands,” said Reed.

A hope the two have for the future of We the Beat is to bring recognition to their name, deeply rooted in and inspired by Beat Generation literature. At that time, artists and musicians and writers were going against what was expected of them, creating unique and different art that set themselves apart from everything and everyone that preceded them, which is exactly what Reed and Nania want to weave into We the Beat. (Not to be cliched, but this is a music piece — to quote Bill Graham’s famous take on the Grateful Dead, We the Beat seems to be working toward “They aren’t the best at what they do; they are the only ones that do what they do.”)

“When we started it was just like, we love this, we want to do it, and we’re just going to figure it out because there’s no one else doing it. We wanted to book music that no one else was booking in Santa Barbara. When we first started, we had our list of artists we wanted to book,” said Nania.

Asked about their 10-year anniversary, what it means to them and what it means for their company, Reed said, “We feel amazing to still do what we love 10 years later. … The next chapter would be 10 more years, bigger and better. Working with more genres, more acts, but still do what we love. That’s the goal.”

Ten years ago, Reed and Nania made a list of bands they wanted to work with. German singer-songwriter Roosevelt was on their original list when the company began in the fall of 2013. On September 23, 2023, We the Beat has booked Roosevelt at SOhO. Happy anniversary indeed.

Catch the next We the Beat show — Buscabulla with Brijean at SOhO — on July 13. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.