Today we’d like to introduce you to Allen Joanis.
Allen, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
As long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to music and media and the interdependent nature of the two mediums. As a kid, I was consistently fascinated by things that were a blend of math/science and creativity. I discovered at a young age that creativity can be very analytical and math/science can be very creatively subjective. Music and Media really hit that for me.
I started out in music. Drums were my first instrument and are still a huge passion of mine. I studied all the instruments of the percussion family and once I realized the marimba/xylophone is basically the same thing as a piano but played with sticks/mallets, I made the jump to piano. Well, I didn’t jump to it, I added it on. I became very obsessed with the piano and music theory in general. I was fascinated by how something can be created analytically yet be consumed emotionally. Before too long, I was learning all the instruments of an orchestra and composing my own music and creating arrangements of other music.
I went to three different universities to study music and the principles of design. James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA, The University of North Texas in Denton, TX and Radford University in Radford, VA. By the time I finished my degree, I had enough credits for two and a half degrees and audited too many classes to count. hahaha! I also sat in on classes I didn’t even sign up to an audit.
When looking back, I find all of my interests have been driven by things that are equally analytical and creative. Every creative discipline has a scientific element to it. I find the more I know about the mechanics of the creative discipline, the more creative I become.
Once I began studying the principles of design, I was quickly drawn to digital media in its many forms. I studied music in all of its forms. I learned to sing, play piano, guitar, bass, drums, ukulele, woodwinds, brass, strings, etc. I because entranced by DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations.) I am a huge fan of Logic Pro X and the myriad of production plugins available. I also studied (and continue to study!) photography, videography, graphic design, web design/development, audio recording, pageantry arts design, scoring music for film, and so much more. I became obsessed with learning as much as possible.
Through all of this, I also discovered the art and science of teaching/mentoring. I am a master teacher. I can quickly learn any of the steps needed to accomplish what is needed and then easily break it down in a clear and understandable way for students. I have found that much of teaching is psychological. The moment a student thinks something is hard, the battle is lost. My job is to sequence and present the info in such a way that they believe they can not only learn it but also get good at it. I have trained thousands of students through the years of all ages and backgrounds.
I discovered quite quickly that each person learns in a different way and that how quickly someone learns is not necessarily an indication of how well they can master the information. Some people take longer while some people get it right away. Some people get it right away but never get good at it. Some people take longer but become masters. Some people get it quickly and become masters. It all boils down to the beliefs of the student and the work they are willing to do. BUT…. a quality teacher can get the student to believe they are going to get it and provide them the tools to get there; if the student chooses to take the step.
Eight years ago, all of this came full circle for me. I started my own business the Joanis Music Studio that was to be the beginning of Ketos Creative. The plan was to start out getting the music academy off the ground and then a couple of years later, launch everything else. Five years ago, the Joanis Music Studio became Ketos Creative, LLC. We have a Creative Academy, Creative Services, an Entertainment Division, Facility Rentals, and more.
In our Creative Academy, we teach Music and Digital Media. In the music studio, we teach voice, guitar, piano, drums, bass, and ukulele. We have rock bands, pop bands, and more. We offer a program called “Singing While Playing” where we focus specifically on the skill of playing an instrument while singing. We also offer a program called “Switch-Hitter™ (MUSIC). In this program, the students learn Voice, Guitar, Piano, and Drums. I didn’t want to choose just one instrument so we don’t make our students do so.
In the Digital Media Academy, we teach photography, videography, graphic design, web design, and audio recording/music production.
In our Creative Services department, we provide professional creative services to many different types of customers for photography, videography, graphic design, web design, and music production. We have a full-service recording studio in house that we rent out and where we do all of our music production work. We produce a lot of video work and because of our music background, we tend to produce a lot of music videos. Each of the departments of our services department offers a variety of options.
In our Entertainment Division, we provide bands of all types for events. We host events at our on-site performance venue. We have our own Record Label (KETOS Records) and our own music publishing division (KETOS Publishing.) We have three artists signed to our label, Megan Adams, Cherise Ambri, and Sidney Golden. We also have a developmental division of the record label (KETOS Records Artist Development) where we sign artists to development deals and assist them in setting up an infrastructure to pursue a career as a performing/recording artist. We hope to sign some of these artists to our label or at the very least, equip them to make a go of it on their own or sign with another label. These artists perform and release music/videos under the artist name KETOS Blue (feat. artist name).
We rent out our facility for meetings, video productions, etc. We rent our recording studio. We rent our music rooms for practice sessions for bands. Our piano and drum rooms have multiple pianos/drums in them and we rent those out for practice sessions.
Our Mission Statement is “to serve, equip, empower, and care for people of all ages and backgrounds through the pursuit of excellence in music and digital media.” We are very committed to this mission. Our goal is to enrich people’s lives through this burning desire for creativity that gets placed in many of us. For many, it is not something you choose to do, it is something you are. It eats at you until you pursue it. For some, creativity is a welcome relief from the world. For others, it’s an enjoyable hobby. Any way someone finds us, we provide them a home for their music and digital media desires.
KETOS is greek for “whale, big fish, sea monster.” It is pronounced KAY TOSS.
About a decade ago, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to so with all of this crazy amount of skill I had developed and this burning desire to help people with it. I was knee-deep in production for several professional Drum and Bugle Corps as well as marching bands/pageantry arts all across the country and I didn’t want to give that up. I had a worship pastor tell me he thought I was a Modern Day Jonah, and that I had been running from what God was saying for years and until I stopped running and did what he laid in front of me things would not change. All I knew of the story of Jonah at that point was that he had been swallowed by a whale when running from God. The analogy fits quite well. I was running from a lot of things at that time and I had things in my life I did not want to give up to pursue something new. That conversation sparked a flurry of ideas and Ketos Creative was born.
I’m glad I relented. KETOS Creative is the intersection of my creative passions. Music and Digital Media are so very interdependent. Most people feel they are visually driven but if you take away the music, the visual does not speak the same thing. Most people don’t grasp just how prevalent music is in our world and how empty it would be without it. Also, play a different visual with the same music and you feel a different emotion. The intersection between the two mediums is undeniable. It drives me.
At this current time, I am most passionate about Music Production and photography. I am currently producing five artists albums (3 signed to Ketos Records) and two outside of the record label. Megan Adams, Cherise Ambri, Sidney Golden, Rainy Mitchell, and Kaylee Meyer. I am also doing a lot of photoshoots. I have some amazing team members who have taken on the other aspects of our Creative Services that are quite incredible that allow me to take some weight off my shoulders.
Has it been a smooth road?
There have been many ups and downs. I have underestimated how difficult it is to find workers who BOTH have the necessary skill AND share the full vision of the company. We have had many quality people on our team but quite often they are on our team at the wrong time in their life. Great people but life prevented them from being a fully contributing member. They either don’t have the skill or they don’t fully share the vision. Both are necessary.
We have had a couple of amazing people that WERE a great fit move on to other pursuits. We currently have a small team of people that share both. I am very much blown away by the talents/skills of my current team AND how much they share in the desire to care for people through those skills. We are looking to double the size of our team over the next year. We’re looking for highly skilled and meticulous people who are also “people” people. Everything we offer interfaces heavily face to face with customers. Finding highly skilled yet creative workers who also like working with people is proving very hard to find. Most don’t have the patience or determination to build the missing skills whether those skills are craft-related or people related.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Ketos Creative – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
What I am most proud of as a company is how we treat our customers and workers. Our company is and the services we offer are customer-driven. We work hard to make our customer’s lives better through interfacing with our company. From the very first interaction with us, we work to enrich their lives in any way we can even if they don’t use our services.
What sets us apart:
What sets our Academy apart?
There are not many places in the metroplex where you can take private and small group lessons for Digital Media. Typically, you have to sign up for a course and make a long term commitment. We offer individualized instruction tailored to teach you what you don’t already know.
Our Music Academy is known for training both the ears and the eyes (sheet music.) We teach all ages and we have more adult students than most music studios. Our curriculum, “Music as a 2nd Language™” uses info you already know in your everyday world to teach you music. This curriculum is quite effective at getting someone up and running with music very quickly. We teach every student very much like learning to speak English or Spanish or whatever language you learned first. We learn to Heart It first, then Speak It, Read it, Write, It. We then Perform It and Record It.
What sets our Creative Services apart?
The quality of work we do for the price. We are still small enough that our prices are not astronomical. Since we are small enough, we have been able to keep costs down which allows us to provide a high-quality product that can compete with much bigger agencies and still be competitive on the price. We tailor build every product we create. We specialize in capturing the emotion and personality of the subject.
What sets our Record Label apart?
We work hard to take care of our artists. They are all at a place where they need support that they can’t provide themselves at this point in their careers. They are all incredibly talented. We give them the freedom to be who they are and we monetize the production of their product. Ultimately, we seek artists who share our mission. All of our artists are people-driven. Their music connects with people. Their shows connect with people.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I absolutely love the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex! I have lived many places all over the country. I love that it is one big metroplex with many, many small self-sufficient sub metroplexes within it. You can travel 30 miles in any direction and be right in the middle of a community that has all that it could ever need. I like that the metroplex is both business-driven and arts-driven. I like that each area of the metroplex has its own personality.
Pricing:
- Music / Digital Media / Dance Lessons starting at $90 / month
- Photography of all types starting at $250
- Websites starting at $1000
- Videography starting at $1000
- Recording Studio Rental starting at $75 / hour
- Facility Rentals starting at $50 / hour
- Music Practice Rooms starting at $25/ hour ($15 / half hour)
- Record Label Artist Development Training starting at $300 / month
Contact Info:
- Address: 5500 N Tarrant Pkwy
Ste 128 Fort Worth, TX 76244 - Website: https://ketoscreative.com
- Phone: 817-514-3858
- Email: create@ketoscreative.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ketoscreative_services/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KetosCreativeServices/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ketosservices
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/ketoscreative/
Image Credit:
Allen Joanis, Regan Strand, Samuel Ruan
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