Brain and Body Music Studio

The purpose of Brain and Body Music Studio is to cultivate community healing through accessible arts events and education. Music, and other creative endeavors, activate both the left and right sides of the brain and communicate to the body an action or reaction. These benefits are only heightened and long lasting through formal education. There is a large community that highly values creative experiences and considers it necessary to the healing and survival of their stressful or unhealthy lives. B&B intends to provide opportunities where people can engage in their full human experience, completely focus their attention, and heal themselves through endorphin based neuroplasticity and exercise through these activities:

Music lessons, open mics, concerts, live recordings, sound healing meditations, art jams, song and dance functions, yoga, public forums, speech presentations, community panels.

B&B Music technically started way back in 2016 when founder, Harley Adams, was curating ‘underground’ punk band line ups for QTPOC artists, determined to create inclusive stages long before business licenses and insurance policies came up. In congruence with the high demand of affordable music lessons, B&B Music grew into a small brick and mortar retail spot in 2019; offering private music lessons at a sliding scale and free/low cost community arts programming. We maintained 2020 and 2021 through online donation based offerings which allowed us to earn a 501c3 status. We continued to grow and provide more consistent and larger scale programming by applying for grants from the state, cities, and small foundations; however all have been restricted funds limited to our events and classes.

Our primal focus is to create equity in our communities, therefore we are insistent on providing low cost offerings and dedicated to centering marginalized voices. We have seen and experienced throughout the years the discriminatory practices of the arts economy and we aim to create a space to counter that. We found that stages are often curated by people who are historically overrepresented which affects the opportunities of those who have been historically underrepresented. We know the answer to equity is by investing in the leadership of the marginalized which includes adhering to policies and practices that maintain emotional safety for leadership, volunteers, and attendees.

Our dedication to these values can often restrict access, however we are willing to embrace the slow change our culture needs. History shows that music and art have reflected our collective values and inspired acts of individual change that shifts our political socio-economic world. We hope to spearhead that change locally and feel creative expression is the key.

Although not a full measure of the impact of our work, Brain and Body Music Studio had several notable accomplishments in the last 12 months. On an individual level we have seen the development and growth of our students in their music and arts as well as in their school and home lives. We have also been able to improve and adapt our yearly festival Sol Do, putting on our most organized and well received show in 2025 with a full day of music, art, and connection. 2026 will be the 5th year running and it is shaping up to continue that success. On a community level we have continued to host and promote community events such as jam sessions, yoga, sound baths, and craft nights while partnering with other organizations with similar values and purpose. Santa Ana Pride 2026 was a wonderful example of that community building and collaboration. Brain and Body Music Studio was a major part of how the event was able to have an estimated 2000 attendees, multiple stages, artists, events, vendors, and sponsors.

The needs we face at Brain and Body Music Studio are not very different than those of the communities we serve and support. We have major needs for our space, support staff, and in finances. We need to maintain a safe affordable and accessible space in order do our work. This means continuing to partner and fundraise in order to keep up with the risings costs of operating. We will potentially need to relocate and create a community space large enough and adaptable enough for partners and collaborators to help with the costs. This kind of change would require significant funds. We need the ability to find, attract, hire, and retain staff in order to focus on the parts of our organization that bring in income and donations. Because of that, our funding and financial needs are paramount and are essential to be able to meet our space and staffing needs in order to be able to continue to grow.

We primarily serve Orange, Santa Ana, Anaheim, and Tustin area, but welcome people from all over Orange County.

Truly an exemplar of grassroots community, admittedly, created for myself; inspired by my personhood. Most of our collective problems can be solved with creative thinking. Creativity strengthens our capacities for patience, understanding, and growth. Everyday we have more neuroarts data available to us; confirming what our earliest ancestors knew. Self Expression is Essential for Living. We don’t care for fame or fortune, but quality of life; our everyday enrichments, the arts. Our souls are swollen on consumed content, we need to exhale. No matter our station in life, the individual intersection of identities we live on; everyone benefits from making art. It strengthens our capacities for patience, understanding, and growth. I do my best to provide opportunities for people to create and consume local art; in casual gatherings, and in formal education. Farm to Table, organic; not processed for the masses. It allows communities to know each other more deeply, building local connections. Brain and Body gathers people who seek sovereignty in a purchased world. Communities that yearn to build spaces, cultures, and customs that we can leave for our youth to inherit. A way of living that is created for and by us historically underrepresented people. There’s an element to entrepreneurship that is rarely touched on; disappointment in what’s currently available. Part of our inspiration to start our own organizations is seeing how we could do everything differently. Those ideas grow with the support of people who share the same values, until it becomes a tangible community offering. From seed to bloom, it’s in the hands of the people who need it.

Being on the board of Brain and Body Music Studio has been an eye opening and inspiring experience. Non-profit’s can face many obstacles and we have faced ours using the very qualities we strive to nurture in our community and beyond. We tackle challenges with creativity, with the help of community, with inclusion, and with integrity and I am proud of the progress and growth that we have seen because of it.