Department of Sound

Founded in 2018 by J. Hamilton Hodgson and Tyler Garnett, Department of Sound started as a local program in Sacramento, California, running music production and beat-making workshops for young people out of community centers. Eight years later, we've grown into a nonprofit with three program lanes serving youth and emerging artists across the Sacramento region. Our flagship, Sound & Story Labs, brings 12-week residencies and 5-week workshops directly into schools and community centers, where students learn music and podcast production alongside journaling, breathwork, and personal development. We work with six school districts: Sacramento City USD, Elk Grove USD, Twin Rivers USD, Washington Unified, Esparto Unified, and San Juan USD. We have delivered programming at 33+ schools and community sites, including La Familia Counseling Center, the Rose Family Creative Empowerment Center, Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center, Oak Park Community Center, Roberts Family Development Center, BTU Arts, Sacramento Public Library, Armstead Academic Project, and Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum. To date, we've reached more than 10,000 young people, and every student finishes the program with original music or a podcast they made themselves. In 2025, we launched the Sound Business Summit, a workshop series for independent Sacramento musicians focused on music business education, professional tools, and networking. The pilot drew 275 applicants and served 150 artists: 92 in person at Shattered Records, Sacramento's premier recording studio, with the rest joining online. The summit featured curriculum from the Center for Creative Entrepreneurship and artist development tools from Venice Music. Participants rated it 4.8 out of 5. Through our Amplifying Voices initiative, we work alongside tribal nations including the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and Wilton Rancheria to produce content and events that lift up indigenous stories and underrepresented community voices. Our supporters and partners include the Blavatnik Family Foundation, the NBA Foundation, Apple, Spotify, the NFL, the Sacramento Kings, SMUD, Armstead Academic Project, 916 Ink, Shattered Records, Venice Music, the Center for Creative Entrepreneurship, T-Rock Communications, HERE, the City of Sacramento, County of Sacramento, State of California, U.S. Government, Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, and Wilton Rancheria. Our work has been covered by Billboard, Forbes, NPR, CapRadio, CBS News Sacramento, ABC 10, Comstock's Magazine, KCRA 3, The Sacramento Bee, and the Sacramento Business Journal. All of our youth programs are free. Our instructors are teaching artists from the same communities as our students, and our curriculum is built to be welcoming, culturally grounded, and shaped by what young people in Sacramento tell us they need. Whether a kid wants to make beats, launch a podcast, or just have a safe place to be creative, DOS is here to support.