Photos with Flint Youth Justice League provided by Pharlon Randle
Written by Tanya Terry
Pharlon Randle never imagined when he began working as a bus driver that he would discover a passion for youth that would lead him to produce thousands of songs with them.
As executive director and founder of Bangtown Studio On The Go and owner and founder of Bangtown Productions and Recordings, Randle has been working with youth since 2006.
When Randle was a youth himself, he was in a band called Fo-Deep that was popular locally. Their songs were played on the radio not only in Flint, but also in Saginaw and Lansing. That was in the late ‘80s to early ‘90s when he was age 17-21.
“I think God of the universe, He sometimes put things in your place that you really can’t walk away from,” Randle said. “All of my life, I was going to be a superstar. I was going to travel around the world with my funk band.”
In 1992, Randle got his CDL license and was working for MTA. According to Randle, almost the whole band was working there because MTA had to hire a lot of people when they took over the school bus contract.
The band eventually broke up.
But Randle opened up his studio in 1994. Through it, he recorded and produced approximately 50 albums between 1994-2005.
He said he didn’t want to single out any specific group or artist he was most excited about recording with in that era.
In 1995, Randle got the job driving the school bus for Mt. Morris Schools. He used to tell the kids to “love each other” no matter what happened. The kids ended up making a song called “Pharlon’s Love Bus.”
Randle continues to inspire songs even today.
At one time, a friend begged him to show students what he did at Swartz Creek Alternative Academy middle school.
“She was relentless.”
Fortunately, Randle agreed to “take his big speakers” to the school. The kids wanted him to come back. Randle was offered money to do so. The rest is history!
Bangtown Studio On The Go, now in its 18th year, has done programs at each of the Flint schools.
“That includes schools that aren’t here anymore. We did classes at Northern regularly, Central, Whittier. We’ve done a lot of work in Grand Rapids and Kentwood. We’re still doing a lot of work in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. We’re still doing classes in Flint daily.”
Local classes take place at Flint Southwestern, the Boys & Girls Club, Flint Cultural Center Academy, Pierce, Nethercut and Accelerated Learning Academy. Randle explained he does not work alone, but has a team of studio production instructors.
“We go out into the community and connect youth to music, film and technology.”
Randle recently created a song along with the Flint Youth Justice League, which was recorded in honor of the Rx Kids initiative.
Rx Kids is the first-ever citywide cash prescription program for pregnant moms and babies. Rx Kids provides all pregnant moms in the city of Flint with no-strings-attached cash of $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 each month throughout a baby’s first year.
“It’s bringing awareness to the Rx Kids situation, but it’s also about leadership and the community and just positive things.”
According to Randle, the youth helped with the lyrics and beats. They met up with Randle one more time at the MSU Building downtown. Then, Randle produced and mixed the song.
He also created a behind-the-scenes video of the youth putting the song together, which the youth were invited to look at before it’s released for public viewing. Randle was able to talk about his experiences and where he came from with the students.
“In every workshop I do, there are usually a bunch of people who have never wrote a song or had a lot of musical experiences. What’s special is it’s various people from the community. The way we create the music is – whoever wants to volunteer comes up and adds an instrument that they want to add to the computer sequencer we’ve got up.”
Randle said as he looks back over his life, he realizes all the studio sessions he did with artists of various genres, and all the school bus sessions he was doing were preparing him for the incredible work he is able to take part in today!
To see work from Bangtown Studio On The Go, visit Randle’s YouTube channel: YouTube.com/Bangtown.
