January 20, 2017

Meet Trey Caples of Soul Spin in Downtown Atlanta

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Trey Caples.

Trey, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Soul Spin (Youth) was founded in 2013 but a small group of educators & musicians with over 50 years of combined experience & graduate/doctoral training in psychology, education, music, & youth development.

In early 2014, we piloted our first Youth DJ Group. In Summer 2014, we expanded the pilot to a year-round program, accompanied by a program expansion & strategic collaborations with various Event Partners across Atlanta, from the Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center to the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.

In early 2016, we added a second site in College Park, working closely with Club E and the College Park Housing Authority to build our second program home.

We are also currently engaging in strategic planning in anticipation of an additional program expansion into our own studio facility in the near future.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There are always a number of moving parts when working with dynamic communities, and that’s part of both the challenge and the joy. While we have goals and outcome measures, we very much know that the process is, in many respects, the destination. There are always struggles, but the struggles are often known and valued – part of what makes it worthwhile.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Soul Spin story. Tell us more about the business.
Soul Spin is a music & event production group dedicated to using its resources for social good. We, DJ’s produce events and lead a community-based youth DJ program for kids who face environmental barriers to success.

Our Youth DJ group is a youth-led music & event production team in Atlanta, GA. Membership is offered free-of-charge to elementary-school kids at select sites in Southwest Atlanta & College Park who meet multiple times each week, throughout the year. Kids in our “Youth DJ Crew” learn how to DJ, as well as take leadership roles in the group, ranging from event coordinator to graphic designer. They then use these skills to plan events around Atlanta in collaboration with our event partners.

We’re most proud of the work we do in the community, without sacrificing the quality of the product we provide to our clients.

In terms of what sets us apart, beyond the work we do with community, we’re about depth over width. We’d rather do fewer things well than do a lot of things alright. We’ve found that to be rare in the entertainment industry.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I’d speak less of luck than of circumstances beyond what we may have initially envisioned. I’m constantly meeting people who open all kinds of doors we’d never have thought of, so we’re very fortunate in that respect, but I’d put that past just pure “luck,” That would take credit away from some of the folks who have come to us at some pretty important times in our organizational development.

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