Michelle Furnier / The Collegian

Walk into room 201 on the second story of the Barnyard Shopping Center in Clovis and you̢۪ll find five individuals at work creating beats, mixing music, creating tracks, playing piano, singing and having fun. Together they are called S.O.G. Productions.

The five guys who make up the company are Jared B. Elston, founder, presidency producer; Efrem Edwards, executive vice president, producer, audio engineer; Anthony Walcott, producer; Chris Valdivia, electrical manager, studio manager, producer; and Jason Harris, accountant, chief financial officer.

Edwards says S.O.G. Productions main job is to help out college age musicians embarking on their journey.

The company has been open since 2000 and has produced four albums and countless songs. Along with producing, they offer music theory, piano and voice lessons.

Both Elston and Edwards have been in music all of their lives.

Elston plays drums, has been singing since he was two and started playing piano when he was nine.

Edwards, likewise, graduated from California State University, Fresno with a degree in music education.

“When an artist comes in here we treat their music like an artist would want it to be treated,” Elston said. “We’re not going to try to get as much as we can out of them or try to push our styles on them. Our goal is to make the artist’s vision come to life. They don’t feel like it’s a battle because we’re working towards the same goal.â€Â

The production process is simple. It starts with an idea, Elston said.

“We’ve had people come in who already have music and we just make it more up to date and then record them,” Elston said. “We’ve also had people come in here that just have an idea for a song and we build a complete track.”

Michelle Furnier / The Collegian

It’s important to the company that they know what an artist wants before they start anything.

Edwards added, “We make it into what they want. It’s like taking ingredients and creating a cake.â€Â

S.O.G. Productions will work with all musical genres.

They have created hip-hop tracks with former Fresno State and NFL player Cory Hall. They̢۪ve worked with Christian rapper Tha Gim who has been featured on BET, and gospel group Spirit and Truth. They̢۪ve also produced records for Houston rappers Remedy and Phatt Boy.

The production company normally charges students $45 an hour, but they currently have a discount studio fee of $35 an hour.

Walcott has been a part of S.O.G. Productions for five years. The first year he was an intern.

“If you want to learn anything, it’s the best place to learn,” Walcott said. “If you’re willing to put in the time and have the patience then this is the place to come.”

Walcott also said S.O.G. opened a door for him. He was eager to learn and they were willing to teach him anything he wanted to know.

“I’m very confident in what we do here. We don’t measure ourselves by people in Fresno and Clovis. We measure ourselves by what college people are listening to on the radio every day,â€Â Elston said.