Around 11 p.m. on the second Friday of each month, ethereal sounds and colors fill an otherwise inconspicuous building on Government Street in Baton Rouge. People with glittering clothes and sparkling accessories file in and watch as two musicians take to the stage and hold nothing back. Neoseoul500 is performing. Another rave has begun.
Baton Rouge natives Jack Xavier, 23, and Sam Ellis, 19, create music and perform together as the duo Neoseoul500. In January 2023, the two began hosting free, monthly performances in a program they created called “Future Ex Youth” at the promotional arts venue Yes We Cannibal.
Their goal is to create a welcoming, cost-free space for talented individuals to showcase their own music in an industry that can be highly competitive and expensive.
“We are doing something out of love completely,” Xavier said. “We have not made a dollar off of this and that’s the point. It’s beautiful.”
Neoseoul500 is self produced and recorded by Xavier and Ellis in their home studios. Xavier, a graphic design major at Baton Rouge Community College, and Ellis, a digital advertising major at LSU, both hold jobs outside of creating music and attending school. Despite their busy lives, the two have curated more than 16 free shows at Yes We Cannibal in the past year.
The duo refer to their micro-concerts as raves. At a typical “Future Ex Youth” rave, Neoseoul500 performs a set and then turns the mic over to other start-up musicians experimenting with their sound or getting a feel for what it’s like to display their art in front of an audience.
The raves usually have a theme to encourage the audience to dress up and show as much of their own eccentricity and creativity as they want.
“We strive to make a safe space for people to just come be themselves and be authentic,” Ellis said. “You’ll see a lot of different faces, colors, outfits, styles and even ages.”
These shows don’t fit the description of stereotypical raves, and performers often showcase a wide range of music styles from rap to rhythm and blues to psychedelic rock. Xavier and Ellis admit that their own music is highly driven by emotion. The two draw influence from a wide variety of genres including electronic music, R&B and even classic rock.
As carefree as they seem on stage, the duo wasn’t always so at ease with putting out their content in front of a live audience. Before their first rave, they hosted a small listening party at Yes We Cannibal as a preview for an upcoming album.
Xavier said that because the two had done most of their work for the album behind a computer before this point, the show helped catapult their confidence as performers.
“I felt no fear,” Xavier said. “Everyone was around to feel it and I just felt like we had arrived. Like this was a thing we could do.”
Following this first listening party, Ellis and Xavier were asked by Yes We Cannibal to perform a free show each month. Yes We Cannibal is a venue dedicated to providing free space for experimentation and development in the arts. After receiving the opportunity for free space to perform, Neoseoul500 agreed to host the shows, and the program Future Ex Youth was born.
One of the other creators who was present at the first listening party was photographer and videographer Taij Stewart, 23, from St. Gabriel, Louisiana. After hearing Neoseoul500 for the first time at the preshow, Stewart started recording content and creating promotional videos for the majority of the raves that followed.
He feels like raves are an important opportunity for young creatives in the Baton Rouge art scene to get a feel for what performing live is like.
“It is an amazing training ground for creators that are trying to practice performing if they aren’t used to it,” Stewart said. “The crowd is always welcoming, and the energy is always served.”
Stewart said he has also seen these shows bridge a gap between older creatives and a new generation of talent arriving in the Baton Rouge art scene. He has met unique musicians, artists and photographers who come out to the shows to network.
“The underground scene that doesn’t get booked, they get booked at Future Ex Youth,” Stewart said. “It’s a creative hotspot.”
Xavier and Ellis take pride in the scene they promote. Their intention is first and foremost to foster creativity and give opportunities to artists much like the one they were given.
Both members of Neosoul500 believe it is most important for musicians to stay genuine to themselves and their ideas. When they choose who gets to perform at the raves, Xavier and Ellis primarily look for artists who are authentic and have a real passion for what they do.
“A lot of people might look for shortcuts,” Ellis said. “That’s the wrong mindset to have. I feel like if you are trying to do it for the fame or the money you’re in it for the wrong reasons. How are you going to excel without bringing something new to the table?”
The two have sacrificed time, money and energy into creating a unique space for artistry to grow, and they want to continue to do this throughout 2024. Xavier and Ellis will keep hosting free performances at Yes We Cannibal while creating music of their own. Their only advice to those starting out in the scene is to stay caring and pure.
“Regardless of what other people may think or may do in the scene, just be compassionate and treat them with love,” Ellis said. “In the long run it will benefit you.”
