StarGate, creator of Super Bowl anthem 'Black and Yellow,' to open L.A. music school
With the NFL season around the corner, production duo StarGate is bringing the same energy they poured into the Pittsburgh Steelers’ anthem “Black and Yellow” to music students in Los Angeles.
StarGate, made up of Norwegians Tor Hermansen and Mikkel Eriksen, is opening the Los Angeles Academy for Artists and Music Production (LAAMP) this fall. The idea came out of the pandemic when, with touring and traveling stopped, many musicians were challenged to think outside the box.
“We’ve always believed in just giving back, and knowledge is the most valuable thing we have to transfer to the next generation,” Hermansen said. “So as we’ve been in this industry 20 years, we’ve learned a few lessons and there are certain things that we thought, ‘Man, I wish I knew this when we were starting out.’ It could have really given us a fast track to more results.
“The time just felt right during the pandemic to be, like, this is the time to actually do it because we had some extra time on our hands. We felt like if we don’t do it now, we’re never going to do it.”
Applications are open for the nine-month program that starts in October. LAAMP will be housed at StarGate’s 6,600-square-foot studio complex in Santa Monica with an option to take online courses. The in-person program costs nearly $35,000 and will bring 48 musical artists, songwriters and producers together with mentorship from industry veterans.
StarGate has made dozens of hits after gaining popularity in Europe and moving to New York in 2005. They went on to produce records for Ne-Yo and Rihanna, but one of their favorite moments was working with Wiz Khalifa on “Black and Yellow,” the anthem that served as the soundtrack for the Steelers’ run to Super Bowl XLV.
