What exactly does a record label do? If you take Milwaukee-based FTAM Productions as an example, the answer is not as simple as you might expect. Peter J. Woods, who created the label around 2007 as a way of curating releases he was excited about, has been working on getting more people out to shows.

To do this, Woods developed two education event series that FTAM produces. The Experimental Education Series is supported by funding from the Network Fellowship, which is administered by the UW-Madison for projects that aim to educate and organize communities through specific topics. Woods chose noise.

The Experimental Education Series invites female experimental artists and musicians to give workshops on their practices. The Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts on Center Street hosts the workshops, which last around an hour. An evening-length concert follows, offering attendees the chance to hear the techniques they learned earlier in context. This format (of workshop paired with concert) brings out larger audiences than if Woods were simply booking a concert. Through the series, Woods has brought many well-known artists to Milwaukee to teach and perform, including Olivia Block, Lea Bertucci and Rusalka.

The success of the series did not go unnoticed. Brinn Labs, the design lab for the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum, noticed the success Woods had and invited him to create another event series for their space in Bay View. The Noise Knowledge Consortium has the same structure: first, an artist leads a workshop on the topic of their choosing, and then they will play a short concert of their own work. The consortium is more of a matinee, taking place in the early afternoon, while the series is a night concert.

Woods has a long history of booking shows in Milwaukee, putting together the Milwaukee Noise Fest in 2007 and leading the event for several years after that. After that first noise fest, he formed FTAM Productions as a space for curating concerts, record releases and now educational events covering experimental music and harsh noise. Woods uses FTAM to publish records he believes in and wants to hear, while making a platform for Milwaukee noise musicians to distribute their works. By pairing less well-known artists with more recognized ones, Woods aims to spread fame and success to more musicians.

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You can catch this year’s final installment of the Noise Knowledge Consortium at Brinn Labs, 433 E. Steward St., Saturday, Dec. 21, at 2 p.m. Gabriella Schwartz (Nummy) will give a workshop followed by a concert opened by the Kingston Family Singers. If you are curious about noise, this concert is a great introduction to the genre. You can visit FTAM Production’s website ftamproductions.com and find their releases on Bandcamp.