On top of her love for music, Syracuse University senior Sammy Steiner hopes to have a career that helps society.

“I couldn’t imagine myself going into the workforce and doing a job where I wasn’t giving back to society,” Steiner said. “And in that, I was like, ‘Well, if it doesn’t exist already, I guess I have to create it.’”

Steiner, a senior in the Bandier Program in Recording and Entertainment Industries, started a service agency called Eyes & Ears that facilitates partnerships with music artists and nonprofit organizations. Eyes & Ears recently facilitated its first partnership: a collaboration between Ekali, an electronic dance music artist, and ARISE, a local nonprofit organization.

On Saturday night, Ekali performed at The Westcott Theater as part of his A World Away Tour. A portion of the merchandise sales at the concert was donated to ARISE, a central New York organization that supports people with disabilities and offers health and wellness programs, including school-based mental health therapy.

Eyes & Ears is a project that Steiner has taken on for an independent study class. Steiner started the business herself, with guidance from her professor Bill Werde, the director of the Bandier Program, and Linda Dickerson Hartsock, the executive director of Blackstone LaunchPad.

Steiner said she thought of the name Eyes & Ears last year, before starting her independent study. The name symbolizes being attuned to one’s surroundings rather than just the physical functions of the eyes and ears, she said.

Steiner is particularly passionate about environmental sustainability, but the agency she created doesn’t limit artists to a specific cause, she said.

Ekali partnered with ARISE to support mental health awareness. The EDM artist has been vocal about mental health, including sharing his own experiences. Will Fudge | Staff Photographer

“It’s at the discretion of the artists as to what they want to explore, whether it’s a social or environmental issue or a cause,” Steiner said.

Ekali partnered with ARISE to support its mental health and wellness programs. Steiner said that she researched Ekali before reaching out to his management and saw that he has been vocal about mental health, including sharing his own experiences.

“He’s really authentic and really transparent and has used his story to then connect to his fans even better,” Steiner said.

ARISE had an information table set up next to the merchandise table at the concert. Carissa Guthrie and Catherine Metz, two clinicians who work in the mental health and wellness department at ARISE, provided information about the organization at the table.

Guthrie said that by speaking out about mental health, music artists can empower fans to seek the help that they might need.

“I think it really helps fans as well because a lot of the time people are afraid to step up themselves or afraid to get the help that they might need,” Guthrie said.

Abby Hawkins, the merchandising manager for Ekali’s current tour, said that music artists such as Ekali can use their platforms to inform and help others since they have so many people who are willing to and want to listen to them. Hawkins said that many people connect to Ekali’s chosen cause of mental health and wellness.

Audience members at the concert danced to the music, cheered and sang song lyrics. After the audience chanted for one more song, Ekali finished the night with the song, “Hard to Say Goodbye.” Will Fudge | Staff Photographer

“It’s a universal thing, and I think it speaks to so many people. And we can all relate whether personally or if we know someone,” Hawkins said.

At the concert held at The Westcott, Ekali took the stage around 11:15 p.m., following the acts of Grayson Repp, Juelz and William Black. Audience members danced to the songs Ekali played, some swinging light-up hula hoops and poi balls. Ekali drummed in the air and bobbed his head to the music, sometimes getting up on the workstation table and then jumping off.

In the middle of his performance, Ekali said that some of the profits from merchandise sales would be donated to support mental health awareness. His statement was met with cheers from the audience.

After graduating, Steiner hopes to get a job related to the social impact of music. She said Eyes & Ears is a passion project for her and she plans to continue the business as a side hustle.

Steiner is considering expanding Eyes & Ears’ reach to national organizations, but is currently focusing on organizations in Syracuse.

“For right now, I really wanted to leverage the fact that I’m in Syracuse and the fact that Syracuse does have these social and economic injustices,” Steiner said.

For its next partnership, Eyes & Ears is working with another nonprofit and a Syracuse University student artist on a mixtape release party. Steiner said that it’s been a gratifying experience to see music artists use their platforms to promote causes that they care about.

“Especially if you’re an artist and you have a fan base, a platform that reaches millions or thousands of people, oftentimes your fan base is bigger than even the members of like nonprofit organizations,” Steiner said. “So, I figured if you can mobilize your dedicated fan base, then you can really make a change.”

Published on March 8, 2020 at 11:19 pm

Contact Mandy: ackrayna@syr.edu | @MandyKraynak