new academy home (the heartfelt story)

In July of 2025, we got the keys to our new home at 1–1415 Hunter Court in Midtown Kelowna. It had been a long time coming. For years, we had been searching for a new space for the Academy with no luck.

After what felt like dozens upon dozens of showings, we finally stumbled upon a worn-out unit that had been sitting vacant for more than two years. There were holes in the walls, mice in the building, and old stains everywhere you looked. It wasn’t pretty—but the potential was there.

So we packed up everything from our place on Ellis Street in downtown Kelowna and prepared to make the move.

Just before we received the keys—on July 20th—I suffered a freak accident and tore my distal bicep tendon completely off the forearm. It meant surgery, and it meant having a completely useless left arm for the next six months.

I’ll be honest, I was pretty crushed. I had been so excited to get to work and pour the long hours into transforming the space before our September opening. Suddenly, that plan seemed impossible.

When I walked into the Hunter Court space with my arm in a sling and started making the list of everything that needed to be done, it became obvious very quickly: there was no way I could do this alone.

And asking for help has never been easy for me.

It felt strange reaching out to people in the middle of summer while they were enjoying time with their families. But eventually I put out a call to the BTN community.

What happened next still brings me to tears.

So many incredible people showed up to help make this dream possible.

The dream itself is actually very simple:
Spend time with people. Love them. Teach them music.

As people began arriving, the amount of work that got done in such a short amount of time was remarkable. It wasn’t just people directly connected to the academy either. Members of the wider community—entrepreneurs, business owners, friends, parents, and students—came out to lend a hand. Some helped physically with renovations, others donated paint, tools, time, materials, and encouragement.

Because of them, we were able to open our doors the first week of September in a brand new, beautiful academy space.

I cannot thank these people enough for what they gave.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you:

Sean Bickert — Cardinal Paint and mentor. Thank you for your generosity and guidance.

Mat Mitchel — Thank you for the beautiful paint from Benjamin Moore and helping us make the space look incredible.

Sean and Tanya Jones — Thank you for building the walls, tackling countless little jobs, and for becoming such amazing friends.

My wife, Kayla — Thank you for your constant support and commitment to this dream. I love you.

My sister Danika — You flew all the way from Ottawa to help. You are crazy and I love you, little sis.

Car Moon — Thank you for the beautiful door artwork and your amazing spirit.

Dylan Ranney — Mudding, taping, renovating, and so much more. Thank you for always being such a loyal supporter and friend.

Owen Birch — Our student who painted like an absolute madman. Thank you Owen!

Taylor McDonald and Daniel McCallum, Thank you for helping me with filling holes and mudding!

The Orban Family — True painting extraordinaires. Thank you for spending so much time helping while my arm was out of commission.

Drey and Ian Pollock — Thank you for the pickups, drop-offs, renovations, and heavy lifting.

Blaine McNaul — Beast mode. Trim work, hanging TVs, fixing lights, installing mirrors—everything. Love you buddy.

Nathanael and Jordan Sherman, James and Kelsie Balehowsky, Andrea Mackintosh, Bella Cotton, Chris, Nygel and Danielle Metcalfe — My incredible cleanup crew. I love you all so much.

Just Hogan and Ron Cannon — Thank you for helping move truckloads of gear.

Joel Fedderson — Thank you for allowing us to store our BTN equipment over the summer while we made the move.

To every single person who showed up, donated, lifted, painted, cleaned, encouraged, or prayed for this place:

Thank you.

Bring The Noise Music Academy exists because of community, and this building will always stand as a reminder of what people can do when they come together to support something meaningful.

From the bottom of my heart — thank you.