West Valley’s Rugs Unplugged Hits the Utah Music Scene In a Big Way

_{By Zach Collier}

Picture this: It’s high school and you’ve been crushing on a cute girl from Spanish class all year but haven’t had the guts to ask her out. Finally, you pass her a note. She sends one back. The feeling’s mutual. And then you keep passing notes back and forth for weeks but never actually hang out because it’s senior year and life is just too busy now that it’s almost h*ckin June and graduation is right around the corner and you’re too busy even though she’s really cool and pretty.

Is this a real life story about my crush on Hayley Mitchell from my awkward days as a teenager in the Pacific Northwest? Or is this a metaphor for how much I’ve admired Rugs Unplugged from afar, sent them messages for weeks, but would inevitably leave town on a work trip every time they’d want to chat in person?

Yes.

Let it be known: Rugs Unplugged is really cool and pretty.

I finally got to meet up with the entire Rugs Unplugged team over Zoom a few weeks ago to get to know them and learn more about the project. Shot at West Valley’s 10Cent Studios, Rugs Unplugged offers Utah artists an opportunity to perform live on a beautiful set. Liam Farrell, Caleb Youlton, and Jaxson Billie run 10Cent Studios.

10Cent studios is a full production studio that creates video and photo content for many brands and businesses here in Utah. They opened their own studio space to push the possibilities of their vision and creativity. “We’re stoked on how it is growing and the support we already have,” says Jaxson Billie. “We hope to see 10Cent Studios working with larger brand names here in Utah within the next 5 years – any type of commercial work creating photos and videos.” 

At 10Cent and on Rugs Unplugged, Liam and Caleb handle video production and editing, while Jaxson handles production and coloring. For Rugs Unplugged, Kieran Hellum handles all things audio and artist outreach, while Claire Snarr tackles photography and merch design.  

“I’d worked with local artists in the past and loved the music scene in Utah,” says Caleb Youlton when asked how the series began. Caleb had the idea to start filming live sessions in the studio. He shared the idea with Liam, Jaxson, and Kieran. “We all knew it would be something big, and we needed Kieran’s expertise in music, so we all came together to create Rugs Unplugged.”

They got together to film, and soon realized their cyc wall didn’t make for a very good stage. “It doesn’t showcase the personality of our brand or the artists performing,” says Liam. “It serves a far better role providing color in the background. After our first video we adjusted and made a much cozier set design and used the cyc wall as just a way to add color to the set.” They also put rugs down to protect the floors of the studio, and soon they had the name for the series.

“We have a passion for video and making things look amazing, and Kieran has a passion for music and making things sound great,” says Caleb. “Together, we have made a great team. We want to bring in local artists (who are very talented) to show their music in a way that isn’t being done here in Utah.” Rugs Unplugged is hands down one of the most gorgeous Utah music productions to date, second only to Matt Eastin’s work on Audio Files for BYUtv.

The Rugs Unplugged team have taken cues from other live sessions series they’ve seen over the years in order to match production quality and also find their own signature style. “Most of us have grown up watching NPR Tiny Desk Concerts as well as the COLORS show concerts,” says Kieran Hellum. “As a musician myself, I know I have always dreamed of being on one of those types of shows and performing my music. When I heard about the idea from the 10Cent guys, I knew I wanted to be involved and help to create something that captured what I loved so much about those shows growing up and help give back to the extremely talented Utah music scene.” 

Kieran credits recent Velour Live Music Gallery Battle of the Bands winner Jared Ferrin for helping him fall in love with the Utah music scene. Ferrin was a “gateway artist” of sorts that helped him get hooked. “We love the diversity that comes with the Utah music scene and also the abundance of it. In just Provo there are places to perform live music on every street corner and finding new, exciting artists is so easy.”

As a whole, these guys seem to be laser focused on making video, audio, and music a sustainable career choice here in Utah. I asked them what hurdles the Utah creator economy needs to overcome in order to thrive here.

“We believe one of the biggest things that will help us as creators in Utah is collaborating and bringing together our talents, skills, visions, and ideas to bring them to life,” says Caleb. “There is power in many minds coming together to create something and it doesn’t have to be an endeavor creators take on alone.”

At this point, getting the series in front of as many people as possible is their number one goal. Making it an integral part of Utah music culture would be a huge win for everyone.

“Within the next year or so we hope to continue growing the pages and make merch such as vinyl records of our favorite sessions, coffee table books of behind-the-scenes photos, tote bags, t-shirts, hoodies, etc.,” says Kieran. “If people can subscribe to the channel, share the sessions with their family and friends, and repost on Instagram, that all goes a very long way and it’s all very appreciated.”

Until then, the group will continue serving up freshly brewed tunes every Friday at noon. Make sure to follow Rugs Unplugged on Instagram and subscribe to them on YouTube. You’ll also be able to catch Rugs Unplugged clips on the Provo Music Magazine Instagram account. You can watch their most recent episode below!