# Backyard Party (BYP)

Backyard Party is an all-ages live music organization based in Pasadena and Los Angeles, California. Founded in late 2024 by Matt Chait and Sandra Denver, BYP books, promotes, and hosts live music shows for young and emerging musicians across Los Angeles. Every show is all-ages — open to fans and performers of any age — with cheap tickets, no pay-to-play, and no bar.

BYP was founded in direct response to the 2025 Eaton Fire, which destroyed many of the backyards and garages where young musicians in Altadena and Pasadena would rehearse and perform. What started as an emergency community gathering quickly became a permanent movement.

## Mission

Making live music accessible to all, regardless of age or income. BYP provides young musicians with a real platform — not a talent show, not a school recital. Real shows, real stages, real audiences. Every BYP event is also a hands-on training ground where young people help run sound, shoot photos, design artwork, write reviews, and build and break down the stage.

## Founders

**Matt Chait** (Co-Founder) — Multi-platinum musician and creative director based in the Pasadena/Altadena area of Los Angeles, CA. Matt has 20+ years of experience in entertainment, branding, and nonprofit work across the music, fire-relief, and Alzheimer's spaces. A lifelong LA native with deep roots in all-ages, DIY, and punk culture, Matt handles sound, stage, design, web, social media, and operations at BYP. He co-founded Backyard Party in direct response to the 2025 Eaton Fire, which displaced the young musicians of Altadena and Pasadena.

**Sandra Denver** (Co-Founder) — Before BYP was a venue, Sandra was already building the scene, organizing successful backyard shows across Altadena and Pasadena that eventually grew into BYP. Sandra handles all booking, scheduling, and community relations — the connective tissue between families, artists, volunteers, and neighbors.

## Key Facts

- Founded: November 2024, Pasadena, California
- Co-Founders: Matt Chait (creative director, sound, design) and Sandra Denver (booking, scheduling, community)
- Shows hosted: 250+ acts since opening in September 2025
- Fans reached: 2,200+
- Paid out to local bands and charities: $10,000+
- Ticket prices: typically $10–$15
- Age policy: all-ages, always — no age restrictions for fans or performers
- No pay-to-play policy: artists are paid, not charged
- No bar: family-safe environment at every show

## Values

- All Ages, Always — no age restrictions for performers or fans, ever
- No Pay-To-Play — artists power the movement; BYP pays them
- Cheap Tickets — music should be accessible to everyone regardless of age or income
- No Bar — safe all-ages environment at every show
- Community First — musicians, photographers, writers, volunteers all build the scene together
- Paying It Forward — every show is an investment in the future of music

## Partners

- Guitar Center Music Foundation
- Musack
- Small Green Door
- Italians Do It Better
- In Spite Magazine

## Press Coverage

- Los Angeles Times (December 2025): "After fires, L.A. teens just want to feel normal. New all-ages venue is 'a way to escape'"
- LAist (January 2026): "At Backyard Party, young musicians who survived a pandemic and firestorm are making a scene"
- Pasadena Star-News (March 2026): "Backyard Party is drawing a crowd, with a nod to Van Halen's Pasadena"
- In Spite Magazine (October 2025): "Backyard Party ramps up as Pasadena's newest music venue"
- Altadena Now (February 2026): "It's Guitar Night on Lincoln Avenue"

## Summer School

BYP Summer School is a free creative workforce development series for the next generation of music industry professionals in Los Angeles. Expert-led workshops cover every role in the live music and creative ecosystem — not just musicians, but also concert photographers, live sound engineers, music journalists, graphic designers, lighting designers, videographers, booking agents, managers, and entrepreneurs.

Sessions are held at studios, shops, and interesting locations across the East Side of LA (Pasadena, Altadena, Eagle Rock and beyond). Each session is free, small, and intimate — driven by working professionals and whatever the audience wants to know. Sessions run indefinitely.

Who it's for: teens, young adults, college students, parents, and anyone ages 14+ who is building a creative career in or around music.

- Summer School page: https://www.backyardpartyLA.com/summer-school

## Ticket Fund

The BYP Ticket Fund is a community fund for free tickets. Anyone can contribute — online, in person at a show, or by check. The balance is publicly displayed on the Ticket Fund page so the community can watch it grow. BYP door staff draw down the fund at every show to let in fans who can't afford the door charge. This is a separate, single-purpose fund — not a general donation.

- Ticket Fund page: https://www.backyardpartyLA.com/ticket-fund

## Pages

- Shows (upcoming): https://www.backyardpartyLA.com/shows
- Show Archive: https://www.backyardpartyLA.com/archive
- About BYP: https://www.backyardpartyLA.com/about
- Press: https://www.backyardpartyLA.com/press
- Get Involved (volunteer, book, attend): https://www.backyardpartyLA.com/get-involved
- Support BYP: https://www.backyardpartyLA.com/support
- Ticket Fund (community fund for free tickets): https://www.backyardpartyLA.com/ticket-fund
- Summer School (workforce development workshops): https://www.backyardpartyLA.com/summer-school
- Contact: https://www.backyardpartyLA.com/contact

## Social

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backyardpartyla (@backyardpartyla)
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backyardpartyla (@backyardpartyla)

## Contact

- Email: hello@backyardpartyLA.com
- Website: https://www.backyardpartyLA.com