Singer, Kayla Steen. Photo Courtesy of Ellmatik.

Lights of pink, blue and yellow hues illuminate the small stage. Standing in the center is an energetic and quirky girl, her jeans sparking from the multicolor jewels decorating the pants leg.

“Before we start, can we just take a moment to appreciate these pants,” she asks the crowd and they erupt into handclaps and “woohs.” She smiles, takes the mic and fills the room with her powerful, yet velvety voice.

By the end of the night the audience is still energetic, cheery (the bar probably had something to do with that) and reluctant to go home. This is The Formula ATL.

Nestled in a cute corner between Arden’s Garden and Outback Bikes on Euclid Avenue sits Aisle 5, an intimate standing-only music venue. Once a month their concrete floors and brick walls are occupied by music lovers, thanks to The Formula.

The Formula is still a baby, being that they’ve only put on three shows since the start of January. It’s clear the creators Cidnee Richardson and Mollie Beavers wasted no time in putting it all together.

“It only took, no lie, like a week for Mollie and I to put our brain power together,” Richardson said.

A subset of Feel Good Productions, The Formula is for “underground” music artists to showcase their talents. Sounds like everything else in Atlanta, right? Wrong. Richardson said she was tired and frustrated by Atlanta’s lack of inclusion when it came to brand-spanking-new artists.

The creators, Cidnee Richardson and Mollie Beavers.

“I got frustrated when a very talented artist friend of mine just continuously didn’t get booked in anything Atlanta-related,” Richardson said.

Confused, she realized it all boiled down to one aspect: no one knew who the artist was. The circumstance mirrored the “you need more experience, but we’re not going to give you experience because you don’t have experience” narrative.

“It kept coming back to ‘they don’t have a following,’ ‘they don’t have a buzz,’ and ‘people don’t know who they are.’ It was never the talent that was the problem. You’re telling me because people don’t know who they are, they don’t deserve an opportunity? That’s confusing to me,” Richardson said.

Richardson and Beavers took it upon themselves to be the change they wanted to see. Meeting each other through A3C, both ladies realized they complimented each other’s skills and passions.

“We’re yin and yang of each other. What she loves to do, I’d rather not do. What I love to do, she’d rather not,” Richardson said.

The Formula is a nice break from the typical artists that are constantly being shoved in your face when you think of Atlanta’s music scene. It’s for the unconventional artist and music lover.

“I wanted to give these artists the opportunity they may not have had because they weren’t in the ‘in crowd’ … either you’re the cool kid or you’re not. I’m a fucking cool kid regardless. No one can take that away from me.”

The next show is May 14 at Aisle 5 on Euclid Avenue in Atlanta, GA. Come out, grab a drink, and enjoy some good music.

The Perfect Music Scene for the Misfits