Talent isn’t born, it’s made.

Syracuse University’s first class of audio arts graduate students has set out to help do just that — make their talent known. The seven students founded Made at SU, a group that aims to help budding local musicians make it big.

Made at SU hosts and promotes artists’ shows and records, mixes and distributes their content. The group plans to host a show every few weeks at Funk ‘n Waffles, the first being this Saturday at 8 p.m., and will feature three student acts: Spark Alaska, Josh Coy and S M I T H.

The graduate students are part of a new one-year program in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. In the program, students prepare themselves for careers relating to the music industry and the media. They participated in a summer session “boot camp” and conceived Made at SU on the final night of their program, member Joshua Podrid said.

Now a graduate student, Podrid was a television, radio and film student as an undergraduate at SU. He distinctly remembers the collective brainstorm session at one of the student’s houses with their professor, Ulf Oesterle.

“We had a whiteboard in the corner of the room,” Podrid said. “It seemed like this euphoric moment when all of our hard work and ideas just sort of culminated into something concrete that could actually exist.”

Together they chose a name, set goals and divided up tasks, and Made at SU was officially established.

The students have launched the group completely with out-of-pocket money, Podrid said. They are investing in hopes of earning a profit in the long run through ticket sales. Podrid will DJ this Saturday’s show at Funk ‘n Waffles between acts and hopes to create a “cool” atmosphere.

Podrid added that Syracuse has an unexpectedly strong music industry, with historic theaters and state of the art recording studios. Made at SU plans to take advantage of the recording studios on campus, especially the Belfer Laboratory in Bird Library, where its members will supervise and assist with recording sessions each week.

Lorenzo Cook, who performs under the stage name Spark Alaska, will play an acoustic set at Saturday’s show.

“It’s a good thing to have this organization that allows students who are in bands, or anyone in Syracuse, to have this opportunity to play,” said Cook, a junior in the Bandier Program for Music and Entertainment Industries.

Cook added that local talent is often overlooked for bigger names that are brought to SU, but there are bands that have come out of Syracuse with relative success and a loyal fan base.

Ricky Smith, a freshman in the Bandier Program, will also perform at the show. He performs under the stage name S M I T H and describes his music as electro-soul, a combination of electronic music with guitar and R&B. Smith says he plans to put on an energetic act with a lot of audience interaction. He is open to the idea of recording with Made at SU down the road, he said.

“(Made at SU is) definitely doing a great thing,” Smith said. “There’s certainly an opportunity. There are a lot of talented artists at SU.”

The founders of Made at SU plan to focus their efforts on SU students and recent graduates, and possibly branch out to other local artists in the future. The group is open to many different types of artists, and welcomes suggestions for venues and artists that people would like to hear, member Karl Stabnau said.

“We’re not interested in limiting what we show,” Stabnau said. “We’re just interested in searching out and finding people who are dedicated and produce great music.”

One of the organization’s strengths is the students’ diverse skillset within the group, Stabnau said. Some students specialize in television, radio and film, others in promotion, public relations, artist development and recording technology. The group will also be able to produce live video recordings of their shows, he said.

Made at SU is bringing something new to SU, Stabnau added. The group wants the shows to be accessible to students and to have comfortable ambience.

“At a school with 20,000 people, there’s more bands than anybody is gonna hear in their tenure here at Syracuse,” Stabnau said. “So the opportunity to find those gems that students just aren’t gonna hear ⎯ I think that’s something that’s missing.”

Published on September 24, 2014 at 12:01 am