By Nancy Fowler
David Chopin was looking for a blockbuster idea for an app. A colleague was seeking a way to meet musicians like himself. Together, they came up with a concept they hope will revolutionize musical collaborations in St. Louis and across the country.
Chopin, who studied cybersecurity and app development at Maryville, met guitar, bass and trumpet player Daniel Olert through an internship with a St. Louis startup called Tallify, a workflow management company. Last year, the pair began brainstorming an iOS app called Bandmate.
“I’m a big music fan,” Chopin said. “So I wanted to find a solution that would connect musicians with each other.” But Bandmate isn’t only for musicians. Users can sign up as one of three different profile types: a band, a musician or a music lover. Each category breaks down into numerous subcategories; for example, a music lover can further identify as a manager or venue owner.
“So, a venue could find talent that they like and maybe reach out to them and say, ‘Hey, would you be interested in performing a gig for us?’” Chopin said. The app also provides a concert calendar for fans who want to discover and go listen to local musicians. The list pulls from the database of another app Chopin created called Hoot, which lets users upload events.
Through his Maryville classes, Chopin gained a critical baseline of development knowledge. But just as important, he came away with the tools to figure out solutions on his own. “That’s actually a skill that’s essential to being a programmer in 2020,” Chopin said.
Chopin and Olert are hoping to monetize the platform’s premium features, which also include the ability to connect with people in other cities. They envision a national network with Android and web versions, which may necessitate bringing in a third partner. What they’d both ultimately like to see is for Bandmate to become a full-time job.
“But even more than that, we want to facilitate connections between musicians that hopefully will create new music that wouldn’t have existed otherwise,” Chopin said.
