The PRA Students Who Scored LaSalle's First Signature Show

When LaSalle College Vancouver's first-ever Signature Show took shape, Professional Recording Arts students Devon Curtis and Camilo Rodriguez put their hands up. They volunteered to create the entire soundtrack — one original track per collection, each one built to reflect the story, mood, and visual language of a different designer's work.

The Process

For Devon and Camilo, every track started with the collection itself.

"We start by looking at what the designer is trying to communicate," Camilo explains. "Then we think about what kind of sound could represent that."

From there, the work became hands-on — guitars, bass, piano, and drums as building blocks, combined with custom-recorded sound effects designed to bring each collection's concept into the music itself. The sessions took place inside the campus Dolby Atmos studio, where Devon and Camilo had access to the same production tools and immersive audio technologies used by Netflix, Apple, and leading music and film studios worldwide.

From Collection to Sound

The following are just two examples from the six tracks Devon and Camilo created — each one as distinct as the collection it was built for.

For Keiya Nagai's collection I Don't Want to Grow Up, an exploration of the weight of adulthood, one line from his collection description stood out: "I don't want keys. I don't want the responsibilities." Devon and Camilo recorded the sound of keys falling and wove it into the track. A small detail. A significant one.

For Dana Gutierrez's collection Influenced, rooted in street culture, digital media, and modern Mexican youth, they took a completely different approach. Rather than pulling existing samples, they recorded and manipulated aerosol cans, spray, hiss, and vinyl scratches, layering them into a rhythmic lo-fi track built around the textures and energy of the collection.

Two examples of six. The other collections took them into entirely different worlds — elemental forces, romantic silhouettes, quiet authority, and sovereign femininity. Each track its own universe.

Signature Show Night

When Signature Show arrived, the tracks moved from the studio to the runway. Behind the scenes, Live Audio instructor Breanna Teichrib coordinated and mixed the audio in real time, making adjustments throughout the show to ensure every track landed exactly as intended — a fully in-house audio production, executed by LaSalle students and faculty together.

Fade Out

For Devon and Camilo, Signature Show was a first look at what their work could look like beyond the classroom — a real creative brief, real collaboration, real production requirements, and a live audience.

"It was a challenge," Camilo says. "But it was entertaining to see how everything came together. When most of the people I spoke to said they loved it — for me, that was a win."

Devon Curtis and Camilo Rodriguez are Professional Recording Arts students at LaSalle College Vancouver. Explore our Professional Recording Arts Diploma in Vancouver and start your career in audio production.