The scrappy music firm behind Pomona’s upcoming No Earbuds Festival – Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

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In Southern California, music festivals are practically as ubiquitous as pool parties, but there’s a growing appetite for more niche indie festivals, and Jamie Coletta is eager to fill that void.
Coletta, the founder of music PR and consulting firm No Earbuds, had always dreamed of being a hype woman for musicians. She majored in music business at the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Connecticut. After graduating, she went on to work in public relations for major music labels, including RCA Records, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Coletta ultimately landed at Sideonedummy Records, an independent label in Hollywood, where she helped musical artists boost their careers. But in 2018, after nearly a decade of working in her dream role, Coletta was blindsided: she and the rest of the indie label staff were laid off.
“When it all ended, I was at a crossroads. Other record labels were calling me up to work for them, and they had really cool bands that would make me feel much more aligned with my interests than working at the major [firms] did, but I chose to go another way,” Coletta said during a recent Zoom call.
Ultimately, she bet on a solo path, trusting that she knew the industry well enough to prioritize her passion for artistry. With a DIY attitude, Coletta founded her own firm, No Earbuds, based in Northeast Los Angeles, where she hopes to feature the latest up-and-coming talent from bands and solo artists nationwide.
For the company’s fifth anniversary, she put together the No Earbuds Festival at The Glass House and The Haven in Pomona, spread across both venues on Saturday, June 15, with performances by Glass Beach, Pools Kids, Teens in Trouble, Talker and more.
“I wanted to emulate the energy of all the fests I love, where you walk from venue to venue to catch different sets,” Coletta said. “I love South by Southwest for that reason too. There are different day parties where it’s like a cool all-day hang. The Haven and the Glass House are less than a two-minute walk down the block from one another. You don’t even have to cross the street so it’s very convenient and intimate.”

Jamie Coletta, founder of No Earbuds, a public relations and music consulting company, will celebrate its fifth anniversary with a festival at the Glass House and The Haven in Pomona on Saturday, June 15. (Photo by Erica Lauren)

Pool Kids will be among the acts performing at the No Earbuds Festival at the Glass House and The Haven in Pomona on Saturday, June 15. (Photo by Kay Dargen)

Teens in Trouble will be among the acts performing at the No Earbuds Festival at the Glass House and The Haven in Pomona on Saturday, June 15. (Photo by Sass World)

La Fonda will be among the acts performing at the No Earbuds Festival at the Glass House and The Haven in Pomona on Saturday, June 15. (Photo by Bella Petro)

Jhariah will be among the acts performing at the No Earbuds Festival at the Glass House and The Haven in Pomona on Saturday, June 15. (Photo by Andrew Boyle)

Talker will be among the acts performing at the No Earbuds Festival at the Glass House and The Haven in Pomona on Saturday, June 15. (Photo by Trini Trinh)

Queen of Jeans will be among the acts performing at the No Earbuds Festival at the Glass House and The Haven in Pomona on Saturday, June 15. (Photo by Brooke Marsh)

J.R. Slayer will be among the acts performing at the No Earbuds Festival at the Glass House and The Haven in Pomona on Saturday, June 15. (Photo by Zane Roessell)

Jamie Coletta, founder of No Earbuds, a public relations and music consulting company, will celebrate its fifth anniversary with a festival at the Glass House and The Haven in Pomona on Saturday, June 15. (Photo by Erica Lauren)

Coletta’s parents weren’t musically inclined and most of her musical upbringing consisted of top radio hits. It wasn’t until high school that she discovered the emo and pop punk music coming out of Warped Tour, which led her down the rabbit hole of alternative and indie music.
After college, she helped more mainstream labels with their PR, building up clients’ careers such as Jeff Rosenstock, PUP, Microwave and Bartees Strange. While it was rewarding, it also had its pitfalls. She sometimes worked with genres that didn’t speak to her personal taste. Even when she jumped to a more independent label where she had more freedom to work with her preferred performers, it still wasn’t exactly what she hoped for. Now that she’s running No Earbuds, she has more autonomy.
“It’s my taste, and everything that I put my name on is something that I want to listen to. It makes me feel something, and if it doesn’t make me feel something, then I say no, and that’s that’s the coolest thing ever,” Coletta said.
At No Earbuds, she offers a mix of pop punk, indie rock and emo acts services, including PR campaigns, consulting and content strategy. The performers Coletta represents are in different phases of their careers, including more established bands such as The Wonder Years and Balance and Composure. For the newer acts looking to launch their careers, Coletta wants to offer something that doesn’t feel so corporatized and remains more focused on the music.
“I want to warn them that it’s going to be harder, but it’s going to feel better,” she said. “You’re going to be able to sleep at night and know that you’re leaving something more impactful behind.”
One of Coletta’s goals with the No Earbuds Fest was to show the musicians who trusted her that they deserve a front-and-center spotlight, an element that sometimes gets lost in translation at larger-scale festivals such as the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.
“I watch time and time again when bands get opportunities to participate in big festivals, but then they get added to the tiniest font, or they get thrown on the 1 p.m. slot on the Friday of Coachella, and nobody cares or watches. I want to create a better space for artists of color, queer, nonbinary and trans folks to be the headliners,” she said, adding that she wants to show the corporate world that they can create their own universe too.
Coletta also made a conscious effort to choose the venues for the festival, wanting to keep the event’s spirit as independent as possible and accessible to an audience of all ages. She wanted to prove to herself and everyone else that independent spaces and music have the potential to stand out in oversaturated festival markets in Southern California and other states.
She hopes to show the musicians under her wing and the rest of the music festival world that there is potential for a space where an independent experience is viable enough to attract major festival crowds and perhaps take that sentiment to other parts of the country. Of course, that isn’t without its set of challenges.
“The hardest part about being up against Goliath is you don’t have the Goliath budget to support what you have to do, so you have to get creative, and you have to get scrappy,” she said. “We only have major events or garage DIY-style shows, but we don’t have something that’s a developing middle point. I’m just in year one, but I have a vision. I can see it growing, and so far, there’s nothing really like this in Southern California.”
Where: The Glass House, 200 W 2nd St., Pomona and The Haven Pomona, 296 W 2nd St, Pomona.
When: 2 p.m. Saturday, June 15.
Tickets: $47.80 at noearbuds.com. One ticket gets you into both venues.
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