A local music industry founder is building up a new funding network for Austin musicians. David Castro, founder of the mobile concert production company Vancerts, has launched a new initiative called F.A.N. Club and is seeking people who want to get involved.

Castro started Vancerts in 2020 after the pandemic shut down Austin's venues and canceled a show he'd booked at Venue ATX. He dipped into his unemployment savings to buy a van and a generator to help carry equipment, then called up a friend to throw a free concert in a warehouse parking lot.

This friend happened to be Yayo Sanchez — the "Kiss Guy" who famously got up onstage with the Foo Fighters in a full face of Kiss-inspired makeup and absolutely blew them away on guitar — so word got around fast. Three hundred people showed up to the first show.

Vancerts has since provided mobile concert equipment for venues, festivals, and private events across Austin, including two years running at Bat Fest in front of crowds of 3,000 people. Running free, DIY shows out of pocket for five years, however, isn't exactly sustainable.

"We're not able to afford to keep doing what we're doing the way that we're doing it," Castro says.

The deeper issue, Castro notes, is that Austin's music industry has little to no reliable funding infrastructure: Not for production companies like Vancerts, and not for the artists themselves.

"It matters because I'm a part of the scene. And without this, I won't have a job, because people will quit music," Castro says.

F.A.N. Club — short for Funding Audio Network — is Castro's answer: a system built around three tiers of participation. Musicians, producers, audio engineers, and other music industry workers can apply to receive funds covering practical costs like gas, meals, rehearsal space, and equipment repair. That's the first tier.

The goal, Castro says, is to establish a baseline so artists aren't expected to play for free beyond covering their basic expenses. People in the music industry who need support can apply for membership on the website.

A second tier is a funding initiative seeking help from people with financial, legal, or fundraising expertise or local connections, who want to help track down donors rather than give directly.

The third tier is for the donors and sponsors themselves, ranging from individuals to companies. Contributions don't have to be in cash. Castro says he's been reaching out to local and national businesses to ask what resources they can offer instead, from gas cards to service partnerships. So far Castro has talked to people from companies like Uber, Interstate Batteries, Firestone, and Exxon, and he hopes for some future partnerships.

Since F.A.N. Club is still new, Castro is in the process of setting the organization up as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, a status he expects to take a few weeks to finalize. Once approved, cash donors will receive tax credits for their contributions, and F.A.N. Club's website says verified supporters can also choose to receive public recognition, with names and logos appearing on the site once confirmed.

Applications for funding are live now. They will go through a board that reviews requests and determines payouts. Rather than capping requests at a fixed dollar amount, Castro says artists will be able to ask for whatever they need, and the fund will give what it can.

For now, Castro says finding people willing to contribute is the top priority.

"That's kind of just my only focus," Castro says. "I'm not gonna stop until I do."