By JOSHUA THOMAS

C-S-E Editor

FORT PLAIN — Fort Plain Senior Jocelyn Arndt, lead singer and keyboardist for the increasingly popular band The Dependents, has signed a 360 development and recording deal with the Albany based production company White Lake Music and Post. Jocelyn’s brother, Junior Christian Arndt, lead guitarist and singer for The Dependents, will continue to be an integral half of the rapidly developing songwriting duo, also continuing to perform and record alongside his sister.

The ultimate goal of a 360 deal is to develop and basically brand the young musicians in terms of not only their sound, but also their image, with the hopes of eventually shopping the complete package, which will include fully produced albums, to major record labels.

The contract, signed on Jocelyn’s birthday, January 14, has been in negotiations  since White Lake Music and Post President and Creative Director David Bourgeois saw The Dependents play at the Fonda Fair.

While Bourgeois was in attendance partially because another artist he represents was performing, he admitted that he had his eye on The Dependents prior to the gig, as he’d looked them up online the day before the show, and attended with the goal of learning more about them.

From there, talks began, with entertainment lawyers on each side eventually hashing out a satisfactory two-year, two record contract. As part of the deal, Jocelyn and Christian will record two albums of original material in the Albany production facility, which houses state of the art recording spaces and equipment, along with a top-of-the-line production team that will craft a well-rounded final product — a portfolio of sorts — that will eventually be pitched to record labels.

“A record deal would be like the icing on the cake, but there’s a lot of different avenues for music these days,” Jocelyn commented, explaining that Bourgeois also creates a revenue stream during the recording process by showcasing the music across various media platforms including television, film and video games.

So far, Jocelyn and Christian have recorded rough “scratch tracks” at the facility, and devote about an hour each day, when not at school or working weekend jobs at Gore Mountain as ski and snowboard instructors, respectively, to songwriting. Jocelyn noted that she expects the frequency of the duo’s writing to increase in the near future, as the Arndts hope to have more than an album’s worth of original tracks ready to go by the summer, at which point Bourgeois will begin showcasing the band live, most likely backed by studio musicians, for music industry professionals.

“I think it’s safe to say we’re both pretty dang stoked by it,” said Jocelyn of the deal, with Christian commenting, “It’s really awesome, but I don’t now if it’s quite sunken in yet.”

The deal will afford many new recording luxuries for the teenaged duo, as Jocelyn explained that Bourgeois has already begun formulating plans to expand and layer their sound, possibly adding instruments such as cello, or even a gospel choir, to new tracks.

“We’re super excited to work with him,” Jocelyn stated of Bourgeois, noting that their ultimate goal, as stated by him, is “to kick the ball down the field.”

“We’re just going to ride this wave,” she concluded.