Which is more difficult to achieve? Trying to survive high school or trying to start a record label? Two Decatur High School seniors, Key Whit and Thomas McGrath, have enjoyed an amazing winning streak. Their new record label, Owned Records, has helped launch the up-and-coming careers of unheard of artists like Adrienne McCann and garage punk band Loud Mouth.

After signing five artists within their first three weeks in the business, Owned Records plans to throw its own concert with all of their musicians in full form, just in time to coincide with their long-awaited graduation from high school. A string of sold-out venues and local tour dates has solidified their stunning and unexpected arrival into the music business.

Catching up with Whit and McGrath is difficult, but when finally cornered in a well-known Atlanta diner, the two boys relentlessly carried on, oblivious to the hours flying by and the waiter toe-tapping to turn the table for new customers. Talk drifted to how the two first met and became friends growing up in Decatur.

Decatur, Georgia, is not a suburb of Atlanta. It is not really its own city either. The interesting and special thing about Decatur is that all the kids who go to the high school, middle school, or the five elementary schools all live no more than a mile and a half away from each other.

Key Whit grew up in the Winnona Park and Oakhurst neighborhoods. He went to Winnona Park Elementary School. Thomas McGrath grew up on the opposite side of Decatur in the Great Lakes neighborhoods and went to Clairemont Elementary school. Both Whit and McGrath walked to school every day, building character with each step of the uphill trudge. They met when they entered sixth grade and attended the only middle school in Decatur. Since, at the time, both were geeky and awkward, they became fast friends as a joint attempt to survive the horrors of middle school life.

McGrath sits at the booth, leaning slightly forward, not a hint of slouch in his relatively tall and lean body. He sports the unshaven-for-a-week look, combined with long and unkempt hair that seems to fall into place looking decidedly disorganized. McGrath is the epitome of the visually disappointing appearance: a first glance underestimates his talents, abilities, and intelligence.

Sitting with McGrath for an extended time can be both enlightening and mind numbing. Ideas seem to roll off his tongue without hesitation, almost as if his mind stores surplus ideas from sleep to use on occasions such as this. Observant by nature, McGrath appears always to be aware of his surroundings: "There are lots of interesting people here, a pretty high concentration of creative, interesting, smart people. You just have to make an effort to group them together, because they're interspersed with a lot of morons. But that's real life."



Nearly the opposite of McGrath in everything but ability, Key Whit looks as sharp as a tack. Clean-shaven and well groomed with a brightness about his eyes, Whit manages to lean back confidently and comfortably in his chair. Responding to questions with less time for thought than McGrath, Whit possesses an easy wit (no pun intended). The unacquainted sometimes think of Whit as being dismissive, when in actuality it is only his self-assured demeanor waiting for an equally intelligent challenger with whom to argue and trade opinions.

The real differences between the two are evident when they begin to discuss the formation of the label and the success they have experienced. Thomas is obviously the pair’s better abstract thinker, while Whit is clearly the better businessman of the two, quoting industry numbers and trends: "It used to be if you could sell 250,000 records, they would come out with guns blazing. But an assessment of 250,000 records, they don't even get out of bed for that now. It's got to be a million records, at least."

The pair happily admits each other’s role in the formation of the company. While McGrath is the dreamer with grand visions of success, Whit is significantly more pragmatic, ensuring that the pair stays grounded and moving forward, one measured step at a time. With a natural system of checks and balances occurring between the two, obviously they are destined to be in business together, possibly for a long time.

With the options of future college life slowly registering on their horizons, they are admittedly having trouble focusing on life in the present. They have considered a couple of different options, but they both agree on their first step: a warehouse apartment for their freshman year at Georgia State. While to some Georgia State is less than expected, to Whit and McGrath, State is a new arena in which to thrive and succeed. They both believe that college presents them with new obstacles to overcome and new expectations to defeat.

Many people are incredulous when they hear the two boys have started a record label. One local girl and close friend, Catherine Turner, looked surprised when she was informed of their success, “Thomas and Key actually followed through with one of their ideas?” Hard to believe, but true: they possess some sort of unforeseen inner drive that has kept them in great stead so far.

As the wear and tear of the day takes effect, they sit at the table relaxing and enjoying the company. The subject at hand conveniently shifts to the origins of Owned Records. McGrath eagerly leans forward in his chair, as if anticipating a favorite story he must have already heard a thousand times by now.

Key, with his arm casually draped over the back of a nearby chair, catches a glimpse of Thomas’s reaction to the change in discussion and cannot suppress a grin as he begins his story, “Thomas just had this idea that he wanted to start a record label, and I thought it sounded somewhat doable.” That was it. Their near instant success was just one idea of McGrath’s other impossible millions. Their booming record company, their talented newfound artists, all came from a late-night whim.

The expectation-defying boys graduate from high school next month, but, as assumed, they show no signs of slowing their fast pace. In the coming weeks they plan to throw a blow-out concert, cutting the top off Keys’ pickup truck, and mowing and landscaping a neighbor’s lawn.

"Yeah, I can't believe I'm graduating already," Whit added. "All the same, I can't tell you what I'll be doing at 40. Married? Kids? Millionaire? Who knows? It's all still too far off to even begin to speculate."