How I got into "that"
Since I got into the music business just over 3 years ago, by far the most common question I get asked is “How did you get into that?” My initial reaction is always good old-fashioned networking, but I don’t know if that really does a good job of explaining it. So, without further adieu, here is the real story of how it happened, in excruciating detail.
Back in 2000, it was the height of the Napster craze and I was a college student. I loved this band called Orgy and I was looking for other artists like them. I had found out about this band called Deadsy that was somehow in league with Orgy, they had even worked on each others records. So I went on Napster and downloaded some of their songs. The first one I listened to was called “Anti-Pop” and it was a cover of a song by Kommunity FK, a very obscure LA band. That song didn’t really do much for me, in fact it had an almost annoying synth melody playing throughout the entire song. I didn’t really take to it, but a few weeks later I decided to check out one of the other songs I downloaded and one really stuck with me. It was called Cruella, if you want to check it out.
That song kind of became an obsession, and so it went with the rest of their music. It turned out that it was not only the music that intrigued me, but the bands entire essence and ethos. They had all this deep, rich imagery and allegory that they not only integrated into their music, but their look, their art, their clothes, EVERYTHING. It was unlike anything I have ever seen before and probably will ever see again.
At the time Deadsy was in a unique position. First, the band was the primary outlet of Elijah Blue, as in Elijah Blue ALLMAN, the child born of Cher and Greg Allmans very brief marriage. They had been signed to two different labels previously, and both times had an album completed and ready for release before it was shelved and they were dropped. They had recently signed to Korn’s imprint Elementree and they were finally readying their debut album ‘Commencement’ for release. They also had never toured, they had only played a few showcase shows around LA.
The result of their situation was that they were an “insider” band; well known within the industry but without a commercial release available in stores and without any tours to expose them, they had no real fans. As I mentioned, they had had two albums ready to go previously that were shelved, and in both cases promo copies were made and sent out in preparation for the albums release. Being in the height of the Napster era & the file-sharing hysteria that was going on at the time meant that I could fire up Napster and download all the music that they had recorded, even though I couldn’t go into a store and buy it. It was out there for anyone to find, IF they were looking for it - but at that time no-one really was aware or interested in them. I can honestly say that I was one of the first.
Another by-product of the era was the bands official website on the internet. The fact that they didn’t have many fans meant that they were somewhat accessible via the message board on their site. Both Elijah and their manager Josh posted there regularly and interacted with the few people that constituted their fanbase.
Here we have the initial foundation of how I would build a relationship with this band. Over the next few years, I did just about everything I could to nurture that relationship. I promoted the band every way that I could. I printed up my own marketing materials and distributed them. I flew out to their shows in California and drove to shows that were near me in Michigan. I was an active member of their message board and when a lot of new fans started joining the community, I didn’t “flame” them, I answered their questions with respect and courtesy. I was a model citizen.
I got one break when the band came through Detroit to do a solo show after they wrapped-up a long tour. This was to be their last show before flying back to LA, and they needed a ride to the airport the next morning. Luckily my parents had a mini-van that could accommodate all the knuckleheads, and I was in college so I probably skipped class, but I was able to do it. On one of the iciest drives I’ve ever experienced where I virtually was responsible for the safety of my favorite band, I appealed to them to let me come work for them on the road. I had no ‘road’ experience to speak of and I had no idea what I might be able to do for them, but I was convinced that this band was going somewhere and I needed to get involved with them. They actually seemed positive about the idea, although they did not have plans to go back out on the road for awhile. They were going to be working on their next album which meant I would have to wait.
I ended up having to wait for almost 3 years. I wasn’t just going to wait around for them forever, but I still held out hope that it could happen. There had been almost no activity with the band for those 3 years, no-one knew what was going on because they didn’t communicate very well during that period. There were rumors that Elijah had been in and out of rehab and that he was just in a bad place, but none of the fans were sure.
In mid-2006 I was a full-time graphic designer working in a studio in metropolitan Detroit. I was pretty happy overall but the work I was doing was getting stale. I was thinking that I maybe needed to go work for another company that was bigger and was doing more exciting work. Then one day, quite suddenly the word spreads that Deadsy will be going back out on the Family Values tour and releasing their sophomore album Phantasmagore just prior to the tour starting. This type of thing almost never happens in the record business, usually albums are planned well in advance of their release and touring takes place around an “album cycle”, all of this is basically to coordinate the marketing efforts to achieve the maximum impact. What Deadsy was doing was basically defying all the usual practices of an album release. I didn’t really care though, my chance was finally here and I was ready for it. A lot of people believe that luck isn’t something that just happens; it can be influenced and it favors the prepared, but that’s the catch - you have to be prepared. I think subconsciously I had always been prepared for that moment, I never let myself get involved with something that would make me unavailable for that call.
Here’s how it happened: I hadn’t talked to Josh (their manager) in quite awhile, but nonetheless I sent him an email saying that I saw they were going out on the tour and I wanted to remind them of my interest in working for them. He said that he would discuss it with Elijah and get back to me. The tour was actually starting already and so I was a little bit late, and I got worried after the first two shows came and went. Then on a Sunday I was just sitting in my apartment killing time when I got a call from an “unknown number”. That was unusual for me, almost every call I received was from a number that would display - but I thought for a second that every time Josh calls me it came up that way. I answer and sure enough, it was him. The words came out of his mouth as suddenly as the whole episode had been unfolding.
“Hey, its Josh. I hope you’re ready because we want to get you down here asap to start working for us. We’re going to put you on a flight tomorrow so you can meet up with us while we rehearse in Texas for a few days.”
For a moment I was speechless. My jaw dropped and I think I dropped to my knees in disbelief. In that instant I knew that my life was about to change drastically, and that I was getting a HUGE opportunity that I had waited VERY long for. That alone was so hard to comprehend, it was like telling people for years that you’re right about something all the while they don’t believe you, and then you FINALLY have your day when you can say “HA! I KNEW I was right!” The only problem was I couldn’t get on a plane the next day, even though I was prepared I still had a full-time job with open projects and such, I also had a lot of people that I needed to say goodbye to. I also needed to get out of my month-to-month lease and move all the shit out of my apartment. I figured I needed til the end of the week, or at least til Thursday. Then I could fly out Friday morning and get there in time for the show that day. I tied-up all my loose ends and had a talk with both my parents, my girlfriend, and my boss. Each conversation was very difficult. My boss was happy for me and understood. My girlfriend and I had been having problems but she knew it was an opportunity that I had to take. I think she saw this as a way for us to sort of go our separate ways and see what else was out there. My parents were disappointed, thinking that I was chasing a silly dream and giving up a good stable job and being very irresponsible. I tried telling them that I knew what I was doing, and while they have always been very supportive of me, I still think it was very hard for them to buy into this vision. The week went by pretty quick and on Friday I finally got on a plane to begin my career in the music business. It was August 4 2006, and I was flying to San Antonio, Texas.
Once I got my start with Deadsy, things happened kinda fast. I focused on doing a good job and being friendly and personable to everyone that I met out there. I also focused on bringing people up and fostering a fun vibe that people would enjoy being a part of. I had no idea what would happen or where the job would go, I always said that tour may be the only one I ever do but it would be such a good story to tell people, even something to talk about in a job interview that would make me stand-out from all the other candidates, but towards the end of the tour we found out that we had been offered the opening slot on a tour with the Deftones a month after FV was done. So my life on the road would be extended, at least another few months.
During the Deftones tour, I focused on the same things and I also made it a point to hang out with the deftones band & crew as much as I could. Their tour manager took an interest in me and the rumors started spreading that he was going to offer me a job with them. I downplayed it and denied it even though I could feel it was true, but still I found it hard to believe. I had always planned on using Deadsy as a launch-pad to work in the business, was it really going to happen like this, so soon? And with such a higher-profile band? The end of the tour came and I didn’t get any job offer, but I did have a talk with their Tour Manager where I gave him my contact info. I went home and within a few days he called me. He wanted to bring me out on an international tour with them, starting in South America, and including Japan, Australia, and all over Europe & Great Britain.
Again, I had the jaw-drop / knee-buckling experience that I had when I got my first break. This one was significantly bigger though, not only was I getting a LOT more money but I would be working for a much bigger band and going to places that I had always dreamed of. This was the point where my parents actually changed their perspective and actually thought what I was doing was not only legit, but COOL. They were in awe of the places I was going to get paid to go to. And so was I.
I’m going to glaze over a lot of details now, but after working for the Deftones for about half a year, the Tour Manager switched tours to go work for Incubus. They were just starting up a touring cycle. Again, he extended an offer for me to jump tours with him, with an even bigger pay increase. Now I was almost in shock with how much I was making, and I got to go back all over the world again. From there, the cycle kept repeating. I went from Incubus, to Panic at the Disco, to Cut Copy & The Presets, back to PATD, back to Cut Copy, and finally to the Offspring. All of the above happened in the course of 3 years with very little breaks in between tours. It was a grueling schedule, but that is the lifestyle. There were times when I thought that I could definitely do that for the rest of my life, continue tour managing and being a “road warrior”, I can at least say that it was never boring, but it was also really hard, both physically and mentally (mostly mentally). It’s almost impossible to hold down relationships in that situation, even friendships are tough to maintain. Somewhere in those 3 years, I decided that I wanted to transition to proper management after I had gotten a lot of knowledge of the live music business. I didn’t really know what my timeframe was, but it just so happened that it came just a few months before my 3 year anniv. of working on the road.
So that’s how it happened. I have really tried to include the details and not generalize or sensationalize anything for the sake of accuracy. I have told this story more than a few times to different people, some of them just curious as to how I managed to get here, and some people who are aspiring to get into the business just like I was. Some of the people I talk to are in a much better position than I was, but they still can’t manage to get their foot in the door. I think that what I did could be duplicated or recreated, and when you think about it it is probably a good way of getting “in”, although I would say it is definitely the “back door” and not the “front door”, at least for working on the business side. If you were wanting to work in the live business then it would be apropos to call it the “front door”, but it still wouldn’t be typical because I wasn’t a musician or a gearhead or anything really like that.
Along the way, many things had to go right for me, and there were gatekeepers and people giving me lucky breaks along the way that could have stopped me dead in my tracks at any given moment. There were also circumstantial things that worked in my favor, as we say in the office now “it was all timing and lighting”. The reality though is that I had a loose idea of this all happening way back when, all the way back in 2000 when I decided to “hitch my star” to Deadsy’s wagon. I didn’t know exactly how it would go down, and I actually thought that Deadsy themselves would blow up and if I could just get on board at the beginning then I would reap the benefits of that, but the point is that I somehow envisioned this happening and somehow, it did.
If you study self-help or the secrets of success & achievement, something they talk about a lot is visualization. Another way of saying it is “act as if”; if you want to be CEO of a company, act as if you’re the CEO of the company. Think about exactly what your day, life will be like when you get that position that you dream of. I used to visualize these things, oddly enough, even before I knew about the principles in terms of a strategy. Is that why I actually got here, because I visualized it? I don’t know, but it definitely didn’t hurt. I would say it helped, it wasn’t the only thing, but it was one of, if not the first thing I did. So, there it is, for what its worth.
If you’ve read this far, thanks to you for reading, thanks to Deadsy (specifically Elijah & Josh) for giving me my first break in the biz, thanks to Eddie Kercher for giving me my second break that would really get me up and running, and thanks to my parents for being so supportive and always believing in me even when it HURT. Remember, no-one will give you permission to do something in the real world, you have to give yourself permission to go out there and get what you want, and stake your own claim. Occasionally you’ll get a lucky bone thrown your way, and when that happens you’d better be ready for it because you probably won’t get a second one unless you make something of that first one.
Stay hungry!
