Michelle Cable In this episode, we have the pleasure of chatting with Michelle Cable, founder of Panache Management. Panache started out as a zine, which lead Michelle into promoting shows, then booking shows, on a national scale, and then eventually into artist management; working with artists such as Mac DeMarco, Ty Segall, Rodrigo Amarante, and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. We chat about Michelle’s series of pivots and how they were more of an evolution than a shift in direction, and the many elements that tie it all together.

Tough Love: Artist Management

Michelle Cable

Laurel Stearns In this episode, we chat with Laurel Stearns.  I first met Laurel when she was doing A&R at Capitol Records, having signed such interesting and eclectic artists such as The Decemberists and Fisherspooner.  She pivoted into artist management over the years, working with a wide range of artists including GWAR and Father John Misty, eventually landing at Primary Wave where she currently manages U.S.Girls, Red Fang, and The Album Leaf, to name a few.   We chat about the importance of staying true to your instincts, supporting music you’re passionate about, and being patient with the process of marketing music.

Laurel Stearns

Michele Fleischli In this episode, we chat with Michele Fleischli. Michele has crossed paths with a handful of our previous guests and I really enjoyed the opportunity to connect with her here.  Michele currently owns Like Management, working with Tenacious D and Karen O of the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, among others.  Throughout her history, she’s worked with an array of amazing talent, including Bad Religion, Rage Against The Machine, Sonic Youth, and Beck, to name just a few.  We cover a lot of that history, but we also touch on her interest in creating unique and memorable moments with artists, such as Rage’s pop up performance at the Democratic National Convention in 2000 or Beck’s “Song Reader” Book, a collection of songs only available in sheet music form. 

Michele Fleischli

Justin Becker In this episode, we talk with Justin Becker, founder of Murmuration Music.  Prior to stepping out on his own, he worked at Ekonomist Management with Andrea Troolin, where he helped steer the careers of artists such as Andrew Bird and Margot and the Nuclear So and So's.   We chat about the many challenges, and opportunities, that were born out of the pandemic, and how the need for community offered a path to new creative endeavors.

Justin Becker

Justin Little In this episode, we connect the dots with our last episode, where I spoke with Jordan Kurland of Brilliant Corners by chatting with Justin Little of Bailey Blues. Justin worked with Jordan at the start of his career.  After another stint with Ben Dickey at Constant Artists, he settled in at Bailey Blues, managing The Midnight and working with K Flay, Donna Missal, Your Smith and Jake Etheridge. We discuss the importance of making connections early in your career, and how that philosophy can also play out for artists as well, as is the case with The Midnight, who have fostered a unique relationship with their fans over the years.

Justin Little

In this episode, we chat with Jordan Kurland, co-founder of Brilliant Corners Artist Management, home of Death Cab for Cutie, Soccer Mommy, She & Him, and many others.  I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Jordan a few times in the past, and I was thrilled when he reached out to chat.With this past year as a backdrop, we discussed how the pandemic has created both challenges, and opportunities, for artists and artist managers.  Several of the Brilliant Corners artists were able to adapt to the changes in creative ways, and Jordan himself found time to reignite his passion for supporting Biden in his bid for the White House last year as well.  We also touch on our joint love of jazz, and in particular, Thelonious Monk.  

Jordan Kurland

Nick Stern - Stern Management In this episode, we chat with Nick Stern of Stern Management.  Nick got his first taste of the music industry at age 15, interning at an indie record label, Zero Hour.  From there, he gained more experience working as a publicist at Atlantic Records, before pivoting into the world of artist management with his first client, Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah.  Today, Nick works with The Black Angels, Phosphorescent, Phantogram and Metric, to name a few. We chat about the importance of building lasting relationships at an early stage in your career, and how chance meetings can lead to big opportunities.

Nick Stern

Tim Husom - Redbird Music In this episode, we shift gears a bit and explore the world of film/TV composers with my friend Tim Husom, who’s Redbird Music represents some of today’s top composers, including Dustin O'Halloran, Colin Stetson and the estate of Johann Johansson, to name a few.  We discuss how his early days managing indie rock and electronic bands, married with the economic downturn of 2008, inspired him to lean into film and TV opportunities for his artists, which lead to his unique path towards redefining Red Bird as a home for orchestral, ambient and avant-garde music.  His artists have won and been nominated for Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Critics Choice Awards, Emmys, BAFTAs and Grammys.  I hope you enjoy my chat with Tim

Tim Husom

Tom Osborn - Easy Eye Sound In this episode, I share a spirited conversation with my friend Tom Osborn, the GM of Easy Eye Sound, a record label founded by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys.We chat about Tom’s history in marketing at several labels, including his time at Artist Direct, one of the first label services focused companies, on through stints at Anti-, New West and how he found his way to Easy Eye Sound, which ties together his philosophy and viewpoint of how artists can both carve out and create a lane for themselves.

Tom Osborn

Lazerbeak For our first episode of 2021, I’m excited to share a lively and inspiring conversation with Lazerbeak, member of the hip-hop collective Doomtree, GM and manager of Doomtree, Heart Bones, solo artist and musical collaborator and producer of Dessa, among others.  Beak wears a lot of hats, and juggles them all in fine form.  We chat about that juggling act, switching between his artistic endeavors while balancing business.  We also discuss his early years in an indie rock band, his entry point into making beats and transitioning over into hip-hop with Doomtree, and how those relationships opened doors to work with Lizzo and, with Dessa, the Minnesota Orchestra.  We go deep and into a bit of overtime, but it’s a fun journey and I hope you stick through it with us until the end.

Lazerbeak

Lightning Round Questions To round out 2020, we thought it would be fun to compile a collection of our “Lightning Round Questions'' which we first introduced at the top of this season.  Think of it as a list of some of our “Favorite Things”.   We hope you enjoy revisiting these with us and thanks, as always, for listening in! To give you further context, here's a list of our "Lightning Round" Questions: What's the first album you ever bought? What's the first concert you attended? What's the last concert you attended? Can you share a recent music discovery of yours? What do you enjoy the most outside of music?

Lightning Round Questions

John Strohm President of Rounder Records Today we continue our series on “Pivots”, breaking our long tradition of speaking only to artist managers by inviting in an outsider, the President of Rounder Records, John Strohm.    While never “officially” an artist manager himself, he’s had the opportunity to work with a wide range of amazing talent throughout his various roles within the music industry, first as an artist and musician himself, as a member of Blake Babies and The Lemonheads, then as the attorney for some of today’s most successful and influential indie artists, including Bon Iver, Dawes, Phoebe Bridgers, Alabama Shakes, and Sturgill Simpson, to name but a few.   Over the course of our conversation, we touch on the importance of having mentors to guide us, how it often only takes one artist to change the trajectory of your career, and how ascertaining an artist's goals and aspirations can often differ depending on the role you play in their career. 

John Strohm

Joel Mark - YMU Group Today we continue our series on “Pivots”, but for this episode, we’ll be speaking with someone who shifted out of his role in A&R and into artist management. Joel Mark, a partner in YMU Group, now manages The Faint, Soul Asylum, Liz Phair and the John Coltrane Estate, among others, but before that, he signed artists as diverse as Creed and Sigur Rós. In our chat, we touch on how diversity inspires ideas, and how chance detours often lead to new opportunities.   Thanks for listening and I hope you enjoy my conversation with Joel.

Joel Mark

Caren Kelleher - Gold Rush Vinyl Today we continue our series on “Pivots”, chatting with managers how have, at one point or another in their career, veered into or out of artist management, and how their experiences as an artist manager speaks into the work they’re doing now.   When I was brainstorming on a new series topic, my guest today, Caren Kelleher, was towards the top of my list of folks I wanted to chat with, as she’s reinvented herself a few times in her career, and, as our conversion revels, her passion for supporting artists is a constant anchor throughout.  Today, Caren owns and operates one of the nations premier vinyl pressing plants, Gold Rush Vinyl, based in Austin, TX.  We’ll chat how she got there, along with the other various twists and turns along the way.  I hope you enjoy my conversation with Caren. 

Caren Kelleher

Michael Corcoran - mtheory Today marks a new chapter, or rather, season, of Tough Love.  We’re moving beyond our first season theme of “Origin Stories” and embarking on a theme, “Pivots”.  To kick this off, I invited my old friend and former colleague from Nettwerk Management, Michael Corcoran , to join me.  Michael is now at mtheory, an “artist management services” company of sorts, that amplifies and assists artist managers in marketing and developing their artists. He started his career out as a tour manager, before becoming an artist manager, where he worked with a wide array of various artists, including Jars of Clay, Alexi Murdoch, Alison Krauss, and Rosie Thomas and Landon Pigg, who we co-manged together at our time at Nettwerk.  Michael’s career arc had him circling artist management throughout, and his insights into the business have become more refined now that he’s on the other side of the equation. 

hubhopper

Tough Love: Artist Management

hubhopper