First of all, I would like to thanks my friend Maike Both from Crow's Nest Management to have accepted to answer few questions.
Crow's Nest Management is an independent Music Artist Management & Services Company, located in Los Angeles and owned by Maike Both, who moved from Hamburg, Germany to the US in the 90s. This company was founded in 2009. I got to know Maike in 2009 thanks to the icelandic band Dikta, cause I wrote a blog about them on myspace when I found their music while she was managing them. It was the begining of a great friendship...;)
T.I.D - There is something I really like about your company philosophy. You said "the fans are the new record labels". Since when do you believes that and what gave you this view of the music industry ?
Crow's Nest Management is an independent Music Artist Management & Services Company, located in Los Angeles and owned by Maike Both, who moved from Hamburg, Germany to the US in the 90s. This company was founded in 2009. I got to know Maike in 2009 thanks to the icelandic band Dikta, cause I wrote a blog about them on myspace when I found their music while she was managing them. It was the begining of a great friendship...;)
T.I.D - There is something I really like about your company philosophy. You said "the fans are the new record labels". Since when do you believes that and what gave you this view of the music industry ?
M.B - Actually, it comes from me being a fan myself. I love a lot of different styles of music, but one band stands out for having had a major influence on my life, and that band is Linkin Park. Listening to their music, especially live, gave me an incredible rush of good energy that could stay with me for days. I became a member of their fan club - the Linkin Park Underground - very early on. It was obvious that what made them grow so fast from being a small local band to the major act they are now, was the way they connected with their fans; they were always extremely approachable, constantly chatting with their fans, meeting with them in person, letting them participate in the band's life (not the personal life, which I respect). They made me as a fan feel like I was part of the family or the tribe, as I sometimes call it. And that "being part of it" is what will make a fan walk through fire for a band. And last but not least, it's the fans who will buy your music, merchandise, concert tickets ... clearly, once you have a huge loyal fan base, you don't need the label anymore ...
T.I.D - You are currently managing two artists : Blackbird and Gisli Kristjansson. Could you tell us few words about them ?
M.B - I actually only manage Blackbird. Gisli Kristjansson is a producer/recording engineer in London whom I represent as his US based agent. When I find a band that I think could benefit from his style of approaching music, I send them his way, and sometimes that leads to him recording and/or mixing their tracks.
The artist I manage is Blackbird, an L.A. based hip hop artist whom I've watched from the distance for years, always fascinated by the incredible intensity of his presence - on and off stage - and then one day, he emailed me, saying that he was looking for management. Blackbird and the Crow's Nest ... a perfect combination ... haha!
We are currently working on preparing a tour of festivals in South America; we were approached by a booking agent in Costa Rica who wants Blackbird to open up for Pelligro, the band of The Dead Kennedy's former drummer, DH Pelligro. Fingers crossed ...
T.I.D - Which song of Blackbird do you suggest us to listen to ?
M.B - He has so many great ones, and he produced all of them on his own, with the help of some really fantastic people, I would like to point out especially the two Directors Corey Brandenstein and Molly O'Connor, the Director of Photography Koury Angelo, as well as the Editor Samuel Derek Parnell.
Blackbird - "Jus Someone"
Blackbird - "Where The Days Die"
Blackbird - "Rugged"
T.I.D - Which advices would you give to an artist who would like to succeed in the music industry ?
M.B - Define what success means to you. If it means selling millions of albums and staying in five star hotels, you might be out of luck. But if it means being able to make a decent living as a musician, then there is a good chance to make that happen - if you are professional and good at what you do, and if you are as loyal to your fans as you want (and need) them to be to you.
Also, don't make success the center of your dreams. You have to have fun and enjoy what you're doing. Feed the fire ...
Crow's Nest Management :
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