Jan’s a youngster that interned and is now a full on badass at Outerloop Management (Darkest Hour, Periphery, We Came As Romans, Emery) as an assistant to the CEO and head of endorsements. Read how he got his start and how he handles endorsements with their stable of bands.
For the full article:http://plikm.com/2011/10/jan-hoeglund-outerloop/
What are some of the difficulties you find when trying to get your artists endorsement deals? There are various challenges along the way, but at the very core I would say the difficulties are two-fold: 1. Making sure the artists understand what ”endorsement” means and 2. Making the companies believe in your artists. 1. Artist: A lot of artists have inaccurate ideas of how endorsements work. Some feel that they are entitled to endorsements because they are on tour, finally have that label deal, have some buzz online, etc. It would be nice if it was that easy and we would certainly live in a perfect world. So very often I have to step in and explain that, from a business stand point, what do you (as the band) have to offer to the company? There are a million bands out there with a label deal, but what is it that makes you stand out? How can you influence consumers so that they buy what you use on stage/in the studio, for example?
Interview with Kazuma from Fujigen Gtrs (Japan!)
New interview with Fujigen Guitar company AR/Marketing Guru Kazuma Tanabe. Check out their site here: http://www.fgnguitars.com/
What would make a guitarist select a Fujigen? Is it your charm and svelte style or are the guitars great?
We actually focus on making the relationships with the young guitar/bass players from new generation bands like Asking Alexandria, Dance Gavin Dance, Bless The Fall, SAOSIN and Emarosa and more. As you know, lots of old age guys love to play with old-vintage stuffs like Fender and Gibson because those brands have tons of guitar heroes like Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and Slash etc. before. But the present young people including me don’t care about the brand name and guitar history. They prefer their favorite guitars which has good qualities, wonderful playabilities, nice design and beautiful sounds! I suppose we have some free rooms to make them happy with our FGN Guitars all over the world. Also we created several kinds of FGN original models named FLAME(FL), ODESSEY(OS), and ELAN(EL). Actually we don’t care about the music style for FGN guitars. Please check the artist lists of FGN official website, there has many kinds of professional guitar players including Chad Smith from Red Hot Chili Peppers. haha. Personally speaking, I have a strong confidence that everybody can feel great playabilities and create beautiful and powerful sounds with FGN Guitars.
Looking for In-Ear Monitors? Peep this interview
New Interview with MN based LiveWires COO Marc Musselman. They make sick in ear monitors at a very nice price. Check out the company here: http://mylivewires.com/
Who can benefit from in-ears? What sort of things does a band need to know when making the plunge?
Anyone who wants to raise their level of performance, save their hearing or is sick of lugging around wedges can benefit from in-ears. Besides, many venues are requiring the use of in-ears. When making the plunge into in-ears you need to make sure you get the sound you need , that the things fit and are comfortable and that they are reliable. And, you need to make sure you are working with a company that can support you. If your in-ears go down (stuff happens), you need a company that recognizes you need these for your next gig and does what is necessary to take care of you.
Latest Interviews!
Be sure to read the latest interviews from Darren Sanders, guitar tech with Mastodon and David Elitch, pro drummer who’s latest work was with The Mars Volta.
You’ve teched for some bands that are very particular about their shit. What are some things you really focus on before, during, and after the set to ensure a job well done and a pat on the ass instead of a punch in the face at the end of the night? Have you ever been in fights over how you did you job?
Honestly, at the end of the day my job is to make everything right when my dude walks on stage. I just focus on making sure that is exactly what happens. Trust me, pats on the ass are way better than punches to the face. Its funny because I’ll get yelled at about something that’s out of my control, i.e. monitors not correct, feedback from FOH, other guitar player is out of tune, etc. The fact is, the only reason my dude is yelling at me is because its fucking loud onstage!! I just like to double-check every little thing so that there are absolutely no issues during the show. There’s always an instance where something goes wrong – we’re all human and we’re dealing with finicky electronics. Shit happens. It’s all about knowing how to fix it in an emergency. Always have a backup plan!!
Interview with Mastodon Guitar Tech Darren Sanders
What are some mistakes young techs make these days? What are some things a young tech needs to know when they want to make a successful career out of teching vs. making it a short lived party?
Don’t become too attached to someone. That’s when either you start taking advantage of the artist or vice-versa. You become too good of pals and without realizing, you forget who works for who. My brother and I watched this happen from the sidelines and learned from it. When he’s on stage, I’m not his kid brother he used to hold down and fart on, I’m his employee. As soon as the truck is packed, we’re arm in arm telling stories of our first French kiss with the same girl in high school. I actually just made that last bit up but we do share some stupid stories together. I think the only ‘advice’ would be to just take shit seriously. Your job is to make sure that everything is A-OK when your guy walks up onstage. There’s nothing like standing in front of a sold out crowd and your guitar doesn’t work because your tech was too busy chattin’ up some girl. Young dudes coming into it may think it’s a kickass vacation – which it is! BUT, before you know it, you’re in your mid-late 30′s, 40’s and this is all you know and are stuck in this career, which is not a bad thing at all but you never want the reputation of ‘that dipshit who was kissing that chick behind the monitor desk while Scott Ian’s guitar rig took a shit at Donnington. Good luck finding a gig.
Wondering What It Would Be Like To Be a Guitar Tech for Mastodon?
Posting an interview soon with Darren Sanders, long time tech for the band. I’ll post it sometime next week. http://plikm.com
Don’t forget the latest interviews with drummer David Elitch and AR/Marketing guru at Seymour Duncan, Evan Skopp.
You studied music at Santa Monica college. How important was that in your development? Would you encourage people that want to make a living in music to go to school or just hit the road and play? What lasting relationships did you form while there?
That school was largely a gigantic waste of time. There were a few really amazing teachers there that I was lucky enough to learn a lot from like Dr. Goodman and Dr. Martin, but as far as music education, it wasn’t really anything exceptional. I’m glad I did it, but it’s not necessary. I think that going to college for music is a HUGE waste of time and money. If you’re actually trying to be a real working musician, going into $100,000 worth of debt and then playing The Baked Potato for $35 isn’t exactly going to cut it. A lot of people end up going to school because they’re afraid to take the plunge into the real world and they end up wasting their most valuable years in a coffin sized practice room working on a lot of things that won’t end up being applicable in the real world. It makes a lot more sense to study with a good teacher every week and get that one on one attention that you can’t really get at a school. It also comes out to less than $5,000/yr if you end up taking one every single week of the year which is around 1/10th of most schools.
Posting Interview with David Elitch next week. Monster drummer, recently spent time on the road with The Mars Volta.
A guitar player is ready to upgrade his pickups from the stock ones he got when he bought the guitar. What are some things they should think about when making their decision to upgrade or modify?
The first thing is to think about is: what it is about the stock pickups that’s not cutting it. Do you want more output? More upper mid-range detail? Should your single coil-sized pickup be hum-canceling? Once you’ve identified the deficiencies with your stock pickups, you can look to Seymour Duncan for a pickup that will address those deficiencies. There are a lot of factors that go into why a pickup sounds the way it does; but the biggest ones are the coil and the magnet. And there are a lot factors that go into why a guitar sounds the way it does; but the biggest is the wood. There are ways to match pickup types to wood types to either balance an overly warm or overly bright guitar; or to add output or high end detail.
