Always Triumph: Recent Episodes
Bret Phillips
Interviewing professionals in the Music Industry about business, art, their story, and building a successful career.
This weeks episode of Always Triumph features Alex Auxier who is Global Artist Relations for Orange Amplifiers.
He supports over 800 Orange sponsored Artists world wide making sure they have what they need to play their best.
I first met Alex when we were both judges for a final round of Battle of the Bands here in Atlanta years ago. The winners ended up being Radio Birds, who at the time unknowingly, were being managed by a previous guest Dustin Boyer.
Alex was kind enough to let me pop into the US Orange headquarters and blast some bass notes on a crazy 200 watt bass head…I took my melted face home in a zip lock.
This interview has a ton of great information for anyone that is interested in being endorsed or sponsored by any brand, as well as some awesome marketing tips and tricks.
If you have ever wanted to be endorsed by your favorite brand of amps, drums, or even clothing, you probably think one [...]
I first met Wanda when she approached me about building a website that would help musicians connect with each other directly.
When she started telling me about this project I realized that I was already working on something very similar.
While we didn’t end up working together then, we’ve stayed in touch and Wanda has been working on some really cool concepts since.
She started stageHuddle as a means to bring artists together. She created Music Tech ATL and had two Music Hack-a-thons bringing tech industry and music industry people together to create new applications. She also partnered with SouthWIRED(now SuperNova South) as the Live Music Jubilee and brought in music industry folks to share with others what’s working in the music industry and tech world.
Interview highlights:
- How to reach your audience doing Customer Discovery
- Why it’s important to talk to people directly
- How partnering wit [...]
This week we talk to songwriter, performer, and producer Wesley Cook.
Wesley is living the dream right now as a full time musician. It’s hard work, but he’s managed to break out of the 9-5 and survive as a musician.
Interview highlights:
- He identifies 3 layers of marketing
- How do you get a stranger to give you money and support you
- How he raised $13,000 on Kickstarter
- How he got his music written about on Billboard.com
- Being pure and authentic using Social Media
- How to grow your email list
- Why you should commit to what you have natural affinity for
- Perseverance, Being Positive, and Gratitude
This interview is FULL of helpful advice that is real and can be implemented by anyone. He’s proof that you don’t need a ton of money or a huge team to be successful and grow your own brand.
Watch the video here:
This weeks interview is FULL of amazing advice from Dustin Boyer.
Dustin works as an Artist Manager for Hubbub! and has seen almost all sides of the industry from being a musician, booking shows, and now growing successful artists.
If you only watch one Always Triumph interview ever, this is the one to see.
Interview Highlights:
- Why managing your band from within can be trouble
- Exactly what will get your booking emails open and read
- What a good manager should and should not be doing
- What YOU should be doing if you have a manager
- The #1 piece of advice he gives every band he works with
If you have not already, sign up for our mailing list to stay up to day on new videos.
Watch the video here: http://alwaystriumph.com/how-to-be-a-band-that-a-manager-wants-to-work-for-dustin-boyer/
[...]
This weeks guest is Atlanta musician and record label owner Kim Ware.
Kim founded and ran Eskimo Kiss Records for 10 years, then decided to take a break from music. Her time off allowed her to refocus her efforts both musically, and with a new idea for her next record label.
She has a new band called The Good Graces who have already been on tour with legends the Indigo Girls.
Interview Highlights
- What she learned from running a label for 10 years
- How she got her band to tour with the Indigo Girls
- Even if a release isn’t new, why there can still be interest
- What she found after leaving music for a year
- Starting a non-profit record label
Watch the video here: http://alwaystriumph.com/what-she-learned-from-running-a-record-labe [...]
This week we interviewed Tony Simon, aka Blockhead.
He’s a hip hop producer that’s been in the music industry for over a decade.
Blockhead was up and coming in the tail end of the ‘physical’ album era and has seen the growth of the digital world.
I met blockhead while recording the infamous Marq Spekt for an an album they did together.
Interview Highlights
- How releasing music under his own name as producer changed his career
- The main way he makes money as an artist
- Which Library of Music is letting him sample everything
- The one piece of advice he would tell his younger self
Watch the video here: http://alwaystriumph.com/ [...]
This weeks interview is with Hank and Cupcakes.
Sagit Shir and Ariel Scherbacovsky are an electro-pop duo that started in Tel Aviv, and are now living and touring here in the USA.
These two have worked with a major label with their first album, then decided to do everything themselves because of that.
Interview Highlights
- What it’s like to be on the road for a year.
- Why they left their record label and wanted to do it themselves.
- Why a ‘ton of money being poured into you’ means nothing
They close with some powerfully inspirational messages to all artists that you have to check out.
NOTE: Apologies for some of the choppy video and audio. This was the very first one recorded(thanks Sagit and Ariel!), y’all stick with me while we figure this out.
Watch the video here:
This interview is with Brandon Pittman, bass player for Swank Sinatra and founder of Blood Drunk Records.
Brandon has been playing with Swank for a decade where he has booked many tours around the East Coast and Midwest, recorded and released two full length albums on their own, creates all the flyers for all the shows, writes the music, and more.
He also started Atlanta based Blood Drunk Records a few years ago where he has been releasing albums and supporting Swank Sinatra and a slew of other bands and hosting events.
All this to say that Brandon has been around and has a clear idea of what is working and what is not.
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Watch the video here: