Music and Film Network
Interview: Mike Gormley on Effective Music Management

reprinted: (http://www.musicandfilmnetwork.com/mikegormley.htm)

There are managers and industry executives who are very good at taking an existing success story and help them maintain success.  And then there are those who have vision.  The ability to discover various talents that others simply do not see, or someone who possesses the ability to make things happen from the basis of an idea.  Such is the case with Mike Gormley. Mike has managed, from the early days to international recognition, such noted acts as The Bangles (three top ten singles and over seven million records sold) and Oingo Boingo, a major alternative act  that consistently sold out venues with capacities ranging from 5,000 to 15,000. From Boingo came film composer Danny Elfman who was convinced by Mike to do the music for Pee Wee's Big Adventure  over ten years ago. Danny is now one of the top five composers in the film world having scored such gems as Beetlejuice, the first two Batman movies and Good Will Hunting and Men In Black  each of which had Danny nominated for an Academy Award. His most recent film is the new Planet of the Apes.

Other popular artists Mike has managed include Wall Of Voodoo (who had top 40 hits such as Mexican Radio and major success throughout Europe and Australia) and Concrete Blonde. The latter, a multi-platinum act in various parts of the world is best known in the U.S. for their Top 20 hit Joey.

 As President of his own management firm, L.A. Personal Development Mike now oversees the careers of such international artists as acoustic rock artists Lowen & Navarro, Australian singer/songwriter Anne McCue, film composer, arranger, producer Paul Schwartz and Astor Place Records artist Aria who have set the ambient/New Age music field on its ear.

What type of advice do you have for the younger artists who are trying to break into this business?


The motto of my company is Activity Breeds Activity. You just can't sit there and hope your dreams come true. And when certain dreams come true, like getting signed to some label, don't think your job is done. The whole process is just a series of introductions. You meet the guys in the band, you meet some manager, you meet a record person, you then have to meet tons of people who work at the label (even a few can feel like "tons'), you go out and meet and greet for the rest of your life. And you have to.
 

This industry is more difficult to get into than ever. Millions of artists, many of them excellent. But only five labels, and hundreds of indies with limited signing ability and limited budgets. Concert promoters are down to a handful and one of them controls 1,400 radio stations. We are all trying to fit a big square peg into a small square hole. But it can be done. That's the strange point. It can be done. It takes, more than anything these days,  perseverance. Sure, talent, luck, hard work etc. But in the face of all this it is easy to give up. Don't. Stay active. Play live every chance you get, send your CD out to the appropriate radio station, publication, A&R person, friend of a friend's cousin etc. Generate some press somewhere, somehow. Be in people's faces. But don't piss them off. You need to finesse them. And by them I mean everyone including your public, no matter how large or small. A friend of mine absolutely loved the music of an artist who, while a fine artist, doesn't have fans lining up at her door. My friend sent this artist an e-mail just to say how much she enjoyed the music. To this day, no answer has come back from that artist. Scratch one fan. And by the way don't forget TV and film in your activities. Another small hole for the square peg, but if you land a song on a TV show you are generating money and exposure to millions. And most of the people I encounter in that field are pretty damn cool. They like music and they like to help artists where they can. They are as deluged with music as A&R people are, but they will listen to your music given the  chance. Attend industry gatherings, like the up coming Global Summit. Man, do you meet people there. Activity Breeds Activity. Just keep going.


What do you feel are the biggest misconceptions of the industry?

This industry, like the film and TV and any entertainment industry has a facade to the public. We are supposed to entertain so that means it is supposed to look good to the people out there. Our job is to take a person from their daily grind and for an hour or two take them to another place. Of course that means when someone wants to enter the industry they at some point get a healthy splash of reality, and it can hurt. The glamorous business they thought they were getting into is tough, mean, dirty, and rough. And you can't really tell someone hat until they experience some portion of it. Mary J. Blige, in a recent interview said it very well. She said, "Whats going to blindside young artists] is the hard work behind the glamour. Before they get in the business--especially a lot of the young kids---they want to have the jewelry they see they see the rappers wearing, but they don't want to work for it."


Is there a difference between a musician and one who plays a musical instrument and what would that be?

Well, I play a musical instrument but I'm no musician. I decided long ago that if I was going  to be in this game it wasn't going to be on stage. The passion and sacrifice it takes to be a real musician is incredible. Jennifer Warnes calls them "lifers". It's someone who just dives into the deep end of the pool, starves, begs, fights, refuses to give up, plays and plays and plays and just believes in their chosen profession. They might have to take another job, but that's to support their music. The instrument is the focal point of their lives. A musician is a music addict who has decided to add to the genre through the playing of some instrument whether it's on a local level or the international stage, whether they teach or perform for a living, no matter what.

How is the business different today than it was ten or twenty years ago?

You know, in some ways it isn't all that different. Twenty years ago rap was just getting started, hip hop was being born, rock 'n roll was still king. But twenty years ago all the signs for where we are now were in place. I was at A&M when Jerry Moss anguished over doing a distribution deal and leaving the independent world. But he knew he had to. But indies didn't die. And the consolidation of labels, while rough, isn't the end of the world. It has spawned hundreds of indies labels which I think is great. The good ones will survive and help artists. All the talk about retail outlets going out of business is bull.  There will certainly be a change. A friend of mine told me the other day that within five years all the retailers will be no longer be selling CD's. I can't believe it, but I can believe that a lot of brick and mortar outlets will be gone, or not selling as much, or bringing in other types  of product. The Internet will get stronger as a retail outlet but if we are smart we'll realize the Internet is where the baby boomers live and the younger people hardly know anything else. Baby boomers will buy CD's if they are exposed to them, and that doesn't happen through radio very much. But it does on the Internet and they are crawling all over the Internet.
There are many changes to talk about over the last twenty years, but we are all still here, still working it, still creating music, still searching for an audience, some are finding them and some aren't. And some are finding smaller audiences that help them survive and expand. My clients, Lowen & Navarro are not a household name, but their past few years have been the best of their 15 year plus career. They tour all the time, sell out clubs, put out CD's and in October they will start working on the European market. Their career just keeps expanding. The approach has changed, some of the tools have changed, the audience has diversified, but the basics are the same.


How do you represent talent differently today than in years when there was less consolidation and it was 'easier?'
Well I still try to find variety in a talented person. You aren't just a guitarist or a singer. There are all kinds of things you can do. But about ten years ago I stepped back and decided I just wanted to work with people I liked. Oingo Boingo was breaking up, The Bangles were long gone, I'd stepped out of the Concrete Blonde management etc. I simply wanted to enjoy the people I worked with and that has been the case ever since. I'm not making as much money but I look the advice I'd given artists---you don't have to go for the big brass ring. You can have a career, live well and enjoy yourself. Sure, there are ups and downs but that's the way it is under any circumstances.   So I worked with the wonderful Paige O'Hara who is big on Broadway and best known as Belle in the Disney "Beauty and the Beast" films. The first thing I did was get her a starring role in Les Mis on Broadway and that was a thrill. And very different than what I'd been doing and therefore interesting. She wanted to go to Las Vegas and I got her into the Flamingo for two years, starring in the Radio City Music Hall show there. Great fun, steady pay and again something new, interesting  and educational.  Paul Schwartz, who has sold tons of records  with his Aria series is exciting. His background was classical and Broadway, and despite the fact I wasn't sure what he was talking about half the time, we had a good time and his career is exploding. Paul will have his first "solo" debut on RCA Victor this coming March. It will come out under his name and we'll proceed to put the personality behind the music that as sold hundreds of thousands of records. He records it at Abbey Road in September. As a producer he is getting offers from Ireland, England, Japan and the U.S. and next week he meets with one of the biggest film directors of our day. At the director's request. Damn exciting.   Basically I don't do anything different. I manage, I advise, I find deals and ways for the artist to make money and expand a career. It's a blast.
Next step, Anne McCue. Australian guitarist/singer-songwriter who is exceptional.


 What is the first thought you generally have when  you wake up?

These days my first thoughts have been work related. And I'm not sure that's good. It means I'm excited and ready to go, but I should wake up and want to take in life a little before I sit down and get going.  should read a
little,o r write something, exercise or maybe call afriend in Canada. Either way it does mean I'm excited and ready to rock. So, what the hell. As long as the thoughts are positive I'll take them.


When you go to sleep?
Until not too long ago I found myself looking up at the clock at 11pm and realizing I'm still working. I put a stop to that. Now I will slow down, get out to see some music and/or  friends or on Wednesdays watch West Wing. And if I stay home I'll try to read. So my thought before going to bed is usually "I'm exhausted". Turn on a good old cowboy movie and be asleep in minutes. I can do all that as long as I feel I've put in a good, useful day of accomplishments. Feels good. If the day has been frustrating I think, "get to sleep so you can get up in the morning and take care of  that".

How do you define success?   Success. How many definitions are there for that word! I don't want to get all sugary but if you aren't happy you aren't successful. And you can't be successful at everything so figure out what you are good at and do it betterthan you imagined possible. Believe in yourself. Like yourself. It's all inside you. You'll know if you are  successful or not.


How do you balance artistic credibility and commercial success.

I'm not sure if this question is asking about my client's artistic credibility and commercial success or mine.  What I do is an art of sorts.It takes a certain personality and skill. But I'll assume you are talking about artists. I see what artists do to create their music. It is tough work and none of them think of their work as assembly line mediocrity. And none of it is, really. And if it becomes commercially successful, that attitude doesn't change. Some music might get on the radio, and some of that is mediocre. Some of it is great. But it's all the work of an artist or group of artists. So what is there to balance? Even the worst crap is art. It's just crappy art. But the artist believed in it enough to present it to you and/or the world. That alone takes guts.

 What would you like to be doing in five years?

In five years I'll be doing the same thing. I hope then that Paul Schwartz' work, which at this  point has sold in hundreds of thousands in the U.S. and Europe has sold in the millions everywhere in the world. It deserves it and so does Paul. Anne McCue will have written great songs for movies and TV, her CD's are selling and she is making people happy with her smile and her songs. Lowen & Navarro surprised the entire music industry and had a number one song after touring  for twenty years. And if not they are  still touring, singing harmonies you can't  believe and Dan Navarro is still there to get me  back on line when my computer blows up.  And Carter Larsen has two Oscar nominations under his belt for film score, Clair Marlo is bigger in Asia than ever and that success has deflected back to the U.S. And Navin, a band I just started working with are headlining over any band you can think of right now. And despite my being busier than ever, I've got great thoughts when I wake up in the morning.

Is this what you wanted to be doing as a child?-

As a kid I wanted to play drums. And I did. But then I stopped in my early twenties and started writing, then I got into the music biz. I'm satisfied, but no, I didn't think I'd be doing this. But what the hell did I know? I knew I was going to be in music somehow. As the industry shifts, we all have to shift in order to survive.

What have you had to do in order to maintain your ground?
See my answer about how I shifted things ten years ago. Being run ragged by a client just isn't worth it. I respect what they do, they respect what I do and we move forward.
What do you feel separates you from all of the competition?

I have a certain style. Some people say laid back, but I work my ass off. I just don't scream and get mine and everyone else's blood pressure up. I come across as quiet, but I get what I want for my clients and fight hard for them. I also know when it's time to come in with both guns blazing and when it is time for diplomacy. There are some artists where my style wouldn't work. There are others where it is perfect. I get together with the latter and we go our merry way.   Activity Breeds Activity. Keep the artist busy and his/her career will grow. That doesn't mean take anything that comes along, but take what is meaningful and go find other avenues.  I've always thought on an international scale and that a musician is not to be put in one box.  Danny Elfman was a great leader with Oingo Boingo and became a brilliant composer. Paige O'Hara was on Broadway and ended up doing well in Las Vegas without giving up her principals. Disney even let her sing "Beauty and the Beast" in Vegas, because she is who she is. Paul Schwartz creates unique and exceptional music yet it also worked very well in huge TV and radio commercials in Europe. And when he starts touring next year it will be exceptional. And in between he'll produce other artists, score movies, maybe do something on Broadway. Anne McCue sings beautifully, plays exceptional guitar and can produce other artists. etc. etc.
It's all legit. It's all activity leading to other activity.

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