Nirvana’s Nevermind is singularly the most influential piece of art in my life. The very path my career, my personality and my interests have taken are a direct response to my listening to that album twenty years ago. The immediate effects were visceral and hard to articulate. But now I see why it mattered so much.

Sometime in September of 1991, I caught the video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” To call me mesmerized would be an understatement. In the following months I would buy a guitar and begin teaching myself to play.

In retrospect, here’s what I really learned: creativity requires discipline and practice, production values matter, critical and commercial success do not have to be mutually exclusive, maniacal attention to detail is a must, talent is a myth, and you don’t have to be classically trained.

I also gained an appreciation for dressing punk rock in pop music’s clothing and moving masses. Which is why I now practice advertising every day, thanks to Nirvana.

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“Everybody singing the same song for ten years.” This line from “Under Cover of Darkness” sums up the weight The Strokes have carried since resuscitating rock music in 2001. They, along with the newly-retired White Stripes, provided the soundtrack to the opening decade of this century. For me, at least.

Angles, the band’s fourth album, is out today. After a dozen or so spins (I’ve always found Strokes albums “growers”), there are a few standout tracks. On “Under Cover of Darkness,” the guitar work of Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. is intricate, perfectly complimentary and absolutely listenable on repeat. Judging by the number of plays in my iTunes, “Gratisfaction” and “Machu Piccu” are also winners. Though I’m sure I’ll have new favorites by next week.

Angles finds the group more comfortable with a wider array of styles, which is probably a by-product of band member side projects and the handful of years since its last record. This makes for an interesting listen. After ten years, maybe the band is getting to a place where they don’t have to sing the same song over and over. Give it a shot.

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Consider, for just a minute, the prolific creative output of Conor Oberst. The guy is 30 years old, has produced an incredibly diverse catalog of music and is widely considered the finest songwriter of his generation. So how does he do it? According to Oberst, he’s learned to become “a good thief.”

He doesn’t rip off other artists per se. Rather, he steals inspiration from just about anywhere he can get it. He is on high receive at all times, and I think this is a great lesson for anyone in our business.

Here’s an article from this past weekend’s Wall Street Journal describing Oberst’s creative process. Worth the read.

*I stole that headline. It was on the cover of the latest One Show Annual.

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Recently Damian Kulash, lead singer of OK Go, wrote a piece in the WSJ entitled The New Rock-Star Paradigm. The article is an astute summation of the present state of the music business, specifically how the business has changed in the face of maturing digital communications. The guy isn’t your typical rock group frontman. (more…)

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The inaugural Hangout Beach, Music & Arts Festival was this past weekend, and what a success. Crowds from all over gathered on the very beautiful, very oil-free beaches of Alabama to experience an amazing event that was the culmination of the hard work of scores of people. Grace Potter said it best: “my God—it’s Coachella on the beach!”

Our creative/design and PR crews, led by Sarah Jones and Niki Lim, executed flawlessly. The designs, from the stages to the signage to the tickets, were killer.

As for the PR side of things, the Red Square kids worked like maniacs alongside our pals Music Allies setting up press conferences (note Alabama Governor Bob Riley giving the international sign of the fest), managing internal communications, coordinating live news shows, and dealing with the good people at Associated Press, CNN and other major media.

Congrats to all involved. We are thankful to have been a part of the festival’s success.

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