STEVE HARM, 46 (La Crosse, WI)

VENUE OWNER, PROMOTER, 
ENTREPRENEUR

YEARS IN MUSIC: 34

ON THE WEB: 
 warehouserocks.com // 
 zerobudgetrecords.com // 
 WHposters.com

CURRENT PROJECTS: Warehouse, ZeroBudget Records, WH Posters

ROLES: Little bit of everything.


WHAT FIRST GOT YOU INTERESTED IN MUSIC? I went to a Journey/Van Halen concert in 1978, in a 3000 cap room. I was blown away by the lights (which would be hilarious now), and the sound (which would be equally as funny). Keep in mind: no MTV. It was like a sensory euphoria for a small-town kid. And there, for the $6.50 ticket, I ruined the rest of my life.

DO YOU REMEMBER THE MOMENT YOU FIGURED OUT WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE? Well of course that has morphed over the years, from first just wanting to be in a band and be a rockstar (7th grade), to just wanting to help as many bands as possible and entertain as many kids as possible along the way.

WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS WHEN YOU STARTED? When I first got into a band in 7th grade, it was to prove to chicks that jocks weren’t the only cool dudes in school. Later, in high school, it was to be in a band that released records, toured, and got famous. And now, it’s to survive while maintaining the integrity of the venue.

HAVE YOU ACHIEVED THOSE GOALS? The girls: when I was in the first couple bands, you betcha. The touring and releasing records: sure did. Surviving… Well, we are one of the longest-running, all ages, no alcohol, independent concert venues in the US, so I would say certainly. I can die today knowing my crew and I had an impact on hundreds, perhaps thousands, of bands, and thousands of kids.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS NOW? HOW HAVE THEY CHANGED? It’s getting harder to keep the goal of “surviving with integrity,” because there are so many unscrupulous promoters out there. But the goal has not changed: Persevere. Do it right. 


WERE YOU ALWAYS ON THE PATH THAT YOU’RE ON NOW, IN THE INDUSTRY? Several paths. But that’s the way life is. You roll with it. It was the band first (and starting our own label), then working for a sound company, a little guitar-teching on tour, then the venue.

WHAT HAVE YOU HAD TO SACRIFICE? Oh my God. Social life. Privacy. All of my time. Concerts I wanted to go to but couldn’t because I was running concerts. Family gatherings. Holidays. Freedom. MONEY. My life savings is in a change jar on my desk. Seriously.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU ON A DAILY BASIS? Desperation. If I don’t bust ass to make sure the show works, I might be out of a job tomorrow. If I don’t go balls to the wall, the staff won’t go balls to the wall, and so forth. Energy at a venue starts from the top down.

HOW MUCH OF YOUR SUCCESS HAS COME FROM LUCK? TALENT? HARD WORK? Well not to be cliché, but I have always gone by two quotes. One from Thomas Jefferson: “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” The second from my father: “If you are going to take the time to do something, take the time to do it right.” That being said, I think this place has survived on karma. We go over the top to create an organized, comfortable vibe here, we treat bands like part of a team, and everyone is friends at the end of the night. If it involved any talent, we all gained that talent by repetition and trying to make each show run smoother than the last.

HOW HAVE YOU MEASURED YOUR SUCCESS THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER? Well, when you own a venue, you have a number of areas that you hope to gain respect in. You hope to gain respect from the local businesses, so you are not the pariah on the block causing property values to plummet. You hope to gain respect from City Government, and that really only comes with many, many years of proving to them that everything you are doing is on the up and up. One bad incident can color the City officials opinions for years. Same goes with the general public. Being all-ages, we obviously cater to a lot of teenagers. It takes constant communication with parents to get it through their head that kids are coming to see bands play, and that music is a positive. I always try to reason with parents that their kid being in a band is awesome, because at age 50 he’ll be able to pick up a guitar and play it — you can carry music throughout your life. Their other son, who plays football, probably will not be playing full contact football at age 50. And football takes an open field. You can pull out an acoustic guitar almost anywhere. I feel successful when I get through to parents.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS? IF YOU’RE NO LONGER INVOLVED WITH MUSIC THE WAY YOU ONCE WERE, WHAT MADE YOU STOP? I stopped being in a band because we took a break from writing, recording and touring, and realized we’d been trapped in a seven-year neverending cycle that allowed for no personal growth. All of a sudden, I could go to a movie instead of spending all week mailing out press kits (you bands these days have it SOOOOOOOO good with your newfangled web thingamajiggits). But I could not get music out of my system, and still found a new way to be a part of it.

DO YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS SO FAR? My band got a stellar review in Billboard magazine and I decided to wait for the major labels to call instead of being proactive and calling THEM. A major label called a year later and wanted to buy one of our songs for their artist to record, and being a true genius I decided that if the song was good enough to buy, then we were good enough to sign. Fail. I also regret not going to college and taking some business classes. This music business isn’t all music.

DO YOU THINK THE BEST BANDS IN THE WORLD TEND TO GET FAMOUS, OR TEND TO STAY UNDISCOVERED? I could start listing bands that have come through that have been incredible and remained virtually invisible, so I would say undiscovered. I’ve seen plenty of bands blow me away, and then I never hear from them again.

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Read Steve’s answers to 50 questions about music and the music business in the EIY HANDBOOK, available in print or eBook version at www.earnityourself.com

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STEVE CHOI, 29 (Long Beach, CA)

MUSICIAN (Rx Bandits)

YEARS IN MUSIC: 12

ON THE WEB: twitter.com/rxchoi // twitter.com/rxbofficial

CURRENT PROJECTS: RxBandits, Peace’d Out,
 Machines, Accidental Sounds 

ROLES: RXB: Guitar, Keys, Vocals, Aux. Drums

WHO FIRST GOT YOU INTERESTED IN MUSIC AS MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING ON THE RADIO? It was definitely Nirvana. I had been exposed to a lot of underground music at a very, very young age because of my older sister, but seeing Nirvana was the first time I was moved enough to want to play my music. 


DO YOU REMEMBER THE MOMENT YOU FIGURED OUT WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE? 
It wasn’t so much a moment for me, as it was a collection of moments. By the time I was 16 or 17, I looked back at all those moments up to that point and realized that was what I was meant to do.


WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS WHEN YOU STARTED? I was really into the Bay area punk scene, and indie music in general, when my musical ambitions started taking shape, so I was very passionate and integrity-driven. Everything had to be about the love for the music, the people surrounding it, and had to exist in spite of profit or commercial success. Ah, youthful zeal.

HAVE YOU ACHIEVED THOSE GOALS? Absolutely. My band is not famous, nor are we huge, but we have already done so many things that are waaaaay beyond what I could have imagined as a young kid.

WERE YOU ALWAYS ON THE PATH THAT YOU’RE ON NOW? I decided on music and I never looked back, never changed course and never regretted one second of it. It has been a kinked and overgrown path, but it was good to me, and, although slowly, has lead me where I wanted to go. 


WHAT HAVE YOU HAD TO SACRIFICE IN ORDER TO DO WHAT YOU LOVE? As a touring musician, you sacrifice your ability to be present in the lives of people whom you care for most. It can be more of a problem than one thinks.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU ON A DAILY BASIS? I think I have a full staff of blessings, frustrations, goals, and moods that all keep me moving in different ways, for different reasons, at all times.

HOW MUCH OF YOUR SUCCESS HAS COME FROM LUCK? TALENT? HARD WORK? Our band has definitely had good fortune, but none of it came in the form of furthering our band’s success — that was all hard work and passion. Our luck came in the form of our health and not dying in some of the crazy situations we’ve been in over the years on the road.

HOW HAVE YOU MEASURED YOUR SUCCESS? I measure our success through my feelings towards our band overall. My happiness with where we are is most of how I perceive our success. Now… respect, popularity and money all influence that, but I look to the sum of the parts rather than individual aspects.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS? Bit subjective, innit.

DO YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS? No regrets, no surrender.

DO YOU THINK THE BEST BANDS IN THE WORLD TEND TO GET FAMOUS, OR TEND TO STAY UNDISCOVERED? I wish I could say either way, but I think it tends to be pretty even both ways, and pretty random. The factors involved make it far too complex to even try and think about on my own.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE (as-of-yet) UNDISCOVERED BANDS? All my friends making amazing music that few will ever hear.


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Read Steve’s answers to 50 questions about music and the music business in the EIY HANDBOOK, available in print or eBook version at www.earnityourself.com