KEVIN SCOLES, 31 (Palm Desert, CA)
ARTIST RELATIONS & EVENT MARKETING (Ernie Ball)
YEARS IN MUSIC: 16
ON THE WEB: ernieball.com

DO YOU REMEMBER THE MOMENT YOU FIGURED OUT WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE? When I was about 20, I decided that whatever career path I chose would have to be something that held my interest, something that I truly believed in, and something that I enjoyed doing.

WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS WHEN YOU FIRST GOT STARTED? I was 22 when I first started working for Ernie Ball, and at the time my primary goal was to feed myself and pay for school. I was a guitarist, and I knew that the Ernie Ball headquarters was located just minutes from my house at the time in in San Luis Obispo, CA, so it was a great fit. Shortly after starting my job there, it became evident that I wanted to work in the music industry and make a career out of it, and I had a better chance of succeeding by working for a company like Ernie Ball than by being in a band. So my goal then flipped from trying to make a living playing music to succeeding in the A/R department here at Ernie Ball. There is always one root goal in everything I do, which is to do what makes me happy. Sometimes that is very difficult to recognize. But I try and keep that in mind whenever making life-altering decisions and setting goals for myself. Along the way, there have been tons of mini-goals, and it’s helpful to break things down and really concentrate on the smaller goals that make up the bigger picture.

HAVE YOU ACHIEVED THOSE GOALS? Tough question. In many ways I feel that I have met my goals, but there is still a fire that burns inside of me, that feeling that I could have done more, or made some better decisions. Luckily you can use those situations when you get older to make better decisions for your future.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS NOW? HOW HAVE THEY CHANGED? I think I’m more focused now on my root goal than I ever have been.


WHAT HAVE YOU HAD TO SACRIFICE IN ORDER TO DO WHAT YOU LOVE? Time spent with family members, friends and loved ones.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU ON A DAILY BASIS? I think it’s two-fold. I get a thrill out of seeing something through, being challenged and overcoming obstacles. So I’m always inspired by an inner drive to not only to do a good job but to also go about it the right way. I’m always inspired by the people around me, seeing their creativity come to fruition. The key is having friends that inspire you, who you can hopefully inspire in return.

HOW MUCH OF YOUR SUCCESS HAS COME FROM LUCK? TALENT? HARD WORK? 50% talent 50% hard work and an extra 10% for luck.

HOW HAVE YOU MEASURED YOUR SUCCESS THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER? By the respect I’ve received from my peers and people I work with on a business level.

DO YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS SO FAR? Nothing worth writing home about.

DO YOU THINK THE BEST BANDS IN THE WORLD TEND TO GET FAMOUS, OR TEND TO STAY UNDISCOVERED? One of the true musical mysteries left in the universe!

***

Read Kevin’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

“The day you get on the road is the day you have to start figuring out how to get off the road.”

KEVIN LYMAN, 49 (Altadena, CA)
ENTREPRENEUR
YEARS IN MUSIC: 29
ON THE WEB: 4fini.com // sideonedummy.com
CURRENT PROJECTS: 4 Fini (Warped Tour, 
 Throwdown Tour, Mayhem Festival, Taste Of 
 Chaos); Sideonedummy Records
ROLES: Owner, 4 Fini; Partner, Sideonedummy

WHO AND/OR WHAT FIRST GOT YOU INTERESTED IN MUSIC AS MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING ON THE RADIO?  Working on concerts at Cal Poly in Pomona, where I was going to school.

DO YOU REMEMBER THE MOMENT YOU FIGURED OUT WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE?  When I worked my first show in Los Angeles.

WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS WHEN YOU FIRST GOT STARTED?  My goals back then were simple: pay the rent. I lived in a house with a bunch of guys in Claremont, CA, and got a chance to work on some shows, which allowed me to pay rent. They were all skaters and musicians. I couldn’t do either thing well, but I could talk on the phone. So I was always hustling up work for us to pay the rent.

HAVE YOU ACHIEVED THOSE GOALS?  Yes, I own my own house now.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS NOW? HOW HAVE THEY CHANGED?  I have always been pretty simple. I now have goals to give my kids the best education, enjoy a few friends, and put on good shows. They are pretty much the same as they were back then, but replace roommates with kids.

WERE YOU ALWAYS ON THE PATH THAT YOU’RE ON NOW IN THE INDUSTRY?  I really have kept my goals short and in site. My path takes me to the next one, and then I take that one. There have been a lot of forks, and if I took a wrong one, at least I learned from it.

WHAT HAVE YOU HAD TO SACRIFICE IN ORDER TO DO WHAT YOU LOVE?  I missed a lot of birthdays, holidays, surfing and skiing trips to work my way up. I was working over 300 shows a year when I started. I still miss some things, but have the ability to make up for them now, most of the time. My daughters have birthday “months.” Every day can be Easter, and vacations can be anywhere, any time. Take advantage of the time you have — it goes quick.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU ON A DAILY BASIS?  Fear that it could all go away as fast as a good song.

HOW MUCH OF YOUR SUCCESS HAS COME FROM LUCK? TALENT? HARD WORK?  Timing has been important, luck goes with timing, and about 90% of it has been hard work. I still work 60 hours or a more a week, after 29 years.

HOW HAVE YOU MEASURED YOUR SUCCESS THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER?  Money has come, but I never was driven by it. I really believe that has allowed me to do what I do. A friend once told me that “the problem is your partner [at that point] is driven by money, and you’re not, but it will one day come to you.”  He was right: I make a nice living, but have not taken advantage of a scene or a person to get it.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS?  At the end of the day, watching all the kids leave with the same look I had when music became a part of my soul.

DO YOU THINK THE BEST BANDS IN THE WORLD TEND TO GET FAMOUS, OR TEND TO STAY UNDISCOVERED?  Lately, I think some bands that are crap have gotten famous, but will we hear from them in three years? Doubt it.

***

Read Kevin’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

JONAH BAYER, 30 (New York, NY)

WRITER, MUSICIAN (United Nations)

YEARS IN MUSIC: 15

ON THE WEB: jonahbayer.org // twitter.com/mynameisjonah

PROJECTS: United Nations; Editorial Correspondent for MySpace Music and freelance writer for 
 Alternative Press, Inked, Revolver; Music Editor at Alternative Press 2002 – 2005; Freelance 
 music writer 2005 – present

WHO FIRST GOT YOU INTERESTED IN MUSIC? My mom took me to see Guns N’ Roses at Richfield Coliseum in 1991 when I was 12. I had bifocals, curly hair and blood stains all over my shredded Levi’s because I got a bloody nose before the show and thought that the dried blood stains would make me look more legit.

DO YOU REMEMBER THE MOMENT YOU FIGURED OUT WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE? In addition to playing in countless terrible punk and hardcore bands in high school, I began working on a zine called Law Of Inertia my sophomore year of college with a guy named Ross Siegel. I had never written about music before, but discovered I was pretty good at it and started interviewing my favorite bands, such as American Nightmare, Pedro The Lion and Anti-Flag. I even talked to Jack Black before the first Tenacious D disc came out. When I was 21, I switched into all writing classes and began spending more time working on the zine than on my schoolwork. That was probably the moment I realized that I could possibly make a living as a music writer.

WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS WHEN YOU FIRST GOT STARTED, AND WHAT ARE THEY NOW? Initially my goal was to make Law Of Inertia a full-time gig, however a few weeks after I graduated college I got a call from Alternative Press (where I had formerly interned) to see if I wanted to work for them on the 2002 Warped Tour. Shortly after the tour ended, I applied for and landed a job as their music editor and continued to work there and on the Warped Tour for the next three years. Eventually, my goal became simply to make a living off my writing, which is something that I’ve achieved. I’d also like to publish a book at some point, but don’t have anything concrete just yet.

WERE YOU ALWAYS ON THE PATH YOU’RE ON NOW? Yes, originally I wanted to play in a band, and from 2002 – 2006 I was in a band called the Lovekill who actually played some shows on the EIY stage. Thankfully I was editing/writing the whole time I was in the band, so when we broke up it was easy for me to fall back on my writing. I realized I liked it better than driving eight hours every night to play to 10 kids. Right now I have the best of both worlds, because I play in a band called United Nations, which is really fun but isn’t a full-time touring project.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU ON A DAILY BASIS? Just the people around me: my friends, family and all of the people I’ve met over the past decade.

HOW MUCH OF YOUR SUCCESS HAS COME FROM LUCK? TALENT? HARD WORK? I think a decent amount of my success has come from luck. For example, the job at AP was perfect timing because the former Music Editor was leaving after a nine-year tenure. That said, I also worked extremely hard on my zine, and had various internships during the period before I got the job, and I think that’s why I got hired. When a lot of my friends were partying in college, I was at home editing interviews and/or setting up shows with bands like Discount and Atom & HIs Package.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS? Just moving forward and slowly gaining more and more accomplishments. As long as I don’t feel stagnant, I’m happy.

DO YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS SO FAR? Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I had continued to pursue music full-time but I definitely wouldn’t call that “a regret.” I gave the full-time touring thing a shot and got to travel the world and meet tons of amazing people and I’m able to maintain those relationships and stay in that scene now via my writing. Just because you’re not playing music full-time doesn’t mean that you can’t still be vitally involved in the music community in some other capacity.

***

Read Jonah’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

JOHN OAKES, 29 (Southern California)

ENTREPRENEUR

YEARS IN MUSIC: 16

ON THE WEB: entertainment3sixty.com //
 rockstartasteofchaos.com // mayhemfest.com // rockstaruproar.com

CURRENT PROJECTS: VP of Experiential Marketing, 
 Entertainment 3Sixty; Sponsorship and 
 Marketing, Rockstar Taste Of Chaos; Co-Founder / 
 Partner, Mayhem Festival; Co-Founder / Co-Producer / 
 Partner, Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival; Partner / 
 Vice President, Freeze Artist Management

WHAT FIRST GOT YOU INTERESTED IN MUSIC? 
My skateboard!

WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS WHEN 
YOU FIRST GOT STARTED? When I was a teenager 
in high school managing my friends’ band [Story Of 
The Year], I had goals about saving money for recording 
and selling out a 100cap club. Those evolved into 
pressing CDs, selling out a 500cap club, raising money 
to afford radio commercials, and distributing 10K flyers 
to promote one show. Then they got bigger: trading/
booking shows out of town, selling out 1,000cap 
venues, releasing more music, moving to California, 
touring full-time, getting a major label record deal, 
and selling over a million records around the world. 


WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS NOW? HOW HAVE 
THEY CHANGED? Absolutely they have changed! Now my 
goals simply have more zeroes. It’s not a three-day weekend 
trip, it’s a 30+ multi-city tour. Instead of selling 1,000 tickets, 
we try to sell 10,000. Of course there are goals personally as 
well as professionally, now, too. I am training to run my first 
marathon. I want to scuba dive at epic diving locations all 
around the world. I dream about owning an internationally 
successful company and being on the cover of Entrepreneur 
Magazine. I strive to produce music festivals, tours, and events 
that will become annual household names that both bands and 
fans alike enjoy being apart of.

WERE YOU ALWAYS ON THE PATH THAT YOU’RE ON NOW? 
The trail of my life behind me looks like a pile of broken ladders with some great ideas and even more unsuccessful ones. In front of me there is a salad fork, a dinner fork, and a dessert fork at every turn.

WHAT HAVE YOU HAD TO SACRIFICE ALONG THE WAY IN ORDER TO DO WHAT YOU LOVE? I passed on academic and athletic college scholarships. I dropped out of community college. I moved away from my family, friends, and hometown. I somehow managed to condition my body to operate on minimal sleep, without caffeine. Are those sacrifices?

WHAT INSPIRES YOU ON A DAILY BASIS? Great music, good times, and being a part of making things happen.

HOW MUCH OF YOUR SUCCESS HAS COME FROM LUCK? TALENT? HARD WORK? As a non-musician, my talent is hard work and occasionally getting lucky with great ideas! However, without AMAZING songs from talented musicians, my hard work would not get me or anyone else from city to city, again and again. Talent, depending on how you define it, is the most important of the three. Luck always helps, but with out diversified hard work, the most talented song writers probably never leave their garage except when Guitar Center has a sale. Was I supposed to answer in percentages? 


HOW HAVE YOU MEASURED YOUR SUCCESS THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER? My personal happiness!

HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS? Money helps when you’re looking at a P&L, but at the beginning and end of my day, if I am not happy doing something you can be assured I wont be doing it for very long.

DO YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS SO FAR? I can look at mistakes and small failures in my past, wishing I didn’t make those mistakes — but those mistakes make me, and I am happy with who I am, so my answer is: NO! I have no regrets — except I should have mailed my mom’s Mother’s Day card on Monday instead of yesterday (Wednesday).

DO YOU THINK THE BEST BANDS IN THE WORLD TEND TO GET FAMOUS, OR TEND TO STAY UNDISCOVERED? What is famous? I think great music normally finds its way out to the tribe of people who need to listen to it and love it. Not all great music needs to be listened to by hundreds of thousands (or millions) of people. Maybe “undiscovered’ music only needs to be heard by the person who wrote it.

***
Read John’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

ERNST SCHOEN-RENÉ, 38 (San Francisco, CA)

MUSICIAN, RECORD LABEL OWNER

YEARS IN MUSIC: 22yrs

CURRENT PROJECT: New Disorder Records, and a sleu of bands over the years. 

ROLES: I run NDR; played guitar, bass, and drums
 in my bands 


WHO AND/OR WHAT FIRST GOT YOU INTERESTED IN MUSIC AS MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING ON THE RADIO? My cousin turned me on to the Angry Samoans and the “Repo Man” Soundtrack in 1984. 


DO YOU REMEMBER THE MOMENT YOU FIGURED OUT WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE? I haven’t figured out what I want to do with my life yet. 


WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS WHEN YOU FIRST GOT STARTED? My goals were to be in a band that could afford to tour without losing too much money, and to run a record label that helped out bands with talent. 


HAVE YOU ACHIEVED THOSE GOALS? Sometimes. 


WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS NOW? To work out a way to do art, music, and writing whenever I want. 


WERE YOU ALWAYS ON THE PATH THAT YOU’RE ON NOW, IN THE INDUSTRY, OR DID IT TAKE A FEW DIFFERENT PATHS TO FIND WHAT YOU LOVED TO DO? Right now I’m in transition, trying to find a place in the world for an aging punk rocker and a record label. 


WHAT HAVE YOU HAD TO SACRIFICE ALONG THE WAY IN ORDER TO DO WHAT YOU LOVE? All of my friends, and huge amounts of money. 


WHAT INSPIRES YOU ON A DAILY BASIS? Awesome music, fearless people. 


HOW MUCH OF YOUR SUCCESS HAS COME FROM LUCK? TALENT? HARD WORK? I haven’t had a lot of success, but the success I’ve had has come from luck and hard work. 90% luck and 10% hard work, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a lot of hard work! 


HOW HAVE YOU MEASURED YOUR SUCCESS THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER? Success is when I give a band a chance they didn’t have, when I entertain even one person who comes to a show, or when I make something I am proud of. 


DO YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS SO FAR? I regret not pushing harder to sign certain bands who would have helped the record label. I regret wasting money on some bands who I could tell weren’t in it for the long haul. I guess I regret a lot of things, but at the same time, I wouldn’t be where I am if they hadn’t happened, so I regret nothing. 


DO YOU THINK THE BEST BANDS IN THE WORLD TEND TO GET FAMOUS, OR TEND TO STAY UNDISCOVERED? Undiscovered. Definitely.

***

Read Ernst’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

EDDY NUMBSKULL, Old enough to be your uncle. (Berkeley/Oxnard, CA)

PROMOTER
 YEARS IN MUSIC: 21
 ON THE WEB: akpress.org // numbskullshows.com

CURRENT PROJECT: NUMBSKULL

ROLE: Don

WHO FIRST GOT YOU INTERESTED IN MUSIC AS MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING ON THE RADIO? My mom would play Elvis and Motown records incessantly when I was a kid. When I was 13, my brother took me to see The Clash and that changed everything.

DO YOU REMEMBER THE MOMENT YOU FIGURED OUT WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE? I wish I could recall a certain moment, but there really wasn’t one. I have an enormously unhealthy music addiction. Sometime in my late teens, I had to figure out a way to feed this addiction without filing for bankruptcy… so I decided working in music was the only way this was gonna happen.

WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS WHEN YOU FIRST GOT STARTED? My goal was to provide a platform for local independent fringe artists to showcase their talents and not lose my ass doing so. I was 18.

HAVE YOU ACHIEVED THOSE GOALS? Numbskull has exceeded every imaginable goal, and then some.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS NOW? HOW HAVE THEY CHANGED? Our mission is still the same. I want to continue to keep the culture of independent music alive.

WERE YOU ALWAYS ON THE PATH THAT YOU’RE ON NOW, IN THE INDUSTRY, OR DID IT TAKE A FEW DIFFERENT PATHS TO FIND WHAT YOU LOVED TO DO? Oh it took eons. I tried my hand at everything: freelance writing, radio, record labels, marketing, booking agent, tour managing… I even did quality control at a record pressing plant. All of the above became too specialized for me. I wanted something that incorporated every facet of music, and I needed that immediate gratification. Promoting shows did exactly that.

WHAT HAVE YOU HAD TO SACRIFICE ALONG THE WAY IN ORDER TO DO WHAT YOU LOVE? Sleep, and interacting with loved ones a regular basis.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU ON A DAILY BASIS? My son. My Mom. Music.

HOW MUCH OF YOUR SUCCESS HAS COME FROM LUCK? TALENT? HARD WORK? Honestly, I think it was a combination of all of the above. It’s goddamned hard work putting on shows. It takes a special demented individual to deal with all the finances, municipalities, band egos, suits, concerned parents, media, spectators, etc. I am a glutton for punishment, so maybe my talent is a high pain threshold. I was fortunate enough to be immersed in punk rock culture before it got mainstreamed. I was lucky enough to have those bands that we helped establish in their fetal stages remember where they came from and take us along for the ride.

HOW HAVE YOU MEASURED YOUR SUCCESS THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER? Oddly enough, I go by the fun factor. If I experience a whopper of a story or get to meet and work with a punk idol of mine, than I am content. The other day I went record shopping with Henry Rollins — talk about unreal. I was in “pinch me” mode.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS? If you are content with your effort in obtaining your goals. It’s not if you win the game, but how you play it.

DO YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS SO FAR? I regret not archiving our immense history in an easily obtainable fashion. Shit is just piled in storage spaces. I also regret not keeping regular journal entries, not taking more pictures or videotaping. So many life-altering moments, now just living in memory banks and not immortalized on film or in print!

DO YOU THINK THE BEST BANDS IN THE WORLD TEND TO GET FAMOUS, OR TEND TO STAY UNDISCOVERED? These days, if you are doing something significant, someone is going to find you. Everything is just so accessible.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE (as-of-yet) UNDISCOVERED BANDS? I have been in love with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Wheel all year, but they just got signed. So I guess that doesn’t count. There is this face-melting metal quartet out of Denver called Taun Taun that I dig. The Ragged Jubilee are these kids on the Central Cali coast doing this swampy bluesy punk sludge. It’s truly awe-inspiring. Stop Breathing is the new band featuring ex-Missing 23rd members. They are so full throttle.

***

Read Eddy’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

ED DONNELLY, 41 (Los Angeles, CA)
MUSICIAN, ENTREPRENEUR
YEARS IN MUSIC: 29
ON THE WEB: aderra.net // 
catchacannonball.com // 
addressphotoblog.blogspot.com
CURRENT PROJECTS: Company – Aderra;
 Bands – Julia Albert, 
E.D. Bored and The Bandaleros
ROLES: Tyrant, Drums, Guitar/vox

PAST PROJECTS: When I was 15 I started my first DIY record label, WHOA Records, with the band I was in, in Philadelphia; Eggfoot Records – 20 years! Our 20th record comes out this year; since I was 12 I have been in an endless stream of bands, some crappy, some almost awesome. I have produced 30 or 40 records for a wide range of indie acts and I have written and recorded music for several hundred TV commercials.

WHAT FIRST GOT YOU INTERESTED IN MUSIC AS MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING ON THE RADIO? The Clash’s “Clampdown.” There is a little guitar lick during the second verse that electrified my soul the first time I heard it. I knew that I immediately needed to play guitar.

DO YOU REMEMBER THE MOMENT YOU FIGURED OUT WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE? When I was 15 I got a four-track recorder that ran on cassette tape. I started recording in my parents’ basement and quickly realized that I wanted to make records. I spent a LOT of time listening to music on my Walkman, picking apart how the tracks were mixed and what the producer and artist had done to make a great song even greater.

WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS WHEN YOU FIRST GOT STARTED? Rock out, make out, cash out.

HAVE YOU ACHIEVED THOSE GOALS? Occasionally.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS NOW? HOW HAVE THEY CHANGED? Build a strong company working with great people, help artists make a living playing music, work on projects that are aiming to be timeless. Parenthood and age of course give you a broader, wiser (I hope) perspective on how to accomplish your goals in a way that is sustainable.

WERE YOU ALWAYS ON THE PATH THAT YOU’RE ON NOW? A winding path, but still on it. For ten years, I went to work for a tech company and had much less time for music. But I traveled extensively and got to see local musicians in pretty interesting spots that inspired me to keep creating, and more importantly, emphasized how much power there is in playing live with a group of people. I also got to pick up some cool instruments along the way: an Oud, Darbuka, Harmonium and a few fish skin/mother of pearl tambourines.

WHAT HAVE YOU HAD TO SACRIFICE? The type of financial security that accompanies a nine-to-five type job.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU ON A DAILY BASIS? Playing with my kid, loud guitars, voices singing in harmony.

HOW MUCH OF YOUR 
SUCCESS HAS COME FROM LUCK? TALENT? HARD WORK? Hard Work 95%, Talent 3%, Luck 2%.

HOW HAVE YOU MEASURED YOUR SUCCESS THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER? In music, whether I am playing or producing, success is always measured by my personal satisfaction with the end result.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS? Creating art or a relationship that deeply resonates with another person.

IF YOU’RE NO LONGER INVOLVED WITH MUSIC THE WAY YOU ONCE WERE, WHAT MADE YOU STOP? Unfortunately, I do not get the opportunity to play live much these days because I am so busy working. The good news is that I get to see a lot of live shows when we are out recording them for Aderra.

DO YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS? Yes, of course. Over the past 30 years, I should have spent much more time playing music and not always working so hard.

DO YOU THINK THE BEST BANDS IN THE WORLD GET FAMOUS OR STAY UNDISCOVERED? Both. People have a very personal, emotional relationship with music. When they hear a song or performance that touches them it resonates very deeply. Sometimes this happens collectively with soccer stadiums full of people, sometimes it is a solo cellist playing a small recital.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE (as-of-yet) UNDISCOVERED BANDS? YES! (To be fair, Aderra is working with some of these folks.) yOya, Killola, Terminal VI, Doc and Ryan, Oh Darling, Family of the Year, L.A. Tight, Femke, Delta Rose. I am sure I am forgetting a few.

***

Read Ed’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

DOUG GOODMAN, 47 (North Hollywood, CA)
TOUR MANAGER / TOUR ACCOUNTANT
YEARS IN MUSIC: 27
CURRENT PROJECTS: Lots: Slayer, Death Angel, DRI, Cannibal Corpse, Ben Folds Five, Warped Tour, Beck, ZZ Top, Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day 
(I went on the road in Oct 1984, and 3,341 shows later, I haven’t looked back.)
ROLES: Currently: Tour manager / Tour accountant

WHAT FIRST GOT YOU INTERESTED IN MUSIC? The discovery of metal.

DO YOU REMEMBER THE MOMENT YOU FIGURED OUT WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO? I went on the road with some friends and knew pretty much from the start that it was what I wanted to do.

WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS WHEN YOU FIRST GOT STARTED? My goal, and it was printed in the SF Chronicle, was to tour manage the biggest bands in the world.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS NOW? I aspire to be the best tour manager / tour accountant out there, pretty much the same goal, I just want to be better at what I do.

DID IT TAKE A FEW DIFFERENT PATHS TO FIND WHAT YOU LOVED TO DO? I knew what I wanted to do, but I had to take a few paths to get to where I am now.

WHAT HAVE YOU HAD TO SACRIFICE IN ORDER TO DO WHAT YOU LOVE? A real life. Kids.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU ON A DAILY BASIS? On show days it’s the excited looks on the faces of the audience.

HOW MUCH OF YOUR SUCCESS HAS COME FROM LUCK? TALENT? HARD WORK? [laughing out loud] 33% luck, 33% talent, 50% hard work. Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m an accountant, you can trust my numbers.

HOW HAVE YOU MEASURED YOUR SUCCESS THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER? Looking in the mirror.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS? Being happy with my life.

ANY REGRETS SO FAR? Nope.

DO YOU THINK THE BEST BANDS IN THE WORLD GET FAMOUS, OR STAY UNDISCOVERED? It’s a crapshoot. Talent and success do not necessarily have any connection.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE (as-of-yet) UNDISCOVERED BANDS? No, but Danko Jones is amazing. S.T.U.N. were the best band to play Warped from 2000-2004, and Ben Folds will never reach the heights he deserves.

***

Read Doug’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

DAVE SHAPIRO, 27 (Los Angeles, CA)
BOOKING AGENT, ENTREPRENEUR
YEARS IN MUSIC: 14
ON THE WEB: velocityrecords.com // kapiro.com // theagencygroup.com
CURRENT PROJECTS: The Agency Group, Velocity Records, Velocity MGMT, Gold Business Management, Kapiro.com

WHAT FIRST GOT YOU  INTERESTED IN MUSIC?  My first concert was Smashing Pumkins on the Siamese Dream tour. After seeing my first concert and having the best time of my life, I knew music was what I was destined for.

DO YOU REMEMBER THE MOMENT YOU FIGURED OUT WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO?  No. Honestly, it took a long time to figure out that I wanted to be an agent. I’d almost say the job found me, but I’m really glad it did because I love what I do.

WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS WHEN YOU STARTED? I started booking at the age of 21, for Equal Vision Records. At the time, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but as bands I worked with grew and I sawthem play sold out shows, I realized I wanted to play a role in helping bands grow to a large enough level that they could be a career band. Along the way, I’ve set different goals. First, I just wanted an act that could sell out 500 capacity rooms, then 1,000 cap rooms, then 2,000 cap, etc.

HAVE YOU ACHIEVED THOSE GOALS? I’ve achieved a lot of my goals, but I’m always trying to grow and set new ones along the way so that I’m always looking ahead.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS NOW?  Right now a number of my acts are in a place that they should be proud of and that I’m proud of. I never take for granted what my bands and I have and what we share, but I also never am satisfied. My goals remain: to help all my bands continue to grow beyond where they currently are, and to personally grow as an agent. Another major goal of mine right now is to put my record label on the map.

WERE YOU ALWAYS ON THE PATH THAT YOU’RE ON NOW?  I took a number of different paths. I started off playing drums in a band on Victory records, then worked for Electra, then Equal Vision. I tour managed, I was a promoter, etc. It definitely was a bit of a process to find my place in this business.

WHAT HAVE YOU HAD TO SACRIFICE ALONG THE WAY IN ORDER TO DO WHAT YOU LOVE?  I’ve basically sacrificed my personal life. Being an agent is a very time-demanding job. We work long hours, we get phone calls at all hours of the nights and weekends, we work from home or on the BlackBerry instead of at the office. However, I love my job enough that it basically is my whole life now, and I like it that way.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU ON A DAILY BASIS?  The music and the people. Some of my bands are some of the greatest people in my life. Every day when I deal with them, I’m reminded why I do it. Trying to do things to help amazing people is much easier than helping people that don’t inspire you.

HOW MUCH OF YOUR SUCCESS HAS COME FROM LUCK? TALENT? HARD WORK?  I’d like to think that a lot of where I am at came from hard work, but I’m not naïve. The reality is that there is a LARGE amount of luck in the music business. This is why some amazing bands never go the distance and some terrible bands do. There are certain elements that are beyond our control, but we do our best to have as much control as possible.

HOW HAVE YOU MEASURED YOUR SUCCESS THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER?  Personal achievements. That is the only real answer. You can’t do this job for anyone other than yourself.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS?  For me, success is earning a living that you are comfortable with, while doing what you love.

DO YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS SO FAR?  I’ve made mistakes along the way, but they’ve made me better at what I do. I’ll continue to make mistakes, but as long as I learn from them, I won’t consider them regrets.

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Read Dave’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

BRYAN SHEFFIELD, 32
(Los Angeles, CA)
PHOTOGRAPHER
YEARS IN MUSIC: 10
ON THE WEB: bryansheffield.com
CURRENT PROJECT: Bryan Sheffield Photography
ROLE: Photographer

WHO GOT YOU INTERESTED IN MUSIC AS MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING ON THE RADIO?  My father always had great taste in music. He got me into Pink Floyd and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young at a young age. Took me to a slew of concerts. Through middle school and high school, skateboarding got me into “alternative” and “punk” music.

DO YOU REMEMBER THE MOMENT YOU FIGURED OUT WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE?  I remember smiling and being happy one day in 2004, when I figured out I could live off of my work. Maybe that was it.

WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS WHEN YOU FIRST GOT STARTED?  Happiness and fun.

HAVE YOU ACHIEVED THOSE GOALS?  Maybe 3x a month, I have. 10% of the time is a good ratio, no?

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS NOW? HOW HAVE THEY CHANGED?  As I get older, I think more about sustaining a family, and what I can do for money in 40 years when I want to retire, and not run this fucking race anymore.

DID IT TAKE A FEW DIFFERENT PATHS TO FIND WHAT YOU LOVED TO DO? A few paths. I managed an indie label for five years while I was doing photography part time.

WHAT HAVE YOU HAD TO SACRIFICE ALONG THE WAY IN ORDER TO DO WHAT YOU LOVE? Sleep. Good teeth. Relationships. Living in the country.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU ON A DAILY BASIS?  Music and art and love.

HOW MUCH OF YOUR SUCCESS HAS COME FROM LUCK? TALENT? HARD WORK?  Luck: 10% Talent: 100% Hard Work: 140%. Don’t worry about it, the numbers make sense.

HOW HAVE YOU MEASURED YOUR SUCCESS THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER?  Being able to sustain a career doing what I love to do is success.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS?  Being able to make a living doing what you love. Smiling and paying bills.

DO YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS SO FAR?  Oh jeez. I would like to say “no regrets,” but I am sure I have a list of stuff I would love to do over. That is part of learning though: you get better at what you do when you fuck up what you are doing.

DO YOU THINK THE BEST BANDS IN THE WORLD TEND TO GET FAMOUS, OR TEND TO STAY UNDISCOVERED?  Famous. It is unavoidable. If you are good at what you do, people notice and love you for it.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE (as-of-yet) UNDISCOVERED BANDS?  The Hunting Accident, Rafters, Avi Buffalo, FUR, and Neighbors are amazing!

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Read Bryan’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