'07 IU alumnus Brian Kerr spent his years at IU booking shows for WIUX, interning at Secretly Canadian and working towards his major in Business and Marketing.
He and his pals moved to New York upon graduation, and recently founded indie record label twosyllable records , boasting up and comers such as Bell, That Ghost and Holiday Shores.
The latter will be joining Evangelicals, who opened up for Sunset Rubdown this past September(read our review of the show) TOMORROW at the Bishop.
Show info:
EVANGELICALS(mp3 of "Skeleton Man" here)
w/ Holdiay Shores, Throwing Stars, The French & Indian War
at The Bishop
Monday November 23
8:30 p.m.
$7
18+
I asked Kerr a few questions via e-mail about his time in Bloomington and the business of running a record label. Check out the q&a below!
LB: What was your experience at IU like, and how did interning for SC, working at WIUX and majoring in business and marketing help you prepare for running twosyllable records now?
BK: IU was fantastic, i couldn't have asked for a better college experience. Specifically, WIUX opened so many doors for me. Being able to communicate with booking agents, labels, etc on a professional level is something most students don't get to experience. WIUX really gave me the opportunity to lay a foundation of contacts before i was even out of school. And the people at Secretly Canadian are the best model any label could possibly work off of. They have been beyond supportive and helpful.
LB: What were some of your favorite shows you attended in Bloomington?
BK: Seeing Prizzy Prizzy Please was always awesome. nice guys and really fun live. Also saw Sufjan Stevens play solo at Rhinos my freshman year. That was the weirdest, most haunting show i have ever been to. He opened with some story about how he used to make fun of this kid in grade school then the kid was killed in an accident. What a way to start a show...but otherwise, it was good! Selfishly, I would say the Culture Shock I put together in 2007...a lot of great bands and it was a rousing success, despite 40 degrees and constant rain. Everyone at WIUX really pulled together to make it work.
LB: What was the transition from Bloomington to Brooklyn like? Would you recommend moving to NY fresh out of college?
BK: It wasn't as scary as i assumed it would be. New York is a great city. So is Bloomington though, i miss it. And I would recommend having someone whose couch you can crash on for a month or so until you find a job/apt. I shared a futon mattress with a friend in a basement for the first month and we each paid $500....not. fun.
LB: How did you guys start the label? What helped in getting exposure out their for your artists?
BK: Zach Pollakoff, also an IU/WIUX alum, and I had talked about it for a while. And then one day we decided, "ok, lets just do it and see what happens." We both had some contacts here and there, and were fortunate enough to find kind people willing to listen to a label/band they had never heard of. It's become easier with time, thats for sure.
LB: How did the label hook up with Holiday Shores? What drew you to their music, and what are their live shows like?
BK: We've been talking to them since before we officially were a label. Holiday Shores used to be called Continental Divide, and Zach just happened to see an article that someone wrote on their packaging on Coolhunting.com. We checked it out, loved it. Ended up it was just a friend of theirs who wrote for that blog.
Live they just kill it, i mean KILL IT. Nathan is such a great songwriter/lyricist. I think that band is destined for greatness...but i am a bit biased.
LB: What advice would you give to Bloomington's current WIUX DJs, interns, etc?
BK: WIUX is kind of set up in a way that you can do as much or as little as you want to with the opportunity. Do the most you can, especially if your heart is in the music industry. Pretty much everyone that i have met who works in music, at least in the independent world, started in college radio.
-Stefania
