Early Career

Internships and freelance writing across labels, venues, and music press. 2006–2011.

Before the agency years there were five years inside music: label internships in New York and Los Angeles, venue work in Madison and on the Lower East Side, and freelance writing for a London music magazine. None of it was senior. All of it was formative. This page collects it in one place rather than dressing it up as something it wasn't.

LABELS

Beggars Group

XL, 4AD, Matador, Rough Trade, Young

ROLE: Radio Promotions Intern
DATES: Oct 2009 – Oct 2010 · New York

Full post-graduation year. Assisted the National Director of Radio, College and Non-Commercial Radio. Wrote weekly spin reports tracking releases and chart positions. Event operations for listening parties and album releases. Co-organised the official 4AD SXSW Party with the 4AD US Label Head, including the surprise Efterklang performance announced via a Twitter campaign. Artists in the family at the time: The xx, The National, St. Vincent, Vampire Weekend, Bon Iver, Gil Scott-Heron, Jamie xx.

Matador Records

Beggars Group

ROLE: A&R Administration Intern
DATES: Feb – Apr 2009 · New York

Separate, earlier internship. Updated band pages from Matablog, redesigned the Matador Myspace profile and ran the Myspace blog, maintained the ISRC database.

Sire Records

Warner Music Group

ROLE: Intern — 2nd Assistant to Seymour Stein and Tom Whalley
DATES: Summer 2007 · New York

2nd Assistant to Seymour Stein (founder, Sire) and Tom Whalley (CEO, Warner Bros. Records). Kept tour information current across Sire and affiliated WMG labels — ticket prices, locations, set times, artist pages. Monitored artist sales. Maintained the demo log and show calendar. Roster at the time: Regina Spektor, Tegan and Sara, Jack's Mannequin. Label home to Madonna, The Ramones, Talking Heads, Depeche Mode.

Rhino Entertainment

Warner Music Group

ROLE: Publicity Intern
DATES: Summer 2006 · Los Angeles

Publicity intern to Christoph Buerger, assisting the publicity coordinator. Drafted press releases for catalogue releases, reissues, DVDs, and special-edition collector items. Coordinated press events and release parties. Included the Gram Parsons heritage reissue and the Fallen Angel documentary release.

Sneak Attack Media

ROLE: Online Marketing Intern
DATES: Aug – Oct 2009 · New York

Researched blogs via aggregators and blogrolls to expand the network. Built regional awareness for tour marketing. Pursued editorial coverage on tastemaker and independent music sites. Managed artist profiles across Myspace, LaLa, Facebook, iLike. Ran promotions, contests, multimedia widgets, and text-message campaigns. Artists included Metric, A Fine Frenzy, Simian Mobile Disco.

VENUES

The Mercury Lounge

ROLE: DoorpersonPAID ROLE — NOT AN INTERNSHIP
DATES: Mar – Oct 2010 · New York

Ran all door activities: guest lists, label buys, ticket and will-call sales. Settled band guarantees, splits, and payouts. Concurrent with the Beggars Group year.

Majestic Theatre

ROLE: Marketing Intern
DATES: May 2008 – Jun 2009 · Madison, WI

Proposed, planned, and executed marketing for performances, special events, album releases, and private parties. Drafted press releases. Consulted on talent buying. Managed street team operations. Built relationships with local press, radio, community and student organizations, and the Wisconsin Union Directorate Music Committee.

Orpheum Theatre

ROLE: Booking Intern
DATES: Aug 2008 – 2009 · Madison, WI

Assisted the Booking Manager. Promoted live shows on social platforms, monitored ad sales.

PUBLICATIONS

The 405

online music, culture and arts magazine, London

ROLE: Freelance writer
DATES: Jun 2009 – 2011

Music festival coverage — Bonnaroo and SXSW — plus feature content, album reviews, and artist interviews. The 405 assignments are how the SXSW habit started: music track first, interactive track later.