New Industry Interview: Nick Bogardus

[Jason Tate]

I recently had the chance to interview (http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=188062) Nick Bogardus, manager of Thrice, Rufio, Cold War Kids, Dustin Kensrue, Vedera, and others. This is a must read for those interested in the music industry (hell, I think it's a must read for everyone) - and hopefully everyone will find it as enlightening as I did.

[redsand62]

first!

[live4music]

vedera now ;)

[Jason Tate]

vedera now ;)
Forgot about that --- fixed.

[Flags of Dawn]

first!
you're a tool.

[TyroneShoolaces]

nick is a solid dude.

[CurtyB]

you're a tool.
i think it's best if we just ignore the people doing that...then they'll get no satisfaction from it

[Flags of Dawn]

i think it's best if we just ignore the people doing that...then they'll get no satisfaction from it
nor will they get any satisfaction from being first in a thread with less than 10 replies.

[falloutboy.]

that was a good interview, its cool to see guys who are so busy, take the time to write/say that much. he seems like a damn good guy and if i was in a band, id certainly be calling him up

[a francis]

i love what he said about his and the band's attitude about vheissu

[chokeychicken]

where is the jim septic interview!!!!

[ACA]

Now, lets be clear that selling over 200,000 records in the state that the business is in is no small feat, particularly for a band with limited radio and television exposure. For a band to be a “huge commercial success” these days you need to be a certain type of band. They aren’t an “image” band that gives the people who listen to them an image, an identity. Thrice aren’t that big “ROCK!” band leeching off the image of bands from another era, they aren’t a theatrical outlet dressing like Kubrick extras for “alienated” teenagers, and they aren’t about to mail naked pictures of themselves to the world via a sidekick. It’s simply not them.

This reminds me of when my friend watched Clockwork and called the movie "gay" for ripping off the new Panic! video.

He's 21.

God help us all.

-ACA

[Jared Kaufman]

Now, lets be clear that selling over 200,000 records in the state that the business is in is no small feat, particularly for a band with limited radio and television exposure. For a band to be a “huge commercial success” these days you need to be a certain type of band. They aren’t an “image” band that gives the people who listen to them an image, an identity. Thrice aren’t that big “ROCK!” band leeching off the image of bands from another era, they aren’t a theatrical outlet dressing like Kubrick extras for “alienated” teenagers, and they aren’t about to mail naked pictures of themselves to the world via a sidekick. It’s simply not them.

This reminds me of when my friend watched Clockwork and called the movie "gay" for ripping off the new Panic! video.

He's 21.

God help us all.

-ACA
That gives the movie and its creators a lot more credit if they were able to travel (that far) into the future in order to rip-off a pop-punk band (out of all things).

Obviously, this guy shouldn't be your "friend".

[ACA]

Obviously, this guy shouldn't be your "friend".

I have practically zero real-life friends with whom I can discuss music, let alone this genre of music. A lot of my friends "enjoy" Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, and such, but you could say "Who's John Nolan" and they'd give you a dead blank stare.

Thank God for AP (.net and the old efnet#).. do you guys have a lot of real-life friends who are into music as much as you?

-ACA

[MoneyMaker]

cold war kids are great

[phildisaster]

very interesting read. it sounds like this guy has the dream job. not only is he doing what he loves, but he's working with some amazing bands.

notice he's not working with the biggest most popular bands necessarily, but bands that have a lot of integrity.. you never hear any "drama" or "rumors" about Thrice. those dudes set an example of how to be good people and be a good band.

[sirensiren]

great interview.

[rosematter]

very interesting read. it sounds like this guy has the dream job. not only is he doing what he loves, but he's working with some amazing bands.

notice he's not working with the biggest most popular bands necessarily, but bands that have a lot of integrity.. you never hear any "drama" or "rumors" about Thrice. those dudes set an example of how to be good people and be a good band.

Maybe he's just a super good manager and does his job by keeping all the inner-drama and rumors out of the limelight? That to me would be the mark of a good manager also.

Obviously, I'm not saying it's true, I'm just playing devil's advocate to show that no matter how you cut it, this guy obviously knows what he's doing and people should listen to what he said.

I exspecially like the comment about bands looking for managers, that was well-versed and rings true on so many levels.

[Flags of Dawn]

Maybe he's just a super good manager and does his job by keeping all the inner-drama and rumors out of the limelight? That to me would be the mark of a good manager also.

Obviously, I'm not saying it's true, I'm just playing devil's advocate to show that no matter how you cut it, this guy obviously knows what he's doing and people should listen to what he said.

I exspecially like the comment about bands looking for managers, that was well-versed and rings true on so many levels.
yeah...while i believe that thrice are pretty laid back guys and would probably have a minimal amount of drama, its pretty much impossible to avoid for as long as they've been making music without having some kind of differences

[rosematter]

yeah...while i believe that thrice are pretty laid back guys and would probably have a minimal amount of drama, its pretty much impossible to avoid for as long as they've been making music without having some kind of differences


Yeah, although to be fair to Thrice, I think if they had anything other then the usual band squabblings their marriages probably wouldn't last so it's more than likely they are actually decent people, which is more than can be said for a lot of musicians these days.

[Blake Solomon]

i love COLD WAR KIDS

[el_flasho]

I have practically zero real-life friends with whom I can discuss music, let alone this genre of music. A lot of my friends "enjoy" Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, and such, but you could say "Who's John Nolan" and they'd give you a dead blank stare.

Thank God for AP (.net and the old efnet#).. do you guys have a lot of real-life friends who are into music as much as you?

-ACA

i'm kinda the same way. the only person i know in real life that shares some of my musical interests is my roommate. i also have another friend that kind of likes some of the same bands, but for the most part he's gotten back into more mainstream music. most of my contact with like-minded music fans is this site.

by the way, what ever happened to rufio...?

[willsm]

well.....thrice did shut down their (my/our) messageboards......but probably because it was most popular messageboard for YSIing other bands albums, and it was i guess, pretty sarcastic by nature.... :/


very very interesting read, great insight..thanks for that.

[PRJCTstephanie]

omg dude.
my step dad is gonna try to get me an internship at a record company this coming summer.
hmmm. i've got some stuff to aspire to=]

[raisinbran]

He's exceptional. He gets along nicely with all the people he works with (I heard) and especially the dudes from thrice. In order to start and have growth in a business, a person needs to set some ground rules and be that person that everyone can talk to. You have to lead as an example and work well with incredible, nice, and talented set of people.... Assuring that everyone's communicating well to achieve those set of goals. My impression of Bogardus is like that and maybe Tate as well.

More power to Tate!

Tate, I remember you or someone did an interview with him awhile ago!

[Curt Phillips]

That was a great interveiw, I interned at Time Bomb/Rebel Waltz a while back, nice people. www.myspace.com/curtphillips (http://www.myspace.com/curtphillips)

[Of Machines]

Excellent interview, I have a lot of respect for Nick. He seems to be one of the few in the industry who realizes that the whole downloading thing can't be stopped with "finger in the dam" approach. :thumbsup:

[punklet2101]

good interview.

[iamonlyfiction]

ahh. excellent interview