Where are you based?
Los Angeles, CA.
Where do you work? What do you do?
I own and run a talent management company called Mad Lettuce Management, representing artists and producers. I’m also partnered with UnderCurrent Media, where we manage digital creators & influencers. Lastly, I consult on the music for a music discovery app called Showcase.
What are you listening to?
Tons of cool indie and alternative music, classic jazz always. My Hip-Hop, Rock, and Electronic playlists are expansive and go-to’s when I need a good fix. Some artists on my rotation include my clients Jonah Roy & Walden, and then Foxtide, Louis Phoenix, Sophie Holohan, The Boas, mynameisntjmack, Tommy Richman, Max Leonard, & CIL.
How do you discover new music?
My favorite method is Spotify’s Release Radar. I get to hear all the new tunes from artists I already follow. For cold discovery, I enjoy other playlists like Discover Weekly, but prefer going to a song I like and checking out the associated radio on Spotify. Separately, I have been consulting a new music discovery app called Showcase which highlights one new artist and song per day, putting discovery back into the artist – not just the song. I think Showcase could become the “Wordle” for music and help shed light on a lot of amazing new talent in an engaging way.
What formats do you usually listen to? LP, CD, Cassette, Digital, Streaming Services? Why?
I have a record collection that I enjoy listening to frequently. Mostly, I’m a digital guy, spending hours a day on Spotify and YouTube. Though, I have a healthy CD and Cassette collection, albeit with no means of listening to them anymore (sadly).
“Mostly, I’m a digital guy, spending hours a day on Spotify and YouTube. Though, I have a healthy CD and Cassette collection.”
Where do you do most of your music listening?
Everywhere. On my daily walks, at my desk while grinding out emails, on my drives around town, while at the gym. Everywhere. Except if I’m in a sauna or meditating, I want dead silence.
How do you find and listen to pre-release music?
TikTok. The amount of music discovery happening there is beautiful. I hear independent artists teasing unreleased music daily, and pretty often it’s good stuff. It can get way too saturated, but there are gems to be discovered there.
What are your frustrations with listening to music digitally? Any benefits?
I don’t have many frustrations with it. I think it’s incredible that I can access millions of songs with a relatively inexpensive Spotify membership, or for free on YouTube. I don’t mind ad-supported platforms distributing music as it means more money in the artists pockets – or at least you’d hope so…
How do you keep track of everything you are listening to?
I make playlists on Spotify regularly to organize songs by style and by relevance to my current tastes/interests. I go through my “liked songs” about once per week and relisten to anything I saved to make sure the music stays fresh with me. Recently, when people ask “who are you listening to,” I go to “On Repeat” on Spotify which seamlessly organizes all the music I’ve been obsessed with recently.
Do you tip other people off to new music? How?
All the time. I am constantly sharing new music with my friends via text, whether it’s unreleased songs from my clients that I am extremely proud of, or music I found on the internet. I enjoy expanding my friends’ tastes and similarly love when people send me music that excites them.
Anything you want to “promote”?
Since you asked…the band I manage, Walden, is on a release cycle, having dropped a sonic masterpiece called “Sunlight” on April 7th, 2023 with more singles coming soon.
My other artist client, Jonah Roy, has a backlog of some of the coolest, most tasteful music I have ever heard, especially for a young, mostly self-produced artist; his latest song “Bloodshot Eyes” feels like the Cure in 2023 and his work as a producer is off the charts.
Lastly, my producer client Kaleb Waterman has made some phenomenal music with Sam Austins that I’m fond of, namely Mister Blue.
I also wrote this Blog on Touring 50 States On $50. Otherwise, I add music that makes me feel different to my playlist “stuff making me feel different from other stuff.”
