Nick Bogardus might be your favorite band's best friend.
What is New Noise Management?
Bogardus sweats the details lucratively. Courtesy Nick Bogardus
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It's a management company that manages the careers of six artists: Thrice, Dustin Kensrue, Cold War Kids, Matt Costa, Vedera and Delta Spirit.
What does that entail?
If you look at a band like a business, the band is basically the CEO and the management is like the board. It's our job to oversee the scope of the career and help guide them with decisions and make those decisions and goals a reality. If they say, "This year we want to put out a record, tour these places this many times" we want to have grown by this much, it's our job to make sure that all happens by running the entire team from the record label to the booking agents, to the international labels and agents, to the publicists, to every thing you'd see a band's name on. [It all comes] through a management office.
What are your title and duties?
I'm a manager. In the company [which is based in Orange], we have five managers. Everyone gets involved in everything. I kind of oversee the entire process, but Thrice, Dustin Kensrue and Vedera are [the] three [artists] that I'm solely responsible for.
What's the history of New Noise Management?
I started it in 2000 when I left a company called Rebel Waltz in Laguna Beach. They manage No Doubt, the Offspring, Nine Inch Nails, Social Distortion. I left on my own when I found Thrice and started that in my parents' house, in my bedroom, with a Hotmail account and a cell phone. I've since then added the other five guys and the other five bands.
What's your day-to-day like?
It varies depending on the cycles of the bands. For example, right now, Cold War Kids are about to go to Europe. We had a disaster where their bus fell out at the last minute, so two of the guys here have been scrambling to get a bus replacement so they can do their tour over there. When they come back, they're doing their tour of the U.S. with the White Stripes, so [we're preparing] for that tour. That includes all the logistics, plus setting up all the marketing with the label. Every band is at a different stage. Thrice just finished a record, so we're starting to set up that record. Vedera just signed to Epic, so we're starting to get them studio time. Matt Costa just finished a record, so we're just starting to get into it with Brushfire [Records] and their publicists and get that cycle moving as well. So every day is different. It's about creating the vision and implementing the vision, having big goals, but meeting the little goals to get to those big ones.
Your roster has quite a few locals.
I made a conscious decision to not be in LA just because I don't want my job to run my life and be part of that whole scene up there. I wanted to have separation. And so having the company here, there's a lot of talent that has come out of Orange County in the past 20 years, definitely in the past 10 years, which has created a really good environment for smart managers and some really good bands. We've been able to find both from here.
Do you go searching for bands?
Generally we don't. It really varies by the artist. We get stuff every day: packages, e-mails, phone calls from people about new artists. Generally the artists we've found have been through mutual friends and referrals.
Do you have any local favorites?
Aushua [see Aural Reports, June 15] I think is great. When they get everything together, they'll be an amazing band. Delta Spirit, we work with them. In terms of venues, I've been going to Chain Reaction since I was 17. We wouldn't be able to do what we do if we weren't passionate about what we were working with.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.NEWNOISEMANAGEMENT.COM.
