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10 Questions with ... John Kuliak
March 27, 2007
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NAME:John KuliakTITLE:Head Of PromotionLABEL:Suburban Noize RecordsBORN:ChicagoRAISED:Chicago
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
PR for Dutch rock group Focus; manager of the Jazz Record Mart in Chicago; Jazz Radio Promotion for M.S. Distributors; CHR promotion for acts like Stevie B., Salt 'n Pepa, 2 Live Crew, Tag Team, Duice, and Tone Loc. Rock & Alternative Promotion for Roadrunner, Sanctuary, Victory, Equal Vision, and Suburban Noize. A&R as well (Ministry & Slipknot).
LAST NON-INDUSTRY JOB:
Producer of motor racing videos.
1. What made you want to work for Suburban Noize Records?
Two very bad experiences this past decade:
1) After signing Slipknot to their label, being given a political firing instead of a cash reward.
2) After charting Taking Back Sunday in the upper reaches of the Alternative radio charts, being fired because that was "all" I did in my 18 months with the label.
So I decided to look for a well run, solid, small label that is owned and operated by people of impeccable repute who don't have an enemy in the world. It was harder than you might think, but SubNoize met all the requirements. I'm really looking forward to a proper reward for a change if I manage to accomplish anything here for these great people.
2. What do you like best about your job?
Working for good people who treat me with decency and simple respect. People whose integrity I can trust.
3. What is the toughest part of your job?
Getting e-mails or phone calls returned. Hey, I know everybody is busy these days. You want busy? Try working small label records in a country this size without a field staff! :)
SubNoize is making a serious attempt to provide your station with music and marketing that might just help your ratings on occasion. If you could find maybe five minutes three or four times a year to listen to my songs and give me a quick call or e-mail with your reaction, it would help me to do that better. Or at least it would get me out of your hair. It's terribly rude to ignore people, and simply not good business, either. Hell, I might even have something you want or need someday...
I might add that the above rant was written on behalf of ALL of my radio promotion counterparts at the better-run small labels. That is by far the biggest complaint I hear when networking with my small label peers: Not getting the simple courtesy of a reply.
4. What would surprise people most about the label?
The extent of our reach. SubNoize owner Kevin Zinger owns the SRH lifestyle clothing line (that 'spade' logo), which is the second highest volume clothing line at stores like Hot Topic nationwide. Kevin himself is a former professional surfer, and we are huge in the extreme sports market as well, sponsoring many extreme athletes and events nationally. Kevin also has a successful background as a concert promoter in the southwest. And SubNoize is an artist management company, too. In many ways, Suburban Noize Records is already connecting and interacting with your station's target audience.
5. Too many records, too few slots. What data seems to be most important to you when jockeying for an open slot on a radio station and why?
I have to laugh at this question, Shawn. I have worked for labels like Roadrunner and Victory that, in their time, pioneered new ways of building followings for their artists. Now all of their secrets are pretty much out in the open and are being used by EVERYONE. There is almost too much data, and much of that data is as subject to manipulation as the radio charts themselves are! (Pssst...Hey, buddy...you wanna buy a few thousand 'instant' MySpace friends...?).
Historically, every act that has ever broken has had a very individualized path to breaking through. The only difference now is that many of these pathways are "monitored" and available for "data mining operations", often of questionable accuracy.
Fundamentally, it still comes down to the songs. It still comes down to the act being able to deliver the goods live. For the purposes of this discussion (about breaking acts at radio), it still comes down to an individual programmer having the ears and the guts to play the music that will work in his or her market, regardless of the imprint on the label.
Record labels -- large and small -- that have their shit together, will be there to back up the station's airplay. None of us will take your airplay for granted. All of us will build on it.
6. How does your label increase exposure of your artists outside of traditional radio promotion?
As mentioned, we use the same avenues as everyone else. The data we ourselves pay most attention to is touring revenue. As a management company, WE know when our acts are relevant by their ticket sales and touring revenue. As a merch company, WE know when our acts are breaking by their merch sales growth. When real working people out there invest real dollars in a band then -- by our definition -- that band is breaking. As Mike Joseph always said, radio should not ignore the "box office." It is a far better barometer of what is breaking now and what will be around for the long haul than just about any other system of measurement out there.
7. How do you stay in touch with the latest music trends?
There are a handful of internet stations that are absolutely the best jukeboxes on earth. I would love to meet the music directors putting some of those "hours" together! The British music press is also great, very much on top of trends worldwide. And I have a small network of "spies" who are always sending me demos.
8. What would surprise people most about you?
I come from small beginnings. My family never even owned a car! I had to quit school when my father died and go to work. I chose the music business, and have had some real adventures, good and bad.
9. What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your career?
"Nulla tenaci invia est via" (For the tenacious, no road is impassable).
10. What was your favorite station to listen to when you were a kid?
When I was a real little kid it was WLS and Super 'CFL in Chicago. Barney Pip, Dex Card, The Silver Dollar Survey. As a teen, free-form WXFM "Triad Radio" and then WXRT in its formative years. All of those stations were adventurous musically, and developed personalities and stationalities that were larger than life.
Bonus Questions
Where do you see the industry and yourself five years from now?
The industry: Fighting fragmentation and erosion of their consumer base.
Me: Working for good people!
Also, let me go on record right now as being opposed to this week's A2IM agreement with the radio chains that guarantees airtime to Indie labels. As a lifelong Indie label promoter, I think my music can stand up against ANY major label music, period. As someone who lives and breathes radio, I believe anything that ties an INTELLIGENT programmer's hands -- like half-hour blocks of questionable music -- is a bad thing for the future survival of music radio.
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