10 Questions with ... Howard Petruziello

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

MD/APD/PD at WVVV/Christiansburg, VA 1988-1992; MD/APD WROV/Roanoke, VA 1992-1995 and part-time WKLS/Atlanta 1995-1997 while I began to work in promo. My first promotion job was at Ichiban Records in Atlanta in 1995 and I thank Randy Saad for giving me that shot. I did Atlanta local for Roadrunner and then The Enclave (a cool EMI label) and then it was over to Mammoth for a brief run before being hired by Virgin as their Boston local in 1998. I was in Boston for 3 years and then moved to New York to be the Alternative national in 2001, eventually becoming VP/Alternative Promotion for Capitol Music Group. I left Capitol in January 2016 and set up my awesomely named consultancy, Lost In The Supermarket in April. I did a lot of work with ATO/Red Light last year and joined full-time this year.

1. What was your biggest take away from 18 years at Capitol?

That I was fortunate to work with many incredible artists and play a role in their careers as well as work a lot of wonderful people, many of which became very close friends. Working records by bands that were outside of the box, from Gorillaz, Thirty Seconds To Mars, Fatboy Slim, N.E.R.D., Halsey and so many others that became hits and moved into the mainstream taught me the value of promotion and how we contribute to the impact that an artist can have. It was an absolute honor to work with Virgin and Capitol, two of the truly iconic labels in music.

2. Isn't it ironic that your radio career started in Virginia, not far from where Coran Capshaw founded Red Light Management in Charlottesville? What led you to your current gig?

I vividly recall seeing The Dave Matthews Band in small venues in Blacksburg and watching them outgrow them quickly, so yes, it's amazing, all these years later to be a part of this company. Will Botwin (President of Red Light) and Ed Green (Head Of Promotion at Red Light/ATO Records) were literally the first people to call me on my last day. I connected with them and ATO Records President, Jon Salter, shortly afterward and it was apparent to all of us that this was a good fit. I'd known Ed since the late '80s when he was working me on records and I've know Will for years from working some of his artists, like Bastille and Ben Harper and had tremendous respect for those guys. I'd been buying ATO's records for years and was a huge fan of so many artists in the Red Light/ATO family and they had plenty of work for me to do when I set up Lost In The Supermarket. It just made sense all around for me to jump in full-time and I felt right at home instantly.

3. Give us the 411 on Red Light Management/ATO Records.

Red Light Management was founded by Coran Capshaw in 1991 as the Dave Matthews Band was building from playing clubs to becoming one of the most successful touring bands of all-time. Red Light has since grown to be the largest independent music management company in the business with successful artists across all genres. The mission is to develop sustainable careers and build incredible legacies for our artists while influencing the music world for the better.

ATO Records was founded by Dave Matthews and Coran Capshaw in 2000 and has an incredible artist roster (Alabama Shakes, My Morning Jacket, J. Roddy Walston And The Business, Joseph, Chicano Batman, Primus, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard and so many more) and a rich catalog. The roster is eclectic, with some of the most dynamic, exciting and cool artists making music now. ATO is truly committed to artist development and building long-lasting careers for our artists.

Red Light/ATO has a kick ass promo team, 6 people strong with Ed Green running the show out of Nashville, me in NYC and Rick Brewer, Ed Pinka, Tom Schmall and Carlyn Kessler in the field. We are the primary promotion team for ATO and we work records by artists on the management side in a variety of ways. Sometimes, it's all us, other times we work in tandem with our various label partners.

4. It's time for Howard P's sales pitch. Tell us about the records you're working to Alternative Radio.

On the ATO side, the new J. Roddy Walston And The Business single, "The Wanting," is off to an excellent start at Alt and feels like it could be big. On the Red Light side, ODESZA "Line Of Sight" is one of those records that gets on the air and pops immediately. The End in Seattle is playing it and there are only a few Alt records ahead of it in Shazam and it popped in Shazam, single sales and streams when Alt 987 featured it last month. Their fan base is large, they sell an insane amount of tickets and radio can benefit from all of that!

We have new singles from 311 "Til The City's On Fire" (38K albums sold first week and a great summer tour happening now!); SOJA "Bad News" (a catchy, powerful song from a band with a large dedicated fanbase!); Gogol Bordello "Walking On The Burning Coal," The Bronx "Two Birds" and Moon Taxi "Two High" is coming soon and already over 32 MILLION streams!

5. How would you describe your promotion style?

Passionate but rational (most of the time). It's important to really get to know each programmer and station as well as the dynamics of each market. There's no one-size-fits-all approach; every market is unique, programmers are looking at different metrics and other factors to see what makes the cut and, while we can try to emphasize what we think is important, and I do believe there's value in that, it's important to understand our partner's needs while not losing site of the mission to break our songs and artists.

6. Explain the challenges of breaking an artist at Alternative Radio.

Now more than ever, it's challenging to get that early coalition of stations to launch a record. There's so much music and the amount of core artists and automatic adds this year has made the landscape very difficult. The time-honored fundamentals remain great music, a thorough set up, strong relationships and the ability to close. Once it's on there are so many hurdles to clear and it's always challenging to keep things moving along until you have a real read. That's why a solid plan and real marketing to break through the clutter and connect the dots (the music to the fans) are incredibly important. It also can't just be about radio because, too frequently, unless a song reacts quickly, airplay in a vacuum makes isn't enough in the cluttered cultural and media environment that we live and work in. That said, I'm optimistic about the current state of the format; there is a lot of awesome music and many stations are making a mark in their respective markets.

7. What may surprise people about Red Light Management?

What I think surprises people is how large, wide-reaching and impactful we are. As I said earlier, Red Light is the largest independent music management company in the business with a roster of around 300 artists, all genres, from the biggest names in country, EDM, alternative, rock and everything in between. A sampling our awesome Alt/Rock roster- Dave Matthews Band, Bastille, 311, Portugal. The Man, ODESZA, Local Natives, Alabama Shakes, My Morning Jacket, Phish, Meg Myers, Franz Ferdinand, Gogol Bordello, Moon Taxi, Bob Moses and many more.

We have offices in Charlottesville, Nashville, NYC, LA, Seattle and London, dozens of managers and a large team of dedicated music lovers with specialized skills, focused on producing strong results for our artists.

8. What do you love most about your job?

I absolutely love being around so much incredible music and inspiring artists. The independent spirit on the label and management sides is palpable and everyone is scrappy and works hard. Also, because our roster is so diverse, I have the opportunity to work with different labels and distribution companies in U.S., Canada and the U.K. on various projects which has certainly broadened my perspective of the business. I wake up every day excited to dive in, do my part and make a difference. I also love that in addition to working singles to Alt and AAA in a traditional sense that I can be a part of the early planning phases of various projects. Obviously, our main goal is to break records at radio and be a part of the hit-making process but it's also extremely important to always strive to move forward and grow an artist's career at radio and beyond. Artist development is a term that gets tossed around a lot but Red Light and ATO have a long history of doing true artist development and building solid careers for the artists and I'm proud to be a part of that dedicated team.

9. What has been the biggest change for you moving from a major label to management?

I'm busier than ever but it's a different, better kind of busy. I'm in less meetings and the structure is more open, both of those fit well with my sensibilities. I also love being in an environment that is 100% artist focused. The fundamental manner in which I approach the job and my motivation is the same; it's about understanding the music and the artist, creating and implementing an ambitious plan to get traction and growing at radio and connecting with fans.

10. What is a typical workday like for you?

After a morning run, breakfast and coffee and getting my kids sorted, I'm in work mode early and the first thing is getting into the airplay info from the day before and getting a sense of where we are and then making a plan for the day. I usually have a few emails waiting for me from one of our U.K. managers, who like me because I'm an early riser and can get them answers before they have lunch! There are a few meetings sprinkled in, several calls with managers, working on tour promo, strategizing with the promo team and, the fun part, listening to a lot of new music. The main part is talking with radio stations and partners to get that new music exposed keeps me busy into the evening and I love it.

What are weekends like for you?

My wife and I have 3 kids so a lot of the weekend is spent hanging out and having fun with my family. Being a record collector/music geek, I spend time searching for, purchasing and listening to records. Also, I'm a runner so the Saturday morning long run is something I look forward to every week as well as running the occasional race.

Who are some of your favorite new music discoveries over the past year?

I'm always listening to lots of new music and some standouts include Pinegrove, Angel Olsen, Chicano Batman (who I work with but I still listen to the album a lot) the new Broken Social Scene and about 50 others!

What new records have you recently added while Lost In The Supermarket?

How much room do you have?! A couple of new ones like Broken Social Scene and Gorillaz but my tastes are wide and I do a lot of digging for older stuff so I've gotten some great Jamaican records (including 2 amazing Bunny Wailer singles collections), some semi-obscure regional soul records on the Numero Group label, a killer Discharge record (early '80s British punk), some classical box sets found at Goodwill and so much more. I go deep.

Best concert you've seen in the past year?

It's been an excellent year for live music but, forced to choose, it's a toss-up between Alabama Shakes at the Bowery Ballroom back in May and Gorillaz in Philadelphia a few weeks ago. Or Wilco at the Beacon. Or My Morning Jacket at Forest Hills Stadium...or Chicano Batman in Central Park....or Bastille at the Greek....or Phish at MSG....it's only August!!

When was the last time you had short hair?

1985, it didn't really work so I went back to being a long-hair.

Anything you would like to add?

We are all very fortunate to work in this business and while competition is a big part of it, outcomes are better when we work together in a positive way and don't blow the small things out of proportion. Also, a little time off reminded me of the value of relaxing and taking care of myself. Stress is a by-product of this business, heck, of modern living in general and it's important to check it in any way you can and take care of yourself and those around you.