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10 Questions with ... Larry Pareigis
January 14, 2008
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NAME:Larry PareigisTITLE:PresidentCOMPANY:Nine North RecordsBORN:Pittsburgh, PARAISED:By Wolves
Please outline your radio career so far:
I was in radio for 15 years (until 1996) with stops in Savannah, GA, Nashville, TN, Albuquerque, NM, Sacramento, CA and San Francisco, CA. Worked at Almo Sounds Nashville for a year as head of promotion, went to work for Sony Nashville as the head of Monument promotion in early 1997, after running promotion for all the label imprints - sometimes all of them at one time - I left SBMG in late January 2007 after a mostly pleasant, productive 10 years.
1) What kinds of things prompted you to start Nine North, and how challenging was it getting your own business off the ground?
After my run at SBMG, I intended to take six months off, but God bless Laney Lawrence for calling and getting me involved in the last couple of Tracy Lawrence singles. We're still working 'TIL I WAS A DADDY TOO as a team, but FRIENDS was a two-week #1 that launched my new business. I will be forever grateful to Laney and Tracy for that opportunity, and I savor our business relationship and friendship.
2) Can you explain the business model?
Whether you're an established artist or a new talent, we offer different and successful ways to "ramp up" faster than a more conventional label can offer. Many of the artists we work with don't just take advantage of the promotion and marketing strategies that the Nine North crew offers, but they also avail themselves of other superstar talents that I've allied with who offer support in sales, video, artist development, etc. Basically everything you'd get from a major we can provide at a fraction of that cost, so we function as a "virtual label" - Nashville's first. Between e-mails, phone calls, conference calls and in-person meetings when needed, we're a team of pros who get it done.
3) After so many years in the corporate world at Sony, what is it like now managing a smaller company?
A friend said something to me the other day that I find both funny and true - the only person who likes change is a wet baby. The change was a radical one at first, but now I'd like to thank my former employers for giving me the push because I wouldn't have jumped, and I've never been happier. My team and I are in charge of and chart our own destinies daily, and it's invigorating to be ON THE EDGE again. I wake up every morning pumped to see what that day will bring.
4) You obviously have tons of great relationships at radio, does that help when you're introducing a new act?
Absolutely. It's invaluable. With that said, all it does is get you in the door with some believability and gravity, but the act HAS TO DELIVER. We can set the table and the mood lighting and room temperature - speaking metaphorically - but the act has to rise up, take their moment, and howl at the moon.
5) Speaking of that, the fact is that radio is not really breaking new music in many cases, it happens through other channels and radio follows, i.e. Taylor Swift. Would you say that's an accurate statement?
Yes and no. Taylor has a younger following, and part of her tremendous sales success comes from moms and dads having to buy the music that their kids are demanding, because the kids were super-targeted with that early online exposure in a brilliant campaign by the folks at Big Machine. The 35-49 woman - I like to call them an "ADD" demo (Adults Don't Download) got a lot of Taylor's story through TV, the Web, People, US Weekly - but don't ever discount Country radio's contribution to the equation. Whenever I hang in the media department at a Wal-Mart and ask someone where they heard that music they're picking up, 4 out of 5 of them still say "on the radio."
6) One of your acts, the Roys, has done really well on the Music Row chart. Will that translate to the other charts in your opinion after time? What does that success do for the artist? Does it lead to other media appearances etc.?
I do believe it will, because my team and I cannot believe more in Lee and Elaine as talents and as people. They're remarkable singers and songwriters, and they have that pure sibling harmony that is often imitated but never duplicated. "Grandpa's Barn" is their next single, and it is so touching and so well done, I can only see it resonating with the core Country audience in a major way.
7) What acts are you excited about for 2008?
We're working with a full load of amazing talents in first quarter of 2008, and they're all on the updated music player on our site - check them ALL out at http://www.ninenorthrecords.com. If we weren't excited by them we wouldn't be working with them! The guys and I are notoriously picky as hell.
8) Aside from the music business what would be your dream job?
Writing, producing and/or directing for TV and film.
9) As the business changes, do you see lots of other Nine North's popping up? Take a look into that crystal ball.
I see people who will certainly try it. I'd love people to come in and do it the way we have done it and the way CO5 has done it - I really believe we've made each other better. All boats are benefited by a rising tide, some smart guy said once, and I see this as a business that will be experiencing nothing but growth for the long term.
10) Do you miss the corporate world?
I really don't, but I have nothing but admiration and respect for those who strap on their guns and head into the corporate O.K. Corral and survive another day. Me, I'm enjoying not being hip deep in that all the time anymore.
Bonus Questions
1. You're a big Bruce Springsteen fan- have you seen any shows on the Magic tour and would you take a new artist to see that for inspiration?
I haven't yet but plan to - and I absolutely would. He'd do that show at a club with the same level of passion and intensity because HE LOVES WHAT HE DOES. If you don't love what you do, go do something else.
2) What personal item would you never part with (not counting your wife, Katie)?
Jim Rome, the sports talk host, calls himself a "new technology
degenerate" - a description that always makes me laugh because I'm
paddling that boat with him. I wouldn't want to part with my new HD-DVD
player. Remarkable picture and sound, and I promise I haven't gotten a
dime from Toshiba to say so.
3) What's your favorite restaurant of all-time?
Postrio, in the Prescott Hotel in San Francisco.
4) Who will be the next President of the United States?
Who will be the two nominees? I think that picture has gotten cloudier now,
and that's exciting for all the electorate! I hate races that really aren't, you
know? So anticlimactic. Let's talk this one again in February!
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