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10 Questions with ... Elias Chios
October 5, 2021
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. This staff works extremely hard, are wildly passionate about our artists, are very respected by radio programmers, are super creative, master strategists and are simply great people. We all work tremendously well together. Every record we impacted at Rock Radio this year, went to #1; 5 total and currently working on the 6th!
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1. What made you want to get into the music business and who were some of your early mentors?
In 1995, after graduating from Fordham, I was a musician trying to make it. I then landed a job as the RCA Records receptionist. I was determined to be in the music business on one side or the other. That led to me to the great Dave Loncao and Butch Waugh who asked me to join the radio promotion dept. Dave then brought me into Roadrunner Records in 1999, and he was the best to work for in my first 15 years in this biz, I learned so much from him. Not an “early” mentor, but in these last five years at Concord I have learned tremendously from our GM, Jill Weindorf. She is incredible and one of the smartest and hardest-working people I have ever met. Now, here we are 26 years later. I’m very proud and very grateful for this journey.
2. Can you give us a rundown of the record labels and positions you’ve held over the years up until now?
RCA 95-99; Receptionist to Rock Dept. Coordinator to Head of College & Alt Specialty.
Roadrunner 99-2010; Northeast Regional, Sr. Director of Marketing & Product Management, VP of Alternative Radio & Video Promotion
International Solutions 2011-2016; Head of North America for International Solutions, an international music marketing & promotion firm.
Concord 2016 to present; Sr. Director Promotion
3. Congrats on the amazing success of the Concord Music Group Rock projects. I understand to this point you are the #1 Market Share Rock Label for the year. Besides the great music and artists, what do you attribute this success to?
Thank you so much, we are indeed! Easy answer - our team. Alyssa Holtgrewe, Howard Frank, Howie Pivar, Angelo Scrobe, Tyson Haller, Ayappa Biddanda, Katherine Phan and Darnell Gamble. This staff works extremely hard, are wildly passionate about our artists, are very respected by radio programmers, are super creative, master strategists and are simply great people. We all work tremendously well together. Every record we impacted at Rock Radio this year, went to #1; 5 total and currently working on the 6th! Also remember, our staff works the rosters of numerous record labels to radio; Fearless, Fantasy, Loma Vista, Concord, Easy Eye Sound, Rounder – which takes incredible focus and planning.
4. Now let’s talk about some of the Concord Rock artists starting with The Pretty Reckless who just had another #1 Rock song with “Only Love Can Save Me Now.” What makes them such a major force at Rock Radio?
Seven #1’s in their career. The most at Rock Radio by a female or female fronted band in 41 years. Our current #1 for “Only Love Can Save Me Now” (#1 for 3 weeks at press time) was the 3rd consecutive #1 from the Death By Rock and Roll album. In fact, it’s the second time they accomplished this as they had three #1’s from their first album. They consistently deliver great music for Rock radio.
5. Seether has also delivered another Top 5 single at Rock Radio with “Wasteland.” What can you tell us about working with this band?
I would run into Seether a lot when the band (and I) started out in the business because I was working with many of the bands they toured with in the early/mid 2000’s. Great memories. To now be working with them so closely these past few years has been a wonderful circle. This is their 20th anniversary year as a band. Seether has seventeen #1’s at the Rock format. We have had two consecutive #1’s from Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum, their current album, and with “Wasteland” we strive to get them their 18th! Shaun is a master-class songwriter and they are all great humans.
6. The Starset single “Infected” is also resonating at Rock. What’s the latest to report on this project?
The band just completed an acoustic tour hitting all radio markets teaming up with Rock radio for these special exclusive events. Intimate shows where the band further connected with their fans and radio. They continue to deliver big testing records for Rock.
7. You’ve also released another single from Ice Nine Kills. What’s the latest on this project at Rock Radio?
Ice Nine Kills constantly come out swinging big. “Rainy Day”, their first single off their new album, just dropped and had 722,000 streams first week. That’s the #2 most streamed record at rock and we just dropped the single at radio. They have a powerful and loyal fanbase. We worked their first single “A Grave Mistake” for about a year, got it Top 10 and it resonated deeply and the band just took off. Very proud and exciting to work with such a mad genius like Spencer Charnas.
8. I know you’re also excited about the new Wage War single “Circle The Drain.” What can you tell us about this band?
Another band that quietly has built a huge fanbase and rightfully so, they are incredibly talented and a powerhouse live. One of the best acoustic minded bands we work with and they work very hard. They strike a chord with their melodic/heavy assault. I love this album and these guys are rising stars at Rock.
9. Topping off all of these Rock projects for the Concord Music Group is the latest from Rise Against “Talking To Ourselves” which is the follow up to their #1 single “Nowhere Generation.” What’s the latest on this new one from Rise Against?
It’s an exciting time for Rise Against. Their latest tour was a massive success, playing to about 100K during the recent month-long tour. This is our first album campaign with the band, and it’s been great to work with them and very rewarding. They got their first Billboard #1 under our watch, which we are very proud of and “TTO” the next single from “Nowhere Generation” is another hit from Rise Against.
10. Finally, what else does the label have coming down the pipeline in the months ahead to the end of the year?
One of the biggest Rock bands out there – GHOST. We just dropped the first new single in two years, called “Hunter’s Moon”, which is in the new “Halloween Kills” movie. VERY exciting to kick off another Ghost campaign and a big arena tour starting early next year! We also have some surprises up our sleeves later this year so stay tuned.
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