Welcome to Local Music 'Mericans
, where we meet some of the people behind the local music scene --
those who aren't necessarily members of local bands, but more the people
who make the scene move.
Tony Edwards was almost certainly a hummingbird in a past life.
He darts, moves, and talks at a blur of a pace. And he's done so in the name of promoting music in our local scene and beyond since the mid-'90s. Back then, he worked alongside Aden Holt for the great One Ton Records, a regular back-in-the-day winner for "Best Local Label" at our annual Dallas Observer Music Awards
Then it was on to working signed recording artists on a more national level as an artist and development man for BMG music. It was an exciting gig for Edwards. And, if it was an excited guy they wanted, well, they sure got them one.
See, Edwards has a reputation for being an excitable dude -- kind of like the way Dick Vitale gets excited about college basketball.
After BMG, Edwards worked for a stint at Dallas distributor Crystal Clear, before most recent setting up his roost at FanCorps, a company was started to promote new artists, local and national, utilizing grassroots methodology and street teams. Started in part by South FM drummer G.I. Sanders, the company's really thriving today.
Edwards deserves a lot of credit for that. He's fun. He's a cheerleader for new artists. He's also no slouch of a musician himself, having fronted the occasional rock project himself. Mostly, he just seems to be all over the place, and, through all of his stepping-up in the music and label industry, he's never seemed to have lost sight of his hometown scene.
After the jump, he explains his role in the local scene these days and how he got to where he is. And with much more verve and enthusiasm than I could ever muster.
My experience with you starts in 1999 when you were with One Ton. But
take me back farther: When did your interest in the music business begint?
My interest in music has always been there. I remember listening to a my
parent's split eight-track (yes, eight-track!) of John Denver and Harry
Nilsson when I was a kid. I still love to listen to both to this day.
Then, one day, a friend of mine turned me on to The Buck Pets, and I
realized that there was amazing music coming out of our own backyard. Bands like The Nixons, Tripping Daisy, Funland and all the One Ton bands
fueled my passion for music. From there, I wanted to be around music all
the time. I was in marching band. My first job was at Sound Warehouse,
and I eventually I got an internship at Arista Records. We won't mention
my high school garage band, Zereaux. Oh wait, I just did.
In 1999, One Ton was not only a big player locally, but
regionally. Amongst the heavy-hitters you guys worked with was Slow
Roosevelt. Tell us about that time, and trying to blow that record up.
Working for One Ton was the best! I was just a kid working as a college rep for BMG Distribution and used to go to all the One Ton shows. I met
Aden Holt and offered to help him track college airplay, and then one
day he called me and asked me to come work for him full-time. I nearly
dropped the phone, but didn't hesitate for a second. We had the most amazing bands: Doosu, Slow Roosevelt, Caulk, Buck
Jones, Fixture, Cottonmouth and so on. It was a constant battle
trying to get our bands on radio, in magazines, and in the record
stores. You and I met when I was tryin' to pimp out SloRo to you when you were at The Edge. What a crazy first night that was.
I remember! You guys gave Slow Roosevelt a good, hard push...
We pushed SloRo so hard, and had bites from Roadrunner and a ton of
other labels. Eventually, SloRo left One Ton and I went back to work
for BMG, but I had the pleasure of continuing to work with those guys as
their manager. We put the last record, Weightless, out through Brando
Records and got signed to Reality Entertainment. Things were lookin'
up. It was right about that time that I came up with the great idea for
the Slow Roosevelt suspension shows -- we actually had guys
hanging by hooks in their backs and suspended over the band while they
performed. We shocked a lot of people with that move!
Then, of course, there was Doosu and Caulk and so many others. Any particularly standout experiences or memories from supporting and promoting those artists?
I've have so many amazing memories from all of these bands. The one that
takes the cake was being on the Goo Goo Dolls and Sugar Ray tour. I spent
a whole summer on the road with Buck Jones, who were opening the shows
with Frogpond on the second stages. And Sugar
Ray toured with a bar right on the actual stage! When Buck Jones
took a week off, we went out with Doosu and the reaction to them from
the fans, the headlining bands and everyone on the tour was amazing.
The coolest rock moment I've ever had in my life was in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Fastball had the day off and I begged the Goo Goo Dolls tour manager to
let Doosu open the main stage. We went out on stage and, at first, the
crowd was like "What the fuck? This ain't Fastball." But, halfway through the second
song, and right about the time that Casey Hess busted into his first back
bend, the crowd came alive -- 20,000 screaming fans rockin' out to
Doosu! After that show, we had fans coming up and asking for autographs,
the tour crew telling us how badass they were and Mark McGrath from
Sugar Ray hunting us down to tell us how much he loved the set.
Talk to us about One Ton's amazing and successful Buzz Oven campaigns.
Buzz -Oven was actually an idea from a One Ton intern, Matt Gunter, who
wanted to get more local music in the hands of high school and college
kids around the Metroplex. Aden and I took the idea and ran with
it. We pitched it to Coca-Cola, and they immediately saw it as an
opportunity to brand their products to the same crowds. The idea was
simple: We picked three bands per disc, printed up 50,000 copies and built a
network of "buzzers" to pass them out all over town. Then, the whole thing
built up to a series of killer showcases for those three bands. When I
look back on it, it was amazing what we were able to accomplish just
with some amazing local music and some die-hard music lovers!
What were some of the other biggest milestone accomplishments of One
Ton? Awards? Charts? Give me the best of the one-sheet braggery!
We were never able to really branch out of our region, but we had some
great high points along the journey. Winning the DOMAs for best local
label for. like. 10 years in a row or something was rad. We felt the kings of Dallas. But getting our bands on the Goo Goo Dolls/Sugar Ray tour, scoring the
demo deal for Doosu with Columbia Records and, finally, getting SloRo
signed were all highlights from the great One Ton years.
Jumping forward to nowadays: FanCorps has been going strong for years at this point...
Absolutely! It's been an amazing experience, starting a company from
nothing and taking it to the level of working with artists like Lady
Gaga and Motley Crue. For anyone who doesn't know what Fancorps is,
we're a fan engagement platform and service that allows bands,
artists, non-profit organizations and brands the ability to connect
with their fan or consumer base and mobilize them as brand ambassadors. We started out running the communities for Bowling for Soup and Blue
October, and now our roster is international and includes acts like Gaga,
Crue, Toby Keith, All Time Low, To Write Love on Her Arms, Jac Vanek
Clothing and many more. Now, we're in the process of
developing our mobile and Facebook apps and looking to build our
roster of clients even more beyond music. We're positioning ourself
to run the consumer communities for Frito Lay, Starbucks, M&Ms and
more.
Everyone who knows you knows that, when you go crazy over a record (local or national), you really go
crazy! Enthusiasm seems to be a knack of yours. What records are you
going crazy over right now?
That's always such a hard question because there's just so much out there. But, right
now, at the top of my playlist are Mumford & Sons, Manchester
Orchestra and This Will Destroy You. I'm so looking forward to the
rest of 2011 and some amazing upcoming albums from Taking Back Sunday,
Thrice and Blink-182. I'll tell you one thing I can't get on board
with: Arcade Fire. Don't try to convince me otherwise. I've tried a
hundred times and, to me, it's just average, indie-pop -- nothing to write
home about. As far as local music goes, I'm a huge fan of The Burning
Hotels, The Phuss and House Harkonnen! Also, look out for the new
Fair To Midland coming out on July 12 -- it's killer.
You've been married a good while now. And yet you're a known workaholic. How in the world do you manage both?
[Laughs.] I get asked that question a lot, and the simple answer is that I
have the best wife in the world. I think the key is that opposites
really do attract. Kimberlee loves to relax at the house with some
alone time and lets me go out and play -- as long as I'm home by 2 a.m. I
mean, anyone who's spent a good amount of time with me, knows you need a
break sometimes. But we love spending time with each other. All we know is that we love each other and we need to let each
other be our own person. As long as we both respect that, it works!
What about adding kids into the fold? Would that be too much for even the energetic Tony Edwards to handle?
Yes! Kimberlee says I need to settle down a little bit before we
do, but a little Tony will definitely be running around soon, I think. Can you
imagine that? I love playing with my nephews and nieces, and I can't wait
to have my own. Actually, I think my wife and I just decided that we're
going to start trying to have kids on December 22, 2012 -- the day
after the end of the world, y'know? If we're all still here by then, look out!
