By Andrew Bansal
Even in the modern-day music industry climate, there is no shortage of aspiring youngsters pursuing to enter music business, whether it be as a musician or in roles like music management, marketing, public relations and journalism. Musicians Institute in Hollywood is doing its part to fuel such ambitions with their programs, and in this endeavor, the school also invites guest panelists to hold clinics and share valuable advice in classrooms. Last Tuesday September 8th 2015 was one such occasion, as Night Demon vocalist/bassist Jarvis Leatherby was invited to deliver a lecture at the Music Business department of Musicians Institute, along with Ozzy Osbourne’s bassist and Mercenary Management president/co-founder Rob Blasko, and yours truly.
Musicians Institute instructor Karl Louis, who teaches a management program here, conducted the session by addressing a series of questions and topics, and the panelists expressed thoughts with students in the class in the form of answers to these questions. Karl asked Jarvis about running Night Demon as a D.I.Y. operation, getting signed to Century Media (USA) and SPV (Europe), merchandising, self-management and past experiences. Blasko chimed in on some of these topics, and was asked about his role as a manager for the bands he has worked/is working with. The combination of Jarvis and Blasko was an interesting one, and beneficial for the students, because the two guys have a few common traits but sit at nearly opposite ends of the spectrum in every aspect of their careers.
I was glad to be in attendance merely to document the hour-long session, but Karl brought me into the conversation on a few occasions, asking me to share my discovery of and working experience with Night Demon, and got me to talk about some journalism-related topics pertaining to what I’ve been doing on Metal Assault. I enjoyed being a part of it, and certainly never imagined stepping into a classroom for the first time in more than six years in this scenario. Blasko spoke like a man with experience, but so did Jarvis, because he has gone through a lot to get Night Demon not only to where it is today but where it potentially will be in the near future, and I cannot think of a better mentor-like personality in the metal underground at present.
Students seemed to be listening with keen interest, and one or two of them even came up to us afterwards to tell us that they found it ‘very inspirational’. In this day and age, people studying music and music business in the hope of making a career out of it need as much encouragement as humanly possible, and successful musicians and managers from the world of heavy metal are ideal candidates to give them that, because it takes passion, commitment and planning to succeed at it in this genre. Overall, a great session for all involved.
