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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
ABOUT US / Performer Magazine, a nationally distributed musician’s trade publication, focuses on independent musicians, those unsigned and on small labels, and their success in a DIY environment. We’re dedicated to promoting lesser-known talent and being the first to introduce you to artists you should know about.
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PO BOX 348 Somerville, MA 02143
CONTACT Phone: 617-627-9200 Fax: 617-627-9930
PUBLISHER William House Phone: 617-627-9919 bill@performermag.com EDITOR Benjamin Ricci ben@performermag.com DESIGN & ART DIRECTION Cristian Iancu
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Bob Dobalina editorial@performermag.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Adam Kagan, Barry Rudolph, Benjamin Ricci, Chris Devine, Eli Krantzberg, Emma McGann, Michael St. James, Sarah Jones
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS David Lee, Chris Almeida, Marie Remy, MIRLYN
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Amazing Radio and The Return of CMJ?
In a world where we are encouraged to pick the music we listen to or follow a playlist, some have forgotten the joy of true discovery. I’m not talking about algos that match your birth date with your prom date and the last three songs you listened to in a specific genre. No, I am talking about a person–a real, live, music-loving person–just picking songs that people should know. That’s the spirit of radio.
And so it was that I was listening to AmazingRadio.com and heard HAIM for the first time. They blew me away, I couldn’t believe this band wasn’t signed. It wouldn’t be long before they stormed the scene. I could name countless other bands I found, too. Amazing Radio launched in the U.K. in 2009 with Punk sensibilities. They took over an airwave frequency that was literally playing bird calls, and proceeded to broadcast all independent, unsigned acts. No shit. The idea was simply to get these artists their first “radio” plays. Studios were made of cardboard boxes, they mixed genres, they were just about the music and community, and it worked. Over a decade later, having partnered in Glastonbury, SXSW, and introduced loads of independent acts to international fans–1975 and Bastille, among many others–the strategy is to conquer America.
To do that, they’d need to make a big splash and they’d need the right people to do it. Enter Andy Zicklin, the CEO of Amazing Radio. A man who was admittedly the worst musician in his high school jazz band (which featured Dave Koz on sax). He explored the punk scene of San Francisco in the late 1980s, worked at record stores, as a DJ at KUSF and the Quake, had a hypnotherapist practice for almost a decade, and then built a successful finance career.
After he moved his family to Barcelona for over a year following the financial crash, he started doing private equity, aggregating private equity for smaller investors which was much more in line with his rock and roll sensibilities. Add to that, he does motorcycle rides around the country taking photos (and they are really good) for a project he calls Lamfography. The music bug never left, and this
