John Mayer |
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Fri. October 18.2002 6:33 PM EDT |
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Gregg Latterman: Fully Aware of His SuccessLabel visionary has brought the world John Mayer, Train, and Five For Fighting. by Gil Kaufman |
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Gregg Latterman (VH1.com) |
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Gregg Latterman is like that friend who is always coming over with a mixed
tape and telling you, ‘Dude, you gotta check out this band!’
Actually, he’s not like that guy, he is that guy.
Since founding Aware
The 34-year-old former CPA and junior Olympic training ski instructor, began Aware out of his Boston apartment in 1993 with a compilation of jammy bands like Acoustic Junction and Mango Jam. By the time of 1994's Aware 2, Latterman secured songs from the array of soon-to-be-stars mentioned above. Though each had a regional base at the time, none were signed to major labels until after they appeared on the Aware compilations. Issuing one compilation every year since, the Chicago-based impressario has made good on his simple belief of slow and steady winning the race; his one-time hobby has grown into a full-time job and, importantly, a lucrative joint venture with Columbia Records. Gregarious, hard-working and scarily on top of his game, Latterman says his success comes by closing his eyes and concentrating on a performer's voice rather than schmoozing and clubbing. With the label's new Greatest Hits sampler recently released, we thought we'd ask Latterman to recount his rise. So start scrolling as he offers up his platinum-plated wisdom, reveals the events of John Mayer's prom night, and spills the dirty secret of talent scouts who spend their nights in rock clubs. VH1: What was the idea for Aware when you started? Did you fashion it after any label in particular? Gregg Latterman: I wanted a label that had a distinct brand name like the old Geffen or Sub Pop, where people would buy records because they trusted the label. It started with the compilations, which were about finding great bands. My original vision was to take the best regional bands across the country and put them on one compilation, so the bands from Minneapolis could help the bands from Dallas, and so on. Without radio or video exposure, it takes bands years to build a market, and going from their region to another is like starting over. I figured by putting out these compilations I could build a pipeline for bands to tour with each other and get more done on a grassroots level before being signed. VH1: How does a guy go from being a CPA in Boston to an Olympic training ski coach in Vail to a record exec in Chicago within a span of 10 years? Latterman: It's called walking a tightrope and bullsh*tting, being confident and not knowing anything. If I knew what everything entailed I wouldn't have gotten anything done. I was talking to bands that had sold 20-30,000 records and telling them to trust me and let me use their track. I wasn't really giving them any money. That was the beauty of it: there was no cost because they'd already made the record and I was just licensing it. VH1: On the second compilation you had Hootie, Edwin McCain, Vertical Horizon and Better than Ezra. None of those bands were signed yet, but how did you convince them that you were the right choice? Latterman: You learn to talk really well. Vail was an amazing year. All these bands were touring through there. The Vertical guys came and stayed with me. I helped Better than Ezra get a show at a crappy local restaurant. [Singer] Kevin [Griffin] lived in Vail, and a friend of mine handed me the Better Than Ezra record. I freaked out and called their manager and became friends with him and Kevin. There's a weird connection like that with almost every band. VH1: At the time, did the bands understand what the comps might do for them? Latterman: Not the first one. At that point they were all trusting me. Most of the bands on the first and second compilations sold a sh*tload of records on their own before we got involved. By the third and fourth [editions], people were begging to get on them. Part of the reason I did these compilations was to get to know everybody. My theory of life is you never want to be begging for stuff. I always want people wanting to know me versus cold calling people. These compilations were a calling card. It made it so I got to know every lawyer, manager, radio ... VH1: Tell me about he first time you heard John Mayer. Latterman: It was his EP, which was just a simple, mellow eight-song thing that wasn't very well-produced. I loved his voice and he sounded like a great guitar player. I flew him in and once he was in front of me playing guitar, it was like, 'Holy sh*t. You're the sh*t. Whatever it takes, you're signed.' VH1: What's something about John that people might not know? Latterman: All he lives for is making music. He told me once that he didn't go to prom because he stayed at home thinking about what he would play if he was the band for the prom. He said, 'I was the guy who told everyone I was going to be a famous rock star.' He knew that was his destiny. People ask me, 'Why do you sign bands?' I fall in love with their music, but I don't even need to go see them live. I need them to sit in front of me, play their guitar and talk to me. John has to play for people to be happy, that's why he's going to be successful. VH1: What about the first time you heard Train? Latterman: That was more about Pat [Monahan's] lead vocals pulling me in and the vibe of band. They had really strong, heartfelt songs. VH1: Can you pick a favorite track from the new compilation? Latterman: I can tell you a favorite song when I first heard it, not today. The biggest buzz I ever got from hearing a song was definitely "Lullaby" by Shawn Mullins. I thought it was magical. No one knew it or had heard it yet. He'd had five or six independent records out, but he was just a guy in his van. I got a hold of it before he even finished the record and I said, "I'm not sleepin' until I meet the guy and make sure I sign him." VH1: Why have you stayed in Chicago? Latterman: I didn't want to be another schmuck from New York or L.A. People tour here a lot. You don't have to live in New York or L.A. to have a presence. I can guarantee you we're more efficient than any label in the business. VH1: Most people are lucky if they find one good band, you've found many. Is there a secret to your success? Latterman: No. The initial deals we do are not for a ton of money. I think it's a way of keeping people hungry and making them work hard. We buy a van for the band, so they can be on the road for a while. [We give them more than] three or six months to make it. Look at Train or Five For Fighting. It took 12-14 months before they took off. By keeping them on the road and being efficient, we were able to get our foot in the door before we had to worry about radio. We never do the same thing twice to break a band. Most labels make the mistake once they break a band of using that success as a template for another band. That's wrong. It's about making people passionate about the records we make. We set up records years in advance. VH1: What are you listening to right now? Latterman: A John Mayer DVD. A new band we just signed called The Thorns with Matthew Sweet, Pete Droge and Shawn Mullins doing a Crosby, Stills and Nash thing. New Five for Fighting stuff and at home, jazz and classical. VH1: Are you the guy who goes out to clubs to see bands? Latterman: Never. Never, ever. It's the biggest fallacy. No one finds bands like that, ever. I want to hear what bands sound like on CD first. Why were all the bands on Aware 2 successful? They had all made their own records and they were touring. That bumps up their chance of success. I don't care what they're like live. If they sound great on tape, even if they suck live, we can make them great live. Don't talk to me until you record something. 999 out of the 1,000 things that come in from the people I respect, suck. If I went and chased every single thing people told me to go see, I'd be wasting every moment of my life. I'm about working my butt off and getting in early the next morning. All these A&R guys who go out to clubs until two every night and come in at noon the next day? Guess why they don't sign any bands? Because they're exhausted! I've never met anyone yet who said they went to a club to see a band and signed them. VH1: Do you have a certain kind of music you're attracted to? It seems your big bands have a similar sensibility. Latterman: If I don't like someone's voice, I don't care what they're singing about, I can't go past that. The center has been bands like Mayer, Five for Fighting and Train, but now we need to find something else, some punk stuff, our first female artist. VH1: Who is your next big find? Latterman: We're going to break every band. The Riddlin' Kids, Alice Peacock, Bleu, Wheat. VH1: Don't all record companies say that? Latterman: At those companies, bands get signed that aren't necessarily in line with the rest of company. You have a president who signs a band, but marketing and promotions is not involved with it. You get a record made that no one gives a shit about except for that one person. Before we sign a band, I have every senior vice president from every department on board before I sign a band. Out of the four or five senior vice presidents, I need one of them to be my champion. And I get it every time. We scrutinize the shit out of everything, so by the time we sign a band, we have figured out that we can sign them, or we don't bring them in. VH1: What's your favorite record so far this year? Latterman: Norah Jones. It's rare that I get a new one that isn't mine that I get obsessed with. I'm pretty attached to my bands. I get everything, but I don't normally get into them as much as my bands because I know them so intimately. I get obsessed with every record I make. If we start making a record and I don't get obsessed with it, there's a problem. VH1: Is it exciting to you that this whole singer/songwriter things is coalescing right now with John Mayer and Vanessa Carlton? Latterman: It's funny, because everyone trying to sign bands like that right now is too late. Why would I want to sign a band that's almost like somebody, or close to as good? I don't want that shit! Now every label is throwing down $500,000 deals for bands that are like other bands. We have the best in this genre and our goal is to make records with these bands for the next 20 years. |
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