VIGILANTE MUSIC GROUP

I caught up with Greg from Vigilante Music Group/Mega Royal Records outside of The Lounge.  Always on the move, he took some time out to speak with me about promotions and what he has planned for his new label with partner Rob Viktum.

Milad - Tell me everything you can about the name of your organization
and what it's about.

Vigilante - Basically, I started a promotional company called
Vigilante Music Group, which developed into an artist management and
booking company.  I've been doing it since 2006.  Rob Viktum and I
also started Mega Royal Records.

M - Have you always been in Dallas?

V - Yes, I actually grew up in Duncanville.

M - What actually got you into doing shows?

V - My partner Freewill (R.I.P.) was a performing artist, and we would
do shows for different promoters.  I'm not going to say any names, but
we realized their faults and that we were bringing a big percentage of
the people actually coming to the show.  We felt like we could do it
ourselves so we decided to give it a shot.  I started by helping other
companies out with their promotions first then slowly building
corporate clients like Gorilla Union.  They asked us to run the side
show at "Rock The Bells" in 2008.  We've kept moving since then.

M - What do you feel you do differently, compared to the promoters you
had issues with?

V - Well, I think one thing about booking shows I've always kept real
clear about is money.  It's 2010 and everyone wants to know what time
it is when it comes to money.  If you expect them to come do a
performance and they are at a certain level, then you talk to them
about money.  Whether it's for pay or not, you don't leave that out of
the conversation.  Communication in general.  Some people have poor
communication skills.  One thing I do is follow up all the time with
the artists regarding the events.  For any questions or concerns, my
line is always open for them.  Organization of the shows is important
too.  Going to an event and not knowing what time you go on is wack to
me.  I'm not saying I'm the best at throwing a show, but I look at it
from an artist's perspective and how we can all benefit as a community
together.

M - Any favorite moments from any of your past shows?

V - When we brought out Kool Herc, KRS One, & Bizzy B.  It was may
more successful than I thought it was going to be, considering we are
in Dallas.  It's not thought of as a market that really embraces MCs
and DJs from the "Golden Age" of Hip-Hop.  You would be surprised at
the diversity and different kinds of fans we have out here.  That's
one thing I want people to understand.  Dallas is very diverse, and if
you tap into the right market and execute your plans successfully,
then you can reap the benefits.  It's wrong to ever think Dallas has
no potential.

M - How did you get into releasing records?  Did it come out of doing shows?

V - Well I'd been working with artists for so long, especially doing
development work, and people would always come asking me for my
opinion like, "what can I do?"  After a certain period of time, you
develop enough connections with people that can help artists' careers.
You meet web developers, studio owners, producers, DJs, and more.
After time, you develop these connections and find clients for them.
One of my partners, Rob Viktum, was starting a label and asked if I
wanted to be involved in it.  We see eye-to-eye on a lot of things and
wanted to capitalize off what we know best.

M - If you can do anything over again when it comes to promotions,
what would that be?

V - You got to play your cards right.  When you start messing with
other people's money, you got to make sure you know what you are
doing. You got to make sure you have a backup plan.

M - Do event promotions cross over to releasing records?

V - For what I do with the label, a lot of it has to do with
communicating with the artists and making sure they are taken care of.
Making sure they do what I need them to do.  With promotions and
dealing with artists, it's just all about organization and meeting the
same goals.  With the label, we have a team behind us that knows what
they are doing in this new era of a record label.

M - What would you consider some of your goals in 2010?

V - Going back to school, developing some more of my technical skills.
As far as the label we have a full year of releases.  Mr. Dibbs is
dropping June 1st with features from Murs and even actress Juliette
Lewis.  The Deepspace5 album drops April 24th.

Written by :

Milad