About
Hey Hey, Thanks for checking out my site!
My name is Daniel Kohn, but most people, including my own wife and parents call me Kohnny – hence the name of the site
I know I’m still a young guy but for some reason I was exposed in a very dramatic way to the music industry and business from a very young age.
Let’s face it, breaking into the music industry in today’s world is close to impossible. However for some reason it came quite easy for me and our band Noise Addict. I’ve asked myself many times “Why me?” But eventually came to accept that from the ripe young age of 13 I was living in a bubble that 99.9% of musicians could only dream of
To give you an idea of how I acquired all this knowledge that this website hopes to share with you, here is my story in a nutshell -
At 13 I picked up the bass guitar and joined a band called Noise Addict with my long time friend Ben Lee.
By 14 our demo had gotten into the hands of Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth, Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam and Mike D from the Beastie Boys. Our very first show we every played, literally about two weeks after I bought my bass, we got a spot at a sausage sizzle for our local municipal library. How’s that for rock’n roll huh!
It just so happened that sitting in the crowd was an up and coming promoter, record label owner and most importantly what I call a “connector” by the name of Steve Pav who sat and watched us play. I had a feeling he was important because he was the only guy in the audience who wasn’t in my class at school or apart of our families. This is what I call a clear case of divine providence in a very big way….
Following that show, he offered us a support slot with Sonic Youth, he also asked us to support a band from DC called Fugazi and continued by saying how he wants us to record some songs with the singer of Sonic Youth, Thurson Moore.
Well from that day on we hopped on the “music industry” roller coaster – as you can imagine there were some serious highs and some pretty shitty lows but breaking into the music industry is one ride you must try and catch.
Signed A Record Deal Through EMI At Age 15?
By 15 Mike D from the Beastie Boys signed us to his record label in the US called Grand Royal which was a subsidiary of EMI Music. That’s when we also started supporting and touring with bands like The Foo Fighters, Beck, Buffalo Tom, Pavement, Beastie Boys, Cibo Matto, Superchunk, The Breeders and many many more! (i will be posting pics here very very soooooon)
Not normal right?
But it was at 16, that I really started getting my feet wet in the “business” of the music industry.
We had a problem with trying to play live in our local town because we were still in high school and under the legal age to play in licensed bars and clubs. So being the eager beavers that we were Ben and I decided that we would find venues and arrange under 18 shows or “all age” shows so kids under age could attend, but more importantly so we could play live.
Sold Out 1200 Seat Rooms By The Age Of 16
We went out, booked a venue, called the bands, arranged ticketing, secured deals, got publicity and before we knew it we sold out the Metro Theatre out before show day – Capacity at the time was 1200 people.
I walked home that afternoon with $1,000 in my pocket and an extremely massive smile on my face – There is no better feelings than watching 1200 kids go nuts to really cool bands you like and knowing, coupled in with the idea of knowing that I organized the whole thing…..
Following that we started doing more all age shows and sold out every single one of them!
Unlike most rock’n roll stories this one didn’t have a bad ending and is still continuing. However, to cut a long story short, Noise Addict continued to make music, we toured the US and Japan in school holidays, the band broke up eventually, I hung up my bass guitar picks and put the picks out to dry (the truth was that I was never really good on bass) and continued the path down the long and windy road of breaking into the business side of the music industry…..
fun fun fun for everyone – but it really just happened organically. Somehow by the age of 17 I knew everyone in the business – I knew everyone at radio, I knew all the main booking agents around town, I was in touch with A/R guys at the majors….the list went on.
I hate name dropping but I ended up working for a large touring company and began doing all the marketing for tours like – Ben Harper, Foo Fighters, Offspring, Pearl Jam, Fatboy Slim, Green Day, Jack Johnson, Smashing Pumkins and many many more. For a 19 year old, I was living a good life!
I also ended up managing a band called Waikiki or more recently known as Howling Bells – Rule no. 1 never fall in love with a lead singer, especially if you’re the manager – That one didn’t end so well
So what’s the point to all this?
Why am I writing this?
Why have I created this website with all this info about breaking into the music industry?
I can assure you of one thing, I am not doing this is to pamper my ego because I exhausted that angle years ago when I dropped all those bands and stories just to pick up chicks.
Telling stories and spin doctoring is fun but not forever, it gets boring after a while….
The honest reason, and if you have read this far, it’s probably a good sign, is that I really believe I gained and understood so much valuable information about the music industry that very few other people would ever really get to experience.
I was mentored by some very amazing minds who were veterans in their own fields and somehow I believe that through these experiences and breaking into the music industry in the way that I did, I could genuinely help other artists with their careers.
Through this site I keep referring to my knowledge which is sourced in “the business of music” as opposed to just the “music industry,” and I do this for very good reason – to get anywhere in this business you have to have and cultivate a certain mindset that needs to be understood and grasped.
Do not forget that in this “art meets commerce” industry the word “music business” also contains the word “business” which can only mean one thing! When you are dealing in an industry that is in such dire straights as the music business, coupled with the already ferocious competition that already exists out there, you better understand this mindset and learn how to break into the music industry quick smart otherwise you, your band and your exciting dream that exists in a potential state in your head, will be left for dead before you take your next breath.
I Have A Love Hate Relationship With Musicians
I have this love hate relationship with the music business and musicians, on one hand I wish I never got involved in this dark morbid twisted industry but on the other hand watching thousands of people go crazy to a band you manage or a show you promoted or an album you made, can give you such a true feeling of real pleasure that cannot be matched by anything else, and it is this thing alone and those moments that make it possibly worth operating in such bizarre environment.
I get contacted all the time by musicians and bands as to how they can break into the music industry and move their careers forward so I thought enough is enough – get off your ass, and start dumping everything you know about the music business on the internet for all to see!
So with that, I give you my website and whatever other manifestations this project leads me towards. I have a ton of ideas so hopefully you’ll kick back stick around and appreciate what I have to say.
Last but certainly not least and most importantly is that nearly everything you read on this site is 100% absolutely true and tested by myself over the past 15 years of my career.
Enjoy and please feel free to contact me at anytime – questions, advice, feedback about the site
kohnny(@)askkohnny(dot)com

