Perry Farrell performs on stage with Kind Heaven Orchestra during the debut installment of Heaven … [+] After Dark. Thursday, February 17, 2022 in The 1926 Room at The Belasco in Los Angeles, CA
Photo by Barry BrecheisenOver the course of the last two decades, amidst digital upheaval, it’s become more difficult than ever to monetize recorded music, the streaming model a raw deal for songwriters in particular as many artists continue to struggle.
The idea of artist development has become something of a relic as labels gear release strategies around platforms like TikTok, in constant search of the quickest, easiest hit at the expense of artistic statements made over fully realized bodies of work that come to define careers.
All of which has forced many artists to depend upon touring as their primary source of income. But, as we continue to emerge from pandemic, even for established artists it’s becoming increasingly difficult to cash in on the road.
More and more venues are taking a cut of artist merchandise sales and staffing shortages, logistics issues, higher shipping rates and inflation, rendering necessities like gas, airfare and hotels all more expensive, have combined to drive the costs of touring sometimes prohibitively high (taking the idea of international touring off the table entirely in several recent cases).
All of which belies the importance of strong, forward thinking artist management.
For Ian Jenkinson and Michael James, who co-manage visionary alternative and electronic artist Perry Farrell, including Farrell-fronted groups Jane’s Addiction and Porno for Pyros as well as Farrell’s latest live performance endeavor Heaven After Dark, the key to effectively navigating continual music industry upheaval lies in authenticity, collaboration and artist development with a focused eye on the long game.
Michael James (left) and Ian Jenkinson (right) stress the importance of the long game when … [+] navigating today’s quickly changing music industry landscape
Photo courtesy of Michael James “COVID was really an interesting piece. Because, really, this business, I believe, has been broken for a long time,” said Jenkinson. “With COVID, everybody came back after that and carried on like it was normal. But it just exposed what was wrong and how things have to be different – and the old ways were truly over. We used COVID I guess for some deep sort of soul searching in a lot of ways,” said the manager, who’s known Farrell for decades, managing him for about seven years.
“It gave us an opportunity to look at where everything was,” added James. “During COVID we basically sat down and we kind of mapped out a five year plan for everything in different lanes,” Jenkinson continued, carving out a path for each of Farrell’s endeavors, looking at the big picture to ensure that none of the projects would conflict. “We basically put a giant calendar down on the floor and looked at the assets. We’d start at an endpoint and then work our way back. And then we’d just lay it all out,” explained the manager. “It sounds crazy but we actually have a giant planner that goes for five years – where Porno would drop in and drop out. Where they’re recording. Where Jane’s drops in and drops out. We’d create arcs.”
James and Jenkinson met while Jenkinson was working with country/rock outfit The Mavericks, coming from different worlds.
Over nearly three decades, Jenkinson has developed a diverse resume thanks to work in photography, media, ticketing, festivals and events, playing a significant role in the creation of seminal British electronic festival Tribal Gathering (which ran from 1993 to 2004), while literally fighting a government to establish London’s first all night dance event Mount Universe.
Ian Jenkins (right), pictured here with Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro (left), stresses of … [+] the importance of the long game in his approach to artist management
Photo courtesy of Ian JenkinsonFollowing his time at the Sheffield College of Music, James has come to specialize in publishing, recording and budgeting, helping guide and produce last year’s “Spirits On Fire” tour, a successful arena outing featuring Jane’s Addiction and Smashing Pumpkins which cleared touring hurdles in both America and abroad, navigating Australia.
Working together, James spearheaded an almost five year effort to untangle three decades worth of publishing on the Jane’s side and their combined backgrounds act as the perfect compliment for Farrell, who maintains a diverse brand which includes a label and multiple bands as well as a new festival model in Heaven After Dark.
“My background comes from electronic music, where we didn’t really grow up with the album tour cycle or give a s–t about the record industry. We just went and created a culture that was bigger than anything,” Jenkinson explained. “I think the big lesson I learned, especially in the early days when acid house was sort of breaking and we were doing giant events across Europe, is we kind of set our own pace and our own agenda. We didn’t really copy anybody,” he said. “The foundations of everything we believed in with Tribal Gathering and Universe – everything we did – were around great music in the most credible of credible. There was no compromising,” said Jenkinson.
“I was working in tech companies, working with a lot of AI, artificial intelligence – which we’re seeing a lot of now in music coming to the forefront. I was helping companies go to market in new territories,” explained James. “I was building teams in the U.K. for companies out of Israel and North America wanting to come to England and Europe. So, with regards to the music industry, building teams and bringing in the right people to help execute what we’re looking to do or what our plans are is kind of what really stood me in good stead once I met Ian, his thesis on the music industry and how he operates,” he continued. “I thought it was a very good fit.”
Peter DiStefano (left) and Perry Farrell (right) perform on stage at Lollapalooza with Porno For … [+] Pyros. Sunday, July 30, 2022 at Grant Park in Chicago, IL
Photo by Barry BrecheisenEmerging from an L.A. Strip scene dominated by the hair metal stylings of the day, Jane’s Addiction would surface as an architect for the alternative music groundswell gurgling beneath the mainstream, releasing their classic first album Nothing’s Shocking in 1988.
By the time Farrell offered up the self-titled gold Porno for Pyros debut five years later, Jane’s Addiction had already broken up with a pair of platinum albums under their belt, all as alternative music was finally beginning to catch up, finding its footing on the radio, MTV and in record stores.
With both Jane’s Addiction and Porno for Pyros recording again with their original lineups, the key for Jenkinson and James was in ensuring the new music would live up to the high bar set decades ago.
MORE FROM FORBESPerry Farrell Takes A Rare Look Back As Lollapalooza Turns 30By Jim Ryan
“Jane’s was one of the first bands to kick down the door for those artists to establish themselves and then inspire the whole next generation,” said James. “So, from our point of view, it’s about looking at how we can connect those dots to the music that the kids are listening to now – which they’re inspired by, but which they wouldn’t necessarily have been able to listen to if it wasn’t for bands like Jane’s Addiction,” he said.
“To me, the core of it is, especially with Perry and Jane’s and Porno, is kind of making the mystery of those seminal bands get in that spirit of that DNA and try and reintroduce it,” said Jenkinson. “If you’re a kid that loves Turnstile or IDLES, why wouldn’t you love Jane’s Addiction? But everything is so algorithm-based now, you’ve got to pull back in. I think it’s a different approach to promoting the music,” he said. “People remember Nothing’s Shocking and Ritual de lo Habitual. They are landmark, seminal albums. Plus Porno!” explained Jenkinson. “And that energy is back. We’ve stripped away the kind of heritage feel and we’re a visceral, muscular, aggressive band again. And that’s kind of how I micromanage the clients – just go out there and give it everything,” he said. “I think great artists like Perry and our bands should be nurturing and helping to discover and promote new acts by being on tour with them or collaborating with them. We’ve got to plant more seeds and create the next set of great artists. And hopefully those artists create a cultural scene that’s bigger than music.”
Perry Farrell (left) and Eric Avery (right) perform on stage with Jane’s Addiction during the … [+] ‚Spirits On Fire‘ tour. Saturday, November 5, 2022 at United Center in Chicago, IL
Photo by Barry BrecheisenFarrell has always understood that rock and roll is at its best when it’s unpredictable, a concept which has driven not just his songwriting but also his festival endeavors. Having co-created global festival behemoth Lollapalooza in 1991, Farrell is scaling things back now with Heaven After Dark, which debuted early last year in Los Angeles.
An indoor staging which draws from a variety of different forms of live entertainment, Heaven After Dark is driven by authenticity and collaboration, a new brand which has grown organically despite a crowded festival sphere, developing new artists while providing concertgoers with the immersive, one-of-a-kind experience that can’t and won’t be duplicated at subsequent stagings let alone online.
“The ambition was to curate and nurture talent so that one day that talent could actually be on the stages of Lollapalooza. The music industry isn’t exactly nurturing artists, right?” said Farrell with a chuckle last year in Los Angeles, prior to the inaugural staging of Heaven After Dark. “It hearkens back to the early 1900s – small theater,” he explained. “I look at it like a Petri dish. That’s where the germinating happens in these situations. It has to be grown organically. It’s exciting and it’s fun,” Farrell said.
MORE FROM FORBESPerry Farrell On Evolution Of Festival Sphere As New ‚Heaven After Dark‘ Series Takes ShapeBy Jim Ryan
“We have to test a lot of ideas,” said James. “I think looking at a lot of events right now, they’re carbon copies of each other really. So what we are trying to create with Perry, with his history, is bringing some of that DNA into the youth culture now, creating an event that is credible musically but will also create moments that fans are not going to see again,” he explained. “So Perry performing with Maceo Plex is something that will probably only happen once or twice in Heaven After Dark’s existence – and then it will disappear again. We’ll create special moments that people have to be at the event to experience – you can’t view it online, you want to be there. We’ve got shows in Berlin and London and more shows in North America later this year. So it’s happening. It’s an exciting place to be,” said James.
“It’s working with up and coming promoters that are hungry – that want to challenge the status quo,” added Jenkinson. “Being there with people who are on the cutting edge of it who eat and breathe it in clubs seven nights a week and are bored with what they’re seeing. Getting those people involved and in the DNA of our event,” he said. “This is the blueprint for a great club. So, it’s injecting some of that into a scene that sometimes can feel a bit stale or overcrowded or overproduced. We want to introduce some of that feeling back into that. So you walk away and it can be life changing,” he said. “That’s what we really want with Heaven After Dark.”
Kind Heaven Orchestra performs during the debut of ‚Heaven After Dark,‘ a new live performance … [+] series curated by Perry and Etty Lau Farrell. Thursday, February 17, 2022 in The 1926 Room at The Belasco in Los Angles, CA
Photo by Barry Brecheisen2023 is shaping up to be a busy year for Farrell and company.
Both Jane’s Addiction and Porno for Pyros are at work on new music and more Heaven After Dark dates are in the works. And following a series of dates in Chicago last year during Lollapalooza, Porno for Pyros is set to hit the road this fall for their first full run in nearly 25 years. The “Horns, Thorns En Halos” tour is set to kickoff on October 8, 2023 in Wheatland, CA, running across America into late November in celebration of the band at 30, all part of Jenkinson and James’ long term planning.
“I love creating tentpole moments for all of these projects that we work on, from the bands to Heaven After Dark and for Perry. It’s quite complex – especially with some of the larger than life personalities involved,” said Jenkinson with a chuckle. “And if it’s not authentic or credible, or lacks gravitas, we don’t want to do it. Because there’s easy money and easy ways out there – but Perry’s not that guy. Michael and I are not those guys,” he said.
“It’s about not compromising,” reiterated James. “We have to be credible and work with the most credible artists.”
Utilizing his expertise in publishing, recording and budgeting, Michael James stresses the … [+] importance of the long game in his approach to artist management
Photo courtesy of Michael James“I think some of my conversations with both of the bands is nobody’s ever come to them going, ‘There’s the plan. We’re gonna start here,’” said Jenkinson. “We don’t sugarcoat the reality of the world out there. These guys – and Perry in particular – knows how much he has to work. We have incredibly honest conversations with our clients. We don’t go around going, ‘Everything’s rosy!’ Because it isn’t,” he explained. “But if we can be creative and be challenging – and challenge ourselves, the bands and Perry as a solo artist – it just creates a catalyst. My view on it has always been, ‘I don’t give a f–k what anybody else does. This is the way that we’re going to do it.’ That’s who Jane’s is, who Perry is. This is our way,” Jenkinson said.
“It’s an ongoing process. And it changes. But, fundamentally, the kind of key pillars are in place. Because we know our endgame. And I never let them lose sight of that. If we want to move the needle culturally and musically, we’ve got to play the big game. Everybody gets lost in the minutiae,” Jenkinson said. “It should be a very creative moment for these guys over the next five years. That’s what we’re all hoping for, that people will remember it. That it’s memorable – for the right reasons.”