We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brandon Conner a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Brandon thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My mission is to give artists the chance and tools I did not have as a younger artist. They say music is 10% talent 90% business but I believe that is an outdated statement especially for Independent artist in 2023. If you want to see any money that makes a difference you must be what is called a registered artist. My mission is to not to only promote and push my artist but teach them what a PRO is, how publishing works and what a sync deal means. I could go on about the topic but I don’t want to give out free game. New West Management is a family company of artist hand picked by me. Our sister company is New West Connection that is my marketing company dedicated to help artist outside my camp strictly focused on marketing and sharing their music with our following. I also have a Spotify playlist dedicated to only independent artists which is doing very well. Artists reach out if you’re interested.

Brandon, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Brandon Conner aka CallMeWhoElse I was born in Los Angeles Jan 2nd 1990. Since I can remember I have been in love with music of all genres. My father was a real estate agent when I was about 11 he landed a big client under snoop at the time. (Bad Azz) who has appeared on songs with Tupac and many other west coast legends from the 90s. He invited my father over for the house warming party months later & I got a glance into Bad Azz brand new studio he built downstairs. Watching how much fun they was having creating music I instantly knew I wanted to be an artist.
Eventually I would get my chance years later as a teenager when my mother booked my first studio time. it was a disaster but I loved every part of the experience. Sadly it never went anywhere not just because of my lack of knowledge at the time. I was a horrible writer and also did not know how to correctly structure a rap song. When I came to Colorado I knew that my medicore style at the time would not be enough for the big dreams I had. I needed to get on shows in front of people but everyone was charging me or wanted me to sale 20 tickets. I was new to the new state I barley knew 1 person. Thankfully Albeez 4 Sheez saw something in my determination and invited me to perform on 1 of his events. I gave it my all & yet it was still not enough to get noticed. My song was decent the mix was awful, my stage presence was stiff. I was getting nowhere with no help or no team so I started using different tactics, promotions, controversy some call it. This is when I created my first company Weird Musik which is a story in it’s self. People love drama always have always will and trust I was in the center of it for a couple of years. Pissing people off seemed to do the trick with high risks. Regardless if people agreed with my methods it still made them ask 1 question? Who is this rapper from outta state dissing our heroes. Boom I was on and known in the city that quick. Even with that this led me to some success and the start of my cult following but I was still broke. It wasn’t just outsiders on the attack but it was my own people after me. I had to shut down Weird Musik due to shady people around me at the time who tried to take Weird Musik and register it as an LLC. Lesson learned shout out to him. After all this I was still lost on the path I was on and working a crappy 9 to 5. Enough was enough I re connected with my current music manager Valerie Harris who started teaching me the business side of things and what It meant to be a registered professional artist. At the same time I was looking into other ways of making money as an artist outside of mechanical royalties & I stumbled across sync placement. I was working with Antonio Noriega my current engineer and producer he was helping me find my sound and pushing me to make different music. His guidance allowed me to reach top quality music and finally sound like nobody else but me. I submitted those different songs and got them placed in a NBA game, Nascar and struck a 4 year deal with a music library. My organic promotion caught the attention of Orchard/ Sony and shortly after I was signed. How ever this was no pic nic in the park. I knew early on into the relationship I was being taken advantage of and not receiving any money from them for the project I submitted. I broke away from the contract determined to do this independetly and correctly. I immediately started building up a new team and contacted Valerie Harris to begin New West Management as a legit company. I am very proud of each of my artist and their growth. The music they make the bonds they build with fans inspires me to keep climbing no matter how many times I may fall.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Understand the market you are in and the product you are making. The most obvious is that people do not want to be spammed. How do you get your music out with out spamming? You simply do the work, I have built relationships with my following I know who they are what they go through and how they feel. . Me and my community have had conversations on a range of topics they know I am an artist and a business owner by simply looking at my social media or the clothes I wear promoting my company. I find that it is easier to let curioisty do some of the work for me. Act like a human being, not a super star who can’t be reached. These people pay good money for shows, merchandise and more during tough times in our economy. Reciprocate that love and you will inherit a cult following that will last for a life time. Shout out to everyone reading this

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I have been homeless, hungry and broke. Working 9 to 5s at jobs that do not care about their employees. Those 9 to 5s can be dream killers and that’s what it was looking like for me. I no longer wanted to do music for just the love of it. I had bills and my first daughter on the way. In all honsety I wanted to make money and that is when understanding the business I was in came into the picture. I have spent my 3000 hours learning, studying, reading, watching YouTube videos, taking long phone calls for hours into late nights. This allowed me to throw my own shows, do everything independently and make music that would turn a profit. My wife TeaYaMay who is an artist also under New West Management started to notice I was making more money from music then my job and told me to walk into work the next day and quit. I haven’t looked back since & in just a little bit of time I was able create something unique and entertaining. Along side me New West has picked up Lowdy Trail, DavidSoldOut, TeaYaMay, Lerae Compton, BennyFeelsBlue. Former members who have gone solo include Austin Toker, Sir Jifs & Lee Vang, To this current day I eat, sleep & breathe this business. I have a solid team of people around me that believe we can achieve all our goals as a unit. This time it actually feels like a family I never had & their work ethic is motivating

Contact Info:

• Website: CallMeWhoElse.Com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/callmewhoelse/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CallMeWhoElse2x/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/callmewhoelse
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/callmewhoelse