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

Cory, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Starting my band and then deciding to manage and lead it was a big risk looking back. I definitely didn’t know what I would be getting into at the time. It would lead me down a path of self growth and life changing experiences I may not have ever known otherwise. There was definitely one point in my life where I said I need to pursue this fully, without compromise, diving in head first. I’ll talk about a few of the big moments that drove me to where myself and the band are now. I always knew I wanted to have a professional music career but the path to doing it in the music industry was changing so much, and still is. I just started believing in myself and the music we were making. It was many small steps and small goals, just tackling one at a time. The first step was booking our first tour, purchasing a van and just getting out there to fans. The first tour was rough. We had so many issues with the van breaking down, and the band members didn’t have experience. One member quit mid tour because they didn’t enjoy it. And I had to rent another vehicle to finish the tour when our van broke down completely. Let me tell you, there was not nearly enough money coming in to do any of this but we just made it happen. It was rough! The next big step was realizing the music and touring had potential and so I started investing into the production of the albums, I purchased our own van, and was able to find band members that had the same vision as myself. They wanted to tour and jump head first into this difficult thing. There were definitely years of losing money to take some of those big risks but the rough years paid off in recent years. We’ve developed a professional reputation and have made many fans along the way. We signed to a professional booking agency and can for guarantees each night that make being on the road viable and smooth. This went from a love for music, to an idea, to a business that myself and my band mates can make lasting memories with.

Cory, 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 Cory Scheider and I have been a professional guitarist and musician in the heavy metal music genre since about 2009. Playing guitar in this genre unknowingly throws you into some unexpected areas of knowledge as well. I’ve had to become a band manager, audio engineer, business owner, mechanic, graphic designer and about a hundred other things but it’s been a great experience. It’s a really cool story of how I got into this. I took guitar lessons from my guitar instructor when I was a kid until I graduated High School. When I entered college (for music production) I saw his band post an advertisement looking for a guitarist. I always knew deep down I wanted to play music professionally, and they were building a large fan base and really going for it. I auditioned as a challenge for myself, but thought there is no way I would get a gig with my guitar instructors band. Well, I did the audition and they sat down with me after and basically said, “We plan on working with a band management company, getting signed to a label and touring and we want you to play guitar with us.” I said yes, and we went on to do exactly that. Our band Luna Mortis signed with a very large label called Century Media Records and did some large tours. And that all kick started things to where I am today. I manage and play guitar in my band Casket Robbery. The industry is different now, and navigating it has been a constant challenge. My wife Megan, is also the vocalist in the band and we do a lot of the work load ourselves but with the help of an awesome team around us. We have been able to navigate it successfully and build up a large fan base around the country. We tour multiple times a year with a professional booking agency. Along with running and managing the band itself, I’ve also learned so much along the way that I offer management services to other bands along with design services like web design, EPK design, and graphic layout work. I’m also currently an A&R manager at Bleeding Art Collective. Being in the metal industry has been challenging, rewarding and life changing. I think the thing that has made me stand out from others is that I always said yes and found a way to get things done, when no one else wanted to and even when no one believed in me or the band. Looking back, this is one of the things that’s made me the most proud about my band Casket Robbery. We’ve developed a great reputation as a band that is easy to work with, professional, and good people.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Yes, this one has been a huge part of playing in a band. It is always changing. In my first professional band there was a general formula to it, not guaranteed but this was the way to go about things in the metal music industry. You could put out great music, get on the road as much as possible, and if you were a good live band with good music you could have a very good chance of being discovered by a manager or label. It was an exciting time, we worked with a lot of cool people directly in the industry and were on some large tours. When starting my current band in 2012, that was changing with social media. Music is being discovered on social media now and less people are going to see live shows. You can now get your fan base online without the large cost of touring. Bands don’t even have to tour at all and still have a successful band. The biggest pivot for me, as someone that loves touring and doesn’t so much enjoy social media was to find a happy medium. My love for the old business model had to stay in the past and I’ve learned a ton about advertising our music online, how to get onto playlists, and working with social media influencers online. We built up some really awesome social media groups and a Patreon as well. I think we’re able to tour successfully because of our engaging online audience. It is very cool now because there are so many ways to be in a successful band, and one person’s definition may not be the next person’s definition.

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

There are so many. And I think being in a touring band, your career is defined by your resilience. On my first tour with my band, Casket Robbery, our van transmission blew up. I stayed in the van with my wife Megan on the roadside in the middle of Iowa, freezing for hours, until a tow truck picked up the van. We slept all night in a parking lot at an auto shop. We decided to continue the tour by renting another vehicle (that we couldn’t afford) and then our drummer quit because he didn’t want to keep going. We made some pre-recorded drum tracks taken from the album quickly and played the rest of the tour without him. So this entire tour was chaos, but we made it through sleeping upright in an SUV every night for 2 weeks. Luckily, my wife and our vocalist Megan was on that tour. She really got me through that one. We both decided to continue to book tours after that one. And being in a band sometimes you question the resilience. Is it resilience or are we just crazy? We’ve had these tests every step of the way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://casketrobbery.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casketrobbery/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/casketrobbery/
• Twitter: https://x.com/CasketRobbery?
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYTRzqbyBCc
• Other: https://linktr.ee/corydesign

Image Credits

Mike Lowy
Eno Miriam
Jim Helmecy
Billy Jordan
Steve Buvalla