We recently connected with John Dismukes and have shared our conversation below.

John, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

The beginnings of my business, Arching Dog Productions, started with doing small benefit shows with my friend Dany Carpentino and our band “Straight Out of New Braunfels”. We were supporting a refugee center here in Austin, Casa Marianella, which is a non profit near and dear to my heart. This is a great example of good karma as during our third year doing this benefit gig, I met Jon Muq, this incredible musician from Uganda who wanted to come play our show. At the time I met Jon I had been laid off from my previous employer of 25 years and looking to start my own business in wedding counseling services. Jon was someone I knew that was well above your average musician and with the graces of my wife we took him on as a immigrant to America and he took me on a great journey which resulted in my business Arching Dog Productions and working in the music industry. Jon is my Ugandan son and I am his American dad. There is a whole book worth of tales after these 5 years to where I am at but we both came from essentially nothing to Jon being signed with Easy Eye Records (Dan Aurbach of The Black Keys label”) and I am managing two musicians including McKenna Michels who has now been on Billboard AC Charts three times in the top 30 with three different songs in this past year. Both of us a still up and coming but we are far more ahead than many in the industry who have been at it for years. Through all of this I still continue to volunteer for Casa Marianella as well as I support them through donations. I insist that my artist also align with a non profit in order to have the mutual support of the community we live in. McKenna Michels story deals with abuse and therefore she has aligned herself with Child Protective Services organization which works to help children rescued by the CPS, and my artist in Portland OR is aligned with the Portland Food Bank.

John, 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?

I began Arching Dog Productions after Jon Muq and I went to record his first album “Trek” which has not been released yet. We recorded with the most incredible Larry Klein who is a multiple Grammy winning producer and musician. Mr. Klein produced Tracy Chapman and Herbie Hancock amongst many others as well as being the bass guitarist for Don Henley. On this journey in figuring out the legal end of our work I was luckily introduced to Mike Tolleson here in Austin and Mr. Tolleson helped me establish Arching Dog Productions and became my attorney and also a mentor about the trials and tribulations of the music industry. Mike Tolleson is arguably one of the most important people for the reason we have a music scene in Austin. He was one of the original owners of the famous Armadillo World Headquarters and had a hand in the beginnings of Austin City Limits as well as many other accolades. So his advice is well heeded. One of the first things Mr. Tolleson showed me was a quote by one of my favorite authors, Hunter S Thompson which is misquoted but still relevant ““The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. Then there is the negative side.’ While funny the quote holds a lot more truth that many do not realize. I happen to live YOLO style and to me life is about the experiences we have and the legacy that we leave. Since I was not scared off by the quote I think Mike recognized my seriousness in this business and he has helped me to succeed. If you think you want to be in the music business in any capacity I will highly recommend getting an attorney….a good attorney…and to that I do warn “good luck”. On the note of leaving a legacy that right now is what continues to drive me in working with music. If I die knowing that I have helped many cope, celebrate, love, feel, cry or even get out anger by giving them the music to do so then I have lived a full life. That is my goal. I think too many people concentrate on the money aspect and money is nothing more than credits we share. That said I am also responsible for making sure my artist get to a point of financial security and that takes a lot and is a huge gamble so its a necessary issue we have to contend with. Just this summer I have two projects with McKenna Michels that have come to fruition and I am like a proud parent with both. The first is her music video “Born To Die” which in two months has over a million views on YouTube as well as been accepted in a few film festivals and recently awarded best music video by California International Shorts Film Festival. The other project which is emerging is our music video and comic book “Survivor”. The song is out on all platforms and the new video and comic will be available later this month. I am very proud of both of these projects.
I also have a new video and debut song for my artist in Portland OR, “O.H.Moon” who will shortly release her single and video “Pie and Tea”. We are crossing our finger but also working a savvy marketing strategy for both to hopefully result in some financial success and return.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Yes there is plenty out there but the most important for any manager type jobs or any team administration would be books on servant leadership. Its what I call common sense that isn’t used commonly in many industries but this has served me through working for a corporation and starting three businesses to where I am today. Just because I run everything in my company I am still here to provide the resources, knowledge and support for people who work with me. The Servant Leader by James Autry is a really good read. Particular to the music industry is a book I require my artist read and understand along with any of my future employees. That book is “All You Need To Know About The Music Business” by Donald Passman. This was one of the first books recommended to me from Mike Tolleson, my attorney.

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

I can share plenty of stories but know in the music industry its really working in the abstract so that constantly you are creating and changing game plans depending on which way the wind blows sometimes. When I first started out with Jon Muq we got him an attorney who believed in Jon but was really looking on cutting me out of the picture. This attorney was helping us make some great contacts within the industry but at the same time was tying him down legally and financially where this attorney was reaping more that what was due to them. We lost some great opportunities due to the attorneys attitude and this individual was playing by rules of the industry that maybe applied back in the 80’s or 90’s but not in todays environment where relationships are crucial. We got to a point in contracts where it didn’t make sense what was being pushed on Jon and myself and the red flags from this situation made me step back and check things out. This was the point where I found Mike Tolleson and once I confirmed the bad deal that was being pushed to us I was forced to help remove Jon from the contracts already signed and terminate this attorneys services. In discussions with others in the industry this type of behavior isn’t rare. So I was forced to take over as an interim manager for Jon and help him get out from this legal tangle. We were both knocked down by this but were able to get back up and stick with the program. This is when I was able to start making my industry contacts and relationships directly and proved in the end what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. I was able to successfully and not at much cost get out from under the contract the attorney had put Jon in.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.archingdogmusic.com
• Instagram: archingdogmusic
• Facebook: Arching Dog Productions
• Youtube: see both McKenna Michels and O.H.Moon