We recently connected with Lane Smith and have shared our conversation below.
Lane, appreciate you joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard
Working in music, even with all the changes over the years, it’s extremely easy to get caught up in the traditional ways of working a record and work culture. From my experience, a lot of this stems from an unhealthy work environment.
As the pandemic started to let up, I saw friends working at major companies in music drop like flies. It was sad but also I was so excited for them. For the first time, not having to go into an office and work what was sometimes a 24 hour day helped them realize that there is a more simple approach to work out there then draining yourself for a client. It’s wild the sense of freedom you realize you have once you branch off and do your own thing. Having worked at different agencies for short stints over the years, I’ve seen managers bend over backward for their clients, sacrificing their health and happiness to keep everyone happy. The sad thing is that most of the time, managers don’t get to choose the projects they work on, removing all passion from what should be a job in the “arts”.
In a job where you are truly working every minute to ensure the success of an artists career, you need to be absolutely in love with the project you’re on or it will tear you apart. There’s a few things outside the norm of our industry that our team has intentionally had to put in place to keep our sanity. For starters, weekends. We take them. Yes there’s the occasional show to attend, shoot be on , etc. But for the most part, we take two very important days off to reset, refuel and come back rested and creative. And we hope our clients are doing the same! We prioritize our clients metal health over all else, making sure everyone is excited and healthy to be releasing their art. Second, we’re extremely selective about the roster we choose to work with. It’s not about the bottom line of what an artist can make financially for us, it’s about the creatives art, passion and commitment to their project that excites us.
On a more creative note, having a small boutique agency allows us to make impulsive, exciting creative decisions that don’t need to be dragged up a flag pole. In a fast changing industry, we’ve found this is a huge strength and allows us to act much quicker in campaigns than a large company. With only two of us at the company and a shared vision, it allows us to make independent decisions that we can guarantee everyone will be on board with. It really all comes down to simplicity with a small business which in a world on fire, is a nice touch of relief.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Well as an Idaho native raised on the lakes and mountains of the Pacific Northwest, I guess it only comes natural that being glued to a desk chair was never for me. To this day I’m not sure where my early passion for music comes from. But after picking up music production and djing in middle school, starting a band in high school, and taking lessons for about every instrument, it quickly became all I knew. From there, I picked up a camera at a young age and in the long run, began directing music videos in college and touring as a photographer for artists like The Strokes, Wrabel, Yoke Lore and Walk the Moon. Surrounded by this new community, I found my real strengths lied with artist management. Today, my business partner Matthew and I run Mantis Music Group. Home to 4 artists and 5 producer/songwriters.
From the conception of an album, to the creative, marketing, financial education and legal advise that comes along with being a manager, you really have to learn to become a one stop shop for your clients. It’s hard to say anything about myself in this role truly stands out, but something ive learned over the years is that a majority of the music business industry has not proper background in music, but their work stemmed from a passion of listening to music. With my experience in touring, creative and music, I’ve been able to offer clients something they haven’t had previously. Stepping in as an extra hand in any situation when needed.
I’m extremely proud of all the work our team has done. With international large scale touring, charting music releases and even getting our producers and songwriters in with artists I’m genuine fans of, every day of work creates a moment that I know young me could have never imagined.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I really didn’t start in management full time until covid forced me into it. Fresh out of college I went to work at a creative agency and put my degree in PR to work as a social media manager. Simultaneously, my two childhood best friends and I were in the building stages of our own creative collective. After about 6 months of working at this agency, I was financially bringing in more on my own and it made sense to officially launch my path as a freelance artist. From the start, things were great. We immediately brought In massive commercial work and added to the team. To our demise, we soon realized that we had no passion for mattress commercials and vitamin website design and that we needed to pivot. With a hiatus ahead of us and an unimpressive resume, I scattered. I began working side jobs at coffee shops, shooting weddings, taking small freelance video projects here and there to keep myself afloat, all while staying as relevant in my music community as I could. I launched labels with partners that didn’t work out, opened a recording studio that closed and managed artists that quit their career. As March 2020 hit, I had a clean slate for the first time and a moment to think of what was coming next. And it was in that silence that things fell into place. Several artists displaced by covid began their hunt for new management, with myself on the other end of the phone. And so the roster began to form.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
In a time where work was slow, I was looking for work back on tour. I came across a band (Fly By Midnight) looking for a new tour manager, sent in my resume and booked the gig. The band was managed by Matt Hinds – my new partner. Having met at a few shows on the tour, he learned my story and how I was looking to build out my management company. Based in NJ, he was also looking for a west coast partner. After a year of flirting with the idea to merge companies, it only took Aaron Rodgers going down at a jets vs bills game and a few coors lights later to really set things into place.
Contact Info:
- Website: mantismusicgroup
- Instagram: whateverlane
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smithlane/
Image Credits
Celina Kenyon