Meet Brad Aarons | COO of Anti Gravity & President of Talent Management

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brad Aarons and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brad, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The most important factor behind our success are the creatives who drive the art. As a Talent Manager and Co-Owner of a music publishing company named Anti Gravity, our business starts and stops with the talent we represent.

As I move across my career, I’ve grown to be comfortable being a conduit of the vision crafted by those who dream, discover and create. Driving opportunity is part of how we help the roster evolve but once the content is delivered, I use my expertise & relationships in the field to help realize the vision on behalf of those I represent. When I stopped being an A&R executive (which I had done in the major label/ publishing system for well over a decade), I made a conscious decision to not ‘A&R’ the creative process before it was meant to be A&R’d. In other words, rather than dictating to someone who creates the content on how I feel about it, I tee it up so the ones whom need to make choices on what works best for them (ie at record labels, film studios, etc.) essentially have a clear palate to hear what our talent created with out my influence. Of course when asked and I have a clear opinion to share, but ultimately my guidance is designed to give talent the best shot of securing a song placement, a Sync license or any opportunity in general we deem is best curated for their career.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Given the depth of the questions asked, I’ll do my best to dissect them, but answer them out of order.

Let’s start by saying, there is nothing is easy in entertainment. To achieve any modicum of success, we all have to put the work in. There truly are no short-cuts and perseverance is based on how one continually recreates oneself.

There are a few aspects I would say have set me apart in my field. The first, longevity. With a long enough fetch, I have first-hand seen the burn out rate in our business. I like to compare what I do to an artist’s career in some ways… I’ve advised my clients over the years to understand at some point along the journey a choice will be made – either by the artist themselves or the fans; but ultimately a decision will be made when the end of the road has come. Whether standing behind the mic on stage and thinking “I no longer want to be here’ or by fans who no longer show up, that moment changes everything, but just because that may be the case, it doesn’t mean the artist still can’t be creative and have a career. At that point it comes down to figuring out how to pivot – which is the second thing which set me apart.

This said, over the last two decades I’ve been fortunate to have uniquely and successfully sat at three very important sides of the music space: record labels, music publishing companies and talent management firms. And I have taken all that I have gleaned from those shared experiences to make me a more well-rounded executive and manager.

I started my career in 1999 at Epic Records in the A&R dept. I answered phones, took dictation (btw I was an awful typer back then and gave myself carpel tunnel working in overdrive!), spent years in sweaty Rock clubs going through thousands of foam ear plugs & coming home in the wee-hours of the morning smelling like cigarettes (yes, they used to allow smoking in bars back then, but I didn’t smoke!). But because I was under the tutelage of one of the most successful executives in the space, a true gentleman named David Massey, (who is now the Chairman of Arista Records), I was never late for work. I was there before him every morning, no matter what I did the evening before. Always be early for a meeting or appointment.

After my move from NY to LA in the winter 2003, my time with Sony Music came to an end about 18mo thereafter. I took one of the artists I signed and started managing her – my first stint with talent management. I grew the roster to three crossing the divide between an aspiring Pop artist, a heritage or legacy Hair Metal act and Rock a band I still to this day love – and still regret we didn’t get it across the finish line.

My manager days were pretty short lived at that time… I was soon asked to be a Creative Executive at BMG Music Publishing just a few years in to being a manager. They presented a check and opportunity which far exceeded where I was in talent management and off I went to the next chapter.

I stayed in the publishing circles as an executive for about ten years, topping out as the VP of A&R at Warner Chappell Music Publishing. I was grateful then and still am today to the US Chairman of the company, Scott Francis. I first met him when I was an A&R Scout/ Intern for Sony Music Publishing in London back in the mid 90s. He was the Head of Legal for the US team and when he became the President of BMG he offered me the gig… years later he did the same at WCM.

All this being said, I have learned to bring forward all that I’ve learned and those I have met in the past. The deep relationships and knowledge allowed me to overcome some significant hurdles. On paper, a pivot sounds easy, in life – there are glitches in The Matrix yet knowing how to push through those moments gives greater opportunity and confidence in life and career.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Having lived in Venice for 19 1/2 years, I sometimes feel like part of the wallpaper. I’ve sat on the city/ neighborhood council, decided to raise my kids here and surfed the breakwater from the days when I was yelled at to ‘get out’ to becoming one of the older guys in the line up.

Anyone who spends this much time in one place is witness to change and part of it. Historically and beautifully that is Venice in a nutshell, change. While many things are no longer what it once was, neither am I and the mirror effect on my career and free spirt landscape will probably always give me roots in one of the most unique parts of Los Angeles.

A long way of stating, let’s start at the beach! -> on a bike of course. We can start by just being a fly on the wall. Watching everything possible in one field of vision, all happening in a blink of an eye. Freaks, skaters, surfers, tourists, artists… Venetians. It is truly the melting pot of affluence and poverty, creatives across all mediums from canvas to tech, observers & participants… it is all here.

A stroll down Abbot Kinney offers it’s own vibe – no longer dotted with artists, it is still a great street to eat, shop, people watch and listen to every language from across the globe. Everyone who visits LA usually makes their way down there… not a place I spend much time any longer but cool for someone coming to LA for the first time.

I’d not let anyone miss the canals, a quick history lesson of Abbot Kinney (the founder of Venice) and how much influence this small village has on global culture and oh a stroll down the walk streets.. And of course, if one likes architecture, there is no shortage on display. No two homes should be alike in this town!

Like everything else, food ranges from $1 street tacos (my favorite is up on Brooks & Lincoln) to fine dining. I’m a fan of Great White by the famous ‘Venice’ sign to cocktails at Roosterfish – a MUCH different spot than it was, but they did a beautiful restoration job.

LA has so many epic gems but given this is close to my heart, I’ll start and stop here but know there is a whole city out there!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I like to believe in a ‘Rising Tide Raises All Ships’, but one needs to be able to float for that to work in life or across a career. This said, I could never have become the expert that I am in my field professionally or the individual I’ve become personally without those I’ve come to represent and share time with over the years. As a driven individual, it would be all but impossible to navigate life without the friendship, mentorship or partnership I’ve been fortunate to create and be party to.

For the purposes of this article and to save your readers what would be a very extended list of individuals (I’m grateful to say) I’ll chose just THE two… My wife; a partner in crime for almost 20yrs (Megan Raney-Aarons), she is my bedrock, plain & simple. Nothing would be the same in any sense of my existence without her. And my friend, business partner and client, Justin Gray. This stellar human has taught me the art of entrepreneurism and continues to inspire me on all levels. His encouragement, belly laughs and focus in the latter years of my career has truly changed the trajectory of how my chapters are written.

Website: weareantigravity.com

Instagram: @weareantigravity

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-aarons-52314481/