Meet Kamtin Mohager | Musician and Creative Director/Graphic Designer

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

Hi Kamtin, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for taking risks. At a young age, I knew that music was becoming the most important part of my life. I continued to find myself excited to discover new bands and learn the history behind them. There was always a blank cassette tape ready to go to record songs off the radio, which would eventually become my own personal mix-tapes that I’d listen to constantly. From there, I became fully obsessed with the idea of being in a band and creating my own music.

Fast forward years later, I then dropped out of college to pursue a music career. That in itself was the biggest risk I ever took. I know that if it weren’t for me making that big decision, I wouldn’t be where I am today. You then fast forward many years after that, I took yet another big risk by stepping away from some musical commitments to move more into creative direction and design for artists, which has now blossomed into a new career that I’m very excited about.

I believe as long as you have drive, and work hard to achieve those goals, taking a big risk is necessary to success.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have always been the type of person that can’t sit still. Trial and error have been a big part of my life. But without that, I believe you won’t ever be able to grow. You need the lows to experience and actually recognize the highs. Whether it’s Chain Gang Of 1974, my time in Teenage Wrist, my new project Heavenward, or my design career, I knew that the best way for me to move forward was to make sure that I was always progressing. Without progression, my interest will fade with whatever I’m currently working on.

I’m a firm believer that if you positively do something long enough, it will pay off. Chain Gang Of 1974 had failed relationships with both Warner Bros. Records and Caroline Records, but I used those experiences to look within and figure out what works and what doesn’t work. Those times brought a lot of learning lessons to me, which I then applied to my life moving forward. A lot of bands break up after they become a “failed artist” in the eyes of major labels. It’s a very tough, ruthless industry. But going back to the idea of progression, I took the situation and flipped it upside down by continuing to move forward and starting my own record label Fever Ltd.. I’m now able to release all of my own music through my own label, along with signing bands that I believe in and showing them that this industry can be a positive thing if you’re working with the right people.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in Santa Monica, so I’d immediately take them to Sawtelle since the food game there is next level. We’d either hit Seoul House of Tofu for some amazing Korean food, or Manpuku if we’re in the mood for yakiniku. After that, we would head to Santa Monica Brew Works. The vibe there is fantastic and their staff are super cool. From there (and if we’re still hungry at this point), we would head to The Talpa, which is a very underrated Mexican restaurant off Pico. Everyone claims that Don Antonio’s, which is literally next door, is the better spot, but I 100% disagree. The Talpa is a neighborhood classic, but still somewhat of a hidden gem. It’s me and my wife’s go-to spot almost every Friday.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My first real taste of working in the music industry was back in 2001 or 2002. I was 16/17 years old and randomly decided to apply for a staff writer position at AbsolutePunk.net. Back then, webzines were the key to discovering new bands/artists and AP.net was the leader in that new movement of digital discovery. For some reason, Jason Tate (founder of AP.net) decided to “hire” me. That was the real beginning of it all. At a young age, I found myself building relationships with my favorite record labels, being sent 3 to 5 CD’s a day in the mail to review, and interviewing bands that I looked up to. To this day, many of my strongest relationships in the industry are because of my years spent at Absolute Punk. Through my experiences there, I was able to intern at Crush Management and gain a role at Machine Shop Records (label owned by members of Linkin Park) as an A&R scout. Those experiences gave me a lot of knowledge to then apply to my own career as a musician.

Website: www.feverltd.com

Instagram: @Kamtinm

Twitter: @ChainGangOf1974

Image Credits
Joe Calixto