Meet Andre Herd | Record Label Founder & Partner in DAYBREAKER

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

Hi Andre, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I see where the world is going & it became very important for me to to follow my vision & mission. I’ve always been driven by impact and although I’ve had great impact in my career while working for others, ultimately I realized that I can only impact the world in the way I want if I took a leap and chased the vision I have for my life and for the world.

What should our readers know about your business?
I own and run a record label & management company called Human Records. We are a boutique company that specializes in helping artists make music from their heart, tell their story to the world, & help them develop meaningful careers.

I’ve held many different roles during my 12 year career. I started as a songwriter/artist, then pivoted into managing an indie folk band, which I did for a year and a half. I then started DAYBREAKER in Los Angeles, which is an early morning health conscious dance party. I continued to throw those events for over 5 years and built a community of over 50,000 people in LA. At a similar time when I was 22, I interned for APG (Artist Partner Group) and found the band ARIZONA who got signed to APG & Atlantic Records. My then boss Ben Maddahi and I left and he started a publishing company called Unrestricted which was a joint venture with Songs Publishing – run by Ron Perry (CEO & Chairman of Columbia). I was there for nearly 4 years and had my first successes there. I worked on records with artists such as Zedd (“Stay” ft. Alessia Cara), XXXTENTACION (“Numb”), Chromeo, Demi Lovato, & many others.

In 2018 I left the company to start my own artist management company. I managed two artists, one of them being JP Saxe. I signed JP and my other artist to Arista Records and started doing west-coast A&R for Arista as well. We then released JP’s song “If The World Was Ending ft Julia Michaels” which became a hit and went on to be nominated for Song of the Year at the 2021 Grammy’s. I stopped managing to focus on label side A&R and got brought onto APG to build the left of center/alternative side of the business. My first signing was Sam Austins, who has since gone on to have a #1 US/Global Viral song with “Seasons”. APG’s label got bought by Atlantic Records four months into me starting, and then over the past four and a half years, we rebuilt the label. Through my time there, I became VP of A&R and had built a great roster of artists with multiple gold & platinum songs that I had worked on/signed. I had built my own department and hired/trained some great A&R’s.

I’ve had many challenges in my career. I’ve had a non-linear path and many moments where I considered a different path – but I always felt very drawn to music and helping get great art into the world. I’ve always had a belief that music is the one medium that regardless of country, language, or political party, can emotionally hit everyone. I’ve learned that having a mission in life is so important to becoming successful. It gives you a reason to wake up in the morning and put your heart & soul into your work. So even when things we’re hard, I stayed true to my mission and it always helped me through. I’ve always been led by my heart and by the impact of the work, which have guided me really well.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
In the city, the best food, music, & nightlife is in Los Feliz/Silverlake/Echo Park and in Venice. Those are my two favorite places in Los Angeles. The eastside is known for its incredible food. Restaurants like Pine & Crane, Sogo Roll Bar, Bavel, Bestia. On the Westside, I’d go eat at Great White, Gjelina, Superba, Zinque. All phenomenal. Superba and Gjelina are great for breakfast & lunch and Zinque & Great White are great for every meal. All have great environments.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I am nothing without the mentorship of many. I’ve been very blessed to have had some amazing mentors. Radha Agrawal, founder of DAYBREAKER, Ben Maddahi from Columbia Records & Unrestricted Publishing, David Massey from Arista Records, & Mike Caren from APG.

Website: https://human-records.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/andreherd

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andre-herd-96b84b5b/