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Industry Insider: Curran Reynolds Discusses the Industry, Music Documentaries & Festivals

Founder of his own PR company, The Chain, Curran Reynolds joins us for our Industry Insider interview to discuss trends, music festivals, and AI in music.

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Curran Reynolds in 2024, photo by Natalie Piserchio
Curran Reynolds in 2024, photo by Natalie Piserchio

In an industry that can be unforgiving to the faint of heart, Curran Reynolds has navigated his career with confidence, self-assurance, and decisiveness. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Reynolds is a highly regarded music industry veteran, and a musician himself. He goes by the name Body Stuff and he has released four records, with the most recent being 2023’s Body Stuff 4. Understanding the industry from both perspectives has been vital to Reynold’s career success.

He started his PR career as the head of publicity for Earache Records’ U.S.-based office. During this time, he represented bands as large as Morbid Angel and Deicide. By 2005, he had left to do his own thing. He is the founder of the NYC party Precious Metal and has booked and promoted over 300 live events. He is also a writer and graphic designer, having previously contributed to publications like VICE, Mass Appeal, and High Times.

In 2016, Reynolds founded The Chain, his own PR company. It is an alliance between himself, Justin Pearson, and Brandon Gallagher. They combined their passion for music and business and set out to create dynamic PR campaigns for artists they believed in. Some of the noteworthy artists on The Chain roster include King Yosef, Heavy Halo, Planet B, and SpiritWorld.

Reynolds joins us for our Industry Insider column to discuss the industry, trends, music festivals, and more.

How important do you think it is for artists to take a stance on social or political issues?

Curran Reynolds: “Artists should do whatever they want. Their only obligation is to express their genuine selves, whatever that means to them.”

What’s your take on the importance of artist documentaries and behind-the-scenes content for building a fanbase?

“I love music docs. One of my favourites of all time is the Depeche Mode film, 101. But I’ve also enjoyed docs about bands I’ve never heard of, or bands I don’t particularly like. I especially love any backstage footage. For me, this dates back at least as far as the ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ video. The walk from the private space of the backstage to the public space of the stage is one of the most thrilling transitions that can be captured on camera.”

Is the idea of “selling out” still relevant in an industry where brand partnerships and corporate sponsorships are now seen as essential for survival?

“When I was younger, it felt correct to reject the corporate world and to try to hold yourself to a higher standard of purity. This got tested in 2009 when the car company Scion offered my old band thousands of dollars to put their promo stuff on our merch table on a tour. Ultimately we chose to sell out and take the money. Thanks to Scion, we broke even on that tour and I am grateful for that, even though selling cars is not something I am passionate about.

“I see it both ways. I admire Fugazi, I admire Warhol. And I think Warhol did a good job of connecting with the richest people and doing whatever it took to fund his enterprise, while still maintaining his own identity through it all. His commissioned portraits of heiresses paid for his piss paintings.”

What’s the most innovative marketing campaign you’ve been a part of, and what made it stand out?

“When I worked at Earache Records in the early 2000s, my boss, Al Dawson, had a lot of clever ideas. He came up with a marketing ploy for the Norwegian band, Cadaver Inc, where we set up a 1-800 number for a fake company that claimed to clean up crime scenes. The calls went to a phone line at our office, and we would answer the calls in character.”

Do you believe the rise of vinyl and other physical formats is a passing trend or a permanent shift in consumer behaviour?

“Maybe it’s the case that, as technology advances, there will always be a corresponding pull in the other direction, toward the romanticization of the past and the fetishization of obsolete things. And as much as technology has enabled us to enjoy music in an invisible and weightless form, some people out there simply love to own tangible objects. Personally, I am not a collector. I gave away all my music.”

Do you believe there’s a resurgence of interest in concept albums, or are they becoming a relic of the past?

“As the focus shifts toward bite-sized bits of music, I can imagine there are people who will be more and more drawn to the album format as a reaction to that. As an artist, I enjoy the process of making an album. I’d equate it to writing a novel, and the songs are chapters. I guess the so-called concept album is the most indulgent type of album you can make. I’m thinking of my own childhood, listening to albums like The Wall and Quadrophenia and getting mesmerized by the music, the story, the whole vision.”

What’s your view on how artificial intelligence is shaping music production, creation, and marketing?

“From what I’ve seen so far, I despise it.”

What’s your take on how music festivals have changed the dynamics of artist discovery and promotion?

“I love festivals. Bands come in from all over the place, for a brief magical window of time, each bringing their own vibe and their own stories. Best case, there’s a heightened sense of community and camaraderie and the feeling that something really special is taking place. It’s a great setting in which to discover artists you didn’t know.

“As a musician, I’ve gotten to play fests such as Roskilde, Roadburn, Inferno, SWR Barroselas, Maryland Deathfest, and SXSW.

“And as a publicist, I’ve worked with two great fests in the past year: Dark Days Bright Nights in Richmond, Virginia and Caterwaul in Minneapolis.

“As a concertgoer, a formative experience for me was the Milwaukee Metalfest in the summer of 2000. We drove overnight from NYC to Milwaukee and barely slept all weekend. Some of our guys were wrongly accused of throwing bottles out the windows of the Ambassador Hotel, and they spent the night in jail. I remember the euphoria of watching Internal Bleeding and Dying Fetus, back to back on the same small stage, never having heard of either band before. I also remember saying hello to Steve Austin of Today Is The Day, for the first time. Ten years later, I joined his band.”

Born in 2003, V13 was a socio-political website that morphed into PureGrainAudio in 2005 and spent 15 years developing into one of Canada's (and the world’s) leading music sites. On the eve of the site’s 15th anniversary, a full relaunch and rebrand took us back to our roots and opened the door to a full suite of Music, Entertainment, and cultural content.

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