Kings of A&R

David Bendeth is an A list music producer who has produced many acts you hear today including Breaking Benjamin, Red Jump Suit Apparatus, Hawthorne Heights and the most recent Paramore. Bendeth has long history in the music biz. He was also the VP of A&R at RCA where he signed Vertical Horizon, Crash Test Dummies and discovered KD Lang.

KOAR frequently visits Bendeth at his newly owned studio “House of Loud” in NJ and our discussions usually evolve around music shop.

Here it is…………..

Kelly Clarkson has been in the news lately. Word leaked that Clive Davis hated the record and that Kelly should’ve stuck with hitmaking songwriters. Clive offered Clarkson 8 million to ditch her songs and replace them with ‘Hits’. Would you take the 8 Million?

Well here is the real deal on that one. I highly doubt anyone offered Kelly that much money. I think they could have offered her 100 million and she would not have done it. The fact is the girl wanted to make her record the way she wanted. The problem with that is she had already sold 15 million records and the expectations are high. I really admire her for trying to do her own thing, I admire any artist who believes that much in themselves.

BUT, here is what I would have done. I would have made the Clive record just as he wanted. The perfect follow up radio record. Then I would have recorded my own side project under a band name and released it at Christmas as a venture. Kelly wanted the cred, you just don’t enter into that scene and become a cred artist, you play those 300 seaters and you build it from the ground up.
She should have never entered American Idol if she wanted to be credible. I listened to some tracks and I think David Kahne did a great job. Its not a top 40 record. She is what she is…forever.
The press took this too far, I mean do people care about Kelly’s career or her songs? Big difference.

Music Chiefs were blasted for using computer wizardry to make new albums louder than ever. Producers are artificially enhancing sound levels as they believe the noisier a record is, the more copies it will sell.

I don’t think producers are doing that. I know mixers and mastering guys are and it sucks. I don’t think the kids wanna get their brains blown out all the time. I think the industry set a standard and now they have a hot mess on their hands.

The louder is better has ruined many good songs and left the listener with no dynamics. It has alienated people and all that has to happen here is for someone to set a new standard which will happen! Maybe I will try it.

Bob Dylan says modern recordings sound ‘atrocious’. I don’t know anybody who’s made a record that sounds decent in the past twenty years, really,” - Dylan

God bless Bob. I loved Blood on the Tracks.. great record.

Bob is wrong. I never understood much of what Bob sang. But when I heard Hendrix do “All Along the Watchtower” and the Animals do “House of the Rising Sun” I got it instantly. Nuff said Bob. Bob is a legend, he wrote some of the best songs this century has heard, BUT, I bet his stereo sucks.

Who are you listening to right now?

My faves right now are Mute Math (Dylan missed that one), The Klaxons, My Chemical Romance, Nine Inch Nails, KT Tunstall, Oz Noy, Serena Ryder, Modest Mouse, Fiend, The Almost, and of course Paramore. ha ha.

Your Hero?

I have a few, Arif Mardin the best producer that ever lived. He died recently, I love his arrangements and I love his mixing, he takes my breath away. Listen to Chaka Khan doing “we can work it out” by the Beatles.. OMG!! Jeff Beck, who still plays his ass off, and Miles Davis who engineered modern music as we know it.

You recently produced the new Fueled By Ramen act Paramore that debuted 42,416 on the Billboard Charts. Tell us a good a story.

I gotta tell you, Hayley Williams is one spunky fiery little redhead. Love her to death. She reminds me of everything about the business I love. She can sing, write and design T shirts. The Farro Brothers, Josh and Zac also play their asses off and work so hard. They have toured non stop and will for years to come. Yes they remind me of No Doubt in the early years. The label Fueled By Ramen are also young and forward thinking, John Janek is the hottest A&R in America today, ask any kid, they will tell you!! Panic at the Disco!, Fall Out Boy, Academy Is, and Paramore..I would say NOT BAD JOHN!!!

Story? sure. Paramore have to be one of the most dedicated bands out there. A huge night for the band was everyone going to the cheesecake factory and getting cheesecake. I gained a few pounds on that session, they killed me. I also learned once again how important it was to connect DIRECTLY with your fans. They are the masters. In fact I have so much respect for any band that knows how to treat their fans.

Check out the new Paramore video and track ‘Misery Business’. Assaulting guitars and a well craft pop song.

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How long have you been together?
We have known each other since we were in high school and Tom and I have been writing together for about two years. But the band actually formed and started playing out in January of this year.

What kind of local support are you getting (radio, press, distro)?
Unfortunately, most of the radio stations in our region are owned by Clear Channel and that has made it incredibly difficult to get radio support. The college stations in the area are playing us a lot, but the commercial stations have proven difficult to break into. We get a lot of local press support in all the newspapers. Clay County Line did a review for us, as did Port Of Times Union (The largest paper in Jacksonville). Our first record was only available at shows and online, where it did surprisingly well, but our new record will be in all the area FYE stores, as well.

What are your shows like? How well do you draw?

We average about 250 people at the shows. Our biggest show was our CD release party for the first record in August. We sold out the place with 500 people. Our next CD release party is on the 26th, and we booked a bigger venue this time. We’re expecting to sell out again with around 700 people. I know it may not seem like a lot, but Jacksonville is a very metal town. And we are very not metal. We bring in something different, and to get so much support from fans really means a lot to us. Read (more…)

KOAR: Tell us about how you got started in the music industry- your first job, position etc…

The Rev: Funny story actually, I got into some trouble with the cops in college and as a result couldn’t move home for the summer. I ended up getting a job moving furniture where I met a guy who DJ’d at Michigan State University’s radio station. One night they asked him to fill in on the Heavy Metal show and he didn’t know squat about the music and knowing I was a huge fan, he asked if I wanted to come up and pick out the music. I of course I said yes and he let me do a segue over the air. The program director heard me, called in and asked me if I wanted to host the show permanently!! Long story short, a half-year later, I was the program director of a 3500 Watt FM college station. Through WDBM I made tons of contacts in the music business and during my last semester I lead the station to #2 in the ratings 18-34 females and got an offer to move to New Jersey to be an independent radio promoter at the now defunct AIM Marketing. Pretty crazy turn of events!

KOAR: The Syndicate you formed- tell us about the background on the company, departments, services, clients, roster of bands.

The Rev: The story continues, 3 months into my job as director of the Loud Rock Radio department at Aim, my immediate supervisor, Anya Feldman, left for a job at TVT. I didn’t feel like I was qualified to run the department at the time, so I suggested they bring in Marc Meltzer. Marc interviewed and got the job. Within a year we had the department doing more business that it had in years. At the height of our success, the owner of the company decided to disband the company, which left 15 employees out of a job. Marc and I decided to team up with Tracey Zucatti and Jon Landman who were running the College Radio department and Bernie Mueller who ran the Retail Promotions department and do exactly what we were doing at AIM but as the owners of our own company. On December 17, 1997 the AIM offices closed and on January 5, 1998 The Music Syndicate was born. Click to read more (more…)