Inspiring Conversations with Joey Waterman of Villám Artist Management

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joey Waterman.

Hi Joey, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born and raised here in Nashville, TN and like most Nashvillians, I was surrounded by music my entire childhood. My parents played instruments and my dad played in a Big band, so I somewhat grew up backstage at his shows mooching off of the dressing room catering. I played in the middle school band and eventually sold my saxophone for a Gibson Les Paul at age 15 and started a punk band with my skateboard crew. We played at all-ages venues all around Nashville such as The Muse, Rocketown, The End, etc. all through high school. Fun fact, I actually met my wife in the basement of our lead singer’s house where our band practiced (she was his step-sister).

When it came time for college I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to do something with music. After realizing I likely didn’t have the talent or stamina to be a full-time touring musician, I was quickly drawn to artist management via the Recording Industry Management program at MTSU. Back then, Nashville was, or at least more than now, primarily country music focused and I was never into country music. I was more into indie and alternative rock, so immediately after graduating from MTSU in 2013, I moved to the west coast, interned at an indie record label and artist management company in San Diego called Surfdog Records / DKM, and maxed out a few credit cards in the process. I showed up at my internship every day for six months before I was officially hired on. I started at the bottom and did my best to master any task or project that anyone from the label team threw my way. The label specialized in legacy rock acts, so I cut my teeth in that world while overseeing day to day operations for the developing acts that we had at the time. It was a great first job in the industry. When the company parted ways with the last of the developing acts, the company decided to stick to what they knew best – legacy acts.

I love working with established acts, but I’m most passionate about artist development, so I took several meetings in Los Angeles and connected with the owner of Villám Artist Management, who I knew had a strong passion for developing artists and I can’t speak highly enough about, and I’ve been enjoying my time with Villám for almost 10 years now doing what I love most – working hard for hard-working artists. My wife and I moved back from LA to Nashville about 5 years ago, enticed by the ever-growing rock scene and the birth of our first son, so our company is now Nashville and London based, which really helps our artist roster capitalize on relationships and opportunities on both sides of the pond.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s smooth now but you definitely have to earn your dues. I didn’t have any friends or family members in the music business to help me climb the latter or open doors for better opportunities. When I moved from Nashville to San Diego I had about $5k in my bank account, which I knew was enough to last me a few months while I worked odd jobs most evenings serving at restaurants or catering events after my internship. Even when I was officially hired on at Surfdog Records/DKM, which I was very grateful for, I was shopping at Walmart buying day-old rotisserie chickens, $1 microwavable meals (my average grocery bill for the week was $35), and putting my gas on a credit card just to get to work because it was an entry-level position that didn’t even pay enough to get by. I even came across a Craigslist post for a house that was renting out a garage that was converted into a bedroom and I paid about $500 per month and lived out of the garage for a couple years. That was definitely my ‘there’s nowhere to go but up’ moment. After a few years, I proved my worth and starting making enough money to live a little more comfortably. I think those first few years really weed out the people want to work in music because they think it’s ‘sexy’ from the people who are really passionate about it. It’s definitely not as sexy as you’d think.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Villám Artist Management is a full-service, boutique artist management company based in London and Nashville. We think of ourselves as operating at the crossroads of creativity and strategy and we employ results-focused execution to ensure our roster’s artistic talent reaches its full potential. Our company is small by design, which allows our full-service international artist management company to provide comprehensive yet personalized support and guidance for our artists. Maintaining a small, select roster fosters extensive collaboration, which is then supplemented with strategic execution, thus ensuring growth in every aspect of our artists’ careers.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Other than working with a great roster of artists and helping facilitate their growth, I love spending quality time with my wife and kids. We have two young boys and we’re a very rowdy bunch.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://villamartistmanagement.com/