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CYBER GROOVE PRODUCTIONS
DOA: Can you let the people know who you are and what you do?
Scott Cyber Groove: My name is Scott McCusker and I am owner of Cyber Groove Productions/Artist Management as well as CG Printing and Design that is based out of New York and Connecticut. We are a production/artist management/printing and design company that caters to the entertainment industry and is heavily involved in the drum and bass/breakbeat scene.
DOA: How did Cyber Groove get started?
Scott Cyber Groove: Cyber Groove was started by a friend of mine as a promotional company based out of NYC. We would be the promoters outside of clubs at 5AM handing party goers flyers, pretty much. That friend then wanted to create something new and asked if I wanted it for myself so I took it. I then took it and started to add some artists and became an artist management group around October of 2000.
DOA: What is it about the artist management side of the EDM scene that intrigued you?
Scott Cyber Groove: Artist management intrigues me for a very selfless reason actually. It gives me the opportunity to help those who have the desire to do this for a living get that much closer to make it a reality and in addition to create a platform to get their music out to the masses by landing them gigs. Adding to that, I get a sense of joy knowing that I give party-goers great music to hear. It is the same feeling I get when I did events myself where I would bring in some unique line-ups to the NY/NJ/CT area, knowing that the DJs and the attendees where just having a great night and it was because of my efforts that these people could escape from their usual day to day and have a great time.
DOA: You've got some heavy hitters under your roster, ranging from KJ Sawka, Quadrant and Dirtyphonics to Muffler, DJ Odi and MCs like XYZ. How long has it taken to build up a list like this?
Scott Cyber Groove: The list I have now took a while to build, but it probably could have taken shorter if I just wanted to add a bunch of headliners to my roster; that wasn't the way I wanted to do it, that's the easy way out. The first couple of years, I was handling local up and comers, trying to get our name out and actually didn’t think I could handle the bigger artists because I thought that was reserved for huge companies or successful record labels, so I stayed with the equation of handling talent that were either my friends or that I saw on local line-ups. As time went on, I started to add some more talent around the country and as well as international but I wasn't getting the attention I wanted from promoters around North America. I was then told about KJ Sawka from an artist of mine and I figured I would email him and invite him into the family, and he was very opened to the idea. So, through working with a talent like KJ Sawka, it built up my confidence and credibility to my company and roster from promoters and artists alike and gave me the opportunity to add more well-known talent onto the roster. I am now exactly where I want to be, and I urge people to check out our other names to our roster and keep close to our MySpace and such for tour info, because its going to be a busy summer. Check out the roster HERE.
 DOA: You've also helped put together events. What are some of the recent events that Cyber Groove is behind?
Scott Cyber Groove: I haven't been behind an event in quite some time actually, other than the events we supply our artists for, but I would like to be involved in more events. We did an event two years ago in Brooklyn, NY where we brought in TC1 & Stress Level that went off well and before that we worked with Outer Limits from NJ with an event called Relief that was a EDM monthly event where we booked for the Drum & Bass room, bringing out names such as R.A.W., Mason, D-Star and Dara (just to name a few), bringing in 1000+ people every month for its duration. What is stopping us from doing more events is time, mostly, and the fact that I enjoy getting behind events more as a consultant basis for the events' Drum & Bass rooms, providing my talents as well as DJs that I know that would make a good fit within the line-up, using my knowledge of putting together events and knowing what the people want.
DOA: I see you guys also do various forms of design and provide other services. How hard is it to wear each of these hats?
Scott Cyber Groove: It is not that hard because they tend to all roll into each other most of the time. Like for example, I get a call for an artist booking so I handle that but that promoter will also need flyers done for their event so I take care of that, as well as the design for the flyer, so we are like a one stop shop for all music events. Also, because I've had a day job while running Cyber Groove, I am great at multi-tasking and because I have found a way to run Cyber Groove and not have Cyber Groove run me, I am peaceful with all my decisions on wearing all of my hats. For the full list of services we provide you can view all of our services, and I'll even hook up some discounts on whoever mentions that they read this interview!
DOA: What would you say is the HARDEST part of your job running this company?
Scott Cyber Groove: The hardest part of running Cyber Groove would be not having the time to fully participate with my passion that is Cyber Groove. The second hardest thing isn't really the difficulty - it is the amount of time it takes to make one accomplishment. It is trying on the soul, but the years of promoting out on the street built up my tough skin to know it will all pay off in the end, and having the day job makes it easier because I am not relying on Cyber Groove to pay my bills so I remain cool, calm and collective.
DOA: What would be some recommendations you'd make for others who think they would like to pursue this line of work?
Scott Cyber Groove: Be simple and do not complicate things. Artist management is all about making sure your roster is functional and marketable and something different, to make sure all of your artists are happy with you as well in their personal lives. Also, your artists should be loyal to you or else they could be your direct competition. I put in a lot of time promoting my artists and there have been countless times where promoters would contact them directly and leave me out of the booking instead of having the promoter contact me directly. This is not a horrible thing for your artist, but it could possibly leave your artist without protection of your company's contract as well as might make your artist appear to be less of a serious artist. I always looked at artists in a brighter light when they would say to me "call my agent" when I asked about booking them. If anyone out there does want to get into this business or if you are a DJ looking to get involved with an artist management company feel free to hit me up and I'll give you some free advice for sure.
DOA: Would you ever do something like throw a Cyber Groove night, featuring solely your artists?
Scott Cyber Groove: I have done something like this in the past once in NY and once in CT, and they did fairly well; I am totally up to do it again. Since my roster has a little more pop now of days, if there are any promoters out there that want to put it together with me bring on your requests. We are also trying to get CG Radio back on the Internet currently. It was previously on DnBTV.com, then Jungletrain.net and we are looking for a new home or an invite back from those stations. What we want to do with our radio show this time is to randomly select an artist of ours every week or every other week on a rotating schedule to host the show, so you never know who your going to get week after week, so any Internet radio show that is interested to have us on, reach out to us.
DOA: Do you have any plans for expanding Cyber Groove? Any details you'd like to divulge?
Scott Cyber Groove: I flirted with the idea of making Cyber Groove a Drum & Bass label, but I placed that on the back burner until our artist management and the printing and design side of things pick up a little bit so I could focus on the label. The idea of the label was to use it as a vehicle to promote the producers under Cyber Groove. I have a number of up and coming producers that are just straight sick such as The Omen, Rupture, Sw@t, Cast the Sky, Dead P.A. and Double A, just to name a few.
DOA: What would you say has been your biggest accomplishment thus far?
Scott Cyber Groove: Our biggest accomplishment thus far is to be relevant in the breakbeat scene as an artist management company. Also, an accomplishment would be the opportunity to work with the all people we have worked with and built relationships with over the years and to be able to build up our roster to what it is today.
DOA: Do you have any final thoughts before we wrap this up?
Scott Cyber Groove: Just to send my big ups out to khal and DOA for giving me this opportunity to get my company out to the masses of the DOA board and beyond. Also a big shout out to the entire Cyber Groove family and affiliated crews. Check out our website; we have some free mixes available at www.cybergrooveprod.com/8years.html to celebrate our 8 years in the business.
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Words: khal |
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Dogs On Acid > Comments > CYBER GROOVE PRODUCTIONS
06-16-2009 07:28 PM
