Waldmania – Scott Waldman Breathes New Life Into a Classic Promotional Concept

When Hulk Hogan body slammed Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III it was a seminal moment in sports entertainment history. Artist manager Scott Waldman, and Stay Free Recordings owner Jonathan Halperin, would be thrilled if the first Waldmania became a similarly important moment in the indie music world.

The initial Waldmania, titled Waldmania Mix 2021, is a limited edition vinyl offering that features four wildly diverse acts – Superkick, 18th and Addison, Tidal Babes, and Satin Puppets – all of whom have, at one point in time, been under the Waldman Management umbrella.

“I’m hoping when people listen to the compilation,” Waldman says, “they get four different flavors of good.”

Limited to just 200 copies – 100 gold, 100 silver – the project was released via Stay Free Recordings, and hearkens back to a time when compilations were one of the best ways to expose listeners to new bands.

I caught up with Waldman to find out more about Waldmania, including how an album with an ugly green cover inspired it. He also dove deep into some classic promotional concepts, breaking down why they worked so well, and the potential for bringing some of them back into fashion.

 

From what I understand, Waldmania was inspired by a concept you loved back in the day. Tell everyone about that inspiration. 

Punk-O-Rama is what exposed me to independent music.

When I was in 8th grade, like the summer before 8th grade, that’s kind of when the (‘90s) boom of punk rock started happening that was public. Kurt Cobain had just, sadly, killed himself, and I’ve always had a theory that if he hadn’t done that Weezer and Green Day wouldn’t have been big. I really think that.

Green Day’s Dookie is still a top ten record for me, and then I heard this band called The Offspring, and then it was game over.

This was pre-internet. I didn’t know about zines. I knew about Rolling Stone, and Spin. I didn’t even know about Alternative Press.

I was at a record store at Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island, and I saw this thing that said Punk-O-Rama, featuring unreleased tracks by The Offspring, and then a band called NOFX, and Bad Religion, and Pennywise. I didn’t know any of these bands, I just knew The Offspring.

I’m sure it was probably like $17.99, and it was this ugly green color, but I was just like – I like The Offspring, I like the word punk, I love Green Day, let’s get it. That changed my life.

God, that is an ugly cover, but you know what, you noticed it. 

It worked. I found out about those bands.

Prior to that I would say my favorite bands, besides The Beatles and Weird Al, were Green Day, Weezer, and Nirvana, but those are all major label bands. There’s nothing wrong with the major labels, but this was my first foray into independent music.

So you buy Punk-O-Rama, and it gets you into punk rock. One might say compilation albums like that are a bit of an old school promotional tactic. What can be gained, and what can we learn, from bringing back some of the old school promotional tactics? 

Well, there are no promotional tactics now. It’s about the fuckin’ Spotify playlists. People don’t flyer outside of shows anymore.

As the compilations became more and more widespread I believe Punk-O-Rama 2 was $3.98, and I remember the Fat Wreck Chords comps were the same way. This was obviously before file sharing, and the internet even.

I can’t imagine the label making too much off these comps, because they still had to pay every band on it, but it definitely made it so that when the next Pennywise record came out, or the next Rancid came out (people would be interested).

I think a lot of people can learn that these compilations, or even soundtracks, for example, like the City of Angels soundtrack with “Iris” and “Uninvited,” it exposes people to so many different sounds, and textures, and I think the Spotify playlist doesn’t do that. I feel that’s more of a passive listen, whereas these comps, you’re actively choosing it, and then you go, alright this Down By Law song is cool, but I don’t like it as much as this Bad Religion song.

Are there other old school promotional tactics you’d like to bring back to life? 

Yeah. In addition to the compilation – and mine is a unique one because it’s a management one – what I’ve done with a lot in bands that I was in, like The City Drive, Lido Beach, and Green Light Theory, is I would bring my acoustic guitar to events, and I would play as the kids would come out.

Let’s just say Lido Beach’s core fan base was Weezer fans. I would go to a Weezer show, and I would try to win people over in the parking lot with my acoustic, and a bunch of CDs. I wouldn’t care if someone walked by me. If they walked by me then I probably wouldn’t have gotten then anyway.

Everyone needs just a small core fan base to do well, so I think that tactic is very underused. I don’t know how well you’d do in the COVID world, but I can tell you I’ve sold thousands of CDs doing it that way.

How difficult was it to bring the Waldmania compilation to life? 

Not at all.

Jonathan Halperin, great guy, I’ve known him for a minute, he used to book Chain Reaction, he now books the Music Tastes Good festival in Long Beach (CA). He booked The Glass House, which in Pomona is a huge deal, and he has a label called Stay Free Recordings, with many diverse acts on it.

When I saw the piece in Billboard (about the launch of the label), I don’t know if I called him, or texted him, but I said congrats. We got on a call, and he’s like – I like you, I like your roster, why don’t we try this? That’s how it happened. I wish I could tell you it was a lot of work, but it wasn’t.

The Waldmania jacket is designed to look like an old school mix CD

The four bands with singles on this release are radically different from each other. Was that the point? 

Yes. I did not want to be the punk manager. I did not want to be the alt manager. Currently, one of my biggest hits as a manager is country, because Nick Wheeler did the Cassadee Pope record, and God willing it gets nominated for a Grammy.

Cassadee Pope comes from a pop rock world. She won The Voice, and I would argue she’s kind of the Kelly Clarkson of The Voice, because I don’t even know who else won. Nick had been writing with her for quite a while, and they gave him the record, and if it gets nominated for a Grammy, which it might – I’m just trying to actualize it – that would be my first Grammy nomination, and it would be in country, and I just find that hilarious.

I love the stuff that she’s done with Nick, it kind of reminds me of Michelle Branch.

Going back to the question, I didn’t want to be an artist manager who is linear. I know a lot of managers who are very successful in a certain genre, and then it’s impossible for them to crossover to another one, because that’s what people know. So my business plan, and thesis statement, from the start was I just want to be a manager who works fucking good music.

With a limited vinyl release is this a buzz builder, is this a potential collector’s item – what are some of your goals for the first Waldmania compilation? 

Both. It’s a buzz builder, and to me it’s like a business card. I actually ordered, as a joke, 18 of them, which is chai in Hebrew. 18 silver, I did that, and I don’t know what I’m gonna do with it. I’m definitely gonna keep one. I’m probably gonna frame one, and then I might just give them to people kind of as a business card, kind of how people give a flash drive, or a mixtape, or something like that.

It’s just cool as fuck that this exists, to be honest with you.

You’ll note in the previous question I referred to this release as the first Waldmania compilation. Are there hopes of future releases in this vein? 

I’m actually talking with Jon, because I did this really selflessly. I could’ve just stacked it with Lido music, but I’m hoping that I can do a Lido Beach one with two songs from Fake Hellos, Real Goodbyes, and two from Social Climbing. That’s the goal.

I’m just really honored that this is happening, because this usually happens with labels, not with an artist manager.

 

You can purchase Waldmania on Bandcamp, and for more Scott Waldman, check out waldmgmt.com.

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