Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Kurtz.
Brian, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1981, lived in New Jersey until 1987 and grew up in South Florida, listening to Pop music/Top 40 radio and playing Baseball (and later Hockey). I used to run around the house throwing an invisible baseball — which is still a fond family topic to this day. Some musical heroes as a kid: The Pointer Sisters, The Cars, Elton John, Phil Collins and Blondie. My parents moved my brother and I from Miami Lakes to Coral Springs after Hurricane Andrew and I became friends with a few guys in Middle School and High School (J.P. Taravella) that started a band, The Pawn Rook Four in 1996 (who eventually appeared in Rolling Stone and was courted by a few Major Labels before their demise in 2004.)
I started out carrying equipment, making flyers, sending out postcards with tour dates, doing a website (which was the wild west at the time) and booking shows in-and-out of town. These were all grassroots and self-learned experiences that definitely shaped the way I work now. I still do a lot of those same things, but in different formats and capacities as a Manager.
The Coral Springs scene was actually pretty varied at the time — it spawned the legendary Chaos Concert Series where I saw a lot of Punk, Goth and Heavy Bands (The Spooky Kids, The Shakers, Against All Authority) and more Alt-Rock and Rock and Roll bands — For Squirrels (the legendary Gainesville, FL signed to Sony/550 that was cut-short too soon due to a van accident,) Noah’s Red Tattoo and Apostrophe S. Shortly after, I became a part of the Coral Springs Concert Committee that brought the re-named Chaos series (now called The Outhaus) and started booking those shows at The Coral Springs City Center and later Coral Springs High School — bringing in local and regional favorites (Last Minute, New Found Glory, bloom., Five Eight, Inner City Kids, Sanguine, The Pawn Rook Four,etc.)
I went to USF in Tampa for a few years, started working with a few bands in Gainesville and Orlando (Subrosa, My Hotel Year, Swayze) at the time besides The Pawn Rook Four who had moved up there in 1998. I moved back to South Florida in 2003 and have been based here since — and back in Miami since 2009. I started Limited Fanfare as a Record Label in 2011 to fill a need in the South Florida scene to put out albums by the bands who needed more exposure. Lil Daggers – s/t record was the first I put out… I wound up managing them and eventually their transition, becoming Heavy Drag (whose LP, Sabana Ghost, was released in 2016 on Limited Fanfare — and was called “Album of the year in 2016/17 in the Miami New Times).
I’ve put out records from friends I’ve met over the years: The Sh-Booms, Astronautalis & RickoLus, Ex Norwegian, Sound Sleeper (ex-Sunday Driver and MonstrO), Stallone (ex-Torche), Hurricane Party, Deaf Poets, The Ettes, Zebra Tracks (from Athens, Greece), PAPER (Mike Marsh, formerly of Dashboard Confessional and currently the drummer of the Avett Brothers). There are few “proper”, active independent labels that work in the vein that I do (Other Electricities and BUFU, to name a few). As the scene makes a formative comeback — every person, band/artist that releases Music (especially on a physical format) enriches the music scene, which trickles down to brick and mortar record stores (Radioactive, Sweat, Technique, etc.) that are meeting places and discovery hubs for music lovers.
Currently, I Manage and work with: The Sh-Booms (the Garage-Soul ensemble from Orlando,) Palomino Blond (the Miami-based sometimes Dark and sometimes Beautiful guitar-based quartet,) The Darling Fire (Atmospheric Alt-Rock featuring ex-members of Further Seems Forever, Dashboard Confessional, As Friends Rust, Strongarm) and Sound Sleeper (Alex Martinez, formerly of Doghouse Records’ Sunday Driver Blues-y Rock Project).
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The Music Industry and a smooth road almost NEVER go hand-in-hand. The South Florida music scene is a tight-knit community — people outside of it don’t generally know much or if there’s even a scene. That’s always been a challenge. It’s generally tough for casual fans that may know Torche or Jacuzzi Boys — to get to know other locals that are making waves — Palomino Blond, Las Nubes, Jaialai, Bed Scene, The Polar Boys.
The modern industry is bogged down with every band and artist being available on every Digital Service Provider — it’s hard to get ears on music, especially smaller artists. That’s the main challenge in the digital realm. It’s almost gone back to the — put out an album and tour your ass off mentality of independent bands in the 80s and 90s. Make fans show-by-show, sell them a record and try to retain your fans and keep in touch with them with socials, e-mail lists and word of mouth.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Limited Fanfare story. Tell us more about your work.
Limited Fanfare is an Artist Management Company and Record Label. We are known for putting out Rock and roll records of all varieties on Vinyl, CD, Cassette and Digitally. We also do Vinyl and CD Manufacturing with US-based companies for your project, as well as Graphic Design. What’s different about Limited Fanfare is that I’ve learned the business from the ground up and are still involved in every detail of each project. I’d like to think we release some of the finest records in the land.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I’ve yet to experience “luck” in this business. It’s knowledge, hard work, fortitude and a go-getter mentality that really matters in the end. I’m still waiting for a lucky break/album/artist — but certainly, you can’t expect that’ll happen. Hunter S. Thompson famously said, “The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.limitedfanfare.com
- Email: brian@limitedfanfare.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/limitedfanfare
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/limitedfanfare
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/limitedfanfare
- Other: https://limitedfanfare.bandcamp.com
Image Credit:
Brian Kurtz – Main Horizontal Image Credit: FUJIFILMGIRL
Photo Credits are attached to the band pictures.
All other credits: Limited Fanfare
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