According to The Daily Swarm, Drag City, the respected record label/your secret crush that you totally want to kiss on the ear, is starting a new booking agency. The Strange Victory Touring Company, presumably named after the Silver Jews song “Strange Victory, Strange Defeat” because all the Flying Saucer Attack song titles were taken, consists of three different agents, all with distinct music industry backgrounds. Let’s meet ‘em now:
• Derek Becker is the kind of guy who loves booking bands, even during those times when he was 14 and starting his own agency, Satellite Booking. In his recent, not-14-years-old days, he’s been working as an agent for The Windish Agency. He loves dinosaurs, Dracula, and circuit boards.
• Nicole Yalaz is no stranger to Drag City — she’s been working there for five years! As a publicist, no less! When not publicisting, she also served as a part-time manager and booking agent for Drag City bands. You could say Drag City is in her blood, because they make all their potential employees take a blood oath on the first interview. She loves mushroom pizza, helicopters, and the Seattle Supersonics when Detlef Schrempf was playing for them.
• John Bohannon is a man who needs no introduction, unless you don’t know who he is. A true creature of the road, he’s been a touring musician since 2005. To properly recover from these trips, he built an Electric Temple in 2009, where he can draw power from the cosmos and also put out records and promote artists. He loves #2 pencils, go-karts, and chocolate truffles.
They’re a great bunch, aren’t they? Through Strange Victory Touring, they’re hoping to build sustainable and eco-tolerant careers for the artists they book (such as Amen Dunes, Barn Owl, Blues Control, Gary War, Magik Markers, Psychedelic Horseshit, R. Stevie Moore, Sic Alps, Wet Hair, and Wooden Wand). Only one thing, though: they want their artists to be “authentic, innovative, meaningful and unlame.” Translation: lame-o’s need not apply.
• Strange Victory Touring Company: http://www.strangevictorytouring.com
• Drag City: http://www.dragcity.com