Ep. 71: Best Of: Johnny Minardi (Elektra / Fueled By Ramen / Roadrunner)

Johnny Minardi is the VP of A&R at Elektra Music Group, Fueled By Ramen and Roadrunner Records. He came on the podcast last year and had one of the most popular episodes to date! This is a “Best Of” version of that episode filled with his craziest stories, and most inspirational quotes.

If you aren’t familiar with his work, he’s signed Tones and I, grandson, nothing, nowhere., The Band CAMINO, FEVER 333, AND works on DTA records with Travis Barker from Blink-182.

In addition, he’s become one of my closest friends, and my mentor in music. It was an honor to have him share SO much of his wisdom in this episode. If you like it, make sure to go back to Ep. 11 to hear the full version!

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

2:12 - Who you are and what you do. Early days summarization.

4:27 - Going to his first show.

5:45 - Finding club shows and buying CDs from every band he could.

6:50 - High school and becoming engulfed in the Chicago music scene

12:45 - Starting a record label (LLR Records) with Tony Marino

15:30 - Shadowing Drive Thru Records

17:02 - Putting out the first The Academy Is… album

19:10 - Fueled By Ramen taking interest in The Academy Is… and John Janick coming to see them

21:18 - John Janick offering Johnny and Tony jobs at Fueled By Ramen

23:08 - Starting at FBR doing retail

24:15 - Learning as much as he could from John Janick

26:34 - Working retail for the first week of Panic! At The Disco’s first album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out and a career defining moment

32:31 - Randomly getting laid off and starting Self Titled MGMT

38:40 - Minardi and I meeting and us working together at Equal Vision Records

42:48 - Signing nothing, nowhere to EVR with the help of Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy and DCD2

46:40 - Going back to Fueled By Ramen

50:04 - Coming back strong and signing grandson, The Band CAMINO and FEVER 333

54:04 - Becoming a huge piece of Elektra Music Group with Gregg Nadel & Mike Easterlin

55:20 - Advice to artists looking to get signed // what does a good record deal look like?

1:00:56 - Advice to someone looking to work at a record label

1:05:20 - Why have you not started your project yet?

1:07:07 - What advice do you give your past self in the spot of most uncertainty?

1:08:30 - Shake the self doubt and don’t leave things to chance

1:11:11 - Where can everyone find you?

Andrew Cramb: @andrew_ftw

Johnny Minardi: @johnnyminardi

Podcast: www.whereareallmyfriends.com

If you’re finding this podcast for the first time and you like this episode, please do subscribe! The more the podcast grows, the more cool guests like Johnny I can have on the show!