It’s not every day that you get the chance to talk to someone who has single-handedly, with his team of course, created an awards show out of his own volition and due to the demands of the fans and the industry. But, that’s exactly what CEO of Alternative Press has done. From print media to social media, Alternative Press covers it all with expertise and excellence, and their awards show is no exception. Bringing in some of the biggest names in Alternative Rock today, Mike Shea has organized this year’s APMA show for Columbus, Ohio. We had a chance to chat with Mike Shea about the beginnings of Alternative Press, the still very new status of the APMA show, and what we can expect to see when we log in to watch the show from the comfort of our homes. Humble and sincere, Mike understands what the fans want and exactly how to give it to them. This year’s event is going to be one you won’t want to miss! Keep reading to find out more…
I certainly appreciate you taking the time to do press on your event. The nominees and the event themselves are certainly enough to drive attention to it without you getting out there in the weeds. I’ve met the CEO of a few other events, and I’ve noticed that they are simply too proud to get into the weeds of doing press. They have people that do that for them. Is this part of the culture fostered over at AP?
Not really. We are kind of a humble organization, in a way. We don’t try to brag a lot; we just do what we do the best way we can do it. That’s pretty much it. You know what I mean. As far as doing press about the event, and talking to all types of outlets regardless of size, I think it’s important. All different types of outlets help build things. I know because I started that way from scratch. I was that little press outlet that wouldn’t get the interviews with the big bands all the time. We would be on the tour press end of the campaign, and you wouldn’t get the singer, but you would get the drummer. I think it’s important. You need to talk to everybody. Plus, you learn a lot to talk to all different types of media outlets. You kind of see what everyone’s going through, and you can get a temperature of what’s going on in the media in general – business wise, technology wise, everything else. The struggles that everyone is experiencing. The struggles their writers are experiencing are the same issues we experienced 30 years ago. Some things have changed, and some things have evolved.
Absolutely. And sometimes that drawer is important. It can always be that front guy.
Sometimes you get the drummer and he will open up about what’s going on because the drummer doesn’t get the chance to talk a lot. The singers and guitarists tend to be more guarded.
Yes. And they’ve been rehearsed a lot, and they tend to say the same thing over and over again.
Yep. They did their media prep.
Yep. They are coached, and you are right. You can get a fresher perspective. Alternative Press is in its 30th year. What a journey! Few outlets can tout such a legacy. Many will become dated or just disband, but AP has stayed strong. How do you feel Alternative Press adjusts to the varying culture shifts? What keeps it relevant?
I think it’s a matter of trying to be in touch with the people that consume your product. Thankfully, because of the Internet, you can get immediate feedback on what you’re doing, through social media or comments or e-mail. I think that’s vital. You have to do that no matter what. As long as there is a market place that wants your product, you will be okay. It’s really up to you to screw it up. We try not to screw it up, and it’s a matter of listening to the readers, whether online or mobile or print. Just listening to them and seeing what they are interested in.
Perfect. The APMAs are only 3 years in the making, tell me the story about when you decided to move forward with this. I mean, the decision to launch this type of annual event is not something to be taken lightly.
Originally we thought about it at the beginning of 2013 because we didn’t have anything like this for the alt rock community. So we stalled until 2014 and organized around it. We didn’t necessarily know how big of a project it was going to turn into because we had never done it before. It is turned into a huge event and took us all by surprise by how successful it was. The second year we moved it indoors because we were afraid of rain, and we would hate to spend a lot of time and money on something that would get rained out. That would be horrible. We had to relearn some things about moving the show indoors, and it turned out even bigger! We were really like, wow, this is incredible! Then the RNC came in to town, so we couldn’t do the show in Cleveland, so we had to move it. We had some options out-of-state to move it towards, but Columbus has been a second home since we started the magazine, so it made a lot of sense to do it in Columbus. We are at the Schottenstein Center down there. We had to reconnect with the community on a deeper scale than we had been. Columbus has been very receptive to us and really helpful. It’s been a great experience.
Absolutely. And it’s just down the road! You’ve likened your even to the Oscars of this community. Explain to me the similarities in these events?
I think it’s important because in year one we told everyone it was a pop rock prom, so dress up. That was important because we didn’t want people to just wander off the Warped Tour bus in their shorts, tank top, and snapbacks, and be like, “hey dude!” We really urged all the bands to dress up. The first year, probably three fourths of them did, but by last year everybody got it. Everybody dressed up. It ends up being a big night. So, the first year we had bands panicking and stopping in Toledo right outside of town, or Pittsburgh, racing to the mall to get a suit so that they would have something. This year a lot of bands packed them before they went on the Warped Tour. It’s been really great. I think that was the first thing: we have to treat it like it’s a special event. That is step one. Step two was to mirror real big award shows as much as we possibly could. That means having presenters, and having video clips showing all the nominees, and that sort of thing, and give it that sort of special effect: having bands played with other artists. That was part two do it. Part three was really the party, and that part came from the Golden globes. The Golden globes have always been a party when you really get down to it. We felt that if we could mirror what the Grammys and the Oscars do as far as the show, not make it a festival show (that was important), and mirror the party; we are in this great mesh of award shows. There are lots and lots of bands that come in, not only because they want to see the bands, but because all of their friends are there, and it’s a big party. It’s a day when the entire alt rock community comes together. It’s great. We have the Grammys: they show up, they report, and they discover the bands that come out of our community and build them into Grammys or get them nominated. We have a lot of big media outlets coming this year. We have an exciting new way to watch the show. It will be huge. We have a lot of different things that we’re trying to do with the show, and sometimes it seems bigger than what we can handle, but we do handle it, and everybody in our community pulls together and make sure that it does come off.
There seems to be a competing Republican National convention. Do you feel that there will be more or less conflict due to this, and because of this, do you feel security will be a potential issue?
No, because we are in Columbus, and it doesn’t really bother us down there. Security is important no matter what kind of event you are doing. We are taking all the right precautions in that respect. As far as the troublemakers that might appear at the RNC, they are not affecting us.
With last year’s event, you began planning immediately after the first year event had completed. Did you do the same for this year?
Yeah, we had to. We’ve already begun working on next year. You have to get ahead of it. Bands are already setting up their tour schedules for next summer and so forth, so we try to get certain artists to show up for the show, you got to get in there early with the booking agents.
Tell me about general programming. I’m certain that with touring and schedules, it’s difficult to get all parties together in one building at the same time.
Yeah. For every ten artists that you try to get to be a part of the show, you get one or two. There is a lot of, “we can’t make it”, “we can’t be available”, “we will be on the other side of the planet”, or “in the studio locked up.” I think really the trick is to not really feel that that this is the only chance to get them. There is always going to be next year. So you are always trying to piece together. It’s a wide variety of acts, but it makes it interesting, and it will also fill out an arena. I think for us, we continually try to make it less about the lineup and more about the show and experience. That way people want to come and do it no matter what. I think that’s our goal for this show. Each year, especially starting last year, we’ve tried to invest more in the experience so that people want to come anyway. Yes, there are bands that people want to see, but they know that they’re going to be something that is a one night only, a Who’s Who of their favorite bands on the red carpet.
What was the decision process like to bring back Jack & Alex from All Time Low to host this year?
They were awesome last year. We had a really great response from bands about them. They were so easy to work with. They are really funny guys. They were nervous last year, you know? This year they feel a lot more comfortable about it. It is something we’ve spent spending some time with them on and trying to piece together a really good night for them and some really good material. Plus, the fact that they were thrown some curveballs last year (Trey Cyrus), and technical glitch at the beginning of the show that took 20 minutes to fix. They had to restart the show and redo everything. That took some pros to be able to handle that with professionalism and grace as they did. That was right out of the box that we wanted to work with them.
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Tell me about the award category development and nominee selection. How does that come about?
A lot of late night conversations between the staff, listening to fans and seeing which artists and bands fans want to see nominated. It takes about two weeks to put it all together. It gets difficult because you have six nominees per category, and then you have the albums and artists. The ones that are six nominees are difficult sometimes, especially when you get into things like singer, song, video, and stuff like that. It turns out to be very difficult. Live bands, too.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of doing what you do?
I think for us, everybody coming together and having it turn into a destination event. There are people coming in from England (booking agents), Japan, Canada, Russia, and Italy. It’s nuts! We are actually really looking forward to it. We have tripled the number of VIPs who got hotel rooms this year. It is definitely turning into a must-see event. I joke that you know it’s something that people want to be at when the entertainment lawyers say that they’re all going to come (laughs).
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Interview by Alice Roques, Cofounder and Managing Editor of RockRevolt Magazine
To watch the APMAs,go to www.amazon.com/apmas for complete viewing instructions. To watch on your TV, download the Twitch app from your TV’s app store. Open the Twitch app and search for “amazonmusic.” To watch on your mobile phone, tablet or computer, go to www.twitch.tv/amazonmusic on Monday, July 18 at 7 p.m. ET. The Twitch platform is viewable on both iPhone and Android devices. You can also watch the APMAs via the Twitch platforms on Playstation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Chromecast, Fire TV and Nvidia Shield.
“Collaborating with an influential and ground-breaking company like Amazon on the official live stream for the 2016 Alternative Press Music Awards is going to amplify our show unlike ever before,” said Mike Shea, founder and CEO of Alternative Press. “Since our first meeting, the Amazon team has shown a deep understanding of the Altpress community, so being able to work together with them, as well as our friends at Twitch, Monster and Journeys, packs a powerhouse of a punch. Now music fans worldwide will be able to view the AP Music Awards as all the excitement unfolds in real time.”
ANNOUNCING NEW APMAs INDUSTRY PANELS & CONVERSATION SERIES
The APMAs are pleased to announce the inclusion of two bonus events surrounding the main awards event, both of which are open to the public. The Musicians Institute Conversation Series Presents: Beartooth and Creative Live x APMAs Educational Conference will offer attendees an educational look inside the current state of the music industry. These events are a “must” for anyone interested in the inner-workings of music business and artist development.
The Musicians Institute Conversation Series Presents: Beartooth will take place at the Fawcett Center (2400 Olentangy River Road, Columbus, Ohio) from 5-7 p.m. on Sunday, July 17-the night before the APMAs. The event will feature Columbus natives and APMAs performers Beartooth taking part in an engaging, career encompassing Q&A about the band’s formation and what continues to drive them. The Q&A will be hosted by regular MI Conversation Series host and Alternative Press Vice President of Content Development/Senior Editor, Ryan J. Downey. The event will close with an audience Q&A and meet and greet with the band. Please visit https://BeartoothMI.eventbrite.com and enter “MIBT” to receive two tickets! Hurry, space is limited.
The morning of the APMAs (July 18), the Fawcett Center will also host the FREE CreativeLive x APMAs Educational Conference from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Launched in 2015, this conference expands in 2016 to include a day’s worth of inspired programming. Arrive to the Fawcett Center ready to engage with some of the most talented producers, mentors, publicists, managers, photographers and artists in your community. Do you want to be a pivotal part of the next generation of the music industry? Then do not miss this event ahead of the third-annual APMAs! Get tickets here with code APMACL.
NEW SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCES AND PERFORMERS!
The special guest appearances and performances just keep coming! New special guest performers include Andy Black, Neck Deep & Friends, Kellin Quinn of Sleeping With Sirens, Anthony Raneri of Bayside, Bradley Walden of Emarosa, Quinn Allman of VadaWave (formerly of the Used), Mikey Way formerly of My Chemical Romance and Electric Century, John Feldmann of Goldfinger, Christian Coma of Black Veil Brides, Jon Langston, Derek DiScanio of State Champs, Will Gould of Creeper, Jayden Seeley of With Confidence and Alex Costello of ROAM. These newly announced performers join headliners A Day To Remember and previously announced performers BABYMETAL, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, Dashboard Confessional, Good Charlotte, Yellowcard, Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind, Of Mice & Men, Papa Roach, Jenna McDougall of Tonight Alive, Machine Gun Kelly, Issues, the Maine, Mayday Parade, Beartooth, MAX, Eddy Brewerton of Moose Blood and Matty Mullins of Memphis May Fire.
Newly confirmed appearances will be made by Tyler Posey of MTV’s Teen Wolf, plus members of I See Stars, Trivium, Billy Talent, Stitched Up Heart, Waterparks,Too Close To Touch and Against The Current. Additional special guest appearances will be made by Spencer Chamberlain and Aaron Gillespie of Underøath, Pierce The Veil, Motionless In White, Jarrod Alonge, Telle Smith of the Word Alive, Bradley Walden of Emarosa, Garret Rapp of the Color Morale, Spencer Charnas of Ice Nine Kills, Brenton Dean of Holy White Hounds, Matt Brandyberry of From Ashes To New, Real Friends, 3OH!3, Killswitch Engage and Volumes. This year’s Icon Award, presented by Equal Vision Records/MerchNOW, will be awarded to platinum-selling rock legend Marilyn Manson.
This year’s APMAs, hosted by Alex Gaskarth and Jack Barakat of eight-time AP cover stars All Time Low, will broadcast live the evening of July 18 from the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio (schottensteincenter.com). The APMAs are offering a “punk-rock convention” as an alternative to the Republican National Convention taking place in the magazine’s hometown of Cleveland that night.
The star-studded red carpet will once again be hosted by infectious frontman Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die and macabre beauty Ash Costello of New Years Day.
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!
Alternative Press Music Awards tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster here. VIP experience packages are available via SoundRink-An Experience Company-and will include limited merchandise, elite access to the red carpet and prime indoor seating and VIP meet-and-greets. The VIP Pit Experience is for the loudest, most energetic fan of the APMAs. This is the best experience for the fan who wants to be so close to the action that they’re a part of it, themselves. Tickets are extremely limited! The VIP Pit Experience is located in the center of the largest stage the APMAs has ever had. The stage features a large V-thrust that makes every seat the best seat in the house.
Pick up your VIP Pit Experience tickets now via www.altpress.com/pit
Last year’s trending event earned the title of “The GRAMMYs of Alternative Music” from TIME Magazine. The 2015 Alternative Press Music Awards achieved over one million views on AXS TV and over three million views on YouTube. Re-live 2015’s best moments via the highlight reel here. The APMAs have featured performances by some of today’s biggest rock artists and bona fide legends-from Fall Out Boy, Twenty One Pilots, Panic! At The Disco and Paramore’s Hayley Williams to Weezer, Joan Jett and Guns N’ Roses co-founder Slash.
Building upon the success of last year’s event, the APMAs is thrilled to once again be supported by returning title sponsor Journeys, a leader in the teen specialty retail scene focused on lifestyle-driven branded footwear and accessories in over 800 stores across all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Canada. In addition to Journeys, the APMAs also welcomes fellow sponsors Monster Energy, CreativeLive, DW Drums, CD Baby, Disc Makers, Rise Records, Eleven Seven Music, Better Noise Records, Musicians Institute, EarthQuaker Devices, Razor & Tie, Hopeless Records, Sub City, Roadrunner Records, Fueled By Ramen, Ernie Ball, Epitaph Records, Equal Vision Records, MerchNOW, Vans, Fearless Records, Jeffree Star Cosmetics, AKT, SharpTone, Lovers Are Lunatics, Entertainment One, Another Century, Pure Noise Records, Amazon Music, Joey Sturgis Tones, The Recording Academy, Paul Reed Smith Guitars, SoundExchange and SoundRink.
Don’t miss the 2016 Alternative Press Music Awards and your chance to cast your vote for your favorite bands!
The APMAs are produced by Mike Shea, Joe Scarpelli, Josh Bernstein, Kevin Lyman and Marc Grant.
