Musician Bryan Mahanes On Wedding Contracts, Fine Print, And Renewing Your Creativity As An Artist Through COVID-19
Bryan Mahanes is a part of Other Brother Entertainment. He is an entertainer, a musician, an artist, and an all-intents and purposes absolute creative.
Making people dance and enjoy themselves at his events are second nature to him as an artist. His passion for mixing and DJ’ing live is unparalleled as well as his energetic, infectious personality and excitement for his craft.
We had the privilege of filming him for this year’s Lip Sync For Lungs 5th Annual Live Battle and let me tell you, Bryan is an absolute rock star!
It was so fun to chat with Bryan about what he sees from his neck of the woods on the sound and technical production and DJ side of weddings and events, and how he’s made it through this pandemic era as a creative and an entrepreneur.
Shelby Ring:
So Bryan, how did you make it through 2020? What did you learn in 2020?
Bryan Mahanes:
Wow. 2020 was such an awesome year in so many ways. It was really depressing at first, for sure. I feel like everybody went through this shock wave of like, "Oh my God, what am I going to do?" I had an office building at that time, so I was paying rent, and I had all these expenses. And so that was a very scary moment. So my team and I sat down immediately and tried to come up with our game plan. And the thing that I've really learned about how we do business at my company, Other Brother Entertainment, is that our contract is really crucial to deal with these moments of life that are unexpected. So, as an agency, we wanted to take care of our clients and our artists. And so that was a real challenge. Because who comes first? They both come first.
And so it became this real delicate dance of trying to figure out how to help people who were dealing with the reality that their event wasn't going to happen, but also protect artists that are relying on this income.
And so as an artist, I related to both sides 100%, but I definitely felt like it was my duty to make sure that I protected my artists because, at the end of the day, that's what we're trying to be as an agency representing talent. And so we had to come through the contract and really look at what our policies were. And so what I've taken from 2020 is that we can be as firm as we want in our contract to protect the artist's ability to survive. So we feel really proud about that, but on the client end, be really willing to talk through those scenarios with them so that they are educated.
Some clients have a lawyer in their family, or they're a lawyer. And so they already know how to tear your contract up. So props to them, but so many people, 80% of people, don't understand legal language. You don't really go through it for the fine-tooth comb, but so just really being willing to have that conversation with the client and say, "Look, if you want to hire us, you have to understand your deposit, it's a retainer, it's not a deposit. It's non-refundable." You're getting into something that you can't back up. So making sure that the client understands that. And then being flexible on the back-end.
I've taken from 2020 for sure that artists are really willing to work with people who are willing to hire them.
And I really love that because, of course, we want to serve the client as an agency. So if an artist is understanding and like, "Hey, let's just find a new date. Let's move this down the road, or that's been really exciting." Because in Charleston, other crazy events stopped events like hurricanes and floods and... So that was a huge learning lesson. The other thing that I took from 2020 is that it really made me take a hard look at my monthly expenses.
And so by having time on my hands to really freak out about how am I going to survive, it made me look at that, and that was really helpful. It's like, "Okay, we're surviving, but we're not really making any money." We're surviving, and we're happy, but we're not really profitable as a company, but we do a ton of business. So that was a massive win for me to really take a hard look in the mirror-like, "Are you spending all of your money wisely?" So that was a good thing.
So now we don't have an office, so that's a huge cut that all of a sudden you go, "Wait a minute, is this a good thing not to have an office?" And I've found that in this industry, it doesn't matter. It's great to have a space to invite people and have a sign on the street. It's awesome. But we can survive without that. So in a way, that was also a big takeaway like, "We can do this from home; this business can be done from home." So, knowing that because I could always get another office if I wanted to, but I could ultimately just run our business from everyone's home.
I'm surprised I have so much to say about 2020, but the other thing that I took away from 2020 is that, as I told you earlier,
“ I’m the kind of person that I realized a long time ago that I can never say no to an opportunity because one opportunity leads to another opportunity. ”
So, I have been saying yes to gigs for 20 years. I have never said no. And so what that meant was that I was always there being seen by people so that I could grow my brand and my business, but it also meant that I missed out on a lot of family time, and 10 years ago, my best friend got married, and I couldn't be at his wedding. And so I missed out on some of the things.
So 2020 provided this incredible escape from my reality that while it was terrifying and scary, and I couldn't really fly to Europe or go to New Zealand or the places that I want to go, I was able to get on a boat that a friend loaned me and just ride around the rivers of Charleston all summer and all fall. And that was life-changing just to have time to wake up and... It's weird knowing the pandemic will end at some point, and then I'm going to have to get back to work, provided this ample giant space, like being in a huge field with the starry sky above, and I can go in any direction.
“The silver lining of this COVID-19 era as an event artist is it created this really great, healthy, mental space where I could tap back into who I am as an artist and a person, develop my relationship with my girlfriend, and that was amazing. So I’m on fire right now because I’ve been spending time with myself. ”
I give so much of myself to other people and my clients; I give them everything I have. So after a weekend of weddings, I am literally on mud. I am dirt. I'm done. There is nothing left because I put it all out, so right now, I just feel energized. I feel like a fully recharged battery. And so, yeah.
Shelby Ring:
I love that. That's a crucial killer takeaway of 2020. That's so good. Okay. As far as moving into your 2021 season and even 2022, let’s talk trends.
Have you noticed anything new or different in the client interaction, the expectation, new things people are asking for? What do you see?
Bryan Mahanes:
That's a good question because I'm not seeing a ton of changes. I am seeing a few smaller events, but everyone's ceremony is... Wedding ceremonies are going just generally as planned, cocktail hours. I mean, I've been telling clients on the phone like, "Hey, from what I'm seeing, everything is just moving on just fine." Certainly, the mask thing just depends on how people feel about that, the couples specifically, how they feel about that.
So really, from a wedding perspective, I hate to say this, I haven't really seen much change, so I don't have much to offer there. The one thing that I have seen, I also own half of a production company.
Shelby Ring:
What about with the sizes of weddings.. Are you noticing more micro weddings or whatever, the smaller guest count? Does that affect the energy from a DJ perspective?
Bryan Mahanes:
Right. Okay, good question. That one I can answer for sure. So here's what I've seen with that. I've seen that people who plan their events with 100 or 200 people have experienced a reduction in their guests count.
“So I’ve performed for weddings that intended to have 125 and ended up 35. But me being a lover of life, and energy, and music that doesn’t scare me, it doesn’t freak me out, it doesn’t make me less excited. And I tell my clients, I’m like, ‘Look, every, small intimate wedding I’ve had the couple have the time of their life, people are there to celebrate, and I’m going to bring that energy and vibe.’”
So, I feel like I want people to know that even an intimate event can be so fun and so memorable, and I've seen that happen. But on the flip side of that, the new perspective, people that are talking to me, I'm like, "How many people?"
I'm expecting them to say 30, 20, 50; they're saying 120 people.
So I am not noticing that people are doing smaller events. I'm noticing that people are planning normal-sized weddings in Charleston and might experience the reality that everyone can't make it because of challenges. But I don't feel like they're changing... I'm surprised by that.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah. That's pretty cool. I think I was looking for the same thing. Like, "Oh, everybody's going to go small." But I feel like the new, fresh batch of people that are planning, they're like, "No, we're going to have 200 people there. We're over this."
Bryan Mahanes:
Yeah. They have high hopes.
Shelby Ring:
What are you bringing into 2021 that you didn't have coming into 2020?
Bryan Mahanes:
Well, I think I already answered that because it's really my excitement for what I do and this passion for really crushing it this year. And I want to break new ground in a lot of ways. So I think it's just my curiosity about what I can do. I just feel very open-minded to be creative in situations. I just had a client that said, "Hey, do you perform as a DJ with live musicians?" And I'm like, "Yeah, I can do that." And so I'm doing this one wedding where I'm playing with a live drummer and a saxophone player. So I'm just excited to see what I can create. I'm also a songwriter, as I told you earlier. And so when I wrote my album a long time ago, I didn't write another album.
So this year, I'm going to be releasing some new singles, and I'm going to collaborate with artists. So I would just say I'm just excited to work with the people in my industry and people in the music industry and just be as super creative and produce as much material as I can. And just put it all out there. Let's see what else; I think also I have a deeper appreciation of what my clients are going through. And so I think I'm bringing like... When I talk to people on the phone, they really feel they have someone who cares about them.
I've always cared about my clients, but I just feel like I have a kind of calm and confidence going into this year that I've really matured as a business owner and learned so much. And so I'm bringing all of that to the table this year. And I bought some Cold Spark Machines. And if you don't know what those are, those are super cool. They're these little machines that shoot sparks into the air, but they're really safe and fun. And so I'm bringing that to the table too.
That’s it for this interview! A huge thank you to Bryan for sharing such awesome perspective about what’s going on inside our wedding industry here in Charleston, and what’s kept his creative fire lit internally, too, through these times! I knew that’s such a huge part of what keeps us going as creatives and artists. You can check out Bryan’s awesome work here at Other Brother Entertainment.
