I Bificus by Bif Naked

Author:Bif Naked
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Published: 2016-03-11T05:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-FOUR

Managers

I HAVE HAD THE SAME MANAGER FOR MORE THAN twenty years.

Peter Karroll toured Canada for many years with his brothers in what he called the country’s first indie band. After the band split up, Peter managed Roadrunner Records artists, like metal icons Annihilator, which in the early days was Roadrunner’s top-selling band.

When I met Peter, Annihilator had been touring, headlining large shows and festivals in Japan, Europe, and the United States. Peter came to see Chrome Dog perform, befriending us after the show and telling us stories about life in the music business. He kept us mesmerized with funny stories about his touring years before—stories about crazy shows and bar fights—and about a childhood filled with adventure, including burning down or blowing up more than a few barns after playing with matches or lighting stolen cigarettes. And life had been like that for him ever since, a big bonfire. I already knew the stories about him and his bandmates jumping off the stage to fight, basically being the bouncers at their own shows, in some of the roughest bars in Canada.

Peter had been in show business for twenty years by the time my band met him, and we had all heard of him: he had a notorious reputation as a manager. He was fierce with promoters who tried to screw his bands for money, and on one occasion collected for an entire German tour, including for bands not managed by him, when the promoter tried to leave the last show of the tour without paying. Peter stepped inside the promoter’s office, locked the door behind him, and collected the money. All of the bands were paid, and were thankful that Peter was the type of manager who never lets his bands down. Notoriety and a reputation as being someone who gets things done go a long way in the music business. It’s kind of like being in the mafia or a crime family; some managers are like consiglieres, others, like hit men. I’ve met both types over the years, and Peter is definitely in the second category. He fights for his bands and never gives up until they get every opportunity they deserve.

Even Jonny and Marsha Zazula, who later became Peter’s co-managers, and who co-managed me for many years with Peter, had reputations. I mean, everyone knew them; they were in the heavy metal history book. The Zazulas were managers of Metallica and Anthrax, among other famous bands, at the start of the thrash metal movement. They owned the legendary Megaforce Records and released a lot of great metal albums. Peter and Jonny and Marsha believed in me. They were kind, and I was honoured that they wanted to work with me. I always felt so lucky being with them, and felt protected by them.

Good managers are like commanding generals who know how to take control. I have no basis of comparison and know little about managing other than what I know of Peter’s style of complete everythingness, which, over the years, moved beyond just our artist-manager relationship.

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