The Mavericks have always been outliers. Their music-- an intoxicating blend of rock, country, Latin rhythm, jazz and soul--has never neatly fit into any category, so it comes as no surprise that the Grammy-winning group is now doing it their own way not only with their music but by setting up their own label and management company.
“It’s more fun than it’s ever been,” declares lead singer-main songwriter Raul Malo. Last year, the band released a live album on its own Mundo Mono label. On the band’s appropriately titled new set, Brand New Day—their first studio album on the imprint—they romp through Phil Spector-ish Wall of Sound production on the title track and top-down tales of glory on the largely autobiographical “Ride With Me,” while the break hearts with “I Wish You Well,” a song written about Malo’s father’s imminent death that the band unknowingly recorded as his father died.
Freedom from recording for a major label—the band had previously been signed to MCA and then, most recently, Big Machine Label Group’s Valory imprint— meant setting its own timetable. They leisurely recorded the album over a two-year period in Los Angeles, San Antonio, Texas, and Nashville between touring and whenever Malo, who produced with Niko Bolas, had a new batch of songs ready.
It also meant footing the studio bill themselves, but for the first time, they will own their master recording, instead of it belonging to the label. “Our business concerns now go hand-in-hand with our artist concerns,” Malo says. “They are two in the same, whereas before, whenever you have another entity, there’s another agenda. When someone else owns your masters, you’re at the mercy of whatever business they need to take care of.”
The Mavericks joined with RED-distributed 30 Tigers, home to such artists as Jason Isbell, to handle marketing and sales. Whereas the band used to get roughly 20% of the revenue from its album sales and the label 80% when it was signed to a major label, those numbers are now reversed with the band getting 80% of the album sales, says drummer Paul Deakin. Plus, he adds, “the record advance was the same, if not more, than a major label.”
Deakin has assumed the lion’s share of the management duties for the band after the quartet decided that no one could look after their business as well as they could. Malo says the band was “hemorrhaging money. You work and you work and you work and it’s like, ‘Who are you working for? Everyone else is getting paid before we see any money.' We decided to wrestle back control.”
The first step the band, which also includes guitarist Eddie Perez and keyboardist Jerry Dale McFadden, took was to switch business managers. Their new financial team worked on a flat fee instead of a percentage like most business managers do, and helped the band get a very clear look at its financial picture. Understanding why they were making certain decisions has helped all four band members feel like they have more control. For example, Deakin, who ran a carpentry company when the band took a hiatus from 1999-2012 and has a music business degree, can explain why the band may need to play a gig at a casino, “even though it’s going to suck, but it's because it's going to get us where we need to be. We’re seeing it work and it’s given us a new invigoration,” he says. “By making more money, we were able to reinvest and start the record label.” The band employs three staffers in its Nashville office and a 15-person road crew.
Deakin has several tips for any acts ready to take a bigger hand in their career and many of them apply to any discipline, not just music:
Have a good accountant
“The basis for being able to manage yourselves is knowing what you can and can’t do and when you can do it,” he says. ‘“It’s numbers. ‘Can we lease a bus? Can we bring a lighting director out on the road?’”
Be prepared to work
Deakin estimates he spends 30 hours a week on the band outside of the time spent on stage. Each member of the band has an area of expertise and they make sure to have business meetings every other week when they are off the road, and much more frequently when they are touring since they are together on the bus.
Be willing to hear the truth
Part of the job of an artist manager is to shield the artist from damaging news that could stop the creative flow or effect the artist’s self-confidence. But Deakin says the band revels in getting detailed radio reports about what stations think of their music—positive or negative. “We get to see everything that’s being done, whereas a lot of time, artists are being left in the dark. We said we can handle the bad news if someone doesn’t like the song.”
Make the most of the freedom
Though the Mavericks were generally left alone to create their own sound even while on a major label, now they can do projects on their time frame based solely on their desire. For example, they've decided to do a Spanish record and after the initial conversation, they have blocked off two weekends to record it. There was no further discussion about whether the marketplace would support it or what the timing has to be to fit in with other artists on a major label roster. “You don’t have to ask anyone else,” Deakin says.
Know when the time is right
Deakin stresses that the band could not have managed itself when it was starting out. “[We] needed someone with connections and a shared vision,” he says. By the time the band decided to make this move, its brand was already established and it had a touring base—they play around 120 shows a year and Deakin says receipts have increased 20-25% each year since 2012— that provided a nest egg to get the management company and label off the ground. Plus, they had run through enough managers that they had learned what not to do.
Figure out who you can trust and then let them do their jobs
“Know when to trust the specialists,” Deakin says, citing an example that the band had initially paid independent radio promoters for a 10-week campaign, but trusted 30 Tigers and other voices who told them to keep going.
And, finally, have a good lawyer
“Make sure you run things by the legal team,” Deakin stresses.
