Ex-Paradigm staffer launches Field Booking agency
Brendan Biesen, ex-assistant to Erik Selz and Tom Windish at Paradigm Talent Agency, has launched Field Booking, the latest independent booking agency to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Chicago-based agency will focus primarily on booking and tour management for musical acts, but will also provide promotional and image cultivation services for artists looking to expand their audiences.
Field Booking’s current roster includes Peter Oren, Half Gringa, The Slaps, Fast Preacher and Logan Farmer.
“The idea for Field Booking came from paying attention to the shifts and trends in the industry, and how it’s been adapting and reacting to the pandemic,” says Biesen.
“Field Booking came from paying attention to the shifts and trends in the industry, and how it’s been reacting to the pandemic”
“I felt that, with my time in the industry and the relationships I’ve managed to build in that time, I could forge a new path with Field and help give artists a chance at the success they deserve.
“I want to foster an inclusive environment at Field Booking that puts emphasis on the artists and their growth. I think it’s important to recognize that while I may be the agent, we are all in this together as a team to make this industry better as a whole.”
Biesen spent five years at Paradigm and its former incarnation The Windish Agency where he managed day-to-day booking duties for the rosters of Windish and Selz and helped expand the reach of the A&R department.
Field Booking follows the launch of Arrival Artists, Mint Talent Group and TBA Agency in the US, as well as Marshall Live Agency, Mother Artists, One Fiinix Live, Route One Booking and Runway Artists in the UK and Rebel Beat Agency in Spain, in 2020, amid a wider fragmentation of the global agency sector in response to the coronavirus shutdown.
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Ex-Paradigm agents launch Arrival Artists
Five former Paradigm agents have established Arrival Artists, the third new booking agency to launch in the US since the effective shutdown of the concert business in March.
Arrival sees Ali Hedrick, Erik Selz, John Bongiorno, Karl Morse and Ethan Berlin, all of whom most recently worked at Paradigm Talent Agency, join forces with agent Matt Yasecko, the former COO of Chicago-based Billions Corporation. A partnership with established London-based agency ATC Live, meanwhile, will “facilitate global representation” for shared acts.
The launch of Arrival Artists follows that of TBA Agency – also established by a group of ex-Paradigm staff – in late August and Mint Talent Group (founded by agents from Paradigm, WME, CAA and Madison House) the following month.
The wave of activity in the independent agency sector comes as the large corporate firms continue to slash staff numbers in a bid to cut costs (with Paradigm specifically known to have laid off 180 of its 600 employees globally).
Explaining the ethos of the new agency, Selz says: “We want to construct an environment that encourages collaboration, crossover and artistic risk-taking among our clients. This is not high-minded, nor a vision with tight guardrails, but rather a practical approach to a platform best suited for the creators we represent.”
Arrival’s roster includes the likes of Khruangbin, Sufjan Stevens, BadBadNotGood, Mt Joy, Andrew Bird, Nubya Garcia, Car Seat Headrest, Goose and Chicano Batman, booking from offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle.
“I am thrilled to be able to construct a new agency alongside friends, mentors and some of the best agents in the business”
“A diversity of artists yields a diversity of opportunities,” adds Yasecko. “Our goal isn’t to corner the market on one genre, it’s to be a home for unique, singular talents that we can champion.”
Non-agents joining the Arrival team are director of marketing Jenna Neer, formerly of AEG Global Touring, and agency associate Jess Bumsted, also formerly of Paradigm.
Selz says Arrival Artists and ATC live share a “similar ethos”, which led to the partnership on international bookings.
ATC Live MD Alex Bruford says: “There is a clear space in the agency ecosystem for agile, independent companies that can provide innovative worldwide solutions for artists. The relationship between ATC and Arrival has quickly blossomed through a mutual desire to put the artists first, and we are delighted to be working together.”
ATC’s roster includes Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, the Lumineers, Mac DeMarco and Julia Jacklin.
“Historically, opportunity sprouts from crisis,” says Berlin. “I am thrilled to be able to construct a new agency alongside friends, mentors and some of the best agents in the business while we navigate a new touring landscape, strategising hand in hand with our clients.”
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