Witchgrove: Karen Koski

On your website you describe yourself as a publicist, writer and rock 'n roll cookie queen. Which is most prevalent today?

The publicist and writer parts are very intertwined, actually. I always enjoy writing the publicity pieces – the bio, the press releases, etc. The years of freelance writing very much inform what I put together for other journalists – I know what I wanted and/or needed in order to prepare for an interview. As it is, I seem to be more of an organizational type of person these days. Initiating, planning and overseeing a variety of projects. I actually miss the rock’n’roll cookie queen days; I need to get back into the local music scene again. While it’s not impossible to bake for a band who is not in town – I’ve been known to fly with brownies and cakes intended for bands in my suitcase – it does take up valuable space that could be better used for clothing… because clothes are important, you know.

You said you missed the rock 'n roll cookie queen days. What is it a rock 'n roll cookie queen does exactly?

We are band moms, essentially. Here’s a story: once upon a time there was this band called The Verve Pipe. I saw them when they first got together, and they were kind of sponsored at first by a band I was good friends with. They soon outstripped their sponsor – you knew they had ‘IT’ – whatever ‘IT’ is. They were the first band I wrote about for Billboard, and when they sent me their first press pack from RCA, I was kind of astonished to see how many things I had written about them – I really had no clue I had written so many reviews… anyway, time went on and I would see them sometimes. They did a show with Rubyhorse and Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise, and I knew someone in each band, so I baked a huge amount of cookies. All the bands had been on the road for a while, and they inhaled them… another time I hadn’t seen them (Verve Pipe) in about 2 years, and I showed up at a show unannounced. They were all seated at this table signing CDs and such, and I just kind of waved. The lead singer, who is six foot six inches tall, leans down the entire length of the table, reaches out and says, “Karen Koski! You make the best cookies…”

Those are the moments a band mom / rock 'n roll cookie queen lives for!

Did you wake up one morning and decide you wanted to be a publicist? Or was it a process that took years?

The Evolution of Karen? After giving up on music, I started taking photographs as a hobby, with the initial premise that I would only shoot things, not people; I have no idea why. That lasted about 10 rolls of film. I smuggled my camera into a concert of a band called The Del-Lords, just to see if I could do it, and met a girl there named Angie who introduced me to an editor of a local music rag as a fabulous photographer. She had at that point never seen a single photo I had taken. I have to add that, as I’m writing this, I can stop and look up at a photo from that first show I shot. People come in and think it’s Bruce Springsteen, but no – it’s Scott Kempner from The Del-Lords… whom I met years later in Austin, Texas at a panel on Lester Bangs. I’ve had a couple of epiphanies while listening to his music, so he’s been a watershed figure in my life.

After a while, I started writing because no one wanted to write about the bands I wanted to shoot. Then I met this band called Red C. They were a phenomenal, full-bore, high energy Americana band before the term was even coined. I wrote a couple of stories about them and their manager, Billy Brandt, asked me to write a bio for them. And then basically asked me to write bios for every artist he worked with. Billy has been the most supportive and encouraging individual ever; I would never have gotten to do many of the things I’ve done if it weren’t for him. I learned about independent record labels and merchandising from him; before he started his own label - Drum Dancer Records - he had done tour merchandising for, among others, U2 and .38 Special. I have learned so much from Billy; he has been extraordinarily generous in sharing his knowledge. And the fact that he has always insisted in paying me has been nice as well!

I also learned a lot about writing and editing from my editor at The Metro Times, Thom Jurek. I only wrote a couple of pieces for him, but he was – and is – an amazing editor. It’s kind of a funny story how I came to write for him: I had written my first article on Red C, and they had swept the Detroit Music Awards a month or so before. I called him wanting to know why his publication hadn’t written about them, and he agreed they should be written about and offered me the job. I had no idea anyone was actually READING what I was writing in that music rag – appropriately named Jam Rag. I never even questioned why he took my call; that’s how naïve I was at that stage of the game. I just had this idea I was writing for myself, in an odd sort of way. It was therapy as much as anything, to keep my sanity from the day job.

Writing for Billboard taught me to be succinct. Being succinct does not come naturally to me, as you can see! But when you have to turn in 300 words, you have exactly 300 words. Each one becomes enormously important. A great writing exercise. My editor there, Melinda Newman, was really nice to work with also.

I also learned a lot about publicity from working with publicists when I was writing articles; you discover what works and what doesn’t. The thing is, when you fall in love with a band, it’s hard to maintain that objectivity that a journalist needs. And when you start hanging out with the musicians you’re writing about, you have to know when you’ve crossed the line. Add to that the fact that, when I fall in love, I fall pretty completely in love. So it’s better for me that I work with the band instead of outside the band. I remember once a band that I adored broke up, and one of the members was starting a new band. He called me one day and said he had a magazine that wanted an article; he just needed to find a writer, and would I write a piece on his new band? I said I hadn’t even heard it yet, although I had been somewhat involved in the name selection process, and so I ended up attending a rehearsal and writing the piece. I didn’t get paid for it, although the band did pay for the pizza… I always felt a little funny about that piece.

Did you ever aspire a career as a musician yourself?

It was a flirtation that developed into a serious relationship – but I couldn’t commit. We had some long talks, Music and I, and decided we would always be friends… One of my many majors in college was music, but it was more because I wanted to go into a Music Merchandising program at the University of Miami (Florida). I couldn’t afford to attend, so I decided I was going to try to recreate it at a university I could afford to go to. The original program was essentially a double major in Music and Business – so you ended up with a thorough grounding in both disciplines. The Grand Plan had me going to law school after that and specializing in Copyright and Entertainment Law. I went through the audition process, etc. and was accepted, and those years as a music major were some of the most exhilarating of my life. At one point my voice teacher and I started having some serious discussions about my future in music as a performer, but as I said above, it wasn’t meant to be. It’s difficult to explain, because I’m sure everyone’s relationship to a discipline or passion is different, but I knew that music would demand everything I had – absolutely everything. It was almost as though I was being required to join a convent – did I truly have the vocation? The calling? I wasn’t prepared to make that sort of commitment. Other people may be able to balance things better, and you would think that as a Libra that would have been easy, but for me, I would have had to take The Fool’s step off the cliff. The Scorpio ascendant, maybe? Perhaps I should have done that; just let myself fall in to it… And perhaps it’s for the best, as one of the reasons I was studying voice was to try and get over my stage fright! As it was, I ended up graduating with a Philosophy major and minors in Music and History. Go figure – at least I can say I’m multi-dimensional! I have tried many times to get away from music, but I keep coming back in some form or another.

Do you play an instrument?

I have forgotten most of the piano and guitar I knew.

Does that mean you limit yourself to singing in the car or in the shower, like the way I do?

I have to limit my shower singing because of the other people in the house. I rarely listen to the radio in the car, but I have been known to blow my voice out singing along to CDs on long trips by myself… I once kept myself awake on a trip by singing the entire score of ‘Godspell’. Or as much of it as I could remember.

You started 3graces media in 1998, it's been 8 years now. What have you learned since then?

That you have to be willing to do this for love and most certainly not for money! Seriously, I started 3graces with 2 other girls as somewhat of a lark. I actually got pushed into it by this guy I worked with who was looking for a person to shoot a training session for the State of Michigan on short notice. He knew we had been tossing the idea around, and he actually told me to just go and do it – told me I had to file Assumed Name paperwork, etc. So I found him someone and we were in business! As we took on clients we had no real enthusiasm for, we learned that we had to choose our projects with passion. That’s the main thing about any job – you really have to believe in it in order to give it your best.

3graces started at what became a very stressful time in my personal life, and ended up languishing for quite a few years. But I kept the name, and continued to do certain projects using 3graces while continuing to work the day job. My original partners in 3graces went their separate ways, and when my friend Sherece Lamke was dissolving her film production company she had started with someone else and was trying to think of a name to work under, I offered her the use of the 3graces name and logo. I learned from that that you should get it all in writing.

What I envisioned for 3graces media was a sort of collective, where people were free to do their own thing while bringing projects to the collective that needed our various areas of expertise. Not everyone would work on every project, but the name was there for a sort of central place to go. So if I needed a photographer, because I’m only one person, I could call on Patti. Or if I had a writing project that was better suited to Michelle than me, I could send it to her. And vice versa. It’s hard to maintain a collective like that; over time, people drift away and move on to other things. But the beauty of it is that new people can come in also.

What would you do different if you had to start all over again?

I would have persevered through the tough personal period instead of letting 3graces fall to the wayside.

What do you consider your biggest achievement?

One of the things I am most proud of is my work with Liam O Maonlai. Initially we were going to do a little 10-day US tour with maybe 5 or 6 gigs, and it ended up being little old me booking a 3-week, 20 date tour and organizing all the logistics involved (in other words, I was the booking agent, the tour manager, the merchandising manager, the travel agent, the publicist – you name it, I did it), AND setting up a record label, AND negotiating a P&D (pressing and distribution) deal for his solo record, AND chivvying him through the process of the artwork, the liner notes, etc.; AND selecting and working with the graphic designer, AND finding the actual recording of the record (which had been recorded several years before and gotten shelved) and getting it from the producer to the manufacturer… AND I secured domain names, web space, and worked with the web designer to create Liam's two websites. I was a one stop shop for Liam, and the fact that I did this in 10 months while working a very full-time day job is something that… I don’t think I could ever do again, now that I know how difficult it can be! I think most of the reason I have gotten things done is that I just dive in and do it. I had never booked a tour before, or many of the things I ended up doing. I have to thank Liam for his trust in me; when you think about it, it’s pretty amazing he allowed me to set all those things in motion. Of course, I fully believe that if I hadn’t gotten the bit between my teeth, we’d STILL be waiting for Liam’s solo record to come out…

Mab would like to know what your advice would be someone wanting to follow in your footsteps in doing their bit to help behind the scenes with their favourite band/artist?

Sheesh… um, I would almost say DON’T!!! It’s really a young person’s business; the pay is lousy, so you have to really love what you’re doing and who you’re doing it for. I meandered my way into it as a way to a) keep Music in my life in some form, and b) have the insanity of the music business effectively counteract the insanity of life in the bureaucratic world I was living in, and still am to an extent. I achieved an odd sort of equilibrium between the two for quite a few years… You have to have good writing skills, boundless energy, a real vision of the artist and a willingness to go out on a limb. Never stop thinking about ways to make things happen, always listen to everything for a kernel of wisdom or inspiration… and still maintain a level of professional distance. Which is nearly impossible, I might add! There’s always the danger of caring more about someone’s career than they do. Never do that. When you start caring more than they do, it's time to remember that it is, after all, a job. Artists ultimately have to be responsible for their careers - and you have to be responsible for yours. You have to end the relationship as professionally and responsibly as you can - go with grace and your integrity and honor intact. This is more important than you know right now; but trust me on this one.

If you’re looking to help out a band you love, checking to see if they have a Street Team is a good start. Putting up posters and flyering cars might not seem glamorous – although it can have that element of dangerousness if you’re doing it in a place you shouldn’t! – but it certainly helps. Emailing radio stations with compatible formats to your heroes, especially if you are local to them, is more effective than you realize sometimes. They might not be able to put an artist in rotation because they are constrained by those evil creatures called radio consultants, but if enough local commentary ensues, they might try to find a way to get them on locally-produced programs or concerts. Word of mouth is also good. Talking about your band on other band’s websites – when it makes sense to do so – is also helpful. Don’t just post random “Check out my favorite band! They’re HOT!” messages; it’s rude and regarded as spam. There are so many different ways to help; just being enthusiastic when talking about the band is a great help!

Mab would like to know what your advice would be to a band or artist wishing to promote themselves?

Forget about “getting a record deal” and learn HTML! Doing it yourself is harder in some ways; you can’t just loll around and be a rock star. But it’s infinitely more satisfying, and you are in control of your work, your art and your destiny. There are more sad stories about extremely talented people who trusted the wrong people… Use your website. Work with your fans. Learn who they are, what else they like, and how that can impact getting the message out. Get them to work for you. Have cool merchandise. Make videos – or find some students to make them for you – and get them on iTunes – work the cutting edge of technology. Don’t take anything for granted – or anyone. Keeping faith with people and showing appreciation will keep the people your talent brought to you. Remember also, the world is changing – with so many competing sources of entertainment, and an upcoming generation almost trained into ADHD, you can’t count on fans’ undying and devoted attention. You have to constantly work for it.

From one photographer to another, what is your favourite subject for photography?

Lately, it’s been my niece and nephew. But by far the majority of my work has been music-oriented. Mostly live concert photography, but I’ve done some portrait work and had some photos used on album covers as well as band promo photos. I’m good, but not gifted as some photographers are. I operate out of instinct, not through technical knowledge. Some of my subjects have said that if they want slick, they go to the professionals, and when they want soul, they come to me, which to me is a compliment of the highest order. I’m not slick. I like grain and texture and feeling in a photo. I love shooting black and white film, and I loved printing my own photos. I really miss having my own dark room.

What's the Detroit music scene like? Something in the back of my head immediately screams Motown... but there must be something else, or...?

It is extremely diversified. Obviously, rap and hip-hop are huge here, think Eminem and the like, you’ve got Kid Rock, who is hugely supportive of local musicians, you have some fabulous jazz artists and gospel musicians – the Winans clean up the gospel Grammy category every time they release a record – and the garage rock scene is very very fertile. The White Stripes are from here also. You’ve also got a strong folk scene in the area, although it’s based more in Ann Arbor, and even a country scene. It’s been a while since I did some active clubbing. My favorite bar of all time, Lili’s in Hamtramck, closed shortly after Lili died, and the heart went out of the live music scene for me. I lived at her bar. I LOVED Lili, her bartender sons who made the best drinks ever – I just found a recipe that Alan gave me for a drink back in 1989! – I even loved getting up on that stage on occasion! It was my ‘local’, if you will. I live some ways out of the city, and I kind of fell out of the habit of checking out what was going on. But it’s time to resurrect the social butterfly, I’m thinking… because this is a city of ‘scenes’, and there’s not always a lot of crossover between them. I’m also back on the board of the Motor City Music Foundation, which puts on the Detroit Music Awards, and to a certain extent it’s part of my board member duties to listen to local music. I can always find a way to rationalize any decision, you see…

You work with a lot of Irish musicians, in your opinion is there a difference between working with people of your own nationality or those from Ireland?

Musicians are a separate breed unto themselves. I think it might be better to ask that question of those musicians who have worked with me! I’m sure that my energy is looked at as being pushy American at times, and there are certain times when I think it’s GOT to be a cultural difference, because nobody would reasonably think that way. But most often, it just adds to my pile of observations on musicians in general. You must remember also, that I was raised by a European-born and educated woman, so sometimes there is a real cultural empathy as well. And, to be honest, there are projects that would never have happened without my pushy American energy and competence, so it does come in handy at times.

You co-produced several film projects, which is the closest to your heart?

They all are close to my heart, to be truthful. There are a couple of other film projects on the horizon, and I’m sure I will feel the same way about them. I would like to get more involved in the direction and editing side of things, since I am finding that my vision is sometimes very different from my partners’. While I don’t have the training and background in film, I do have the journalist and editor and reader side – and those all contribute far more than you realize. If you read good stories, you know what a good story ‘looks’ like, sounds like, feels like, moves like. As a journalist and editor, you know where to go for the heart of the story and how to craft it. I spent a good few years letting other people do what they wanted because I thought I didn’t have the expertise or background to be taken seriously, and I have since realized that I was wrong, that my ideas and contributions are indeed worthy and sometimes better, because I’m coming from a different perspective. So I’m looking forward to the opportunities coming up in the next year or so. My partner in some of these upcoming projects is someone I don’t have to tiptoe around, so I’m looking forward to a true exchange of ideas.

Could you tell us something about your upcoming film projects?

They’re still in the research stage, so they might go the way of all things yet… but one is musical, one is a drama based on an historical character, and another is more of a documentary. The level of my involvement with each project will vary. With the documentary, I might just work with the promotion/marketing side of things, for example. I am not the ‘lead’ on any of them; most of my focus has always been and at this time is still on the music/music business side of things. My creativity is of a different order. As a Libra, I really feel the need to work in partnerships, and my practical side is what comes to the fore when working with artistic people, in order to provide the balance. If I met someone who was more organized and practical than I am – and there are many, trust me; this is not a natural emphasis for me – then perhaps I would be able to allow my creative and artistic side more space. But I am drawn to artists; so I have to deliver the practicalities as creatively and artistically as possible.

Would you like to produce a video clip, and if so for which artist or band?

Someday, perhaps. If something grabs me enough. I was working with this one band, and we had some great ideas for some videos, and some really unique ideas for filming them, including partnering with an elementary school as a semester project – but we never got them off the ground. I’d like to be able to blend my background working in education with the entertainment industry stuff.

What is your favourite quote (or part of song lyrics) and could you tell us why this quote is so important to you?

You know, I love literary or philosophical quotes, but I rarely use quotes from songs. For me a song is a very holistic thing. Depending on my mood, I will sing snatches of songs, but in general it’s the whole song that becomes important.

Is there someone who is a role model for you, if so, who?

There is no single role model, I think. I am a combination of all the people who have shared information with me, who have taught me.

Besides music, what do you consider your passion?

My personal passions? Books and reading. I enjoy cooking on a semi-gourmet level - not full-bore haute cuisine, but good food from good fresh ingredients and little kicks of flavor. I have things that I definitely enjoy doing, and many things that are passionately done – no point in doing them otherwise. I have outbursts of gardening and interior decorating, and horses have been a passion since childhood.

Seeking is a passion.

Two more questions from Mab:

You've been everywhere, what is your favourite travel anecdote, be it as a holiday-maker or on a tour somewhere?

I have sooooooo not “been everywhere”! What gave you that idea? *I* don’t have a musician boyfriend who makes his band pay for my travel expenses… New Year’s Eve in New Orleans was a good time, or the time I walked down Broadway in NYC with an inflatable cow under my arm (it said “I *heart* Wisconsin” on it, and was destined as a gift to a keyboard player from Texas who was based out of Milwaukee at the time and loathed every minute of it. The last I saw of the cow, a security guard was waltzing with it backstage…) while my friends stayed far away in order to hail a taxi, or the time I was in Boston with Rubyhorse (RIP, Rubyhorse, and Dave you’d better call me!) and the taxi driver nearly flipped the car at 3 am, or the perfect rock’n’roll moment I had with Steve Wynn in Austin, Texas when he knelt in front of me playing a guitar solo while I stuck a flower on his guitar (I think I put one between his teeth, too, but that might be an embellishment of my imagination)… I had to pull out my mobile phone today, and I told the people I was with not to laugh at it, because it *is* an antique – I got it in 2001, and refuse to get another one, because I can go anywhere in the world with it, except South Dakota. Or my kitchen. I said, “Look, I’ve been in the middle of Ireland flying kites and called my Dad telling him I’m not coming home when I was supposed to (because I was ‘too sick’)…” There are many, many little stories, music-oriented and otherwise, all depending on the conversation – and some stories that will always be in my heart and nowhere else.

If you want places I want to go back to, I want to experience the peace of Bear Butte and Clonmacnois once again. I want to sit in the sand on Sleeping Bear Dunes and look out over Lake Michigan again. I want to go back to the rose garden in the middle of Lake Constanz – I can’t remember if it’s Mainz or Mainau… I want to spend some time alone on the beach at Carnsore Point. Actually, I want to spend a good amount of time exploring Ireland on my own… the list keeps getting longer! And there are many, many, MANY places I want to get to for the first time as well…

You've been with Witchgrove a very long time. What are we doing right? LOL

That’s right – you haven’t kicked me out yet! Seriously, you keep it safe here, and I can’t emphasize how important that is for me. I *know* some of the things you do behind the scenes to keep it safe for all of us, and I have so much to be personally thankful for in that regard. You work so hard to make it a community, not a small little clique or cabal, and you welcome seekers of all shapes, sizes, paths and levels. You’re doing a lot of other things right as well; but those to me are the most evident and most important!

Intrigued? Want to know more about 'our' Karen? Visit her website: 3graces Media.
Photograph copyright © Patti Monaghen.