Published: Monday - March 19, 2007
Words by Miles Bennett and Jay Casteel
Chang Weisberg (Photo: Guerilla Union)
Guerilla Union is the organizers behind one of the most well-received music festivals in today's urban culture -- Rock The Bells. And they are beginning to expand past that one festival with the launch of an indie festival called Paid Dues, put together in conjunction with underground staple Murs. But behind successful companies such as GU, there is somebody with a vision, not to mention the will to make if happen. That man is Chang Weisberg.
Started in the business in 1996 with the launch of Industry Insider magazine, the future festival organizer began forging close ties and relationships with artists and people within the entertainment community. Little did he know, those close rapports would materialize into full-blown relationships that would later become required to organize events on the scale he does today with Guerilla Union.
After publishing Industry Insider for nearly four years, Chang came to realize passion when he helped Cypress Hill lauch their recognized Smokeout Festival. Once that first event popped off, he fell head over heels for the event side of the industry and history had begun. "I really kind of kind of fell in love with the live event side of the business," admits Weisberg. "Being a publisher was awesome; that was how we met a lot of artists and built a lot of relationships, but then it led into really executing live events. When we had a chance to partner with Cypress Hill is when I really fell in love with producing experiences."
And experiences is exactly what any concertgoer can classify both Guerilla Union's Rock The Bells and Paid Dues music fests as when they attend. Upon entering one of these events -- frequented by a vast array of music lovers -- you feel as though you are a whole other world or mini city if you will, which is Weisberg's goal, in addition to being sort of an artist support mechanism for acts not being properly compensated for their work. "Take Cypress Hill, they had sold 20 million records and headlined almost every tour you can think of, yet as a band they were only taking home their guarantee," explained Chang. "So when I talked to them, I presented them with the business model, opening their eyes to 'Hey, you can make $60,000 doing a gig or make $400,000 as the promoter.'
"So, it worked out. A, because they took home more money than they would have doing a regular release party. And B, it was for their fans and it defined themselves even more so... they ended up doing 10,000 people," continued Weisberg.
After the enormous success of the Smokeout, Weisberg formed Guerilla Union and put all this energy into concert creation, which today has led to Rock The Bells, a Rock The Bells national tour and now Paid Dues. But according to Weisberg, it wasn't until the Smokeout was a wrap that he felt there was a need for a festival for hip-hop fans and the culture in general. So, following the lead of what Bigga B did with Unity in the mid-90s, he created an atmosphere and underground platform with Rock The Bells.
Today -- after beginning with individual club concerts -- Weisberg has turned his flagship festival, Rock The Bells, into a monster, boasting more than 40,000 crowd attendance anticipation for their upcoming events, as well as nearly 30,000 for tour dates around the country. That isn't including Paid Dues, which is only coming upon its second event, but is already gaining a strong following.
So where does he go from here? Well, Chang plans to focus on his popular music festivals and tours, continue to develop his business model and nurture along his growing share of the market. "I'd rather be a boutique -- Stacks rather than Tower or Undefeated rather than Macy's," said Weisberg. "But I think even though we are specialized, we'll have an impact on the masses."
Portfolio
- Former publisher for Industry Insider - Behind the creation of Cypress Hill's Smokeout Fest - Founder of Guerilla Union (specializes in the creation of music festivals, artist management, and clothing)
Future Projects
- Paid Dues and Paid Dues national tour - Rock The Bells and Rock The Bells national tour - Guerilla Union clothing line
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