May 06, 2013 8 Questions With: Hisham Dahud
During POWWOW 2013 I joined some artistically gifted friends for dinner at The Whole Ox one evening, and I soon got to chatting with Hisham Dahud. He’s a talented and knowledgeable young man with a wealth of expertise on the music industry, and studio drummer chops to boot. In Hawaii to teach drumming as part of the POW WOW Music School program, he also spoke at an interesting panel on the changing music business landscape. Two years ago, Hisham helped found Fame House with CEO Micheal Fiebach, who he’d met while interning for DJ Shadow. The company aims to take the digital portion of marketing & promotion off the hands of artists, managers, & labels. This includes direct-to-fan campaigns, digital merchandising, and building brands around musicians. They notably teamed up with BitTorrent for a highly successful partnership around promoting electronic musician Pretty Lights (and garnered 6 million downloads, earning the #1 Torrent title on Pirate Bay’s Top 100 Overall Downloads list), which you can read up on here. Hisham also contributes regularly to Hypebot. Read on to learn more about this inspired SF-based creative entrepreneur.
What are you currently working on?
I primarily wear two hats in the music industry:
Hat #1: I’m currently handling the day-to-day digital strategy, marketing and management for Richie Hawtin, Loco Dice, Kevin Saunderson and a few more up and comers. This is all done under the umbrella of Fame House, a digital marketing agency I helped start in San Francisco back in 2011. We’re a one-stop digital shop for the music / entertainment industry. Other clients include Shady Records, DJ Shadow, Pretty Lights, Amanda Palmer, Ultra Records, and many more. We have offices in San Francisco (which is where I am based), Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
Hat #2: Being a lifelong musician, music is something that I can never ever let go of. When I’m done at the office, I head straight to the studio and work on my music projects. One is a solo act incorporating self-made samples and myself on live drums, and the other is a collective called The Generation – a group of musicians from different backgrounds (both creatively and personally) coming together to form a totally new music experience. We aim to represent today’s new generation of music fans who are growing up with so much access to all kinds of music, that it’s impossible to be a fan of just one genre. Band members come from reggae, hip-hop, dubstep and rock, but we all dive in and create a genre all our own.
How would you describe your job?
I wouldn’t describe it as a “job” at all – it’s really a lifestyle at this point. I wake up every morning genuinely excited to check my email and witness all the growth and advancement both my company and music are making. Fame House is the yin and my music is the yang; each one feeds the other and keeps their respective fires lit. It’s a lot of fun, but also a lot of work… and a lot of diligence. It’s caused me to cut back on social outings and other indulgences, but nothing is more fulfilling to me (or more fun) than growth.
What does your average workday look like?
Typically, I wake up bright and early to get some exercise. I’ll either run a local trail, hit the gym or – ideally – catch a quick session at the local skatepark for an hour or so. From there, I head to my office in the Mission District of S.F. and begin the day’s grind.
A typical day consists of staying up on music / tech blogs, communicating with artists and their teams to coordinate digital marketing efforts, managing their online assets, strategy sessions, consultations, phone calls with clients, scouting new talent, Skype calls with my team in Philly and L.A., Photoshop work, etc. Once I’ve wrapped up all that needs to get done that day, I head to my studio where I meet with my band and pick up where we left off the night before.
What’s the best thing about living and working in San Francisco?
I grew up in the Bay Area. There’s not a day that goes by where I’m not utterly thankful. I can’t really pinpoint just one good thing, so here’s a quick list of standouts:
• The amount of highly intelligent people who are all on the bleeding edge of innovation is staggering. You’ll meet the most amazing people in line for a cup of coffee sometimes.
• The diversity. Love seeing so many people from all kinds of backgrounds, and S.F. is a great place for them to share their culture. S.F. is a very culturally sensitive and embracing city.
• The weather is phenomenal to me – not too hot, not too cold… just right.
• THE FOOD! Good grief, it’s insane. So much good eatin’ around me… it’s overwhelming sometimes.
• Beautiful views and landscapes all around, and not just in the city itself. It’s called the S.F. “Bay Area” for a reason. We have three primary bridges connecting that city to so many entirely different worlds like Napa, Marin County, Oakland, Silicon Valley, and more!
• Great live music scene, S.F. is definitely a “must-tour” spot for music artists.
Where do you find inspiration?
Anywhere and everywhere, but mostly I’m inspired by the people around me.
The Fame House team is an assembly of some of the most intelligent and creative people I’ve ever met. They always inspire me to do better and be better. I’m also fortunate enough to be working with some of the biggest names in music, and I learn so much from them and their teams everyday.
My band also inspires me heavily. They’re all 100% dedicated to making a living from their art, and that inspires me to go the extra mile for them. There are some nights when I’m mentally and physically drained from all the work I did in the day, but their passion and dedication make me tough it out.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grow up?
Whether I knew it or not, I wanted to be a musician and held the typical fantasy of becoming a rock star.
I first began playing the drums at 12 years old by building my own little makeshift “drum sets” out of pencil boxes, shoe boxes, pots & pans, etc. and would “practice” by just jamming out to hand-me-down CDs and tapes I got from my older siblings. I eventually got a real kit when I was 13 or so. I was in high school rock bands, symphonic bands, pep bands, indie rock bands, Arabic folklore bands… I just wanted to play the drums. I would always take whatever project I was working on very seriously with the utmost desire to get better. It wasn’t until college that I began to explore music – and the music business – as a viable career pursuit, and I’m glad I did that.
What are you reading at the moment?
I try zoning out from the music business once in a while and inject myself with knowledge of other worlds, most of which are recommended to me by my colleagues and mentors.
I’m working on a few at the moment:
• The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield
• The Evolution of Desire by David Buss
• Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
What’s your favorite post-work destination?
The studio, hands down. But if a friend is performing in town, or I just need to unwind from it all, a club / venue with a good sound system and good crowd is all I need.
