Part 2 of 2: Q & A with Koffeehouse's founder Jeremy Koff

All photography provided by Stefhan Gordon at SHGfoto.com

The Examiner took in a few shows at a couple of the monthly series put on by Koffeehouse mentioned in Part 1 of this 2 part article as well as one other location during this past April and current month of May. In April at the Yoga Shelter, two previously profiled up-and-comers, Katie Cole  and Shawn Hlookoff  performed with several others including Scott Mellis In May, at Harvelle's, there were performers like Ken Will Morton  and former American Idol participants Amy Davis  and Brock Baker  who performed either a couple songs or complete sets as either part of the open mic night or BMI artist showcase. Also in May at MyStudio HD Recording Studios on West Sunset Boulevard, fourteen performers including Selena Garcia, Juliet Roberts  , John Clinebell and Aijia Lise all performed two songs each. Finally, the Examiner returned to the Yoga Shelter one more time to listen to featured artists Freddy & Francine, Karmina, and Natalise Kalea amongst others.

During and after these performances, the Examiner posed more questions to Koffeehouse's founder Jeremy Koff. The Q & A that follows further details Koffeehouse's origins, mission, venues, events, and other projects plus relationships that are either existing or in the works.

EXAM: How and when did Koffeehouse get started?

KH: Koffeehouse got its start literally at my house, roughly 7 years ago. However, its origins can be traced even further back. Growing up as a classically trained cellist, I often gave house concerts with my father (a famous violinist) and mother, a keyboard player. These home concerts gave birth to the idea of giving high quality house concerts showcasing other musicians, and specifically the young up-and-coming singer/songwriters.

So the name, Koffeehouse, comes from where the concerts originated, the “House of Koff” or Koffeehouse. When my house started overflowing with guests (we’d reach 100 RSVPs within 24 hours), I realized that others shared my passion to listen to live music characterized by a great setting, high quality of sound, and a dedicated listening audience. Several years ago, at one of my house concerts, my now current business partner, Chris Ng, came up to me and said that was one of the most enjoyable evenings of music he’s experienced, and expressed interest in getting involved. Little did either of us realize that as a team, our combined passion would grow Koffeehouse to become one of the most respected names in live music production in Los Angeles.

EXAM: What is Koffeehouse's mission?

KH: Koffeehouse's mission is to support and foster up-and-coming singer/songwriters and new bands while becoming the most respected name in live music production. Already we’ve helped many artists find managers, land production deals, receive endorsements and sponsorships, connect with music supervisors and land TV placements, etc. We also eventually plan to leverage our relationships into other areas of music down the road.

EXAM: What are these founder's musical backgrounds? As musicians? As people in the music biz?

KH: I’m a classically trained cellist and pianist who was born into a famous family of classical musicians (my father and uncle founded the famed Juilliard String Quartet). Growing up we gave house concerts with my parents.

Chris has no formal musical training but two very gifted ears for discerning good talent. He is known to sing on rare occasions.

We have no formal music business training, although both of us are well schooled in business and business law (I have an MBA and Chris a JD). We’ve learned a lot over the years by working with 100s of artists, dealings with their managers, bookers, agents, etc. as well as producing up to 40 music shows/year.

EXAM: Who are the main organizers? Any others who help with events?

KH: While there are officially just the two of us, we have lots of support from others that we contract out and many volunteers. A few we can mention in particular: Matt Davis, Mouse Bridwell, and David Harbough. We also employ the expert PR services of Kim Koury of SpinPR. We’re always looking for volunteer interns seeking to gain experience in the music business and some part-time assistance (send resumes to info@koffeehouse.com).
 

EXAM: Is this for love or for profit or both?

KH: The focus has been for the love of music. We're confident that the profits will follow over time.

EXAM: What are the events?

KH: The events are at its core live music events featuring the top up-and-coming singer/songwriters and new bands; however, unlike most of the music events around town, we often are told our events are the best in the City due to the level of talent, quality of sound, industry and audience who attend and overall experience. We often showcase the talent in unusual settings and have produced events at amphitheatres in the woods, the Malibu Pier where we had 800 attend and a celebrity MC, rooftop restaurants, among others.

EXAM: How frequently are they held?

KH: 2-4 times per month.

EXAM: Where are they held?

KH: We hold our events at various indoor/outdoor locations. We like to focus on unusual spaces (we've held concerts in the woods, unusual outdoor spaces, galleries, etc). We also have regular series at Harvelle’s in Santa Monica where we put on showcases with BMI, Ivan Kane’s beautiful restaurant and music venue, Café Was, in Hollywood, the Yoga Shelter in Studio City, and we’re about to start a regular series with Musician’s Institute in Hollywood.

EXAM: How are performers selected for these events?

KH: We work with new artists at our smaller, more intimate showcases and through a selection process, take those who are more developed to our larger and larger events, with the televised Ford Amphitheatre show this year being the pinnacle of our showcases in 2010.

EXAM: How should performers submit for consideration to perform?

KH: Artists should send their myspace and youtube links to jeremy@koffeehouse.com and cc: chris@koffeehouse.com.

EXAM: Do you require any minimums from any of your performers at any of the venues you use?

KH: We've never used the pay-to-play method at our events nor have we ever required any minimums. We also offer up to 75% of the door to the artists at some of our events. We are beginning to tell artists we expect a certain number of fans to attend (numbers very low) but don't penalize them (i.e. making them pay) if they don't meet those numbers. Eventually we’ll need to strike a balance between helping new and undiscovered artists launch their careers and turning this into a viable business.

EXAM: Are any of the venues that you're performing at like Harvelle's or Cafe Was, for example, holding you the promoter's to any attendance requirements...or are they happy just with the associated liquor and/or food sales?

KH: All the venues have been great to work with and because we typically pack the place to capacity or near capacity, they always welcome us back. We have never had any place not welcome us back and we get frequent requests to do events at places because of our stellar reputation. We have a very strong following as you've seen, and combined with the artists fan base, we've been very lucky overall with turnout at every single one of our events the last 5 years.

Funny story how we got into Cafe Was which shows you how we’ve penetrated the LA market. Ivan Kane, the owner (has a very successful track in restaurants, venues) wanted to bring in great music into his venue. He asked musicians, colleagues, etc. who’s the best organization to help him create a music night at his restaurant. The first three completely independent individuals he asked all came up with their first choice, Koffeehouse! He then reached out to contact me and that's how it started....

Even funnier story how we ended up at the Ford Amphitheatre. A neighbor of mine, who is now one of my closet friends, kept hearing amazing live music from my backyard (I’d give notices to all my neighbors and invite them). During one of these concerts, I was featuring an artist who has received multiple Grammy nominations. My neighbor Scott heard him sing, and decided to come to the party. Since then, we have become great friends and one day he turned to me and said “you should take your backyard to the Ford Amphitheatre.” I laughed at him. Then, the next day, I called the Ford and we produced our first concert there 6 weeks later.

EXAM: Please tell us more about the Ford Theatre event?

KH: Our annual signature music charity event is held at the magical Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood, CA, this year, on August 7th. The beneficiary of this year's event is MusiCares. We will showcase 6-9 artists in a festival format all compressed into one spectacular evening. It’s always a sell-out success so best to get your tickets early.

For tickets and more information, go to: www.fordamphitheater.org/en/events/details/id/90.
Also, for those who are not already on our mailing list, if you send me your email to be included, we’ll enter you into a drawing to win 2 free VIP tickets (worth $200) or 6 regular tickets. Send to: info@koffeehouse.com by June 15. You must put in the subject line: An Evening of Independence Aug 7.

EXAM: Any performers who performed with Koffeehouse who later became well known?

KH: Many of the artists we’ve showcased are breaking out or have signed with major labels since we first started working with them. A few examples include MoZella, Trevor Hall, Tyrone Wells, Brooke White, among others.

EXAM: Who attends these events?

KH: Our events are attended by industry professionals, dedicated fans, and musicians. We have a strong Koffeehouse community and many of them attend may not know the artists but are assured of listening to great undiscovered music. The musicians also reach out to their fan base as well.

EXAM: Any connections to A & R people from independent or major labels?

Koffeehouse’s community includes many A&R folks (from both independent and major labels). We also work with BMI, the Fender Music Foundation (where I’m a Board Member), Musicians Institute, and Yamaha (we're endorsed by them).

EXAM: Any of these A &R people attend events?

KH: Always.

EXAM: What other connections do you or don't you have with the music industry? With managers? Promoters?

KH: We have strong relationships with many areas within the industry, and are always looking to strengthen those relationships further. In particular, we’re looking to strengthen our relationships further with sponsors and promoters, particularly in association with our August 7th charity event at the FORD (there’s still time to advertise!!).

EXAM: Is there a charitable aspect to these performances?

KH: We work with many charities. In the past we've raised money for MSFriends, Guitar Center Music Foundation (now the Fender Music Foundation), Toys for Tots, LA Children' Hospital, and for our annual Ford event this year, MusiCares.

EXAM: What's on the horizon?

KH: We just started booking artists for NBA games to sing the national anthem (so if you can sing the national anthem, submit your videos to chris@koffeehouse.com). We’re also considering working more closely with select artists, forming a music label, and finding our own permanent venue.

EXAM: Any new associations brewing?
KH: Always...

EXAM: Anything else you'd like to add?

KH: Musicians - reach out to us so we can work with you. Everyone: send us your email address to be included in our mailing list and we’ll enter you into a drawing to win 2 VIP (or 6 regular) tickets to the Ford Aug 7th event (Send to info@koffeehouse.com). Check us out at www.koffeehouse.com or our facebook page: www.facebook.com/Koffeehouse

EXAM: Thanks for your time and attention to these questions
KH: You're welcome.