Photo credit: Camilo Rayo (@roodboy_jeweliani)
““We’ve been really pursuing building a regional following, and the Writers ‘Rounds have been a really strong way to start to be known in those areas without having to invest in a full show.””
There’s something happening in Southern California because of the interconnected Writers ‘Round circuit, and Los Angeles-based rock n roller Harry Katz is taking advantage to break his band the Pistachios into new territory.
Since he began playing at Writers ‘Round: Fullerton — one of three chapters in Orange County, all hosted by singer-songwriter Greg Artavia — he has attracted a growing fanbase and opportunities to play full-band shows at Fullerton club the Night Owl.
“I think maybe even 40 people came to the last one,” he says. “It’s really developed into a real audience.”
This week, Harry is embarking on a mini-tour of the SoCal Writers ‘Round circuit — playing in at WR: Fullerton Monday, WR: OC on Tuesday and WR:LA on Wednesday — before he plays club shows in each region next week, strategically leveraging the network we’ve built over the last few years to grow his fanbase.
“We talk a lot about the business and all of that, but the business is in support of the art and the craft,” he says. “I think that's at the center of what Writers ‘Round is, and what's inspiring is seeing just all these great people play, you get so humbled by it.”
Harry is also one of the first artists I booked at WR:LA back in 2019 when this community was founded, so I wanted to chat with him about how he’s been using it to his advantage, as well as how he’s grown as an artist since getting involved, his experience working with a manager, and how he’s noticed the L.A. music scene shift in recent years.
Read on for the Q&A below, then follow Harry on Instagram and TikTok and stream his latest single “Rock Bottom” and so much more music on Spotify or wherever else you listen.
GREG: What are some of the benefits that have arisen out of participating and being involved in the Writers ‘Round Community?
HARRY: The first one is just all the relationships. There's so many friends that I've made from doing that; the shows and the musicians and so much on that side has come out.
And then we've been really pursuing building a regional following, and the Writers ‘Rounds in the [Orange County] region have been a really strong way to be start to be known in those areas without having to invest in a full show. So, it's a way that I can kind of get to know a ton of musicians.
And then we've played shows with the other Greg, who has basically helped us, because he runs so many of the Writers ‘Round chapters [in Orange County]. He’s really helped us kind of carve out a space for ourselves, and we've been playing at the Night Owl for the nights that he puts together. And that's kind of what's grown out of doing the Writers ‘Rounds.
So we went from just me going down to play Writers ‘Round: Fullerton to this, which is the third time where we're bringing the band down to the Night Owl to do an actual full gig, and we have a nice little following down there as a result.
And it’s cool to see you’re doing a little tour of SoCal Writers ‘Round chapters this week. It’s exciting to see more artists taking advantage of this network and the interconnection that’s arising from it.
The other really exciting thing about the tour is that my friend Hollis is coming out from the East Coast. We just did the tour with him on the East Coast, and he's coming out, and instead of just booking club dates, I've booked the three Writers ‘Rounds to support the club dates, because it's such a great way to get to know people.
At the L.A. Writers ‘Round, for example, I requested that we're not in the same round, because I think the best connections you make at those is the people that you perform with, because that's such a unique and bonding experience to be up on stage with another artist. Outside of your own band, it's rare that you're on stage with other artists like that, and so I wanted him to experience like building those really grassroots connections by playing with as many people.
I think it's gonna be a great introduction of his music to those communities, and then a few days later, kind of circle back into those same places to do actual club dates. And I think we'll see people from those Writers ‘Rounds get interested in the solo stuff and actually show up to the shows.
Yeah, I think so too. That's a great strategy. That's a brilliant use of the WR circuit that is kind of developing in Southern California and beyond.
It's kind of become a way to meet a lot of bands in the surrounding areas. What I’ve seen when I go play those [in Orange County], it’s a lot of local artists who grew up there, and they’re like, ‘How do I get into L.A.? How do I break into L.A.?’
And by building the relationships at their local Writers ‘Round, that can funnel back into being able to play in L.A. and actually have some connections up there. We're kind of using it to get into the region [of Orange County], but a lot of the artists that we meet are people from the region trying to get into Los Angeles.
What I think is really cool about what you're doing is using your buddy from the East Coast, where you went a tour with him there, and now he's coming out here to tour with you on the West Coast. And that's such a perfect demonstration of what I've been saying from the very beginning of WR:LA — you got all the tools in the palm of your hand in your phone, but what you need is human connection and to be strategically trading shows and cross pollinating your audiences.
The one thing I feel like we were missing on the East Coast run was some of these support shows. Like, if we had, kind of had been able to do several Writers ‘Round-style shows in New York, I think the attendance on some of those New York gigs would have gone up, just by being able to be out there playing in the same market without spreading yourself too thin, right?
Like, if you do two full-band gigs in Brooklyn in a week, it might hurt attendance. But if you do a Writers ‘Round a couple days before and then a full band gig, it actually is perfect.
You're one of the Writers ‘Round: L.A. OGs. How have you seen the L.A. music scene evolve and change since Writers ‘Round came about?
Somebody said it to me the other day: the middle has been carved out. So many small mid-level clubs are gone. Post-pandemic, the drinking culture has totally shifted, where I think that the ethos of a lot of musicians is no longer ‘Let's get people to buy as many drinks as possible.’ It's like a different mentality.
We've seen a lot of the big songwriter nights and a lot of stuff come to an end. And so I think Writers ‘Round kind of grew to fill a huge need. I think it's grown just to fill a really big need in the community.
And then you've seen some of the people who are playing out of there doing their own showcases. There's also a level of talking about curators. I feel like Writers ‘Round kind of brought in this culture of recognizing good promoters and supporting them.
We all know that there was bad promoters, and there still are bad promoters, but I feel like Writers ‘Round kind of cultivated not just a handful of musicians, but also, like a handful of curators that created and helped foster a culture of people coming together.
I see a lot of artists who who have come through Writers ‘Round start their own thing and take the DIY ethos and start their own night, cut out the middleman and work with a venue, or turn their backyard into a venue. It creates more opportunities for other artists.
Shout out to Greg Artavia. I mean, that guy is a workhorse. He runs at least three Writers ‘Rounds and is booking other shows. He's come out of pocket to support us before. He's like, a huge, huge advocate of us in the Writers ‘Rounds. He's always got plans for what's next, and he's always kind of pushing the envelope. It's really nice to see a guy like that being so supported.
I've played Writers ‘Round: Fullerton twice, and noticed the appreciation for him and for the concept that is Writers ‘Round. And the connection that I've seen just going down there, I see this huddle of artists that only know each other through that and then it's growing out the club shows. It really is a cool kind of feedback system that has developed, larger than I've ever imagined.
Imagine the amount of friendships that have come out of it… It always feels like a school class, you know, the new freshman. It just feels like when you move to L.A. and you start finding shows, and then you find that group of friends, and so many people, just like, grow out of that.
You’ve grown a lot as an artist since I launched WR:LA. How have these events played a role in that?
I have been giving more and more to the music and building a bigger team around me. I just signed a publishing deal, so I'm starting to do more songwriting, and hoping to get into rooms to be doing songwriting with others.
Coming out of the pandemic and rebuilding the community — because so many people left or stopped doing what they were doing — there was such a huge shift, I think. And Writers ‘Round kind of created the platform where I'm able to — I mean, it's the only place I go where I still feel nervous to play. We'll play for 200 people and I'll be fine, but at Writers ‘Round, it's like 30 people. So, it keeps driving me to be a better and better songwriter.
We talk a lot about the business and all of that, but the business is in support of the art and the craft. I think that's at the center of what Writers ‘Round is, and what's inspiring is seeing just all these great people play, you get so humbled by it. I try to be inspired by every show I go to and soak it up like a sponge. Like, ‘Oh, I loved this part. How do I write a song like that?’ And just get really into that nerdy art thing where you're just obsessed with each song.
You’ve been working with a manager now for a few years. Do you think bands and artists should be looking for managers? Is that something that you think is essential, or do you think people kind of give it too much thought and too much desire to find the manager?
I think it's all about the timing of things. I was having a big band and having some level of local success, I needed help. There was certain things that I was just hitting the wall at and just needed help.
I have bandmates, but there was kind of a rotating crew of people, and people have different levels of involvement, and I live it every single day, right? I'm thinking about it every day. I'm always pushing the pieces along, and I needed somebody who would be there with me every day to talk about it.
I was asking everybody. I just got to a point where I was like, I'm not going to be demure about it. I'm just going to be like, ‘Do you want to be my manager? You want to be my manager?’
And I learned a lot, because there was one guy, who I'm glad he said no, because he probably would have been one of those sleaze ball categories.
But I said to one guy, ‘Hey, you want to be my manager?’ And he went, ‘You make money?’ And I was like, ‘No.’ And he goes, ‘No.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, I need to have, like, a business where I'm actually making some money, and that's going to attract someone.’
But then also, I had a friend of mine who was managing another friend, and I was like, ‘You should manage us.’ And he goes, ‘Oh, yeah? Maybe.’ And then the next morning, I was like, did he say yes? So I called him up, and I was like, ‘Hey, do you want to manage us?’ And he goes, ‘Okay, I'll do it.’ And he's helped me a ton with growing the career.
He's really been like a bandmate in the best sense, where you feel like you really have somebody who's bouncing ideas with you, who's got certain connections. He's not like a big-time manager. He only manages a few people. He's growing in it, but he's from L.A. and I think having somebody in my corner who's from here locally, who can talk to a promoter that's been here since they're a teenager, going to punk shows, he can bond with them on that and that kind of opens up.
Working with the manager has really helped us, kind of craft a space for us to grow, like how we do it. I learned a ton about the business and about how to conduct the relationships in it. It’s been really great and has definitely led to a lot of our growth in the last two years.
So I'd say, when you're at a point where you literally can't do it all yourself, where you feel like you just keep hitting the same walls. It's definitely good to kind of connect with someone like that, but it's not a silver bullet. I didn't get a manager and then everything went great all of a sudden. It’s been a long process.
You kind of just laid out a very bullet pointed road map: Do you have a business? Are you making money? No? Well, then why would I want to manage you? Managers need a business to manage, so the first job is to make a business.
And that's when you're going to be discerning about who you have involved. Because when you have a scarcity mindset, like, ‘nobody ever is going to want to help me,’ and then somebody wants to help you, you're going to jump on that. You're going to jump on the first deal, and then it's going to be like, ‘Oh, I actually had more value than I realized, and that’s why they were coming to me at all.’
So finding someone you trust, who sees the potential, who's willing to work with you through the hard times is also super vital.