Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Williams.
Hi Brian, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story starts in the small town of Athens, Ohio at Ohio University. Near the end of my freshman year in college, I was introduced to two guys, Christian JaVaughn Graves aka CG and Solomon Brown aka Dolo. The following summer these two formed a conglomerate dedicated to making great music known as Team Yizzo.
At the start of Sophomore year, they were beginning to get some traction. I ended up becoming a part of the team because they were my friends and I had the only car on campus. From there, I became the everything guy; if something needed done and it wasn’t anyone else’s job I did it. Later that year, everyone found out I majored in finance and made me the business manager for the entire team. As college went on, we continued to progress. We traveled the country, sold-out shows, and met people from all over the world. At one point, we thought Yizzo was going to be famous, but that all ended when college ended. After graduation, I was recruited by a marketing company that worked all over the country. The owner took such a liking to me that he became my mentor. I spent everyday with him for a year soaking up knowledge about people, sales, and business. I was making a good living but always felt unsatisfied. I was still managing CG from a far because he was in Los Angeles trying to make it as an artist and I was traveling with the marketing company. He’d call me everyday and tell me how things were and about his ideas that he had dreamed up. I wanted so desperately to get back into the music business but didn’t know how we would make it just the two of us. Then he told me about an idea he had for a company called USIC.
A company that would work for the independent musician looking to reach superstardom by providing resources in the form of modern technology. We took some time getting everything in order, filing our LLC, and aligning our team then I quit the marketing business and began to build Usic alongside my brother and college roommate. We established in our hometown of Columbus, Ohio and began looking for investors and resources. The first year was rough. We had no steady income, no facility to call home and no reputation as a tech company. We soon realized we’d have to create a brand and build our reputation in order to succeed as a business so we took a step back and established a management sector within Usic Brands, LLC. In late 2018 we signed our first artist out of Columbus. Soon after, we established our first studio in Columbus to give our artists and others the resource of production. The studio started off slow and ended up losing money in 2019, but we built a name for ourselves in the midwest and put together the best roster of artists we had access to.
In January of 2020, it was like a switch was flipped and the studio took off. We went from being empty to being double booked. I began setting up tour dates for our artists and built a second studio in our Columbus facility. Then with no warning covid hit. All of our upcoming shows were canceled and we were forced to pivot again. As fate would have it however, the studios continued to increase in production and hit record numbers. With much of the world sitting still CG and I decided it was time to expand to a new city. In May of 2020, we took a trip to L.A. to look at new facilities to house our operations on the west coast. We decided to extend the brand by naming our L.A. studio Quest, a technology-based recording studio where we could circle the wagon and get back to building the technology that we originally dreamed of. In July, my girlfriend and I packed up our townhouse in Columbus, put everything into storage, gathered half of the Usic roster and caravanned across the country to begin building Quest. With no place to live the team and I bounced from Air bnb to Air bnb until we found a comfortable place to call home in the Hollywood hills.
Just like my first venture, building Quest was not easy. I originally planned on having the studio completed and opened by the end of August, but with the heightened expenses of L.A. I ran out of money to complete the renovations. I did however, discover a new revenue stream for Usic by hosting underground parties here in L.A. This allowed me to build an extensive network of entertainers and music industry personnel. In turn, I was able to become a better manager for the Usic artists gaining opportunities and influence I never thought possible. As I got back into building Quest, I received a call from my partner, CG, informing me that we had out grown our Columbus facility and our landlord was not happy about it. So as we had done with any adversity in the past, we pivoted again and moved our Columbus headquarters to a 3500sqft facility to start an additional renovation on top of building Quest. With the help of friends and family in our hometown our headquarters reopened without missing a beat. I then jumped back into completing the renovation of Quest and to date am a month away from the grand opening. My time as a business owner has been a story of ups and downs mixed with constant learning, but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in life. I am proud to own my own fate and excited to see what the future holds for me.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely has not been a smooth road. The first struggle was establishing a brand that people believed in. The second came in the form of a faulty investor who pulled out of the company a month after we built our first studio even though it was his idea for us to move into a facility. The next struggle was getting my studios, The U and Quest, off of the ground with virtually no money. Another struggle has been maintaining a work-life balance with my girlfriend of 3 years while also trying to be a successful entrepreneur in the entertainment business. Beyond these, I have also had to learn how to control the different energies and personalities of all of my artists as we have lived together here in L.A. What once was a struggle is now a blessing.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
By title, I am the president of Usic Brands, but by trade I am an entertainment manager and deal maker. I specialize in strategic growth for artists and businesses as well as sales and negotiation. I am becoming known as a savoy businessman and trusted artist manager. I am most proud of owning my own business and living life the way I choose. What sets me apart from most is how I see the world. I don’t see problems only solutions. I can take an idea from inception and make it prosperous with any combination of ingredients.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite childhood memory is singing in the rec talent show with my older brother when I was five years old.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.usicbrand.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/b_uu/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/usicbrand
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BMrAmbition
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV8VpJGtgMRqnF71LPk5_3Q
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/usic-brands-columbus-2
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/usicbrand/
