Kleinfeld chatted with Digital Journal about celebrating the 10 year anniversary with his public relations company, Rephlektor Inkorporated.
Regarding this special anniversary, he said, “It’s pretty amazing. It shows just how quickly the time flies by and looking back to day one and how much has evolved. Back when I first started there were no blogs or real social media. Myspace was around but blogs were really not much of a factor. It was all traditional print press. In fact, I remember when a lot of the artists flat out refused to do anything that was online only. My, how the times have changed.”
His proudest professional moments in public relations are too numerous to count. “Personally, just to work with a lot of the artists that I was a fan of is pretty rewarding for me. To get to know them on a personal level. Sometimes, I need to stop and think about how I was going to see an artist like Paul Oakenfold or Moby in college and how much they meant to me musically. Now I’m just talking to them casually, brainstorming and shooting the shit. It’s very cool to me,” he said.
Other moments that stand out to him include working with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yellow Magic Orchestra. “It might not mean a ton to a lot of the EDM generation, but YMO is incredibly influential and that was amazing to see them perform in London at Meltdown Festival. That year it was curated by Massive Attack, so I was able to meet them as well. Simply amazing. I’d also single out working with Swedish House Mafia. I started working with them right before they took off and went pretty much up until the end. What an experience that was, to see dance music hit the stratosphere. The pinch me moment was definitely being a part of the first Madison Square Garden show. Never thought I would see a dance music show in that venue. I have to mention working with Tiesto and getting him on the cover of Billboard in 2011. Things were really taking off for dance music and I always thought that was quite a statement for him to be on the cover at that time. Most recently, being a part of his Grammy win was a cool experience as well. Lastly, I gotta shout out Giorgio Moroder. I got to spend a weekend with him in Chicago for Pitchfork Festival and that was unreal. I’m such a big fan of his music and to be with him and talk about everyday things was remarkable. There’s a lot more, but I’ll leave it at this,” he said.
His plans for the future are to continue to grow and be better, and to do “things a little bit differently.”
For aspiring publicists, he recommended, “I look at my path and I started as a writer. I had a weekly dance music column for CMJ and freelanced for a lot of other publications. I feel like this has been a key point in helping me with PR. To understand the different styles of publicists and how they pitched me as a writer but also having the writing skills to know how to create a nice pitch and write press releases that aren’t nonsense. I’d definitely recommend someone come to the PR table with great writing skills and experience on that side of the glass.”
On balancing a family life with a professional career, he said, “When my daughter was first born, I kinda freaked out not knowing how I would possibly have the time or energy to balance family with business. But you know what? If anything, it’s grounded me more. I can better deal with the tough times professionally because dealing with an inconsolable infant – that’s the real challenge. If you can do that, then business and other things in life seem just a tad easier.”
To learn more about his PR company Rephlektor Inkorporated, check out its Facebook page.
