Pete Ganbarg, the President of A&R for Atlantic Records, chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about his new “Rock & Roll High School” podcast.
“The Rock & Roll High School with Pete Ganbarg” podcast is launching a new episode on March 3rd with special guest Tommy James, speaking candidly with Ganbarg about his wild and unbelievable story of being signed to a record deal with Morris Levy’s Roulette Records, a front for the Genovese Crime Family.
How did the “Rock & Roll High School” podcast come about?
I was concerned that my younger A&R staff at Atlantic Records didn’t know a lot about the music that came before the songs of the past 15-20 years. The podcast was an extension of a class we started to help change that.
How does it feel to be a content creator and podcast host in the digital age? (Now with streaming and technology being so prevalent)
I think it’s important to preserve these conversations for future generations. In the past, if you recorded a talk with Willie Dixon on reel-to-reel tape, I really hope you preserved that reel-to-reel.
What motivates you each day?
I love my job. From as far back as I can remember, I was always interested in why certain songs and artists resonate with people. As the head of A&R at Atlantic, I’m very fortunate to get to play a part in the artists we get to share with the world. At the same time, by going deeper into the past, I get to hear and share the stories behind the music that actually changed people’s lives.
Were there any moments in your career that helped define you?
The most clarion moment of my A&R career is a what-if/road-not-taken one. I was six weeks into a new job with the legendary Clive Davis at Arista Records in 1997. He had signed Carlos Santana (again… he first signed him 30 years prior to Columbia) and knew that the right album/concept could get Santana back on pop radio for the first time in over 15 years. He had just yet to figure out exactly how.
I came up with an idea – why not pair Carlos’ timeless guitar voice with the younger voices of the contemporary musicians who were actually on the radio at that time? When I first pitched the idea to Clive (via “memorandum”), he was silent.
At that moment, I could have dropped the whole thing since I didn’t hear back from my boss. Or I could have faith in my idea, reach out directly to the artist, and give it a try. If we were right, Clive would certainly jump in and we’d all do it together. That’s exactly what happened and I’m really glad I did.
Where do you see “Rock & Roll High School” in the future? What do your plans/goals include?
There are so many amazing stories that have yet to be told. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get to share all of them but I’m certainly going to try to tell a lot of them.
What does the word success mean to you? (My favorite question)
Success is a feeling of satisfaction that you’ve done right by yourself. Could be personal, could be professional.
What would you like to tell our readers about the “Rock & Roll High School” podcast?
These conversations are really entertaining. There are so many things we don’t know about the hit songs that we do. And it really is history. To hear that history directly from the artists themselves and share it with the world makes it feel like we’re actually doing a public service. Everyone should listen. You’ll be really glad you did.
A new “Rock & Roll High School” podcast is available every other Thursday.
To listen to his podcast, click here.
