Meet Gage Luce | Talent Agent / Artist Manager

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gage Luce and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gage, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Starting my own business, especially in the music world, was tough. I don’t have a degree in music or business or anything like that. I went to journalism school for a bit, and I was a line cook when I decided to go down this road. I don’t know that I thought it through completely when I decided to be a talent agent or that I even really wanted to be an agent, it just kind of ended up happening. I saw friends who were self-booking their tours and doing all the work themselves, and it was hard for them, they were struggling to do all of it themselves. So, I talked with them about it a bit and just said screw it, I’ll give it a try. I had zero clue what I was getting into. I learned with each step and figured out the process of things as I moved on.  I asked others who were already doing bookings for tips, tricks, and advice. On the first tour, I did with my friends Resolute, June Marx, and DJ Ambideckstriks, I had no idea what I was doing. I did not know contracting, routing, marketing, or anything. It was a shitshow, to say the least. But it happened, and I learned a lot from it and moved on to the next one and just kept moving from there.

I have always been someone who dives in headfirst and learns as he goes. I have found that I learn better that way. Sure, it’s a bit of a rougher ride. But when I was a line cook, my first executive chef told me “Gage, you can either pay to learn or you can get paid to learn” and I have lived by that for the last 20 years and I’m still here.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

My career is far from typical, long before I dove into the music business and realized I wanted to do that full time, I was a line cook/chef, and I also worked in Alaska in the fishing industry for a while, various call centers, and went to journalism school for a bit.

What sets me apart is just that, I don’t come from a typical background having a degree in business or anything that relates to music. I didn’t grow up surrounded by people that influenced me to pursue music. My dad and grandpa introduced me to a lot of older music growing up. But I fell in love with hip-hop thanks to skate videos I grew up watching. My friends Andrew, Matt, Doug, and Eastin all introduced me to a ton of new music that influenced me as well. I eventually found myself surrounded by music when I moved to Arizona full-time, and it just developed from there. Events like The Blunt Club, UM shows, WTFunk Friday, and other events would help me realize that working in music is something I want to do for the rest of my life.

It’s been far from easy, there have been more setbacks than I care to think about, a lot of them caused by myself and just making mistakes that I shouldn’t of. But I kept going and I just put one foot in front of the other and learned as I went on and overcame the challenges and hurdles by having the determination to keep doing this and knowing this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

I currently live in Salt Lake City, Utah. A lot of it depends on the season we’re in. Utah catches a bad wrap for sure, because of the Mormon religion and strict alcohol laws. But some go to spots that I’d have to show people if they were in town. Lucky 13 Burgers, in my opinion, is one of the best burger spots in the city! (if you don’t agree with me go argue with a wall, haha.) We have a lot of great restaurants around the city as well, Red Iguana is another one. We also have the taco trucks on 800 South that are fantastic. Lots of variety here, from Mexican, Cuban, Vietnamese, Japanese, American, and more. There is something for everyone if you’re a foodie.

If we’re in Spring/Summer take them to a Salt Lake City Bees game (Minor League Team to the Anaheim Angels). People that I have brought to SLC before didn’t realize how close to the mountains we are and are shocked by the mountain range in our backyard. So, if the outdoors is something they are into take them up the mountain through Little Cottonwood Canyon, do some fishing, and take a trip to Park City. If you want to go off-roading, the west desert is a great place to do so. Lots of national parks here, for someone who is really into that stuff. Nightlife-wise, Salt Lake has a lot to offer contrary to popular belief. We have some great music venues to check out here in Salt Lake.  Places like The Urban Lounge, Common Wealthroom, Quarters DLC, and Soundwell all host a variety of both local and national touring acts. We have some amazing local DJs as well, Chaseone2, DJ Juggy, SamEyeAm, and Brisk are usually spinning records at various locations throughout the city every week.

In the wintertime, we have amazing ski resorts all very close to the city, so if that’s your thing I’ll point you in the direction of those, because I don’t ski or snowboard, haha. We also have the Utah Jazz so we could go see a game at the Delta Center if they are in town.  January/Feb we see the Sundance Film Festival, So it depends on what you are into at the end of the day.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
When I started in music I wasn’t an agent or a promoter right away, I started from the ground floor and worked my way up. I used to pass out flyers for an event company called Universatile Music in Arizona so I could get into shows for free. I met a lot of people who helped inspire me during that time when I was between 18-25 years old bouncing back and forth between AZ and Utah. My friends Dumperfoo, Pickster One, Mike Horowitz, Ill Al, Brad B, and my friend Goonie, along with many others that helped me even though they may not realize it. A lot of my inspiration to do what I am doing now came from them. I watched and studied them for years and how they operated shows and handled business, and that helped pave the way to bring me to where I am today.

I’m still learning and I don’t think I’ll ever stop learning from the people around me and people I consider mentors. My friends Sean Strange, Bronze Nazareth, and El Da Sensei, have all had huge impacts on my career and I have learned a lot from touring with them over the years and just absorbing information from them to get better at this. It’s a constant learning experience, each mistake has taught me something new and what I can do to better myself and my business overall. Working at Breakpoint Booking has been amazing, everyone that is on the staff there is amazing to work with and I have learned a lot from them, and I am looking forward to continuing my career with them.

Website: www.breakpointbooking.com www.blackdayjuly.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/gelcreed

Twitter: twitter.com/gelcreed

Image Credits
All Photos property of Gage Luce