**This originated as an e-mail blast from Vega Productions, and I thought it worked perfectly for a Rift article.**
Mark Gehring, founder and former executive director of Vega Productions answers a few questions posed by Caitlin Marlotte, Vega’s new executive director.Caitlin: What’s the story behind Vega Productions? How did you get the idea to start such an organization?
Mark: The idea initially hit me during my senior year at Minnesota State University where I was pursuing my BS in business management and marketing. I was taking an entrepreneurship class from Dr. Brenda Flannery where we had to write a business plan and pitch it to group of bankers at a business fare. I wore an ugly suit that was way too big for me, had unkempt long hair and smelled of rancid beer and second hand smoke. The bankers hated the idea but it stuck with me. After graduating I bummed around taking freelance writing gigs covering concerts around the country and doing interviews with some of my musical heroes (Wayne Coyne, Les Claypool, Ziggy Marley, Richie Havens, etc.) all the while keeping tabs on my friends, many who were pursuing careers as art and instrumental music teachers. None of them seemed to be able to land a job and so I decided to take a closer look into the state of arts education inside Minnesota and what I saw was startling. There was quite a gap in funding for music and art programs – especially for the districts with higher levels of impoverished citizens. We threw our first benefit concert, The Yggdrasil Festival, that summer and Vega was born.
Caitlin: You were Executive Director of the organization for 10 years. I won’t ask you to name your favorite experience, but could you share some highlights? What stands out for you?
Mark: There are so many great memories that it would be tough to list them all here but definitely the Rock the Boat cruises, New Year’s Eve shows, the giant mural at Four Seasons Elementary, all of the Minnesota Beatle Project albums and Instruments In The Cloud is something that I’m particularly keen on as it really represents a step forward in how we think about music advocacy and how a program that serves individual students can be executed on a global scale by leveraging technology and social media. The common thread that ran/runs through all of these projects is the intrinsic nature of the collaboration that takes place between the artists, industry professionals, volunteers, Vega board members and the general community who participates. All of our energy and actions flowed from a raw, honest core belief of wanting to provide a better quality of life for the next generation. Plus, we had a ton of fun doing it and lifelong friendships were forged along the way. It was, and is, magical.
Caitlin: So, after all of this hard work you are moving on to something else. Could you tell us more about what you’re working on now?
Mark: I’m going to continue my work with Periscope Artist Management where my team and I currently oversee the careers of five international touring artists – Haley Bonar, RBTS WIN, John Mark Nelson, Field Trip/Lucy Michelle and Pert Near Sandstone. I’m completely dedicated to helping those artists develop their professional careers and pursue their dreams and aspirations. I love each and every one of them like family and it’s a dream job. I also serve as a founding board member at the Minnesota Music Coalition which is a NPO that serves Minnesota’s independent music community. Last but not least, I’m thrilled to announce the launch of Gndwire Records (pronounced “ground wire”), a partnership between Dave Simonett from Trampled by Turtles and myself. It’s going to be the real deal, we’ve got a dream team assembled and I cannot wait to get started with our first release later this fall.
Caitlin: You’ll still be involved with Vega Productions, right? (Right?)
Mark: YES!
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