Q's With Hardcore Manager James Vitalo: Joining 5B 'Like Being Called To Play For The Dodgers'

Becca Lader – James Vitalo
5B

James Vitalo has joined the home of metal heavyweights at 5B Artists + Media, bringing hardcore bands such as Turnstile, Knocked Loose, Terror, Gatecreeper and more to go along with the company’s roster that includes metal mainstays like Slipknot, Megadeth, Lamb of God, Trivium and many others.

5B’s leadership, which includes Slipknot manager and CEO Cory Brennan, Justin Arcangel and Bob Johnsen, often mentions the company’s commitment to heavy metal – not only as a genre but lifestyle. And Vitalo would seem a perfect fit, based on his experience.

“I dropped out of high school when I was 17 to go on tour with a band,” Vitalo tells Pollstar shortly after the announcement he was joining 5B. “The band approached me and I had about eight days left in my senior year of high school. At first I said, ‘No I can’t do it,’ but then I was taking a shower later and had an epiphany that I’d never have this chance ever again.”

Vitalo shortly thereafter formed his own band, a hardcore band called Backtrack that toured for the better part of 10 years. That experience goes a long way to help develop and maintain relationships with his own management clients, which includes venerable hardcore punk band Turnstile, hardcore up and comers Knocked Loose, death metal band Gatecreeper and more.

“I became a booking agent for about five years, and one of the bands I was booking was Turnstile – they had the Roadrunner deal that was brought to them,” Vitalo says. “I always wanted to manage. For me, as someone who really likes the creative side of things, I had played in a band and know what it’s like to be in a van or a bus or at the airport or whatever. I want to live and die with the band. And right now, COVID’s proven that’s really what it is – you’re living and dying with these guys, as opposed to just being in one part of the business and tuned into one specific thing.”

Pollstar: Tell us about the move to 5B, which just announced the rescheduled “Metal Tour Of The Year” topped by clients Megadeth, Lamb of God and Trivium.

James Vitalo: It’s almost like being a baseball player and being called to play for the Dodgers. It’s such an amazing opportunity to work for a team like that. They’re hands down the best at what they do – no disrespect to any other company because there’s a lot of great ones out there, but 5B is the real deal. I had the opportunity to pursue it and made sure I did it the right way with Good Fight (Management), my old company. The Turnstile record coming out is a very big priority and I wanted to be sure I had a team behind it, and 5B is the right team. It feels really good. Everyone there is awesome and forward thinking. I’m honored and excited to be able to sit at the table.

On top of all the resources they have and careers they’ve built, they’re still excited and plugged in. A lot of times, people will be in the music game for 10 or 20 years and get jaded and don’t want to hear about new stuff. The energy at 5B is actually unbelievable. It makes me more excited and want to work harder, seeing the energy within the company. I’m just getting started but already have rave reviews and it’s a fucking dream come true.

Good Fight has a lot of great managers. Biggie (Good Fight founder Nick “Biggie” Grimaldi), who brought me in, actually retired, so congratulations to him. He’s worked very hard and is leaving the music industry in a really good spot. They have bands like Every Time I Die, Circa Survive, The Acacia Strain – a lot of great bands are represented by Good Fight, and that will continue.

Let’s talk about Knocked Loose, which was just announced as joining veteran metal band Gojira’s major tour.

It’s going to be awesome. The exciting thing about Knocked Loose is they love all different types of music, whether it be hardcore, metal or metalcore. A lot of people didn’t want to give the band a shot and thought they didn’t make sense on a bill like that or wouldn’t sell tickets. Over the years, we’ve cultivated different types of bills that reflect the band’s different interests and I think we’ve proven the value of the band in terms of ticket sales.

They’ve also definitely made value of the time off the road. They spent a lot of time writing and focusing on creative stuff. We’re doing a livestream (“Live from the Blue Room,” May 14, via Moment House) in a few weeks that the band put a lot of work into on the creative side. Yes, not playing live is killing them probably mentally and emotionally, but the band has made great use of the time and put together a lot of awesome stuff I’m excited for the world to see.

What can you tell us about upcoming projects for you and your artists?

If there’s ever a good time to be pissed off and write music and look for your release, it’s now, between everything going on with the pandemic and everything going on politically. There’s never a better time than now to write music. Almost all distractions have been gone over the last year and a half. Turnstile has an amazing record coming out. We’re going to start dropping some singles soon. The touring stuff we’re still working on, but fingers crossed we’re going to be doing some stuff in August. The way I’ve been operating is to be optimistic, be proactive and make plans. If it’s safe and comfortable, we’ll move forward; if not, we’ll push it. That’s pretty much what we’ve been doing for the last year and a half. Things are starting to look good and vaccinations are increasing by the day, so we’ll see.

On top of the Turnstile record, Terror wrote an amazing record. They have Todd Jones who plays with Nails coming back to produce the record. They’ve been working on it for the last year and it’s amazing, it’s got some of the best Terror songs out there. It’s just a brutal, in-your-face, hardcore record.

2020 was tough but bands keep finding a way.

There’s a financial layer of it, which is difficult. Some bands have it easier than others. But in terms of the creative side, I’m really excited to see what happens. I’m living in my own world of Turnstile, Knocked Loose, Terror and Gatecreeper but there’s a big world out there. I’m really excited to see what the music community has to offer, and with everything in the world going on right now, there’s a lot to comment on.