Jon Halperin’s pitch for his first management client in nearly 20 years is pretty simple -- just watch the video.
“I asked my friends and colleagues to watch at least the first minute of the video," says Halperin, who says people either get Dregg's wild video "Return of the Dregg" -- which features guys making out, the burning of a children’s bible and an abused Chunk mask from the 1985 classic Goonies -- or they are are appalled and ask questions like "Jon, is this a joke?"
Halperin is a longtime music industry veteran who books the Glasshouse in Pomona, California, and programs a number of festivals including Music Tastes Good in Long Beach. Halperin first saw Dregg play at Big Sound, a South by Southwest style festival in Brisbane, Australia. After connecting with the band and learning the group didn't have a manager, Halperin recruited longtime friend Adam La Rue, a veteran manager, label exec and music business adjunct professor at UCLA to co-manage the group.