Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard Bouchard.
Richard, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started writing for a Boston-music focused website called Boston Band Crush in 2010, I was friends with the founders of the site, and one day they needed someone to interview Amanda Palmer ahead of one of her shows. None of the regular writers were around, and I sort of got bullied into doing it. It ended up being a really great interview and it did really well, so I was just sort of around the site after that. Eventually, as people came and went, I took over Editor in Chief duties and was running the blog on my own every day. It was a really great time and I learned a lot.
Writing 2-3 pieces a day, editing a couple more, maintaining a show calendar of every venue in the city, presenting shows, and everything that comes along with publishing a music site really had me on autopilot and helped me insert myself into the Boston Music Scene. Eventually, the blog ran its course and I decided to close up shop, which turned out to be the best possible decision. I think Band Crush came along at a time when Boston needed a cheerleader to help foster a sense of community in the music scene, we did our part, along with some other really great outlets – Allston Pudding and Bradley’s Almanac were buddies, then Vanyaland came along when the Boston Phoenix shut down – and I felt like I’d done everything I could do with a daily music blog, so I pulled the plug.
The original plan was to shut down for a few months, then come back with something else, but we all know how plans generally work out. As soon as the site closed, random opportunities started coming in – venues looking for consultation, bands seeking management and booking, weird little projects people in the music scene wanted help with, stuff like that. I ended up taking a full time gig booking bands for TT the Bear’s Place in Cambridge, did some independent booking and management on the side, and took on whatever projects came up that interested me – running a band’s crowdfunding campaign, writing a bio for another, consulting with a tech company looking to launch an app to help musicians, just whatever struck my fancy, all rolled up under the name indie rock ranger (a name I stole from an unreleased Sheila Divine song).
The job at TT’s didn’t work out, it just wasn’t a good fit, and taking on so many small projects started to take its toll. I decided to step back for a bit and refocus. Instead of working on any project people would bring me, I wanted to distill my efforts down to only a few things that really interested me. I have a really great relationship with the band Sidewalk Driver, and I’d been booking them a lot and wanted to do more, so we decided that it made sense for me to do more management and promotion work with them. I started managing the day to day affairs of Cameron Keiber from the band Eldridge Rodriguez.
Instead of booking small shows all year long, I decided I only wanted to book a few big events a year, stuff that I put together myself and felt really strongly about. I scheme and plan with collaborators I’ve been working with for years, like Will Dailey, because we already have a shorthand and we both know what the other is bringing to the table. Just like Boston Band Crush wasn’t the only game in town when it existed, Boston has plenty of great people working in venues if a band is looking for a night to play or a bill to get on, I’m not needed for that. Working on just a few things a year that I can really dig into and put all of my efforts behind has helped me find opportunities for bands that I would have otherwise missed, so I think I’ve found a nice niche to work in.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The biggest struggle for me was working in a venue. I’m pretty stubborn and I know what I want to do, but that’s not always the best trait to have. I think I went in with some lofty goals and a really idealistic attitude – the club wasn’t doing great when I got there, and I had some big ideas to turn it around, dammit! The owner and I clashed a bit on some things, and that was tough to navigate (especially because she was footing the bill for everything). It’s a weird time for clubs, especially clubs that have been around for 30 or 40 years.
In my defense, I think that the owner thought that the venue was going to be like the ’90s forever – where people were coming out most nights just to check out new bands and see their friends. It’s a different world now, people discover bands online, they’re less apt to pay a cover for something they’re not familiar with, etc. It was definitely disheartening to be working in a place I knew I wasn’t succeeding, but I did take away a lot of lessons, so it wasn’t time wasted.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the indie rock ranger story. Tell us more about the business.
I still present rock shows as indie rock ranger, and I’d say I’m known for being the guy who can get stuff done. I’m a good guy to have in your pocket, whether it’s getting a show booked, getting paid at the end of the night, figuring out what venue would be best to do whatever it is you’re planning. I’m good at looking at what a band has as a goal and mapping out how to get there. I’m really proud to have played a part in bringing different parts of the music scene here together. I’ve been saying for a long time that there’s not one Boston Music Scene, there are a million little scenes that all overlap a little, some more than others, and I think I’ve always been pretty good at helping them overlap a little more.
The last two big events I did were all about diversity: I booked a co-headlining show at Sinclair with STL GLD and Sidewalk Driver, as well as Dutch Rebelle and Carissa Johnson, so it was an amazing night with hip-hop and rock ‘n roll standing shoulder to shoulder. I also brought back an event that I used to work on with Band Crush called One Night Band, where I assemble 40 musicians from different scenes and genres and randomly assign them into bands for the day to write 3 original songs before playing a show at the Sinclair that same night. Seeing the joy and camaraderie that comes out of those events is something I’m proud of and confirms that I’ve found my spot.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Luck is the same for everybody. I’ve had big breaks and I’ve had things fall apart. It’s tough when things don’t work out, especially when it’s something out of your control, but I’ve been able to roll with everything. I try not to focus too much on luck, to be honest. We all live in the same universe and are governed by the same random coincidences – it’s not luck, it’s not Mercury in retrograde, it’s not karma or chaos magic or the butterfly effect, it’s just the way things are.
Image Credit:
Johnny Anguish, Michelle Won
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