INTERVIEW BY JOE FITZPATRICK
PHOTOS BY BILLY COLLIER, TRAVIS ILAPIT, AND BRANDON HAMBRIGHT
2014 has been a very good year for Lucas Borza. In addition to his Virginia Beach based metalcore-djent band HONOUR CREST signing to Rise Records and releasing their debut full-length album, Spilled Ink, Borza also started The Monarch Agency, which provides a wide variety of services to bands across the United States, including artist development, management, booking, and much more. Currently, the agency’s active roster includes eight active bands, including PROVOKE, DESTROY, who are also from Virginia Beach, and WITHIN OUR GATES, who are the newest band on the roster, from Harrisonburg. We spoke with Borza about how his agency was established, the variety of musicians he works with on a daily basis-from his staff to the bands on his roster, as well as his goals for the future of The Monarch Agency.
Why did you decide to start your own artist development, management, and booking company?
Over the past few years, I’ve been always helping bands and giving them advice for choosing the “right path”. I don’t think there is ever a right or wrong way of doing things. I started The Monarch Agency to help artists reach however how big or small their goals are. Even though we have only been active for a few months now, we already have a solid number of artists on our roster, and all of them are active.
I read on your website that you also co-founded the agency with Pat Jones in San Diego, CA and Luke Dimond in Concord, NH. Can you tell me about how you met and how they are involved?
I originally met Pat Jones through my guitarist, Chad Orange, in HONOUR CREST. They are old friends from when Chad lived in Indiana, and I’ve always heard from Pat randomly. He loves music of all genres and always wanted to be a part of the music scene and help in any way possible. Pat is currently an artist manager and assists me with anything I need, truly a good dude. I met Luke on Facebook. I’m not sure how it came to it, but we were talking about booking tours and I think the idea came out of nowhere that The Monarch Agency should also book shows for artists. Luke helped me find booking agents all over the United States and build a solid team.
In addition to Jones and Dimond, you also have staff members in Corona, CA, Cleveland and Toledo, OH, Rego Park, NY, and Virginia Beach. How did you recruit staff in these areas across the country?
A majority of The Monarch Agency’s staff are musicians themselves. They all know what labels, agencies, promoters, and managers are looking for when it comes to being in a band. A few of them have been doing everything by themselves, and we worked out a deal that benefits everyone as a team.
Are you working with any record labels directly to promote their bands?
Currently The Monarch Agency is working with Indianola Records, Standby Records, Red Cord Records, and We Are Triumphant Records. It’s pretty great to actually build a relationship with the labels as well. It’s a good connection to have especially if you’re working with unsigned artists.
I know that you work with local metal bands PROVOKE, DESTROY and WITHIN OUR GATES, but can you tell me about some of the other bands on your roster?
ALONG CAME A SPIDER, ANCHORLINES, ARCHERS & ILLUMINATORS, CABARET RUNAWAY, EXTORTIONIST, and WHEN CITIES SLEEP are all other bands on our roster.
ALONG CAME SPIDER is currently on Standby Records, and they are working on their sophomore album with their label. We are working with them for a fall tour along with another band from the east coast.
ANCHORLINES is an unsigned metal band from Manchester, NH, and they working alongside with Rabananda Bennett, who also is the tour manager for ISSUES on Rise Records.
ARCHERS & ILLUMINATORS is currently recording their freshman album with Red Cord Records and will be touring later this year.
CABARET RUNAWAY is an indie rock band from Pittsburgh, PA who will be releasing their debut album Humanities Insanity’s July 25th. We are working alongside with them to help get their album and get them the right exposure to bring them a fan base.
EXTORTIONIST has their upcoming tour with HAVENSIDE, and they recently released their latest album with We Are Triumphant Records.
WHEN CITIES SLEEP is a band I personally manage, and I’ve been working with them to organize and get their new album released. They have a few surprises coming soon.
What do you look for in potential bands to partner with?
It all starts and ends with the music; everything in between is based on how hard the artist and partners work together. I expect bands to be organized and understand how to take care of themselves before we help without that extra boost. They have to want to take the next step and make SACRIFICES! It’s stupid how many bands I talk to that just have musicians half ass their band. This is YOUR career. Why wouldn’t you put everything you got into it?
Your agency has booked the Indianola Records Tour featuring PROVOKE, DESTROY and WHEN CITIES SLEEP, as well as EXTORTIONIST’s summer tour. Are there any upcoming Fall or Winter tours you already have planned?
We are currently working on two more tours at the moment. I’m unable to announce anything yet, but we have a handful of things we have planned in the future.
Do you have any goals for The Monarch Agency to achieve by the end of the year?
One goal of mine is to get at least 10 artists on our roster that are active. A huge goal is to assist all of the bands on my roster enough to leave a good footprint in the music scene, both locally and nationally.
