Description

In Chapter 9 of 15, music executive traces his relationship with music from pre-high school Pink Floyd and Grateful Dead concert experiences. Not only does this early experience blossom into deeper appreciation for live music, especially the Grateful Dead and, later, Phish, but it also shaped the way Epstein was to participate in this relationship as an Island Def Jam record label operations executive.

Transcript

Erick Michielson: What concerts influence your music interest most as a youth? Andrew Epstein: There are a couple of important concerts I went to when I was young. I waited in line at 6:00 in the morning for some Pink Floyd tickets when I was in 8th grade. And then my mom dropped me off and it got wristbands and I got Pink Floyd tickets to Giants Stadium and then truly after that my cousins took me to a Grateful Dead concert in Madison Square Garden. And I didn’t know the music but I watch the people engage with the music then I watch the band engage with the audience and take them on a journey. I remember they do the segment called drums and space where they just do a drum solo for 10 minutes and then space for a few minutes and everyone—a lot of people take that opportunity to go to the bathroom and I was fascinated by it. My cousin said he like drums and space, there’s a phone for you as a dead fan.