Today we’d like to introduce you to Bryan Harding.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Bryan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’m 35, born and raised in San Diego, Clairemont area…I had a fairly typical upbringing. I got involved with some of the wrong people as an adolecent and started doing graffitti. Needless to say, I got in a lot of trouble over the years because of that and by the time I was 18, I realized I really needed to find a way to make a living off of what I loved doing-art and music. By that time, clubs were on my radar and I noticed that some were lacking in the promo and poster art department. Also on my radar were a lot of bands that I wanted to see perfrom live and someday hopefully do a poster for them. Plus, it was a great way get to know new bands.
Over 15 years I’ve worked with some of best venues in San Diego including Brick By Brick, Cane’s Bar & Grill (RIP), Soundwave, Wavehouse, Winston’s, 710 Beach Club, Casbah, Bar Leucadia, Cass St Bar & Grill, Gallagher’s OB, The Holding Company OB, MY Yard Live, Music Box and Belly Up in Solana Beach. I’ve even had the honor of working with multiple festivals, including the OMBAC Beach Fest, BayFest, Bahia Fest, Wonderfront and the California Roots Music & Arts Fest. I’ve also been fortunate enough to do work for a slew of bands from reggae legends such as Don Carlos, Barrington Levy and King Yellowman to San Diego’s hometown favorites Slightly Stoopid, Tribal Seeds and POD. Along the way I’ve dabbled in band management, booking shows and working with So Cal Street Team doing grass roots promo work.
While I mainly specialize in concert posters and promo imagery, I also do full branding for start-ups, album covers, photography, merchandising, logo recreations and more. And if there’s something that a client needs that I don’t feel comfortable with, I’m proud to have developed a number of like-minded connections that can take care of any other needs to Record Lables, Recording Studios, Producers, Booking Agencies, Web Developers, Videographers, etc.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has definitely not been smooth sailing. There were quite a few years where I was doing a lot of my work for free to gain a client base while working a full-time job, but always making my passion my full focus. I started working only on an old laptop and bootlegging the latest version of Photoshop, hoping that I didn’t get a virus or something.
I wanted to take my knowledge and education to the next level, so I decided to go back to school following a 6-year break after graduating high school. But literally two months into it, I had the opportunity of a lifetime to go on tour with some of my favorite bands-OPM (Huge thanks to Los Perez – Drummer for giving me the opportunity!), Rebelution and The Expendables-for their Fall Tour in 2008. It was actually Rebelution’s very first national tour, and look at them now! Needless to say, I took the opportunity and had the time of my life and don’t regret a thing about it. I gained a vast knowledge of the inner workings of bands and the business behind it, which I was able to use to begin managing the band High Tide shortly after my return.
After meeting my awesome wife in 2010 and welcoming our daughter two years later, I took a break from the management side of things because I wanted to be able to stay home and spend as much time as possible with my family. During that time I gained more of a solid and consistant client base that has allowed us to sustain a comfortable lifestyle. I also get to foster a fun working relationship with my wife, who works as an independent business manager for the music industry. We still find ourselves sometimes living paycheck to paycheck like most. But, the great thing is that there’s always room for growth and more opportunities within the industry.
Please tell us about your business.
I’m most proud of the number and caliber of bands, brands, venues and festivals I’ve worked with over the years…It’s always been a lifelong dream. A few things that set me apart from the rest are the knowledge I have of the industry, current trends are, and my affordable/flexible pricing along with the quality and fast turn around times that people want and expect.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I’m a stickler for details, but I still like things to have that rough, non cooky cutter look to them. Other than that definitly going out to local shows as much as possible to show support. So many of my clients have become family over the years. So building relationships with people outside of social media and amking those bonds last.
Pricing:
- Hourly Rate $25+
- Basic Concert Poster $50+
- Tour Admats $250+
- Album Cover Art $250+
- Full Album Layout $250+
- Branding $500+
- Logo Recreation $100+
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bhillustrations.com
- Phone: 6195174972
- Email: bhillustrations@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhillustrations/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bhillustrations
Image Credit:
Sean McCracken Photo – https://www.facebook.com/SeanMcCrackenPhoto
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