Kelly J. Strantz
Music, the story from the beginning.
If I'd observed all the rules, I would never have gotten anywhere.
- Marilyn Monroe
The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.
- Ayn Rand
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If I'd observed all the rules, I would never have gotten anywhere.
- Marilyn Monroe
The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.
- Ayn Rand
*******************
A little bit cultured, a little bit rock 'n roll...
Like most children, I dreamt of far off lands, people I wanted to meet and things I wanted to do. And all of those things really weren’t important to anyone but me, but they were mine. And because of a one-time statement that my mother and uncle made, little did I know that those very words would shape me, my world and stay with me forever. Simply put, they told me I could be and do anything I wanted in life and no one could ever stop me. And so the trouble began…and the first 20 years of my life no doubt completely explains my personality today.
Those that know me are shaking their heads and laughing right now because those stories are much more exciting and interesting in some ways and is certainly a better suited conversation over coffee as it may also compel you to drink afterwards...and I say that smiling and winking. I will though, skip to my favourite part, the brief facts and keep the wild ride, kid friendly and mother approved. The unabridged version is available upon request.
In1990, shortly after moving to Seattle, I began hanging out and working with local musicians as the grunge era started to take over the world. Although I had an appreciation for the movement, my fire burned for great pop music. It didn’t seem to be rocket science, so I started the conversation and began working creatively and promoting pop artists, much to the surprise of the grungy Seattle rock scene.
In 1992, I happened upon an ex-colleague and sidekick of the famed George Lucas and began shooting live videos with him for major music acts as they traveled through Seattle. As my name and reputation spread, I was soon the newest local band manager, booking agent and video enthusiast and I started my own production company, Music Media Productions. I figured I would cover all media, production and promotional needs at a local level and even invested in recording gear and set up a small recording studio in my basement. I started recording songs with local pop, rock, rap and blues bands and laughed at the noise wars between my house and Sir Mix-A-Lot's pet project next door. Later, I decided to branch out and use my energy, challenge myself and turn my focus on independent promotions, all the while holding down a day job as a self-taught mastering engineer for the then largest foreground music provider in the world.
Quickly, I became Seattle's maverick. Daring as it seemed, I found myself working with more than 300 local bands, selling tickets and promoting in ways that was considered unorthodox in Seattle. My shows were sponsored by all the local papers and radio Gods and the “Post no Bills” ban in Seattle meant nothing to me, I kept posting bills. I quickly went from renting out clubs, to having clubs call me to fill their nights with music and audiences. My shows were always about showcasing the best new talent and always promised a full house, drawing celebrity visitors like Kevin Costner, Charlie Sheen and Drew Barrymore. This model proved to be successful, which then allowed me to work in music full time.
By 1997, I topped out with more than 350 sold out shows, when I felt the need to give back to the community and fill a little void in my life. Early that year, I took a leap of faith and contacted Ann and Nancy Wilson from the legendary rock band Heart, who I had grown up listening to and admiring as powerhouse women in rock. I told them I was producing a benefit concert for the Northwest AIDS Foundation and I wanted them to be the headlining act. Much to my surprise, they graciously accepted the offer from me, a young stranger, thus the beginning of an adventure, a great friendship and the next stage of my career putting on fund raising events and becoming the foundation’s new business and events coordinator for nearly four years while still keeping my roots and one hand in music.
After proving myself to be a future asset to NWAF, with the success of my foot-in-the-door concert with the sisters Wilson of Heart, I soon found myself producing high profile charity events. This included, Dine Out for Life, the Northwest AIDS Walk, Art Works, Art That Works, Audiences Fight AIDS, Bingo, Miracle on the Green, and AIDS Rock! Recognizing a weary public, over-saturated with fund raising events, I knew that there was a need for, for-profit ventures with a creative flair and edge. My business sense and outside-of-the-box thinking landed me in a trusted position of developing a string of new business strategies that would continue to augment funding streams for the foundation's many services.
In 2000, I decided to leave the music business for good, but not before I produced the critically acclaimed international CD compilation, Cover Me, featuring Sarah McLachlan, Heart, Everything But the Girl, Cyndi Lauper, Shawn Colvin, Melky Sedeck, The Go Go’s, Billy Idol and The Sundays, all to benefit the Northwest AIDS Foundation. Soon after this release my desire and direction changed and I had a growing need to challenge myself yet again and needed to satisfy my passion for putting on first class high profile events and working with major donors and players in Seattle; this time for the love of cats and dogs.
With a focus again, on the art of a party, my creative thinking brought not only live Alaskan bald eagles to the stage at a celebrity and animal auction, but an Elvis impersonator singing “Hound Dog” to a crowned beauty queen and dancing a jig with the oldest money in Seattle, selling tickets to Oprah for $30,000, and auctioning 44 trips to Africa in a record 4 minutes. Yet another evening of success and a great memorable Tuxes and Tails Gala…an evening dedicated to bringing 1,000 people together to support and promote the importance and the responsibility of the relationships between people and their pets.
About a year later, something happened that would subsequently change my life. Having always had an appreciation for visual art and dabbling in drawing and painting when I was younger, I answered an ad for an events position for a legendary art school. Having had the invaluable opportunity to be the next Events Manager at Pratt Fine Arts Center, I also had the opportunity to work with emerging and world renowned artists, Lino Tagliapietra, Paul and Dante Marioni, Dale Chihuly, Anna Skibska, Jenny Pohlman and Sabrina Knowles, Julie Speidel, Ramona Solberg and David Chatt, to name a few.
My respect grew and was anchored in place, as I found a sense of belonging in the art community. My knowledge and understanding of artwork went from just being an avid admirer, to learning the process and technique of painting, printmaking, glassblowing, jewelry/metal-smithing and sculpture, giving me a new found respect for art as a whole. I also found myself working with some of the best galleries, museums, curators and wealthiest of art patrons; an experience that would last a lifetime.
In 2007, the recession hit Seattle which of course worried the board of directors, staff and committee members. Without the success of the auction and the much needed $500,000 looming over the evening, Pratt would be forced to close its doors. With the uncertainty of the nights success running wild and a wild wind storm almost leveling the entire live auction display, tensions ran higher than ever. Finally, some relief. An evening of fire-eaters, a surprise music break in the middle of the auction for a big group celebration and dance, a light show, a heart-felt video and speech from the oldest and greatest living glassblower in the world and my personal favourite hand-picked 70 live auction items selling for over quadruple the fair market value. Those paddles stayed high in the air and the night ended four hours later with a tearful goodbye and Pommery Champagne either on you or in you…the night was a success and topped $750,000. One week later on June 6, 2007, I was on a plane to Oslo.
Once I hit Oslo, the most expensive city in the world to live in and never really being able to speak Norwegian, I was hired to save a beloved business and offered an opportunity to run my own. I dove right into Norwegian culture and celebrated their national holiday as if it were my own. I remember laughing and hanging with a sea of blonde haired blue-eyed people, famous Norwegian celebrities and sport stars(sports I hadn’t even heard of), running into King Harald and Queen Sonja on the street and wondering how such a small country with so much money and oil could consume so many hotdogs and why they drank Aquavit? I met thousands of people there, shook a lot of hands and hugged a lot of people; I’m very social you see. And I recall helping people with their English and answering a million questions about America and all the while asking, “Hva faen, snakker du om?”
Now, if you could ever believe that Facebook was good for something, believe it. In mid 2009, I happened across a renowned Russian/Norwegian artist living in London that hailed from Oslo. We had many mutual friends according to Facebook and she’d moved to London right as I was landing in Oslo. I had even unknowingly socialized with many of her friends. She was touted as being one of the top ten highest paid artists in Norway, which is quite a feat, which meant she was quite talented and really cool. I remember our first interaction; she asked why someone like myself moved to Oslo in the first place. As she still tells the story today while laughing hysterically, I told her I was bored. This statement was half true, and at the time that I moved, I wasn’t completely clear on why I moved in the first place.
Nevertheless, the connection was art, culture and my apparent boredom. I decided to visit London and three days after being there, I was hooked and decided to join the Brits. Funny thing though, when I first moved to Oslo, Norwegians always asked if I would stay and retire in their tiny country and I always laughed and said that I would probably go to London, never really giving it a second thought. Yes it's true, I fell in love with London. I saw every site, went to the theatre, traveled from museum to museum, shopped in Paris, drank bubbly, ate foie gras, caviar and finally weaned myself off of the Hungarian Bakery outside my front door. I emersed myself into British culture.
It was then that I decided to pick up where I left off in the states and get back into fundraising. And then that talented painter that still openly makes fun of me about my move to Oslo asked me to be her agent. That maverick in me was still alive and kicking, sometimes unconventional, but always compelling and professional with a relentless thirst for results, said yes of course, this can't be rocket science! My last big high profile event was held in May, 2011 at the Norwegian Ambassador’s Residence in London and involved the South African High Commission, Diplomats, London galleries and museums, an Olympic Athlete, shipping moguls, press, major corporate patrons, a renowned and masterful artist and a room full of excitement and anticipation. As Winnie the Pooh said, “You can't always sit in your corner of the forest and wait for people to come to you...you have to go to them sometimes.”
With a million tales to tell, and life changing experiences as an expat, I'm looking forward to the next lifetime of experiences now that I’m a little older and wiser, a little more conservative, a whole lot funnier AND I can't believe I just used the F word and C word in the same sentence. WTH? As it does, life threw me another curveball about a year ago and for the first time something chose me. Currently, I'm gearing up to champion for an epidemic that affects everyone and one that can certainly be changed. ~ Kelly
