As someone working on the management, label, and digital marketing side of things in this scene, say what you will about Sublime and their impact on music they paved the way for a lot of bands. I have worked directly with Jon Phillips, A&R at Gasoline Alley who found and signed Sublime, who took inspiration from The Grateful Dead’s touring philosophy. I worked for 6 years with Sublime’s progeny Slightly Stoopid (Brad signed them when they were still in high school), as well as Rebelution and am going on 12 years with my good friends Iration. Rebelution and Iration were built on social media coupled with touring while owning all their own masters/publishing. They built their brands, businesses, fanbases, and radio in a way that most new artists can only dream of. While some of these radio hit indie bands can get millions of streams and licensing sync they sometimes struggle to sell 500–1000 tickets around the country, bands in this scene can travel nationwide several times a year including summer amphitheater tours.

My band Iration will have upwards of 15K fans show up to their shows at the Del Mar Race Track in San Diego where we are one of the most played artists on Spotify, Pandora, and radio. We just played 2 nights the Pacific Amphitheater (we sold out 1 night before show date last year). Our festival history includes Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, Hangout, Riot Fest, Bottlerock, Life Is Beautiful, etc. We’ve earned enough airplay that has some radio teams asking us behind closed doors how we do it. The list goes on. We may not be household names playing on every radio station, commercial, or festival… But we’re happy and the scene is continuing to grow and gain credibility.

So say what you will, I’m proud of Brad’s legacy and groundwork Sublime paved for the next generation of musicians.