DX: What’s the actual difference between being an A&R for a label and managing an artist who is signed to a label?
WG: It’s way different because when you A&R at a label the only thing that is really your job is making a great album. That’s it. I mean, you can do all of this extra stuff, help the artist out, go to the video shoots, help pick the photographers and all that stuff, but the job title description as the corporations know it, is making the album. As a manager, it starts with the music, but making the record is only maybe 25% of the entire job. There’s the managing of their everyday business, there’s the marketing side, there’s the touring side, there’s the publishing side, there’s a whole different gamut, because you’re running their [the artist’s)]company, and their company is one person.

DX: Are there ever any conflicts between the artist’s management and the direction that the label wants to go?
WG: All the time. I mean, not all the time, that’s unfair. For me, I make a tough manager for A&R people because I mean I did that job really well for a really long time. It’s a tough one because I’m not that person to just sit back and be complacent. I’m very picky with the beats that they get and who we chose as a producer, who we green light in the studio, I know every mixer, I’m your worst nightmare. [Laughs]

DX: [Laughs] Gotcha. That’s why I’m asking, for someone who’s done that side so well, now that you’re transitioning into the management side I’m wondering what kinds of extra expertise that your situation would enable you to have.
WG: I mean again, it has been good and bad, because I’ve had certain situations where the A&R departments have become complacent because I’m the manager. Like, “She’ll figure it out.” They might not send as many beats through as they should or do their job like they should because they figure, “Oh she’s got this.” And it’s like: “Yeah, but that’s your job.”  As a manager, I don’t talk to as many producers on a daily basis as I used to talk to, your whole day and the people you talk to and interact with changes.

DX:  What projects are you most excited about now?
WG: On the manager side, I work with producers and artists. So, on the producer side I’m working with the Underdogs who’ve worked with everyone from Chris Brown to Jordin Sparks. That’s been great because coming from the A&R side, that’s who you work with on daily basis all the time. It’s been great and really quite interesting, because they work with so many labels, so therefore I’m talking to A&R guys anyway. So the A&R guys who were my competition are calling me like, “Hey can I get in the studio with Damon and Harvey?”  On the artist side, I’ve got rappers that I really like, but I like to work with new people because you don’t inherit a lot of baggage. I was lucky enough to be able to start a management company and not have to turn commission checks right away, so therefore I can really pick who I want to get involved with and have it pay off a year or two from now.