Today we’d like to introduce you to Amos Traystman.
Hi Amos, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
When I first moved to Austin, TX in 2008, I was a speech pathologist by day and a gigging musician by night. Shortly after moving here, I started Moontower Entertainment’s flagship band, Matchmaker Band, and realized that it was possible to make a living with music only. The band’s success was transformative for its 13 members and sent me on a journey to help transform the lives of other talented and deserving musicians who weren’t able to make it playing music full-time. Since then, our company has expanded into a full-blown booking agency with five award-winning party bands, hundreds of roster artists and an in-house weekly payroll consisting of 70+ full-time musicians, sound techs and lighting directors.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has certainly not been easy, but it has been very rewarding. I think the biggest struggle was that I never envisioned this being a career and neither did our original members. When the first band became so successful and allowed everyone the opportunity to pursue music full-time, we had to work backwards to essentially become a business, which meant implementing a lot of things retroactively that should have probably been in place before we even played show number one. It was a lot like building an airplane while it was already flying. But the journey has been awesome and even though it wasn’t perfect, it brought us where we are today so I wouldn’t change a thing.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I play guitar, and I love playing guitar, but my specialty is really in helping other musicians turn their talents into a livelihood. I am most proud of being able to serve this community of very deserving, talented, hard-working, and unique individuals who seldom have people in their corner really advocating for them. It is a role I take very seriously and have built the whole business around. We recently launched a campaign called “Keep Austin Musical.” We even have a billboard in North Austin off of IH-35. If you visit keepaustinmusical.com, you can learn more about our mission and how to get involved.
What’s next?
The future makes me excited and nervous. I see Austin changing in ways I never imagined, and the change is rapid. That is why we launched our campaign to #KeepAustinMusical. I hope people can get behind our mission and prioritize booking live music for events in the same way they prioritize the food and the booze. Austin calls itself the “Live Music Capital of the World,” and this title is definitely at stake. I hope live music will continue to be a part of Austin’s ever-changing landscape. Moontower Entertainment plans to do everything in our power to preserve Austin music and keep our full-time musicians not only surviving here, but thriving here.
Contact Info:
- Website: moontowerentertainment.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moontowerentertainment/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moontowerentertainment/
- Youtube: https://vimeo.com/moontowerentertainment
- Other: keepaustinmusical.com
Image Credits
Main photo 1 – Nicola Gell
Extra Photo 1 – Caitlin Rose Photography
Extra Photo 2 -Toopair Photography
Extra Photo 3- Photo House Films
