Signing Story: Lindsey Stirling--Why She Signed to Gaga's Mgmt

Air Lindsey

Date Signed: March 15, 2013
Label: Lindseystomp Music, LLC
Type of Music: Dubstep/Electronica/Classical Crossover
MGMT: Troy Carter / Atom Factory, [email protected]
Booking: ICM
Legal: Serling, Rooks, Ferrara, McKoy & Worob, LLP, http://srfllp.com
Publicity: Jim Merlis / Big Hassle Media, [email protected]
Web: http://lindseystirling.com
A&R: NA

Lindsey Stirling had to make a key decision at a very young age. She had an equal love for the violin and dance, but her parents couldn’t afford lessons for both. Thankfully she chose violin but eventually decided to pursue dance on her own. As the years progressed she wanted to try and integrate the two.

Stirling explains, “I always thought I wanted to do something a little more than just stand there and play my violin. I wanted to engage the audience.” So, while in her teens, Stirling taught herself to dance while playing the instrument. She says, “It was very awkward at first but it was part of an expansion for me.”

“It was all about taking what I’d already built and making that bigger.”

Stirling later posted videos of herself performing on YouTube. Filmmaker Devin “Supertramp” Graham caught one of her early videos and saw something there. They collaborated on a series of projects and posted them on Lindsey Stomp's YouTube page. The results were over-whelming where, to date, she has tallied over 284 million hits and has nearly 1,600,000 subscribers.

Based on the strength of her video following, doors began to open. This led to a multi-city US tour to soldout crowds. To expand and grow, Stirling felt it was time to find a management team for career assistance. Her lawyer put the word out and a number of companies heeded the call. But it was at first overwhelming to the artist. “Every time I met with somebody I just felt more and more confused,” says the violinist. “My language is creativity. And when I met with Ty [Stiklorius] and Troy [Carter] from Atom Factory it was cool to hear them understand that. They weren’t about signing me to a record deal right away. It was all about taking what I’d already built and making that bigger.”

Lindsey Stirling’s eponymous new full-length disc is out now.

By Eric A. Harabadian