San Antonio Sk8er Boi Turned Underground Concert Promoter: Growing up in San Antonio, TX, JohnSteven Garcia had two passions: skateboarding and music. As friends of his in the skater community found success booking local house and DIY shows, he set his sights on getting involved professionally in music. Since he didn’t play an instrument, he had to find another way into the scene: “If I can’t be the talent, I can get the talent.” Garcia’s opportunity came when a close friend who had been booking gigs said he was moving to Oakland and asked if he could help him out and take over. As he learned the ropes and made connections, he assembled a team and chose the perfect name for his company based on his extensive collection of skateboards and wall of broken skate decks—Brokenboard Productions. In the early days, focused more on doing everything out of love, caring about the local community, and making sure bands were taken care of, he resisted the word “promoter.” Yet as the business grew over the next 20+ years, he embraced the reality that he was quickly becoming the leading independent concert promoter in Central Texas. As Brokenboard’s Instagram page—which features promotional posters of hundreds of gigs—says, their aesthetic is “Beer. Whiskey. Shows. Friends. DIY. Good times.”
The Best in Indie Grindcore and Death Metal: One of Garcia’s early successes grew out of his time at the bar Rock Bottom, where he started as “floor guy” and bartender before beginning to book popular gigs—in conjunction with a major booking company—for touring grindcore and death metal bands like Phobia, Maruta, and Kylesa. While those genres became Brokenboard’s specialty, Garcia also booked post punk, garage punk, and dark wave experimental bands as well. One of the great joys of building his brand and being the “go-to” guy for these kinds of shows was having the opportunity to work with popular bands he grew up loving—including death metal groups like Deicide and Possessed and punk outfits TSOL and The Addicts.
Changes and Other Endeavors: With so many changes going on in the industry, it was inevitable that Brokenboard Productions would shift gears and slow down their once-relentless pace from three or four major shows per month to the current single show over two months. Garcia’s collection of just under 5,000 vinyl records led to regular work DJing everything from casual events to local ‘80s dance nights. “A good promoter is always in tune with the people he or she works with and the fans who fill the venues,” he says. “Everything comes down to who they want to see and fulfilling those wishes. I love that view I get from the side of the stage, seeing the crowd getting into the music, being happy and loving every minute of the experience.”
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