The year was 2014. Underground Music Collective (and its predecessor, Lehigh Valley Underground) was not but a twinkle in my eye. I was cobbling together odd jobs, still living at my parents’ house in New Jersey, and the only piece of the UMC platform that existed to that point was our now-Official Podcast, The Quinn Spinn.
Of course, I didn’t act alone in those early, rough-and-tumble years. The Quinn Spinn had a whole cast of co-hosts and recurring characters, led by me and my right-hand man, Scotty Rock. From 2013 through mid-2015, we got together weekly to record new episodes, all while trying to navigate various life circumstances including underemployment, college, and other tumultuous “real world” adjustments. We were all trying to find our way and, for a time, we all saw the show as something that could make that search a little bit easier.
Naturally, the “ready-fire-aim” nature of the show’s early days led us to some memorable adventures — and moments where we were definitely punching above our weight. One such instance took place in the summer of 2014. The show’s OG run was in full swing, and we were trying to come up with ways to help it gain greater traction — all while having no idea what we were doing. We had an interview with a guest scheduled in New York City, and after we finished, Scotty and I decided that we would hang out in the city just a little bit longer… with the intention of dropping demo CDs off to radio conglomerates like iHeartRadio and SiriusXM. We hoped that our raw talent would shine through the Sharpie-labeled packaging, and that we would be “discovered” on that day.
Ultimately — and fortunately — we didn’t pull the trigger. I worked for a Fortune 500 company in New York City, up until my contract expired at the end of 2013. From that experience, I knew in my heart that there was no way we (or our demo CDs) were ever going to make it past security. The heart and drive behind the idea was to be commended. The logic? Not so much.
Many years have passed since that day. Those early days of The Quinn Spinn ran their course, as all involved went in different life directions. I moved back to my college town of Bethlehem, PA in May 2015 and, by the start of the following year, was prepared to launch Lehigh Valley Underground as a way to support the local scene. A few years later, LVU would re-brand to UMC, and I’d move about 800 miles away to Nashville, where we’ve been building ever since.
Fast forward to April 2023. The Quinn Spinn’s tenth anniversary year is in full-swing, and UMC had recently launched a number of new projects to put us on the map. I had a prep call with the folks at the Passage to Profit Show, an iHeartRadio-syndicated radio show and podcast recorded at iHeartMedia headquarters in New York City. During our call, I was given the option to record remotely via Zoom, or head up to New York and record the episode live at iHeart HQ.
Knowing my — and our platform’s — history with the Big Apple, obvious choices were obvious.
The first person I called? My sister, who is a teacher and was on spring break. She was at the beach with my nieces and nephew. They all got to hear the news first-hand, and our collective excitement was palpable.
The second person I called? Another teacher on spring break, whom I’ve known for a long time.
I called Scotty Rock.
After sharing the news, Scotty and I quickly made plans to spend the day in New York — back, in a sense, where our Quinn Spinn journey began. I would do the interview, and he’d be there to capture some behind-the-scenes content. Fast forward about a month to May 17, and The Quinn and Scotty Rock were back in the city. This time, we had an invitation to visit one of the very media organizations that once seemed so out of reach — and which is headquartered a mere five blocks away from that Fortune 500 job I held when we started the show.
It will be 10 years this August since I hatched the idea to start The Quinn Spinn. On September 8, it will be 10 years since Episode #1. In that decade, we’ve experienced countless milestones, and as much (if not more) heartache. As they are on any creative journey, triumph and disaster have been equally important parts of this rollercoaster.
But… if you stay on the ride long enough, greater milestones will come. Even if you’re starting from absolute zero (which we did), there is a path forward. You might not know what it is, but I assure you that it’s there.
I share this story, because I hope it shows you that any idea — even the one you start with a Dell laptop and a USB mic in your childhood bedroom — can take you places you once thought impossible. Our ideas and experiences have done that for us.
With that, I present you with a behind-the-scenes look at our day at iHeartMedia headquarters, provided by the good folks as the Passage to Profit Show. Below that, you’ll find the full episode. I’m grateful to have had this opportunity to highlight UMC’s growth from the beginning, while joining in a discussion with other inspiring entrepreneurs.
I want to thank the entire team — Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart, Kenya Gipson, and everyone who made our experience at iHeartMedia one to remember.
And, of course, I need to thank Scotty for being the OG of OGs. This experience wouldn’t have been complete without him!