Backstage Pass will be released on 14th February 2024, and is said to detail the workings of the music industry. Written over a period of four years, Backstage Press exhibits Harvey Lee’s memories, whether it’s meeting some of the titans of rock, or piecing together a business plan for companies as noteworthy as Virgin and Microsoft. The book features the subtitle “50% Rock & Roll; 50% Business; 100% True.”
Guesting on a podcast (What Product Marketers Can Learn From Rockstars w/ Harvey Lee), the Manchester-born author offered an insight into his upbringing. “My story started in the music industry,” he explained. “I left school…Ended up in my late teens and early twenties being on the road working for [1960’s and 1970’s] bands.” The experience taught him the “business of music”, which served until he moved to London. His resumé included stints in the world of video game creation, as well as music.
The book includes run-ins with Trevor Horn, Mickie Most and Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke. The Stranglers’ very own Baz Warne has credited the book as his very own portal back into the industry he started off from – there were “smiles” on all pages. Lee’s metier includes working with Manchester favourites Herman’s Hermits and he even performed bass with the band. Indeed, it was the bass guitar that helped him own his personal mission, as he spent much of his youth playing in a fledgling hair-metal outfit.
The book promises to offer life lessons about his experiences. Backstage Pass follows works written by such esteemed managers as Harvey Lisberg and Miles Copeland. Copeland, like Lee, used his book as a way to explain his life philosophies [TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK: MY LIFE IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS]. “I’ve been in the industry fifty years,” Copeland admitted in 2021,”so I’ve come across many artists, some who succeeded, and some who failed. There’s a lot of lessons in there..My approach was to put in the lessons , more than say, ‘This is what I did.'”
More information can be found here: https://youtu.be/ab2y1UtPPhI
