Focus: Lyle Hysen and Bank Robber Music
by Carol Varney, BAVC Director of Development
Today’s blog post is brought to you by the serendipity that is the airport shuttle van. It was on such a van leaving the Sundance
Film Festival for the Salt Lake City airport that I, by chance, met Lyle Hysen, founder of Bank Robber Music - an indie music licensing company. Lyle was at Sundance because he was one of the music supervisors for the film Choke, which screened at Sundance and was subsequently bought by Fox Searchlight (one of those “rare” success stories from Sundance this year. Or so they say).
On a recent trip to New York, I had the opportunity to sit down with Lyle at his office on Wall Street (according to the security guard at the front desk, the piece of art on the wall in the lobby cost $3 million, and she didn’t think it was worth it) to ask him about Bank Robber Music, how it started, and his thoughts on indie music in big and small budget features, television shows, and documentaries.
Before we started talking, Lyle warned me that our conversation would be full of swear words and that the conversation might sound a little disjointed, but I thought it all turned out ok. You can decide for yourself . . .
How did you decide to start Bank Robber Music?
Lyle: I was at Matador Records for 10 years running their publishing company and doing their licensing work, and when my wife and I had our first child, Charlotte, I realized that I wanted more flexible hours and to have screaming children as assistants. So I eventually left Matador to start my own company. I consider founding the company to be a post-birth hormonal decision. My very supportive wife encouraged the idea, and now I get to work with all kinds of bands and labels that I like.
Add comment March 31, 2008
