This interview with Al Damashek, the founder of Move Forward Music and a former booker at iconic New York City venues SOB's, Webster Hall, and Baby's All Right, is part of Hypebot’s In The Trenches series sponsored by venue, festival and promoter marketing solution Bandsintown PRO. The series features the unsung heroes who make live music happen.
Al is one of New York City's most influential independent music promoters and bookers, and has built a reputation for spotting talent before the rest of the industry catches on, having helped launch early NYC performances for artists like Kendrick Lamar, Doja Cat, Juice WRLD, Shaboozey, and Ravyn Lenae long before their mainstream success.
Here's our conversation. Enjoy!
Hypebot: Hey Al, thanks so much for taking the time. Can you just introduce us to your work and your career?
Al: "It started at a historic live music club in downtown Manhattan called SOB's, around 2007, where I somehow landed a Director of Marketing role as my first job out of college, and launched Move Forward Music out of that office in 2008. Move Forward's mission was to spotlight progressive artists and create spaces where diverse groups could connect through music."
In 2014, I was tapped by Webster Hall to revamp their long running Thursday club night, and our weekly House Party NYC became the biggest hip-hop party in the city, and a right of passage for artists looking to break a big record in NYC. In just a 2-year run, Travis Scott, Playboi Carti, Lil Uzi Vert, Rae Sremmurd, Bobby Shmurda, Tinashe and many more stars of the 2010's made their early waves in NYC at Webster Hall on Thursday nights."
I earned the reputation for being the first to book everyone in hip-hop in NYC, and Move Forward started to build a culture around artist discovery. From there, we developed scenes at Baby's All Right, Market Hotel, SILO, and many other rooms, continuing to spot talent early and provide platforms to launch their careers. Kendrick Lamar, Doja Cat, Ravyn Lenae, Tems, Shaboozey, and so many other amazing talents have blessed the various stages we've represented. We never gave up the mission."
In 2020, we partnered with Twitch to launch a live music streaming channel and continued paying artists to perform virtually throughout the pandemic. In 2026, we launched Sounds That Move, an independent culture festival that takes over 5 venues on one block in Brooklyn, turning Scott Avenue into an immersive music experience built around music discovery and community."
H: I want to talk about SOB’s. An NYC INSTITUTION since the early '80s, how did that experience shape you? Was there a weight of responsibility booking such a sought-after room like that?
Al: "So much culture runs through that space that it's hard not get inspired working in that environment. It wasn't only the artists but all the people working behind the scenes. I have to shout out Larry Gold, the owner, who still runs the place today, for giving so many talented young people the opportunity to launch their careers."
I had spent my teenage and college years trying to break into the music industry as a rapper and DJ, and within a few months at SOB's, I was on the phone with Gil Scott-Heron (RIP) and booking pop-up shows by Kanye West. I was learning about Fela Kuti and at the same time as having the opportunity to introduce NYC to his son, Seun Kuti, in concert. These were just the type of things that would happen there every week. I would see a Haitian band like Djakout Mizik or an act like Ferro Gaita from Cabo Verde and was so inspired to see the way they brought people of those cultures together."
I grew up in Brooklyn and didn't even know we had that many Cape Verdeans in NYC! And here is a room full of them singing in Portuguese, feeling all the pride of their culture and heritage. It was beautiful and it reminded me what was so great about New York and made me want to commit my life to creating those moments for as many people as possible. I had caught the live music bug and there was no turning back."
H: What do you look for in young talent, and is there anything you can do in your role to coax them through that growth moment?
Al: "I look for the signs that people are starting to coalesce around their sound, their energy, their identity, or what they represent in the culture at the given time. Today, a lot of that is data analytics like streams, likes and follows, but it also has a lot to do with who is working with them and who's talking about them online. I don't mean influencers because a lot of them get paid to talk about stuff, but I've spent a lot of time curating my network of trusted people that I follow and talk to."
So I know if a certain manager or agent is really passionate about an artist, or if someone I know has great taste is sharing it, that means something. I've always had a rule of three – when I hear about an artist from three distinct sources, I know there is something happening, and then I let my ears do the rest of the work. As far as coaxing them through the moment, I don't look at that as part of my job."
I'm singularly focused on creating the best possible environment for that artist's live show, especially if it is their debut in NYC. I'm going to put them in the right room, make sure their fans know about the show and can access tickets, book the appropriate local openers to support their vibe, put the production crew in place to make it sound pristine, and make the concert experience as seamless and stress-free as it can be from the moment they walk in the door til they exit. And I'm always going to make it feel like New York, put you in the right neighborhood, with the right people in the room, and the right food backstage."
That's what I do. When the curtain comes down, I wish them luck until I see them the next time in a bigger room, and get ready for the next artist's show."
"I've always had a rule of three – when I hear about an artist from three distinct sources, I know there is something happening, and then I let my ears do the rest of the work."
H: What do you love about live music?
Al: "The way it brings people together. You can be in a packed concert and there would never be any other circumstance that would put that group of people in the room at the same time. And there's an immediate camaraderie, because people base their identity around their musical tastes in a way they don't with movies or museums."
When you see someone at a concert, you know they are on your type of time. And then you all feel the bass hit your legs together. And you sing together. And you get to witness raw expression of human creativity and vulnerability bursting off the stage. It's a unique feeling. Part of my business plan when I started Move Forward in 2008, at a time when the music industry was reeling from mp3 piracy, was to invest in live music because you can't download that feeling."
Today in 2026, I would say you can't replicate that feeling with AI either. It's an intimate human-to-human connection that needed in the world, and that was proven after the pandemic when people came out in droves for live events."
H: Are live performance and touring is essential for artists today?
Al: "Yea, how else are we going to know for sure that you are not A.I.? Haha, seriously though, that human interaction is going to more important than ever. Things increase in value through scarcity. And we are in an era, sadly, where human interaction is becoming less routine and more rare."
You can build your myth online through social media, but you can't become a real life legend until people see you in the flesh. Also the experience as a fan, sharing that communal joy with a packed crowd is validating, and it makes you want to relive it through the music. I know I've streamed more Jay-Z since seeing him at Yankee Stadium than I have in the past few years."
H: So let’s talk about Move Forward Music - a team that produces, markets and live-streams experiences and events that build brands and impact culture. What did it take to build the community for this and launch this?
Al: "I've always been obsessed with moments, and the power that one simple interaction can have on your life or even the course of history, but at the same time, how once the moment passes, the world keeps turning. And I believe that live music has a unique power to create memorable, culture-shifting moments."
So that's what Move Forward has always been about. Identify the potential for a cultural moment, create it, treat every opportunity like its the most important moment in the world, then when the lights go up, the moment is over. We Move Forward no matter what. On to the next one."
H: And speaking about community-building, how does Live Nation and the monopolistic takeover of live touring impact work like yours in terms of building something big on a local level?
Al: "The nature of the business has forced me to get a lot more creative about where we do our shows and how to scale our business. I've doubled down on the emerging artists space, and being first to market with new artists. Instead of investing in one artist that I can scale with from clubs to arenas, I've put all my resources into building a culture around music discovery and nurturing spaces where new scenes can develop. Over time, we built credibility and trust and expanded into different genres and now are considered a go-to option for the first NY play."
As we scaled to larger shows, we had to find alternative spaces outside the traditional touring circuit. We started throwing concerts at St. Ann & The Holy Trinity in 2021 as an alternative look for artist to play a NY concert, and ended up producing Andre3000's first ever solo show, for his album New Blue Sun, at the historic church. After booking Chief Keef at Knockdown Center in 2020, we were hired by Spotify to produce a branded anniversary show for Finally Rich, and ended up working with them as an experiential producer on several projects."
Ultimately, Spotify joined as a partner for Sounds That Move, which itself was launched as a vehicle to level up independent venues by grouping them together under the festival brand, giving us more leverage to get shows and offer artist another opportunity after that first club moment."
H: What "go to" tools, strategies and platforms do you use to market shows?
Al: "The best marketing is a good booking. A well curated line-up will do more for you than any media platform. As far as communicating with the audience, shoot em a text. It took me a long time to embrace SMS marketing because as an old head I thought it to be invasive. It's not for this generation. People read and click through on text messages at a way higher rate than emails or even most social media promo. I still write my email newsletters, and create content for socials, but it takes time and money. Pound for pound, the best value in marketing right now is SMS."
"I know I've streamed more Jay-Z since seeing him at Yankee Stadium than I have in the past few years."
H: What it the state of the music industry according to your point of view?
Al: "The industry is in a bit of a rebuilding phase following COVID. This isn't unique to music, but the business came out super hot in the years following the pandemic, especially with festivals, and touring in general. From festivals to clubs, fans were buying all tickets and prices kept rising and more and more artists kept hitting the road hoping to cash in. VIP premiums and upgrades became increasing common and service fees exploded."
Over the last two years, we've seen that start to level out – artists at the very top are blowing out their on-sales, and artists in our world, on the club level, acts are still by and large attracting those early fans, but the middle is hollowing. After rushing outside for two years, a lot of people have reverted to indoor preferences and people are going out less and coming home earlier. Gen Z really needs an incentive to bring them out to spend money and the same old expensive festivals and maybe that one song they like isn't enough anymore. They want something more tailored to them and their tastes."
That's really why we built Sounds That Move. We wanted to create a different kind of festival. Instead of dropping people into one giant field, we created choose your own adventure format, with distict venues and multiple genres, in away that encourages artist discovery, intimacy with the fans, and different cultures interacting and exchanging reactions to music in a shared space. In our first year, 10,000 fans moved freely between panels, a daytime fashion market, concerts, and late-night club shows, and it really felt like we brought a lot of different parts of NYC out to enjoy something in unison, and we need that right now. We're already working on 2027, and I know it's going to continue to grow as more people catch on to what we're doing."
H: What’s your typical lunch order?
Al: "Cracked pepper turkey & muenster cheese, lettuce tomato, salt & peper, oil & vinegar, NO MAYO!!!"
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