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The Lowdown: Jay Harren - founder of Downtime

by Jack Stovin +, September 3rd, 2011 and has been Read 2493 times.
Last Edited by: Jack Stovin September 3rd, 2011.

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Founded by music industry professional, Jay Harren, Downtime is a simple way to connect an artist with causes they believe in and want to support while on or off the road. From years of experience with working musicians, Harren realized that while they certainly work hard while on the road, touring musicians have some extra time on their hands. Whether waiting for sound check, traveling between venues, killing time before a press interview, a lot of free time exists while on the road. So, the idea was formed for each band to give a small portion of that extra time toward something good. The whole program will exist in a very simple and non-intrusive way on the bands personal Facebook page, eventually also having a personal page on www.mydowntime.com. If the band does not currently support a cause, Downtime will help them choose the perfect one. If the band already has one in mind, Downtime can act as a simple place for their efforts for that cause to exist online. Downtime is merely an easy, low commitment way for these bands to use their time and voice for some good.

AltSounds caught up with Jay to find out a little more info on the concept of Downtime...

Hi Jay thanks for doing an interview for AltSounds.

AltSounds: What does your downtime consist of? I can imagine being a former A&R manager at Columbia Records providing very little downtime?

Jay: Being an A&R guy at such a large label certainly kept me busy, so yes, very little downtime, but ultimately if we really think about it, there's something we all can do for the good of society, even if it's just helping raise awareness for a need out there.

AltSounds: Was that an intense job? Living the dream though right, New York City is a huge place for the industry.

Jay: A&R is rare in that you can't hide behind another department at the label if a band, song, or album doesn't connect with the world at large. It's extremely transparent--you're as good as your last signing, so in that regard it was intense, lots of pressure.

AltSounds: Where are you hoping My Downtime will be in the next few years?

Jay: The goal is to have at least a hundred bands signed up and active by this time next year. Our platform currently lives on each individual artist's Facebook page, and it will continue to be there, but we're building out mydowntime.com which will contain even more content, actions for fans to engage in, as well as a few more bells and whistles.

AltSounds: How long have you been thinking of setting this up for? Has it been an overnight idea or did you always have something in the pipeline?

Jay: Its been brewing for two years, I was on tour in England with a band I signed, and it struck me how much time they had on their hands. They worked very hard, and took their gigs very seriously, but they were simply bored a lot of the time. The travel between venues alone was mind numbing for me, and I was only out with them for a week. I started wondering what it would look like if touring musicians donated a small portion of that time to a cause they believed in. The key is for them to plug into the cause in very practical ways, and social networking seems to do the trick.

AltSounds: Do you have any choice in these "causes" that the bands are supporting? Say if an artist was to support something really controversial, would you still go with their choice?

Jay: We like the band to pick a cause because they're likely to be more passionate about something they choose versus something we ask them to support. A lot of times artists will pick something they've been personally affected by. If they don't have a cause, then we help them out by providing a list of charities and non-profits that might resonate with them. We then make the connection for them, and determine practical things they can do to help out. It's not our place to judge the cause our artists choose, we simply ask them to use some of their free-time to help make a difference in an area that means something to them.

AltSounds: Appart from the fact that Facebook is pretty much the biggest website on the planet, how come you chose to create applications through Facebook the site for the bands?

Jay: We decided that that is where the fans already exist, so why ask them to head to another site or location? People are bombarded by new sites, new social platforms all day, so we wanted to go to them. It's not however, limited to Facebook. As I said, we're building out MyDowntime.com to work in conjunction with our current platform.



AltSounds: Do you have any sneaky exclusives on how the artist profiles are going to look?

Jay: Some of our artist's pages are already up and running-here's an example:
GROUPLOVE - Downtime | Facebook

AltSounds: Could there be a My Downtime festival in the future, raising money for the charities that each band support?

Jay: I love that idea! We plan on having a presence at festivals in the coming seasons--CMJ, SXSW, (Reading/Leeds?!) etc. For now we'll probably stick with that, and then look to doing our own

AltSounds: Bono loves his good causes, you reckon he would ever work with My Downtime?

Jay: I cut my teeth (that's Yankee for "grew up") on U2 albums--they were my first exposure to pop music--Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, Zooropa and yes, even Pop were game-changers for me. Bono's leadership in the social causes realm is an inspiration for all. It would be an honor if he paid even the slightest bit of attention to Downtime!

AltSounds: What causes do you support personally?

Jay: Since I had the awakening that artists could donate some time to charities, I realized that I myself wasn't supportive of one, so I made the creation and development of Downtime my cause for now. Supporting the artists that support a huge network of good causes. Hopefully I'll have a hand in making a difference that way.

AltSounds: What are your thoughts on the London riots that have effected the music industry? Have they affected you in anyway?

Jay: While I wasn't personally affected by the loss of property that took place due to the riots, it was awful to see the amount of senseless violence in an otherwise extremely peaceful part of the world. My wife is from an area just outside of London, and we both watched our TV in disbelief as people looted and seemingly went crazy before our eyes.

AltSounds: Thanks for taking you time out to speak with us. Is there anything else you would like to say to the AltSounds readers?

Jay: Thanks for talking to me! We're excited to forge ahead and begin to recruit bands from the UK and other parts of the world. If any readers know of artists who this might resonate with, by all means let me know!