NAMM 2018: Building the Team Around Austin Sexton
At NAMM 2018 in Anaheim, Dean Earls, Yasemin Denari and Daniel “OT” Marquez were among the early supporters helping build the team around Austin Sexton.
Official Playback LA news
ANAHEIM, CA - Long before Playback LA officially opened its doors, some of the relationships that would eventually shape the studio's Los Angeles chapter were already taking form.
During the 2018 NAMM Show in Anaheim, Daniel “OT” Marquez organized a series of meetings and conversations surrounding artist Austin Sexton, with the goal of building financial and professional support around the young artist's career.
Among those involved were music executive and manager Dean Earls and entrepreneur Yasemin Denari, both of whom would play important roles during the earliest stages of Sexton's professional development.
Earls had been introduced to Sexton through Marquez and quickly recognized his potential. He subsequently presented Sexton's music to Atlantic Records and began helping place him into professional writing and production environments.
But the support extended far beyond introductions.
At the time, Sexton's personal circumstances were unstable. Earls helped him transition away from life on the streets of Santa Barbara, assisted him in establishing housing in Los Angeles and began creating the structure and industry relationships needed for him to concentrate seriously on music.
Yasemin Denari also became an important early supporter.
Denari invested a substantial amount of money into Sexton's development, initially coming in as an executive producer on Austin's “In the Morning” music video, which she also financed. According to Denari and Earls, she later personally loaned Sexton a significant additional sum when he was experiencing financial difficulty.
The group photographed together at NAMM, seen in the photos below, represented several of the people attempting to create that foundation.
For Earls and Denari, however, their relationships with Sexton would eventually take a very different turn.
According to Earls and Denari, when Denari later asked Sexton to repay the personal loan she had made to him, Sexton refused repayment and subsequently blocked her across his social-media and communication platforms.
Earls says a similar pattern emerged later in Sexton's career.
After moving on from the team that had helped establish his early foundation, Sexton began working with another management group that volunteered its time and relationships to advance his career. According to Earls, that team ultimately secured an opportunity for Sexton to write with a major recording artist.
Once direct access to the artist had been established, Earls says Sexton again severed the relationship with the management team that had facilitated the opportunity and continued forward without them.
Seen in retrospect, the NAMM photograph captures an important moment.
It was a period when several people were collectively investing money, time, housing, professional relationships and personal credibility into giving a talented young artist an opportunity to build a sustainable career.
For Dean Earls, it was also another step toward the network of artists, engineers and entrepreneurs that would eventually converge around Playback Los Angeles.
Event context
The NAMM Show 2018
Anaheim Convention Center
January 25–28, 2018
