Michael Maska
- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Manager
Michael Maska is a 30-plus year music industry veteran who has been managing at Big Hassle for the past 16 years. His clients include the Woodstock based singer Adrien Reju, and the San Francisco band The New Up.
Mike began his music business career as a teenager, playing guitar in local bands in his hometown of Vineland, N.J. While still in high school he also worked at his local record store, the Harmony Shoppe, from 1972 to 1975. "It was a great time for pop music, especially R & B," Mike recalls. Selling 45s from great artists like Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Joe Tex, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Al Green, and countless other legends provided him with a great education in pop music. Mike had, and still has, a tremendous appreciation for all kinds of music which is reflected in his roster of artists today.
After graduating in 1979 from Temple University with a degree in American Studies, Mike made a short detour into the book business, his other great love in life besides music. In 1984, itching to work again in the music business, he took a job at Sam Goody, managing several different stores in the Philadelphia area before moving into their Edison, N.J offices. In 1986 he began doing marketing for all the East Coast stores, booking co-op advertising, working with all the major distribution companies and labels as well as independents. As the marketing coordinator, he also oversaw major in store appearances for the chain, working with artists of all kinds, from Pavarotti to Jackie Mason to Tony Bennett to Johnny Mathis to Kiri Te Kanawa.
In 1988 Mike was hired by Geffen Records as regional marketing manager for the Northeast. He worked at Geffen for eight years, enjoying some of that company's most amazingly successful years with the likes of Guns 'n Roses, Aerosmith, Nirvana, Counting Crows, Peter Gabriel, Pat Metheny, and countless others. Having risen to national field marketing director, Mike was recruited by Mercury Records in late 1995 as vice president of sales. "Leaving Geffen was difficult," Mike says, "but with Danny Goldberg at Mercury it seemed like a great opportunity to help in the re-building of a label that had been in the doldrums for some time." In his second year at Mercury, it all seemed to be coming together well with the success of Hanson, the alliance with Def Jam, and the deal with Capricorn which brought Cake and 311 to the fold. But in 1998, Universal bought PolyGram and Mike was one of nearly 3,000 employees cut loose at the beginning of 1999 as a result of the merger of the two giant companies.
With no intention of re-entering the world of major labels, Mike started Big Hassle Management to work hand in hand with partners Jim Merlis and Ken Weinstein. His first client was the iconic Rickie Lee Jones with whom he worked for two years, bringing her Grammy nominated "It's Like This" to Artemis. He also managed the versatile English singer Joe Jackson from 2000 to 2013.
Mike began his music business career as a teenager, playing guitar in local bands in his hometown of Vineland, N.J. While still in high school he also worked at his local record store, the Harmony Shoppe, from 1972 to 1975. "It was a great time for pop music, especially R & B," Mike recalls. Selling 45s from great artists like Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Joe Tex, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Al Green, and countless other legends provided him with a great education in pop music. Mike had, and still has, a tremendous appreciation for all kinds of music which is reflected in his roster of artists today.
After graduating in 1979 from Temple University with a degree in American Studies, Mike made a short detour into the book business, his other great love in life besides music. In 1984, itching to work again in the music business, he took a job at Sam Goody, managing several different stores in the Philadelphia area before moving into their Edison, N.J offices. In 1986 he began doing marketing for all the East Coast stores, booking co-op advertising, working with all the major distribution companies and labels as well as independents. As the marketing coordinator, he also oversaw major in store appearances for the chain, working with artists of all kinds, from Pavarotti to Jackie Mason to Tony Bennett to Johnny Mathis to Kiri Te Kanawa.
In 1988 Mike was hired by Geffen Records as regional marketing manager for the Northeast. He worked at Geffen for eight years, enjoying some of that company's most amazingly successful years with the likes of Guns 'n Roses, Aerosmith, Nirvana, Counting Crows, Peter Gabriel, Pat Metheny, and countless others. Having risen to national field marketing director, Mike was recruited by Mercury Records in late 1995 as vice president of sales. "Leaving Geffen was difficult," Mike says, "but with Danny Goldberg at Mercury it seemed like a great opportunity to help in the re-building of a label that had been in the doldrums for some time." In his second year at Mercury, it all seemed to be coming together well with the success of Hanson, the alliance with Def Jam, and the deal with Capricorn which brought Cake and 311 to the fold. But in 1998, Universal bought PolyGram and Mike was one of nearly 3,000 employees cut loose at the beginning of 1999 as a result of the merger of the two giant companies.
With no intention of re-entering the world of major labels, Mike started Big Hassle Management to work hand in hand with partners Jim Merlis and Ken Weinstein. His first client was the iconic Rickie Lee Jones with whom he worked for two years, bringing her Grammy nominated "It's Like This" to Artemis. He also managed the versatile English singer Joe Jackson from 2000 to 2013.