A chat with Blonde Records Founder, Rebecca Sansom

Chez Nous: Give us a bit of background about Blonde Records — how did it come about? And the name?

Blonde Records was a dream that came out of Blonde Artist Management. I was trying to find a big label for my talented roster and then found myself being super possessive of the music. Like, wait, I don’t want to share. After learning more about the process and getting enough advice from big dawgs in the industry I thought it was the strongest move to create my own label. The name Blonde is from Joyce Carol Oates novel of the same name about Marilyn Monroe. I feel strongly that if Norma Jean had had a support system like Blonde she might still be around today. 

What kind of services do you offer? 

With the management company and the label side we provide a lot of services for artists, mainly; representation, artist development, content creation, exposure opportunities, sync deals, style guide/look/branding consultation, distributor connections, PR services with our in-house publicist, and even real life media training in the form of being a correspondent on our new music news show! Which never hurts a resume, right? 

What artists are on your roster? 

Ok. I LOVE my roster. Even though our roster spans multiple genres, I’m a huge fan of all of the music we put out. Celeste Krishna and Monarchs is definitely our most established artist right now. We’ve been working on her album for over a year and are so excited to be currently releasing the singles and then the full album, My Blue House, on September 25th in partnership with Frances Lakshmi Records and Symphonic Distribution. You can listen to Wanna Be now (it’s even getting radio play! Shout out to The Syndicate) and Tides comes out August 7th. 

M the Myth is also recording a full length album this year. M is the reason I started a management company. They are a powerful songwriter and exquisite being. I believe in them so much that yeah, I based a career on their talent. I really think M could be as big as their idol, Lady Gaga. 

Goldilocks is what I call future famous. Which is a term I came up with to describe having “it”. You know what I mean? Like, you see Goldi perform live, you hear ALL of her tracks, you witness the swagu that she effortlessly embodies and you think she’s going to be famous, soon. Done. 

I also represent, Mesa Kronhaus, who I’ve been working with since the inception of Blonde. You can see her in our new Messy Mesa segment on the news. (Which is getting rave reviews). She’s based in LA and is a phenomenal actor. 

I’m really excited about representing DJ Father Space Cadet. Who is out of this world fun and talented 😉 Blonde is releasing the first single, America’s Funhouse, on August 14th through Symphonic. 

What do you look for when signing new artists?

What I look for in new artists has changed with experience. I used to go on recommendations and talent, but now I’m way more picky. I have to really love the music and the person behind it. But, the number one thing I look for after that is making sure they’re easy to work with. Pro-Tip: never go off on your manager or agent! 

What has your experience been as a woman in the music industry?

As a woman in the industry I’ve been really lucky to have met successful women with management companies, or who have represented big stars, give me advice. Like, Luke Bryan’s manager, Kerri Edwards, and Alicia Keys former manager, Erika Rose Santoro. I also follow Ty Stiklorius’ every move on Instagram, (major STAN). She runs the management company, Friends at Work, and I strive for Blonde to be like that company. Values based, light and positivity! Ty actually nominated me for the #womensupportingwomen challenge and I about died. I’d like to add that even though the challenge originated in Brazil from Ana Paula Padrao, when some claimed it originated because of the killing of Pinar Gultekin by her ex-boyfriend in Turkey. I’m glad the black and white photo challenge is bringing awareness to what’s happening to women in Turkey, nonetheless. During the pandemic more femicide’s have occurred in Turkey than ever before. You can learn more through, We Will Stop Femicide, a group founded by families of murdered women in Turkey.

What advice do you have for marginalised artists and entrepreneurs in the music industry?

Blonde is extremely passionate about amplifying marginalized talent. On our news show we feature an artist every week and we’ve easily been able to highlight women, LGBTQ+, and artists of color. It’s so hard for emerging artists to get seen and heard and celebrated for their immense work and talent, so providing a platform that does that has been really satisfying. My advice to those artists is to join our community!

My dream is to form a huge influencer network full of underrepresented indie artists supporting each other’s work and really boosting everyone’s music through that. 

Any big goals for the remainder of the year? Or things that didn’t quite happen as planned?

My goals for the rest of this god-forsaken year are to continue doing the news show every week. We’re celebrating 4 months, 16 consecutive weeks of the news, with next week’s episode! I did have a vision of putting on a music festival jubilee celebration full of talent from this amazing indie artist community, next year. It would be Left Bank Live, IRL! Dreamy. I mean, can you imagine? If everything goes according to plan with the election and a vaccine, next year could be full of happiness and music, and I am hoping Blonde and our artist’s will be a big part of that. 

I mean, I also had iHeart live sessions set up for M, Goldi and Celeste that were supposed to happen in March and April. I hope those still pan out. But, who really knows at this point? I’m a new member of The Recording Academy, so I’m hoping I can make more connections and get those exposure opportunities that we lost back on track, through that, as well. 

Any shoutouts for POC, LGBTQIA, and/or women-owned businesses? 

Yes! I’d love to shout out Fusha Dance in NYC run by friend of Blonde and amazing dancer, Funmi Chesney. They are offering dance classes in Forte Green park every Sunday at 2 and 4, and you can email funmidance@aol.com for more info. 

Finally, how can people get in touch with you?

People can connect with me through Instagram @blonde.records or email me at rebecca@blondeam.co