Morning Sock Studios
by Tim Wenger
Maybe they are really on to something here; ready to change the way the music business presents itself to potential customers. Maybe they are the digital age’s version of backyard graphic design. And maybe, they have been enjoying too many boat drinks and are unable to find their way to land, refusing to take the needle off that Jimmy Buffett record for fear of having to find one of those “real jobs.” Whatever is going on, husband and wife team Curtis and Shawn Gorlich, seem to be on to something with their graphic design and consulting company, Morning Sock Studios.
The company, which is run from the couple’s boat off the shores of Hilton Head Island, SC (and wherever else the current takes them) provides bands and music businesses with graphic design services, merchandising, business consulting and more, and are in the process of taking their campaign to the national level. “What we’re offering is helping these musicians on the business side of things,” says Curtis. “We don’t want to be their management, we don’t want to be their booking agent, we want to give them the tools to do this themselves.”
Curtis is an entrepreneur who has owned five different companies over the last 12 years. “We do graphic design and merchandising for the music industry, but we go a step beyond,” he says. “I finally got into doing what I’m doing now about six years ago, and we niched out to the music industry about two years ago.”
In addition to designing killer merch for your band, they specialize in thinking about the things that you forgot about. “A lot of bands don’t know about all the tax incentives that are out there,” says Curtis. “We are partnering with a good friend of mine, we are trying to put together health insurance and equipment insurance for musicians at a highly discounted rate.”
“We try and make it easy so that these musicians are able to have their own business and not have to rely on other people,” says Shawn. “A lot of them do not know about branding or design, and how important that may be in their music and how much money it can generate for them. We educate them on how important an identity is.” All of the services that they provide may seem a bit confusing to bands at first mention, but for serious artists that want to make a living, or at least promote what they are doing to their best ability while keeping their assets insured and protected, Morning Sock’s services are nearly essential.
The company is committed to working with only high-quality talent, and prefers to take the time necessary to do things right. “If [they] are planning a tour, they can’t come to us a month beforehand,” says Curtis. “Generally, we like about six months; that gives you three months to really create the image of that tour and three months of hardcore promoting.”
“We are sailing around on our sailboat and visiting new cities all the time,” says Shawn. “We believe that everyone should be doing what they love, and that’s why we want to help all these new musicians get the word out. If they’re successful, we’re successful.”
Check out www.morningsock.com for more detailed info on what they do, along with contact information.
Category: The Rock
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