Nabil Ayers

Nabil Ayers is an American music industry entrepreneur, writer and musician. In July 2019 and again in June 2020, Ayers was named one of Billboard Magazine's Indie Power Players.[1][2]

Nabil Ayers
Ayers in 2019
Background information
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, writer, musician
InstrumentsDrums
Labels4AD, The Control Group, V2, Mercury, Barsuk
Associated actsThe Long Winters, Tommy Stinson, The Lemons
Websitewww.nabilayers.com

Since 2009, Ayers has been the U.S. Label Manager for UK-based record label 4AD[3] where he has led album campaigns for Grimes, Big Thief, St. Vincent, Purity Ring, Deerhunter, tUnE-yArDs, Future Islands, The Breeders, and The National, whose album Sleep Well Beast won the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.[4]

Ayers co-founded Seattle’s Sonic Boom Records store in 1997 with his business partner, Jason Hughes. Sonic Boom has been named one of the best record stores in America by Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal and SPIN Magazine, and has been profiled by NPR, The New York Times and The Seattle Times.[5][6][7][8][9] In July 2016, it was announced that Sonic Boom Records was sold to a longtime customer.[10] Ayers wrote a memoir about the store that was published in Seattle newspaper, The Stranger.[11]

In 2002, Ayers founded the independent record label The Control Group where he has released music by Lykke Li, Cate Le Bon, and El Perro del Mar. In 2018, Ayers founded the independent record label Valley of Search to reissue his uncle Alan Braufman's album of the same name. The label has gone on to release music by Tomas Nordmark and Patricia Brennan. As a drummer, he has performed with various acts, most recently The Long Winters and Tommy Stinson.

As a writer, Ayers has recently published pieces in The New York Times, NPR, People, GQ, Huffington Post and The Root.[12][13][14][15][16][17] His writing is often autobiographic, and touches on topics of music and race. In January 2020, Ayers signed a book deal with Viking Press to publish his memoir.[18]

He currently resides in Brooklyn, NY., where Brooklyn Magazine named Ayers #7 in a list of "The 100 Most Influential People In Brooklyn Culture.” [3]

References
  1. "Billboard's 2019 Indie Power Players: The Execs Behind Drake, John Prine, Lauren Daigle and BTS". Billboard. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  2. "Revealed: Billboard's 2020 Indie Power Players". Billboard. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  3. "The 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture". Brooklyn Magazine”.
  4. "See Full List Of 60th GRAMMYs 2018 Awards Winners". GRAMMY.com. November 27, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  5. "Sonic Boom | The Best Record Stores in the USA". Rolling Stone.
  6. Thompson, Erin (April 16, 2010). "Seattle News and Events | Sonic Boom Is SPIN's #5 Best Indie Record". Seattle Weekly. Archived from the original on August 14, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  7. "Seattle's Sonic Boom Records: Indie, But Not For Indie's Sake". NPR.org. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  8. Nelson, Chris (October 6, 2003). "Trying to sell CD's by Adding Extras". New York Times.
  9. "Seattle's 10 best record stores, in honor of Record Store Day". The Seattle Times. April 14, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  11. http://www.thestranger.com/music/2016/07/13/24335073/the-sonic-boom-yearsmemories-of-a-newly-former-seattle-record-store-owner
  12. Ayers, Nabil (August 9, 2018). "Coming of Age in the Loft Jazz Scene". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  13. Ayers, Nabil. "A Family Tree With Roots Deep In Slavery". NPR.org. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  14. Ayers, Nabil. "A 'Food Freak' Describes Losing His Senses of Taste and Smell, a Coronavirus Symptom: 'Disconcerting'". People. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  15. Ayers, Nabil. "I Want My Afro Back". GQ. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  16. Ayers, Nabil (March 29, 2018). "Discovering The Horror Of Klan Day At The State Fair Of Texas". HuffPost. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  17. Ayers, Nabil. "You Got a Little Soul in You, I See". The Root. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  18. https://twitter.com/nabilayers/status/1216850152687919104
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