Today we’d like to introduce you to Krystal Garcia.
Hi Krystal, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I started booking events shortly after college at the suggestion of a friend who needed assistance booking his band. Since I didn’t have any musical talent (I tried learning guitar – it didn’t work!) and loved talking about bands, it was a natural fit. In 2008 I joined forces with a friend and started K2 Entertainment. This gave me my first opportunity to book national and international touring acts like IAMX, Recoil (w/ Alan Wilder of Depeche Mode), Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and more.
K2 dissolved in 2013, and in 2017, I decided to go out on my own and create Distorted Heartbeat. The mission was the same – I booked several notable touring acts (She Past Away, Twin Tribes, ACTORS, Kaelan Mikla, Vision Video, and more) all while managing local darkwave act SEVIT.
In 2021 I was asked to venture a bit further and add flea markets to the events that I run. I had been a longtime fan of Lee Harvey’s monthly market, Flea Harvey’s, ever since I started attending in 2015 with my fiancé, Cameron Brand, who was the resident DJ at the time. The original founder, Milton Morris, passed in 2016, and the event changed hands a couple of times till I was asked to take over. Having already been a fan of the event and a regular attendee, it was kind of a no-brainer. Cameron and I made a couple of changes – most notably the addition of our good friend, Brian Weems aka DJ WildSide, and the Love Pit. DJ WildSide has a knack for feeling the crowd and playing to them. This keeps folks happy, shopping, and drinking! The Love Pit is a local, foster-based rescue focused on saving pit bulls – my favorite breed. Adding The Love Pit to the mix was not only my way of giving back to the community but also paying tribute to Milton Morris – he was a big animal lover.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There is nothing smooth about the music business and events road. My first ten years were spent dealing with a lot of egos and discovering what attitudes I will and will not deal with. Also not becoming discouraged has also been a challenge. You’ll come across a lot of folks who don’t have the same drive or interests you do. At the end of the day, you just gotta remember why you do something.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I book touring acts – both national and international – who want to make a stop in Dallas. Although it wasn’t planned, I have somehow come to specialize in post-punk music events. Right now, I’m most proud of SEVIT. I had a clear goal to help them gain national recognition. They’ve been written up in the Dallas Observer, Central Track (RIP), Post-Punk.com, and numerous other blogs. They recently underwent a full line-up change adding a new singer, and it hasn’t stopped them one bit. It always warms my heart to hear others say, “Yeah, I’ve heard of them!” I’m also quite proud of Flea Harvey’s and the regular staple it has become. It was just written up in the Dallas Observer as well.
I’d like to think that what sets my events – music or pop-ups – apart from others is my love of building relationships. I like talking to bands, DJs, booking agents, venues, and vendors on a personal level as much as professional. Just doing that sets the tone for the rest of the event, and if that event doesn’t do well financially, at least everyone will be able to say they had fun!
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Yes – keep going! Don’t just put everything on hold. Adapt. When live music was at a standstill, I took that additional time to build relationships with journalists, labels, and DJs. That culminated in a label deal for SEVIT during the middle of Covid of all things. Playing live is important for bands, but so is good PR.
Contact Info:
- Website: distortedheartbeat.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/distortedheartbeat
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/distortedheartbeat
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/distortedheartb
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLU3sHo-9GBG8fYb0kO-drg
- Other: http://tiktok.com/distortedheartbeat
Image Credits
Cameron Brand
