Les Borsai
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| Les Borsai | |
|---|---|
| Born | Laszlo Borsai 1968 |
| 🏳️ Nationality | American |
| 💼 Occupation | Financial and technology executive, music promoter and manager |
| 📆 Years active | 1987—present |
| 🏢 Organization | Wave Financial, SongLily, gridMob |
| 🌐 Website | Wave Financial |
Les Borsai (born 1968) is a Los Angeles-based technology entrepreneur, music promoter and manager, and advisor in the digital asset and music-technology industries.[1][2][3] He began his career in the music and entertainment industry, working in artist management and marketing, after first gaining recognition as a rave promoter in the Southern California underground scene of the late 1980s.[4][5] As a musician manager, his client list includes country singer Wynonna Judd, pop artist Jason Mraz, and the alternative bands Burning Brides, The Icarus Line and Unwritten Law, among others.[6][7][8]
In the later 2000s, Borsai became involved in digital music, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, co-founding the technology companies gridMob and SongLily.[2][9][10] In 2018, he co-founded Wave Financial, a digital asset management firm.[11][12]
Early life and career[edit]
Borsai was born Laszlo Borsai in 1968 into a family of immigrants and grew up in the city of Anaheim, California.[13][14] He recorded his early suburban life in a semi-autobiographical novel, The Death of Wizdem (2005).[15] Reviewers described it as a hedonistic, "harrowing and nihilistic" journey with stylized prose recalling A Clockwork Orange.[14][15]
Borsai first gained attention in the late 1980s as an early promoter of the Southern California rave scene and importer of British bands such as Primal Scream, The Orb, and Massive Attack for illegal underground parties in Orange County and downtown Los Angeles warehouses and other sites.[4][16] LA Weekly critic Thomas Kelley cites Borsai's 1991 "O3" event at the Long Beach Convention Center as notable for increasing the visibility of raves in American culture; the event headlined Manchester's 808 State with a guest appearance from Bjork.[17]
Faced with police and fire department shut-downs of his illegal raves, Borsai eventually turned to fully legal raves in collaboration with Avalon Attractions, an Encino-based concert promoter.[4][18] These events were larger in scale and venue than earlier ones; "Techno Flight One" (1991) featured performers The Shamen and Moby and took place at a Disney facility that also housed Howard Hughes's prototype wooden airplane, the Spruce Goose.[18][5][4]
Entertainment industry career[edit]
In the early 1990s at Avalon, Borsai shifted to music promotion, booking industrial groups such as Thrill Kill Kult, before he turned to rock music.[13][1] After stints at MCA Records and 911 Records, he moved into entertainment management at Bill Silva Entertainment, where he worked for five years, co-managing artists such as Jason Mraz.[19][5][20] After starting the firm Mediocre Management,[8] he managed alternative acts such as The Icarus Line,[21] Unwritten Law,[22] and Burning Brides,[23] among others. In the later 2010s, Borsai has managed country music artist Wynonna Judd.[24]
In the 2010s, Borsai has also been involved in television and film production as co-producer of a Fox Entertainment music anthology series in development titled Icon—with a season focusing on Naomi and Wynonna Judd[24]—and an unrealized Rob Zombie-directed film, Broad Street Bullies, about the 1970s Philadelphia Flyers hockey team.[25]
Technology entrepreneurship[edit]
In the later 2000s, Borsai became involved in the digital music and mobile technologies.[9] In 2008, he and Elias Manousos co-founded gridMob, a Los Angeles-based iPhone application company that produced "iOKi", a karaoke application that uses artist original and master recordings and offers studio effects.[26][2][27] The company launched iOKi with a "Lady Gaga iOKi" application in conjunction with the release of her album "The Fame Monster" in 2009 and a "Jason Derulo iOKi" in 2010.[26][27][28] In the 2010s, Borsai co-founded SongLily with attorney Jodi Chall, a company that offers a platform to simplify and reduce the cost of major-label music licensing for game and application developers.[10][6]
Cryptocurrency and blockchain industry[edit]
Borsai became involved in cryptocurrency in 2013, initially as an early investor in Ethereum, and later as an advisor in the music, gaming and digital asset spaces to technology companies, such as Ripple Labs.[29][12] In 2018, Borsai partnered with David Siemer—co-founder and CEO of the Los Angeles-based, venture-capital fund Wavemaker Partners—and investment executive Ben Tsai to form Wave Financial. He serves as the company's chief strategy officer, focusing on cryptocurrrency and the NFT market.[3][11]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mike Boehm, "Breaking the Ice to Develop Fullerton House," Orange County register, October 9, 1993, p. F2.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Antony Bruno, "The App Kings," Billboard, April 17, 2010, p. 22–5.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Shalini Nagarajan, " NFTs are to physical art what music streaming is to vinyl records, says a crypto expert who sees a whole new social world for digital collectibles," Markets Insider, July 21, 2021. Accessed July 12, 2021.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Steve Hochman, "It's All the Rave: The British import has taken hold in L.A.'s underground party and dance circuit," Los Angeles Times, January 5, 1992. Accessed May 4, 2021.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Simon Reynolds, Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture, New York: Routledge, 1999. Accessed May 4, 2021.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Hannah Karp, "Music Industry's New Revenue Stream: Videogame-App Makers," The Wall Street Journal, August 7, 2016. Accessed May 5, 2021.
- ↑ IGN Music, "Burning Brides Return For A Third Time," Articles, March 7, 2012. Accessed May 5, 2021.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Jane Cohen and Bob Grossweiner, "Les Borsai Opens Mediocre Management & Promoter Jesse Morreale Exits NIPP," Celebrity Access, 2004. Accessed April 14, 2021.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Jeff Leeds, "They've Just Got to Get a Message to You," The New York Times, August 15, 2007. Accessed May 4, 2021.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Roy Trakin, "Two New Breakthroughs Aim at Easy Music Publishing Solutions," The Hollywood Reporter, May 1, 2014. Accessed May 4, 2021.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Anne Steele, "Musicians Turn to NFTs to Make Up for Lost Revenue," The Wall Street Journal, March 23, 2021. Accessed May 5, 2021.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Roy Trakin "How Blockchain and Bitcoin Could Revolutionize The Economics of Secondary Ticketing," Pollstar, April 19, 2018. Accessed May 4, 2021.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Mike Boehm, "Ethyl Meatplow, Thrill Kill Kult: Sizzle and Steam," Los Angeles Times, September 1993.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Roy Trakin, "Weakend Planner Is Fixing a Hole Where the Rain Gets In," Hits Daily Double, November 11, 2005, Accessed May 4, 2021.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Adam Mince, "The Death of Wisdem, Laszio Borsai," Punk Planet, July–August 2006, p. 141. Accessed May 4, 2021.
- ↑ Cary Darling, "Promoter makes waves with raves," The Orange County Register, June 4, 1992, p. F4. Accessed May 5, 2021.
- ↑ Thomas Kelley, "West Coast Rave Pioneer Dennis Barton Brought a Punk Spirit to Live Electronic Music," LA Weekly, June 1, 2017. Accessed May 4, 2021.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Cary Darling, "All-night parties rise from ashes of disco's past," The Orange County Register, February 16, 1992.
- ↑ Billboard, "Executive Turntable," Billboard, July 16, 1994. Accessed April 14, 2021.
- ↑ Ben Fong-Torres, "First Call for 911 Records," Gavin, March 27, 1993.
- ↑ David Marchese, "L.A. Blues: Aaron North's Sad Descent From Nine Inch Nails to Nowhere," Spin, September 3, 2013. Accessed April 14, 2021.
- ↑ Adam White, "Unwritten Law to release greatest hits record in August," PunkNews, July 2006. Accessed May 5, 2021.
- ↑ Rodel Delfin, "Wheels & Deals: Always Bet on Black," Hits Daily Double, August 9, 2007. Accessed May 5, 2021.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Joe Otterson, "Fox to Develop Music Anthology Series, First Season to Focus on Naomi and Wynonna Judd," Variety, August 25, 2020. Accessed May 4, 2021.
- ↑ Mike Fleming, "Rob Zombie Targets Philadelphia Flyers Hockey Team For 'Broad Street Bullies' Pic," Deadline, June 19, 2012. Accessed May 4, 2021.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 Jesse Kincaid, "Like Karaoke? You'll Go (Lady) Gaga Over iOKi's iPhone App," Techcrunch, November 10, 2009. Accessed May 4, 2021.
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Chris Harnick, "Lady Gaga sponsors karaoke app to promote new album release," Marketing Dive, 2009. Accessed May 5, 2021.
- ↑ Radar, "Whatcha Say? Jason Derulo & gridMOB Put A New Twist On Karaoke," August 5, 2010. Accessed May 4, 2021.
- ↑ Edward Helmore, "Are cryptocurrencies about to go mainstream?" The Guardian, July 1, 2017. Accessed May 4, 2021.
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