Providing some of the best backlines and music professionals in the Austin music scene, Boss Radio Music Services is a sonic provider to be reckoned with.
Coyote Music: Why Boss Radio? I mean, let's start with the name. What's it mean?
Boss Radio Music Services: Here's the short version: Originally the company begun as Boss Tweed Backline. "Boss" sounded like a cool word, and "Tweed" is commonly associated with guitar amps. As a bonus, I remember in taking a history final in high school. The New York politician from the 1900's Boss Tweed and his work at Tammany Hall was something we had to read about. It was a prep rally that week, so the cheerleaders wore their cheerleading outfits to class, and had all kinds of messages of cheer written on their arms and legs. I remember looking around as we were taking the test, and got distracted by one cheerleader pulling up her skirt to reveal answers to the test written on her legs disguised as cheer phrases. "I love Boss Tweed" was prominently written across her thigh. To me, this could have been the cover of an album, and "Boss Tweed" subconsciously stuck with me. "Boss Tweed Backline" had a good syllabic percussion to it, and my business partner greenlighted this nod to history, rock and roll, and teenage stupidity. Years later, we merged with another backline company called "Capital Radio Backline" (named after a Clash song and referencing our capitol city). All parties decided to keep words from each former business. Voila -- Boss Radio Music Services. Long story, right?
CM: How'd the company start? Did someone just lend another band gear, and then it grew from there? Or was there a vision of a standalone business from the get-go?
BRMS: BRMS emerged as a matter of necessity. Ryan was tour managing Kadavar at the time, Buddy had the drums they were looking for, Alfonso was a mega fan of Kadavar. Dots were connected, Alfonso asked the question, "So if we bought a bunch of guitar amps, turntables, and drum sets, we could rent them out to people?" This turned into a heavy purchase order with Orange Amplifiers, which turned into us being the largest supplier of Orange amps at the time, which turned into Orange directly contacting us and sending us their endorsed artists for SXSW (Sleep, Mastadon, and a few others), which turned into those bands bringing us to festivals with them, which turned into festivals hiring us to backline their festivals, which turned into us needing a bigger warehouse, etc, etc, etc.
CM: Now, why Boss Radio? There are a few places around town where a band, venue, festival can rent a backline. What makes Boss Radio special, different, or better than the competition?
BRMS: There are plenty of great backline companies in Austin, and we often work side by side with them, cross rent equipment, throw each other gigs, etc. BRMS is purely operated by musicians, touring and venue crew, and the lot. That being said, we bring a personal view of attention to our clients along with a genuine enthusiasm to be involved with our clients and events. BRMS is personable, and comes with internal artist experience and compassion.
CM: What fuels Boss Radio beyond just the mechanics of getting gear on a stage for an event?
BRMS: We take big pride in making concerts as easy and low stress for the artist as possible. We've all been to those shows where the stage manager has no clue of what's going on, the backline is all busted, it's one hundred degrees, and everything is behind schedule -- and somehow you're supposed to ignore all of that, get on stage and put on an inspired and connecting performance to the audience. This all can get lost in the emails, spreadsheets, and checklists that get looked at. BRMS takes pride in bringing the artists' perspective back to production and do what it takes to make sure the artist is totally looked after and in the right headspace for the best performance/experience possible.

CM: What else does Boss Radio do beyond gear? Do you provide a sound engineer? What else?
BRMS: PA rental, staffing for tours and festivals, administrative logistics for festivals, artist consultation, amp/guitar repairs, tour van rentals...
CM: It's always fun to hear some of the extremes... What's the most kickass event y'all have been involved with?
BRMS: Our Viva Los Motos series was probably the most recent kick ass exploit we've been involved in (2021-2022). Full scale day party featuring bands like Municipal Waste, High on Fire, Red Fang, Duel and Greenbeard in the eye of a dirt bike ladened hurricane.
CM: And on the flip side, you don't have to name names or anything, but what was a total disaster of an event like?
BRMS: Haha. You can't avoid a shit show. It's gonna happen. It's all a matter of how you deal with it.
(Editor's note: what a beautifully phrased response, don't you think? Maybe that'll be my next tattoo.)
CM: Is there anything else about Boss Radio you'd like to share? Any big events coming up? And where should someone go to learn more about Boss Radio?
BRMS: [We've always got big things coming up.] Keep an eye on our socials for more details. And our website (bossradioatx.com) and Instagram (instagram.com/bossradioatx) are both great places to catch a vibe.