David Fagin
We talk David's career as an independent songwriter, his battles with Napster, and live in NJ.
DAVID FAGIN – Not too many musicians can say they’ve penned a theme song for a major network, shared the stage with the likes of No Doubt, The Strokes, Alex Chilton, Echo and the Bunnymen and Duran Duran, hung out with Gene Simmons and Howard Stern, lectured on the business of music at Harvard, and testified on Capitol Hill on behalf of artists, nationwide.
Whether it’s writing an article for Billboard, the Huffington Post, penning the first music industry email to go ‘viral’ composing the theme to Jenna Elfman’s last sitcom for CBS, or spending ten-plus years in a van performing everywhere from London’s Camden Palace, to Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel, to a dive bar on the upper east side, David’s experience as both a touring/recording artist, as well as an advocate for artists’ rights (way before it was fashionable), make him one of the most interesting interviews, as well as one of the more unique artists you will ever come across in the music industry – both inside and out.
Google David and you'll discover The Rosenbergs, the iconic NYC pop-rock quartet which he founded and, due to band’s complete belief in changing the way artists and labels relate, saw David stumble into a career in which he received more attention for what he said than what he played. David’s bold and way- before-his-time career moves were even praised by artists such as Courtney Love, Gene Simmons, and R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe. Partnering with King Crimson’s legendary guitarist, Robert Fripp, The Rosenbergs’ business model helped pave the way for other artists to rethink the entire structure of how they did business and for both artists and labels to finally begin a serious dialogue about the possibility of “partnerships” - thereby giving the artist a share in the ownership of their masters, and, thus, better control of their financial futures, while allowing labels to benefit from additional revenue streams other than the simple selling of a plastic disc.
David’s solo effort, 2008’s “For Promotional Use Only,” was unfortunately derailed due to an unscrupulous manager. David returned in 2021 with Book of the Month Club a project that saw him reunite w/ his producing partner, Dan McLoughlin of The Push Stars (Something About Mary). If you’ve watched FOX, CBS, NBC, CW, BRAVO, MTV, USA, ESPN, etc., or shopped at retailers such as The Gap, Nordstrom, or Starbucks, odds are you've heard one of David’s songs and didn’t even know it.
To keep sane in these anything-but-sane times, David writes/records anti-Trump videos. His videos have been viewed/shared millions of times on Twitter(X). As an alum of Boston’s Emerson College, in 2014 David’s song, Boston Strong, was chosen by Citibank as the theme to the 2014 Boston Marathon. The folks at Starbucks heard the song and actually stopped their CD presses to add Boston Strong to over 8,000 stores, nationwide, and Universal Music released Boston Strong, from which, David and his writing partner, Jaime Hazan, donated all proceeds to the Onefund. Thanks to their efforts, David and Jaime were honored by the N.Y. Mets at Citi Field for being “Outstanding Teammates in the Community.” On weekends you can find David fronting The Counterfeiters. The best party band on the planet. Or, possibly The Wankers: The best Britpop (and Beyond) Tribute in the biz.
