Article in AMP Magazine, May 2009
Interview with Kristina Grossmann From ROCK FOR HEALTH
by:
DAN GONYEA
Posted on May 13, 2009 - 1:10 pm | Comments (1)
FOR AMP MAGAZINE
Think of any band that has been around for a long time, and the members will surely have stories of sickness, injuries, and accidents. Without the proper health insurance, many of them avoid hospital visits until severe issues occur. Behind the scenes, there is one person who is striving to put an end to this gamble in health played by musicians on every tour. Kristina Grossmann, the owner of Rock For Health, has stepped in to assist in musicians receiving the medical insurance when no one else will. Her partnership with medical organizations has provided hundreds of bands with a breath of relief, one less stressful thing to worry about in the toils of touring life.
Last year, you were at Bamboozle with Rock For Health, as well as the Warped Tour after that. How much success did you have, and how do you hope to reach even more people this year than last?
The first really big festival that RFH did was actually SXSW in 2008. We were invited 4 days before it started! It was such a whirlwind, but it was amazing. Many of the people that I met there I actually still work with today. As far as Bamboozle last year was, my main goal for being there was to talk to and inform as many bands as I could about the company, as well as hook them up with merch. I spent a lot of time handing out fliers and talking to crew members and other venders at the festival as well. Doing all of that was a huge success – I gained countless new supporters and was able to start helping numerous bands that played the festival. It was great – the company was still less than a year old then, and that’s exactly what needed to be done!
This year I am very excited about! We have a booth out in vendor/merch world, with the help of NakedEye Magazine, who has been really great to the company in helping spread the word. I’ll be releasing a new line of merch here and having signings with quite a few big name bands – information that I have not yet released to the public. I’m very excited to meet new band and new supporters of the company, as well as hang out with everyone that has helped the company get to where it is today! I definitely have a lot of things lined up this year that will attract a lot of people who have yet to be informed about the company.
Who do you hope people go see this year at Bamboozle?
Who to go see? For Bamboozle Left, I’m really excited about a band that was just added call The Limousines. If you haven’t heard of them, I highly recommend checking them out!
For Bamboozle in Jersey – Definitely No Doubt! Tragic Kingdom was the first CD that I bought with my own money back in the early 90’s… I am so excited that they will be playing! Everyone should also check out Bayside, Boys Like Girls, Cash Cash, Parkway Drive, Set Your Goals, Sonny, Billy Talent…. There are so many great bands playing this year.
Last time we talked to you, you had just finished the 2008 Warped Tour and had huge aspirations for where you would go next. What has happened since then with Rock For Health?
The amount the company grew while on Warped Tour last year was remarkable. RFH was rewarded with a grant from Kevin Lyman’s nonprofit – Unite The United – for being the most influential non-profit on the tour. If you think about it, RFH was the only nonprofit there that was specifically for the bands and crew members. The traffic towards the company has increased exponentially after this tour, and I made very valuable partnerships and connections with vital people in the industry throughout the 2 months on the road. We’ve had some very successful benefit shows and have been able to help hundreds of more bands with existing medical catastrophes – where they had an accident and are now strapped with thousands of dollars in medical bills. It’s so humbling to hear how much people appreciate what my organization is doing. I am starting to organize a RFH sponsored tour, which will be great. I’m also beginning to make connections with specialists, such as Ear/Nose/Throat Doctors, to initiate conversation regarding sponsored research of musician related illnesses. 
The Vans Warped Tour is a great place to start, but there are plenty of other large festival tours that happen through the summer and fall. Where would you like to go next, or will Warped Tour be your home-away-from-home for RFH?
I love Warped Tour. There is no other festival out there that allows you to reach 700,000+ kids in two months and travel with almost 1,000 bands an industry people. This will definitely be a staple tour for RFH. Other tours that are in the works are of course Taste of Chaos, The AP Tour, Bamboozle, Bumbershoot, SXSW, Cornerstone, etc. I’m also getting offers from bands to have the company join them on their own national tours, which will be happening in the near future. Get ready to see us everywhere!
How many artists have you worked with so far?
I’ve worked with probably around 300 bands so far since the initiation of the company. This number grows daily, as I am constantly getting emails from bands that have just found out about the company and are interested in working with RFH.
How has the general reaction been from bands to what you are offering?
Honestly, you could tell a band that they won $25,000 or that they could finally get health care and the reaction is the same. They tell me that their mothers love me (that’s my favorite!) Bands and crew members are so thankful and supportive upon first hearing about RFH, and it is seeing this that drives me forward to making this company better and better every day.
Have you received any critics/skeptics in the music world?
It’s funny – I had only one critic in the music world. No names to be mentioned, but he basically told me it made no sense at all for bands and kids to go to shows to learn about health care. He said that he didn’t understand the point of it. Regardless of hearing doubt and skepticism, I know what this company is capable of and I know how many people I have been helped and will help. People like that just push me to work harder.
At this point, who are the top supporters of Rock For Health?
Some of RFH’s biggest supporters are of course AMP, Kevin Lyman, Stuart Gilkison, Alternative Press, Anberlin, Story of the Year, Chiodos, Norma Jean, Bayside, Envy On The Coast, All Time Low, The Limousines, Ivoryline, The Audition… the list goes on! I can’t thank these people enough.
Are there any non-profit organizations from the past that inspired you to pursue this avenue of helping bands? Have you heard any support from other organizations as well?
I admire and support everything that To Write Love On Her Arms have accomplished throughout the years – they have been a huge inspiration to my company. Other inspirations are organizations such as MusiCares, Future Of Music Coalition, and Music Saves Lives. I have had a lot of organizations contacting me about working together. I get a lot of nutritional companies that are very interested in helping out with the nutritional aspect of the company, tapping into the music community. I’ve begun working with personal trainers and yoga instructors as well!
How supportive has MEDILINQ been with partnering up with you to provide insurance, and have any other health organizations showed interest in working with you in the future?
MEDILINQ is great. I love working with them and they have been very good to RFH and the bands. You can call them at anytime and get someone on the phone that will do anything in their power to help you out. I’ve been recently contacted by someone over at MetLife, which is great. I’m excited to see what will become of this in the next few months.
Do you encourage your artists to take proper precautions as well to avoid injuries/sickness?
A large aspect of RFH is preventative care and creating awareness. I have recently made a tour manual for musicians/crew that contains information in every major touring city of where free clinics are: hospitals, pharmacies, massage therapists, ear nose throat doctors, etc. Also in the manual you can find healthy diet tips, exercises that can be done on the road, supplements that are easy to find and how the help your body, warm up techniques (such as the Alexander Technique), as well as just general information about the tolls of touring on the body and mind. This is not an organization that preaches to bands about how bad smoking is, drinking, and drugs – I understand that everyone has pre-existing conditions, and RFH is here to help, not lecture.
When you have a tough economy like we currently have, the amount of non-profit donations may suffer. Are you noticing a slow-down of support? If kids don’t have money to buy shirts or donate, how else can they help the cause?
I always say a dollar a day helps keep the doctor away! It’s definitely been a bit more difficult to receive larger donations from investors, however – you must remember, this company is non-profit and everything is tax deductible. Thus, the state of the economy really doesn’t hurt the company too much. I’m really excited about my new line of merch – more than just t-shirts!
The little stuff goes a long way. Word of mouth has been a huge part of this company’s success. People can help by volunteering at shows, passing out fliers, adding our myspace page as your top friend, posting banners – etc. There’s a lot to do!
I can’t thank everyone enough for the support and kind words RFH has gotten. RFH would not be where it is now without you guys!
Thank you to Kristina for her work in the music industry. You can read more about Rock For Health at their website: www.rockforhealth.org
