Artist Friendly with Joel Madden - Elliot Grainge - Part 2

Episode Date: August 20, 2025

On this week's episode of Artist Friendly, Joel Madden is joined by Elliot Grainge. As the CEO of Atlantic Records, Grainge embodies the very ethos of “Artist Friendly,” promoting a hands-off approach and trusting the process. Before stepping into that role, though, he was releasing independent music through his label ⁠10K Projects⁠, founded shortly after graduating from Northeastern University (using ⁠money earned from flipping an apartment⁠ in Boston). Over the years, he’s signed a slew of talent, including ⁠Ice Spice⁠, ⁠iann dior⁠, and ⁠Trippie Redd⁠. During the episode, Madden sits down with his brother-in-law for a rare and personal conversation. They dive into family, fatherhood, and the music business while reflecting on love, loss, resilience, and what it takes to build a lasting legacy. ------- Listen to their Artist Friendly conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify.⁠⁠⁠ ------- Follow Artist Friendly! IG: @artist.friendly TikTok: @artist.friendly YouTube: youtube.com/@artist.friendly ------- Host: Joel Madden, @joelmadden Executive Producers: Joel Madden, Benji Madden, Jillian King Producers: Josh Madden, Joey Simmrin, Janice Leary Visual Producer/Editor: Ryan Schaefer Audio Producer/Composer: Nick Gray Music/Theme Composer: Nick Gray Cover Art/Design: Ryan Schaefer Additional Contributors: Anna Zanes, Neville Hardman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

And here is part two. He showed an interest in it at a very early age. You know, I became obsessed with music. I used to, on the weekends, I used to beg him to take me, my dad to take me to, there was a vinyl fair in Olympia Stadium. But like a flea market? Yes. Oh, that's cool.

And it was all these really old sort of like British vinyl collectors. They'd be trading vinyl. and I had the Sex Pistols is one of my favorite, is one of my favorite bands. And I remember I was 11 or 12. I can't remember. I shouldn't have been listening to the Sex Pistols, but I was.

And I'd go and I would trade the... 11 and 12-year-olds are listening to Much Worse Now. Yeah, I know. That's also very true. But we're talking about punk rock, you know, sort of anarchy in the UK, you know, bodies, you know. I mean, that was, that was it. 19707 sex pistols, that was as punk as it got.

And so I used to collect all the vinyl. So I grew up around, not just the executive side, but I grew up with a real love for music. I used to read the lyric sheets. I still collect vinyl. Yeah, and you're going to the vinyl market and you're talking to these old and young vinyl collectors. I was a kid.

Yeah. I was a kid. And, you know, I have a couple of hours and, you know, my pocket money would be spent there. Yeah. And so, you know, you can't, you can't fake that. So I think probably my love and my traction towards the business, I love working with artists, I respect artists, I find with artists they've been through their own pain.

And they're able to sort of transmit that into their art, whether it be painting, whether it be songwriting, whether it be recording. And I connect with that for whatever reason. And maybe subconsciously it was a way for me to be even closer with my dad. which is impossible because that's what he's doing every day so i want to do what he i want to copy him i want to do yeah you look up to him he was your hero that's like every kid and then there's the family tree line with my grandfather with my uncle so we always say there must be something in the blood maybe that's true yeah i would think i would just say there's probably something to that i just love music

i love working with artists i love learning and i think what i've done and what we've done and we talk sort about that in a in a little bit just have to surround yourself with people who that are smarter with you. You know, we always talk about team. Team. You know, your team is incredible. Our team is incredible. You know, when, when you hear these sort of record execs or entrepreneurs, you know, or I built this and this is how I did it, you know, sure, you've got a vision, you see something great. But, you know, you have to, you have to have an incredible team. It takes a team. No one can do it alone. That's a great way of getting a little glimpse. I know that there's a lot more to it. But getting a glimpse.

of your childhood to go to now, right? Now I'm sitting with a 30-year-old, 30? 31. Oh, you look so young. Uncle gray hairs, now. 31-year-old, head of Atlantic, also founder of 10K projects, which is one of the most successful independent record labels. We could go into the stats. They're staggering. What you did there, a company you started in college. Yeah. Okay, so you start this company. in college. In my mind, I go, okay, I see the, I see the line now. Of course you would start that company. You better start that company because if you're not doing that, you're just fucking around

and wasting time is what I say to my own son. I want you to do what you want to do, but do something. Yeah, it's purpose. Don't waste time. Yeah. Time is our most precious resource. I think every man needs purpose as well. I think that's very important. It doesn't matter to your point. It doesn't matter if you're if you're you could be painting you could be writing poetry but do it with purpose and with some belief in yourself yeah take it serious whatever take yourself serious something gives you agency that's right purpose that's right it's i'm going to wake up tomorrow and and do something that to me is the most important thing what you started in college what would become 10k and the company we all know today very successful that inception when you started that company in college that was the most

important thing you did because I'm sure it was disorganized. I'm sure you had to learn a lot. I'm sure there was a lot of things to learn. I'm sure you thought it would be one thing, whatever, like all of us. You were somewhere and you did something with purpose, with a vision, and now we're sitting in your real life. And it's all foundationally built on what you did in college with this idea. I'm going to start my own company. And I only say this as a parent and I say it as a guy. who also comes from Maryland and didn't have family in the music business and had to find my way through this very confusing business and make my way. And on the other side of it, I know how hard I've had to work to get to where I'm at. And I know who I respect. And it has nothing to do with

where you're from. It has everything to do with what you've done. And I look around at people who work hard. I just, I want to surround myself with smart people who work hard and who are honest, right? Like just tell me who you are, what you can do. It's refreshing when you meet someone who's, who's, and that's how you've always been since I met you. But knowing your story and looking at how you've operated, I just am very proud of you because at that point, you're in college. Your dad has probably had at that point ton of success in his own career. You've watched that. and you're probably now at this point you're over here in America, probably living in L.A. If I'm timing it all right.

We moved here in 2010. He's been at the same company for 40 years. Right. And so his company relocated us as a family in 2010. So I finished my high school, junior year and senior year in Los Angeles. And then from there I went to university in Boston. Right. So that had to be wacky coming to L.A. in your set.

It was very, it was sort of. back and forth. That could also derail you, but also what you could have done is become wishy-washy. I tell you what it did. So university for me, it allowed me to really embrace my independence.

Right. So I would book nightclubs. I book tables at nightclubs. I would for other people. So you were hustling in college. I was hustling. We were putting live music events on with the Berkeley School of Music.

Right. And so it was something that gave me purpose. It was something for me to do. do. And I would get income from that. I was able to save money by doing that. And that was the sort of the revenue that we were able to create. And I was able to create from hustling. That was the first dollars that I was able to invest in into 10K. Who was the first artist you signed? First artist I signed was asked called Rio Cragon, incredible, incredibly talented songwriter and artist.

it doesn't always work out. He went on to do great things and worked with incredible artists. It was very early on. Yeah, that's how it goes, especially when you're early in a company. You think you're further than you are, but you don't realize it until looking back

at the limits you had and the moves you were trying to make in the early stages of the company that you weren't really there yet, but that's how it goes. I actually saw your commencement speech when you went back to Boston and you gave the graduation speech

this, uh, this past spring and I thought it was really good. I thought it was like it was nice to see you give a place so much credit for what it, the influence it had on your development. It's a great, it's a great school. What school is it? Northeastern. Northeastern. It's a great school. I tell you what it was. It was, I think it was Boston. It was Boston for me. It was a city. Yeah, it was, it was a total college town. You could hustle if you wanted to hustle. And it was also in a time I started in 2012, finished in 2016, it was a time online where artists were able to self-upload.

And so it was the beginnings of SoundCloud. And it was fascinating to watch artists for me, I think for the industry. And the young people who were sort of online at that time, especially in college, they were able to see all these incredible artists, self-uploading, gain traction in in real life. They were able to see correlation through data through, you know, they put a song out of this day

and it had 50,000, 60,000 spins or plays. And in that same time, their social media accounts, whether it be Instagram or whatever, Facebook went up 30, 40, 50,000 followers at the same pace. So we were able to sort of, I was able to look at that and go,

something's happening here. And I think it was a time and place. I was able to sort of, see what was happening in real time with artists online and create a business around betting on artists through not just the data, but there's something there, they've got something. This is incredible. You see excitement around it. You see engagement around it.

I also think, though, what's very special about you being kind of contained in that dorm room at that time with your background, right? So you grew up in school. You grew up in the school of the music business. And essentially you had a lot of history in this brain. You had a lot of information about the foundational parts. But what you had in that room, in that dorm room and at that school, was real world research. Oh, what are they doing?

I see them. I see how they're doing. And I see what they're talking about. And what you were uniquely positioned to see was, oh, this is changing. The actual institutional part of the music business, doesn't see this yet. No, absolutely not. I'm out here in the trenches and I see it.

And they're going to see it in three years or five years, however long, I can't guess. But this is coming and it's not. No one was looking there. I think that's exactly right. Well, there were two things. So I was very lucky on the timing, as you say, being in college, having the time, being able to understand data online. Well, let me just point out.

Luck is one way of putting it. And I do think it's important to point out, like, you could have also been drinking and like not looking and trying to exercise that part of your brain that's like, how do I organize around this and create something here that wasn't here, right? So all I'm saying is, is like a new business model is not an easy thing, right? So it's not sexy. It feels so easy because it was right in front. Because it also makes you feel excited.

Yeah. But most people don't see it that way. Yeah. Well, I don't know how to do that. That's really hard. and who would. So all I'm saying is, is that you were uniquely positioned

with your background. I'll take that. But I'll take that. You did have to choose how to spend your time at college. And what I respect is what I hope my kids do as well is go forth into the world

and do something versus sit around, wait for other people. Yes, we all love to go out and have a good time. There's nothing wrong. We're going out and having drinks, but if you can build a lifestyle where you're always working because you're doing something

you love, you can actually build a real life where you get to enjoy everything, but your priorities have to be right. I'm just saying that to say, for people listening, they're building businesses, they're building families, they're building, you know, everyone has their different dreams, things that are important to them. The main through line, though, is you have to show up every day and work. You don't just get to have, it doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter who your dad is. It doesn't matter where you're born. It doesn't. I don't care what anyone says.

Because I see people who were born with everything as far as money goes, shoot it all up or store it all up or drink it all up and not do shit. I see people who were born with nothing. Shoot it all up. Drink it all up. Not do shit. Same. There's plenty of people.

I think it's how you're wired. You know, you want to see opportunity and you want to, and you want something that gives you purpose. But you also found a game you love to play. And that's also the thing that I think is like, entrepreneurially, we have to be playing a game we love to play. Yeah, absolutely.

Well, look, so I think, I'll take that. So I think part one is right place, right time. Part two is I've been in America for a few years. And so I'd met people through that sort of network of where my dad worked. And so what I would do is I'd hit them up. And they would always be very polite. they would respond on an email. I've cold email sometimes.

But they passed on everything. Every single thing. People didn't get it. And that's really how 10K was born. You're like, well, I got to do my own then. Yeah. But I mean, if you think about it in that period of time, from sort of 2015 to 2019, SoundCloud was in its own sort of, it was the punk rock platform.

It was. At the time, you know, you had artists like little pump and trippy red and XXXTentacion. and the list can go on. I think Billy Elish was found on SoundCloud. Post Malone was found on SoundCloud. Some of the most iconic artists still today, they came from self-uploading. Right.

And it turned into a really important business. And I think the whole ethos for 10K as an independent was we needed to give artists who were discovered through these mediums where they were able to self-upload. We needed to give them creative freedom. We needed to give them commercial freedom. Where if they wanted to wake up, drop a song, they could do that. And there was no one telling them, no, you can't do that.

And I think within youth culture and within the industry, we became known as their disruptors. So I'm an amena. And like my music, my hair changed with me and has to be able to continue my rhythm. For so, Potion Nine, of Sebastian Professional, has all what my hair needs. Nutrition Profunda

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kind of become a disruptor when everyone's kind of you know passed on everything you sent them

I know that feeling MDDN's a bit of a disruptive company absolutely well I would say that in in 20

well let's see 25 years since our first record. 30 years as a band. All the experiences we've had. And I told you when we, when we said, we're going to make this record. Well, actually, we played your wedding. That's where the record started. That's why it's called Motel DuCap, which is one of the greatest nights of my life. It was the greatest nights of my life. Isn't it great? That was amazing. It was the best one. You guys were amazing. It was great. It was such a good, such a good night and such a good show. When we actually set forth and started making the record, and then we actually said, oh, we have a real

record here. This isn't like some side project shit. This is a real fucking record. I think of guys playing it to me. Started coming together. And then it made sense to do the record with 10K because we had worked with you on a couple other things. Right. We'd inadvertently we'd work together. And we found that 10K was the best team we'd worked with in years. Like we'd found at MDDN across a bunch of things. We found your team to be reliable. you know, and very hardworking. And they optimize. So they really do share information quickly. And like there's a way of working where there's no, there's no filler and there's no fluff.

We just get to it and we work. And so that's refreshing to be able to connect like that. And then as me and you, me and you meet, we become friends. We have a great working relationship. And then obviously, so it makes sense for us to collaborate wherever it makes sense, right? because it's a natural for us. And then we made this good Charlotte record, and I said to you, the only way I want to work with you is if you and your team hear this record

and you buy in. You want to be a part of this record. Otherwise, all good. I know you're going to be rooting for me either way, right? And then you guys come back and you're like, we want to work on this record. We love that. The stuff that you played,

it was unbelievable. We were seeing it now. And it's been the greatest record label experience that I've ever had. as an artist. We've got the best team in the business. You guys have a great team. Do you think that the story,

since you've gone into Atlantic, you're changing the way the modern record label does things subtly. It's not like it's a switch. It's like a dial that you keep, you know. And I think that like, we're disrupting.

There's no doubt we're disrupting. So it's funny. Because we come from the independent background with no catalog, your team has to be very entrepreneurial. So our team, they're very entrepreneurial. You know,

I can't name all of them. You know, our team is, I think it's the best in the business. My partner's Zach and Tony. Yeah. You know, I mean,

we're all entrepreneurs. And so when you don't have catalog to sit back on, you got to create. You've got to, you know, in terms of survival. Yeah,

you've got to break, yeah, you've got to break songs. You've got to break artists. You've got to put wins on the board. So how do, do you manage now what was one entity to, I would imagine it's a hundred times the amount of conversations and relationships you have to manage? It's, it's a lot, but that's what I know

what to do. What you love. Yeah, it's also, we have the most incredible team. You know, we work sometimes 16, 17, 18 hour days if we have to, we just do it. We like to win. And also, it's not just work. You know, I've got to give credit to, I've got to give credit to my wife. She's the most incredible partner. On a personal note, she's my biggest fan. She's, she's, she's my cheerleader. We're each other's biggest fans and cheerleaders. And if I'm stressed with work, which, you know, I sometimes get, she'll sit me down. She doesn't have to have a talk with me. I just know with her. She's just like, look, you're going through at the moment. Just take it easy. Take it easy. And chill the fuck out. Yeah, it's sort of she can, she's a great level. She can sort of say, look, it's, it's,

don't worry about it. You're okay. Turn, turn the brain off. Turn your brain off. Sometimes I find it very difficult to turn my brain off. She'll just say, just, just turn your brain off. You're okay. Isn't it funny too? Your wife, my wife are similar, like things we could get excited about. They have zero interest in. Yeah. I could say so and so called, they want to come on the podcast or whatever. And she's like, great. Yeah. Like she could give a fuck. They've seen just, if you're, happy. They've seen so much. Nothing impresses them. They're desensitized to like the shininess of something. But they're happy that we're happy. They're happy. We're happy. And like like even Sophia, she'd be like, go off, King. That's exactly right. Like she doesn't care. She's just like,

are you happy? All right. That's all she cares about. That's it. She's beautiful. She's the best support system. And Eloise, you know, when I see her smile, it's, it's like a, she just recharges the batteries. That's it. Game over. She's time, time stops. When I'm with her, when Safira and I get some really, you know, our favorite time with Eloise is sort of, it's after bath time.

It's right before she goes down. Bedtime's always the best. Bedtime. And time stops. Yeah. You read a book to them or you're like hanging with them. Yeah, that's it. I miss that.

That goes away. I wish it didn't. It's sad. It makes me really sad. I used to love bedtime. I try never to miss bedtime. Well, now we get to play Fortnite. We do play Fortnite.

We are formidable. Two dubs last night. Zero build. Zero build. New map. Sometimes OG. Always OG. And we got two dubs.

Last night. Yeah. Benji's going to kill me for saying this. Benji is the worst Fortnite player ever. Benji is the worst Fortnite player ever. But we somehow we win with him. We win with him. Because he's like the honey pot.

He revives us. Yeah, he goes out. He goes out. He goes. He goes. And he like takes the hit first because he's like, I'm joking, you're not, you're not, you're not that bad. You're not great, but you're not that bad.

To be fair, he spends very little time on Fortnite. I know. But me and you, I would say we probably play twice a week. Yeah. But put a bunch of weeks together and you get pretty good. Do you know what? And on the weekends, I would say, like late night weekends. Sparrow was the one that reintroduced us to Fortnite.

Yeah. It was Sparrow's fault. Yeah. And then he got off of it. Yeah, but he should. Do you know what? We called him Lord of War for a period of time. Yeah, he was a real God, wasn't he?

He'd get 20 kills a game. 20, 25, 30 kills a game is insane. Yeah, it's not normal. You and I get one or two. Last night, that last game we played that we won, I had double-digit kills. That was one of the best nights of my life. It was.

That was one of the best nights of my life. It was. Even Benji got a few kills. They were probably bots. Yeah. It doesn't matter. It was probably bots. You and Sophia have a great thing.

You're one of them. my best friends as you was you know she's she's my best friend she's the best i love her i hope we represented her to the best we could on this uh on this show because i just i i'm i'm so damn protective of her and the world can be such a mean place and i never wanted her to feel that part of the world and i knew she would because i knew where she was growing up and i saw it coming you know like there was there was no way that sophia wasn't going to be a big old star because she's just too special. She's got...

She's got something. Yeah, I see her and Nicole, they're very similar. Like, there's just no way that she wasn't just going to be a big old star because she's just so... She's an old soul, Sophia. She is an old soul. You know, she, I think we're old souls. Yeah. She's an old soul.

She's seen a lot of life. And ultimately, she, I mean, she's probably the most loyal person. He is. I've ever met. You sort of, with Sophia. people have seen her for many years online. And they've got this, there's this perception of her.

She's beautiful. She comes from Hollywood royalty. And she's this style icon. She's very chic. She's all of these things. She is. To me, she's just my Sophia.

And I'm very lucky to, I'm lucky to have her and be with her. She's tough. You guys, she's the greatest. The two of you wouldn't, last with anyone else. You're both very strong, both very dynamic, both very opinionated, both very driven in your own ways.

You're a good match. I think it's the same with me and Nicole. I think that we're interested in different things, but we both, we match each other in our enthusiasm for the things we love and our dedication to the things that we love. The kids are the real centerpiece of the family. I think they've always been our. priority, which I think is our, so it's on like our, on what I would say is like a, maybe like a righteous path. Yeah. I like to think I'm a righteous guy, but I don't know if I

actually would be if I didn't have these kids and this wife. You would. You know, I think I would be, but like, you would. I do know that. It heightens it for you. It gives me like a true, what's the word, like a North Star. Yeah. To look towards always. Like, and if it doesn't line up with that, it doesn't line up. So it's easier to make decisions because my family has to be in line with that decision. I mean, with you and your career, you knew what you were taking on, and maybe you didn't completely know. But when you took on Atlantic, you knew what that job was going to cost you. And you probably had to have a talk with Sophia about it. And you guys had to come to some understanding of what the commitment was going to be in the early years of this. Like, you knew that

the first two years of that shit was going to be a grind. It's always a grind. Look, she, I remember discussing it with her. She's so supportive. She backs you. She's just so supportive. quality. And since the humor, I would say Sophia's funnier than I am. Yeah. She's better than she's, she's smarter, funnier, she's better looking, she's cooler. And Nicole. She's, she is so much better than I am. I can't begin to tell you. I don't even know why she's with me. Well, I'll tell you why, because you're real. It's hard to find. A real motherfucker is hard to find. a guy who will get up every day and be himself and go out and just fucking try. That is what I have with Nicole.

She's funnier than me. She's way more stylish, more beautiful. You're a handsome guy. I'm a good-looking guy in my own way. Because he's beautiful. But you're a handsome guy. Let's, you know. I would have relations with you.

I know you say that. And I mean I appreciate you saying that. But I think I have. actually don't think I'm handsome. I think I have an authentic, you're a good looking man. You're a good-you-dochrist myself up good. You give Zaddy. You give Zaddy energy. A little bit. But I do think part of that is the woman that I married, I grew with her into my, and into, if you look back over the years, it's not that I was always really stylish or anything, but I did evolve. And a lot of that was my wife. I think I just, like, I think she rubbed off on me. She's got style. She's got

She's classy. But I would say the same thing about your wife. I'd say the same thing about Benj's wife. I do think there's something to marrying someone that's almost you feel like they're more a match. Like I do feel like Nicole outclasses me. She's smart. She's quick.

She's funny. She's got heart. She's got an unshakable integrity. She makes me laugh. And she's funny as shit. I think Sophia is very, like her and Sophia, they match each other's levels. Like I think Sophia is the same. She came up in the Nicole school.

Right. Like, she's like direct line. If my daughter follows in Sophia's footsteps and Nicole's footsteps, I'll be very proud. I want her to go her, whatever which way she wants to go. And I think that's like exactly what they did. So when I say following their footsteps, I really mean just being herself and just being that, you know, that strong sense of self that they have. I see it with her.

She has it. all that to bring it back to you. One of the things that I wanted to talk about today and we did was I wanted to give Sophia her flowers. You know what I mean? She deserves them. And you give them to her. You know,

and you really do give her a lot of credit. But it's, I think it's important. I'm also very private. You know, I'm not one to talk a lot. I don't post on social media. Yeah.

This is the most public thing I think I've ever done ever. Did you enjoy it? I did because I was with you. And I love. the podcast. I'm a fan of obviously from you. I discovered it because of you, but I love artist-friendly. I love what you're doing. You ask gentle, decisive questions, but there's almost like a, there's something quite therapeutic about speaking with you. It's one of the reasons why I just love to call you every now, then just talk shit. Yeah, we, we, it's almost like therapy. It's like

free therapy. We had that relationship, and I think that's what a friend is. I think it's someone who wants the best for you. I don't know, man. I just, I think it's important for me to to wrap this up, to say how much I love how you roll. I love how you move. I love how you carry yourself. And I respect all the work you've done. And I'm just excited for the next 10 years. You know, I'm excited to see what you do not only at Atlantic, but the broader music business. It's not just about our job. It's about the artists we help. artists we find, the things we do. That's what it's all about. Yeah. It's just about helping

artists. Thanks, bro. Thank you. See you tonight on Fortnite. See you. I love you. I love you. Thank you for listening to Artist Friendly. We really appreciate it. If you like the show, you can also follow us on Spotify. You can follow us on Instagram at Artist.Friendly. And you can watch us on YouTube and Veeps.

Leave comments. I always read them. See you next time.