Bennie Hurst's new music team unites Birmingham and Montgomery - Montgomery Advertiser

Bennie Hurst's new music team unites Birmingham and Montgomery - Montgomery Advertiser

Shannon Heupel Montgomery Advertiser

Published 8:15 AM EDT Aug 9, 2019

“Perfect your craft and don’t give up.” 

Words of advice from Bennie “Magic” Hurst (aka Bennie Hertz), a music producer and engineer based out of Birmingham who works with hip-hop and R&B artists at BOMB Productions. 

“I’ve been networking in Montgomery and throughout the state of Alabama for many years,” he said. 

Speaking at the Advertiser recently, Hurst said he’s creating something new here with three local producers: Lamar "Fiyah" Comer and Jay Howard (AKA Jay Black) of Montgomery and Clint Collier of Eclectic. Together they're called "The Union Music Group." 

“We’re going to start our own production company and work on television placements, major label placements, and some areas of opportunity that I see for other artists,” Hurst said. 

Comer said they're going to be focused on providing music for some of the biggest acts in the world.

"We're also trying to bridge the gap between different cities in the state," he said.

Howard, Comer and Collier all recently participated in the Levels Music Studio Camp this summer for Montgomery youths. Howard said he and Comer had already been working together for about four years. Collier has been with them for three.

"We've been doing our own thing as far as the production," Howard said. 

A call from Hurst changed that. "It was kind of like a dream come true to us, because we were watching him every day on Facebook," Howard said. 

Hurst is a mentor for many in the music business. He takes them to school through social media messages on how to manage themselves. Howard said he'd also been getting engineering lessons from Hurst.

“As creatives, we always focus on the creative side,” Hurst said. “You’ve got to learn how to master that creative side, but you’ve got to balance it with the business. I’ve always going to be a person who talks about owning your brand, owning your business.”

While they were watching him, Hurst had been following them. He liked what he saw out of Comer, Howard and Collier enough to suggest they all work together. 

"We were all kind of in the same place with it," said Collier, who has been making trips to Birmingham to work with Hurst. "He wanted to create a team, bring our strengths together and create good music." 

Collier said they're starting to create beats and tracks. "We know we're all in this for the right reasons," he said. 

The goal is to build and provide more opportunities in the area. 

"I just hope that we're able to help some more music producers and artists in Alabama," Howard said. "We really want to come back and help our state some." 

Follow the new group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/The-Union-Music-Group-100796504612009/ and on Instagram @theunionmg

Hurst's path 

It’s tough out there for independent artists. It really is, no matter what genre. They often have a dream, but no budget or direction to back it up. 

“Some of these people are seriously talented, but they don’t know what to do with their talent,” Hurst said. “They see stuff online that they think is the way to go, but they don’t realize how to get from A to B.”

That’s the way it was for Hurst early in his career. “I was at a point to where I almost didn’t want to do music anymore,” he said. “I was frustrated, trying to run my own label, and really wasn’t making headway. People knew who I was, but it wasn’t generating the type of income I wanted to make.” 

Then he realized that there’s a world of TV shows that need music.  He studied and learned the business. He made contacts. Because of that effort, his songs and instrumentals have been used by networks like MTV, VH1, Fox Sports and more.  “Recently just had some placements overseas in a movie and on a very popular Spanish network,” Hurst said. 

He has four main Birmingham artists he’s been working with at BOMB: R&B singer Kyoka (R&B), and rap artists Nina Chanel and Ant-Ski. There’s also hip-hop artist Mysta O.

“A lot of his hip-hop is more of the positive and youthful stuff,” Hurst said. 

He also records other artists at his studio. “I get clients from here. I get clients from Texas, Louisiana and Tennessee who come and record with me,” he said.

Giving clients the right mix of what they want and what they need is what BOMB stands for. It always comes down to putting together the best song, which includes making sure his artists are bringing the right energy and chemistry.

“For me, it’s all about putting the right components in the gumbo pot and making the best dish when it’s done,” he said. 

While Montgomery’s rap scene is underground, so is Birmingham’s. He’d like to change that.  “I think the key for us is to be able to establish some of our own platforms, so that we can put ourselves on a different pedestal to be noticed,” Hurst said. “Sometimes that’s tough in a city or in a state that isn’t really known for hip-hop or for R&B.” 

But it’s not impossible. For example, there’s rapper Chika of Montgomery, who recently signed a deal with Warner. “She is super dope. I would love to work with her,” Hurst said. “I’ve been following her for a very long time.”

Artists need great content. Then they need to find a way to stand out as they put that content out to the world. Without a big budget, it’s a process that starts through grass roots marketing and social media marketing. Learn and grow. 

“Once you’ve figured out how Montgomery works, then go to Birmingham. Then go to Mobile. Then go to Huntsville,” Hurst said. “Expand your radius and build your brand with the ability that you have. Learn how to convert that into dollars and invest in yourself. You’ve got to invest in your business.”

Hurst sees it as a four-tier system to monetizing artists. It starts with a community (Montgomery for example). From there, you gather an audience (people interested in your kind of music). Some in that audience become listeners (people who generally like your music), and from the listeners artists get a core group of fans.  The fans bring the money. 

“And then you go to a place where you can actually monetize them through merchandise, through shows, through content,” Hurst said. “There’s so many different ways that you can make money as a musician.” 

Though he’s a self-proclaimed “social media junkie,” and uses those platforms heavily, Hurst also recommends that artists have their own websites. 

“What happens if Facebook goes away?” he asked, comparing it to what happened with MySpace. “The only platform that you own is your website.” 

Keep up with Hurst online at bombproductions.net, on Facebook at Bennie Hertz, and on Instgram and Twitter at bombprod205. 

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2019-08-09 12:15:00Z

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