Robert Steven Williams
Against the grain
By RYAN DORAN

When a young Philadelphian, Robert Steven Williams, camped out for a week in line for Who tickets, it was only a precursor of the place music would take in his life. He is currently the owner and president of Against the Grain Productions, a public relations company advising numerous small businesses on strategy, marketing and Web activity. He is also on the board of Westtech Research, a leading wireless technology consultant based in Palo Alto, Calif. As a music-obsessed youth, Williams became the first person to go to college in his family, attending San Diego State University. Throughout high school and college he played guitar for a variety of bands. His love for music suited him when he became head of concert booking at San Diego State. “It was great – I was even able to book my own band as an opener for the acts we booked; it was 1980 and I was booking punk bands,” said Williams. “I had to go in front of the board at San Diego State and say why it was important to do punk music and why it’s part of the culture. That’s where I got the bug.”

Williams, 49, had put himself through college and couldn’t afford to go through the intern stepping stages at a record company, so he got a job at an air conditioner company and began to attend Harvard University Business School.

“I wrote a song on the application,” said Williams. “I don’t know if that’s what separated me or what, but at the time I didn’t think about it, I just did it. I didn’t know anyone who’d ever been to Harvard, I’m there with one guy who’s a prince in Saudi Arabia, and seventh-generation kids that are there, and at first it was very intimidating.”

Immediately after graduating from Harvard, Williams co-wrote a book: “The World’s Largest Market: A Business Guide to Europe.” The book became a bestseller and allowed Williams to land a dream job as an executive at EMI Records in London.

After living in London for four years Williams became involved with EMI’s retail branch, the HMV Group, and was charged with HMV’soperations in America. He moved to Westport in 1993.

“In 1998, HMV was trying to buy out Tower Records and the deal fell apart over $20 million in a $680 million dollar deal,” said Williams. “All of a sudden, they decided to shut the operation down and laid off everybody. I got a nice severance and said, You know what – I could go back into business or I could start something myself.”

Williams started his own company, called Against the Grain Productions, a public relations and marketing strategy consulting company. He also used the company as a place where he could pursue his writing and music.

“It’s funny how if you stay true to what you’re into, it can blur together,” said Williams, who works closely with real-estate and pension companies.

“HMV Record stores came out of England and I was part of a team that brought the stores to the U.S.,” said Williams. “I was on the board of directors, in charge of marketing, store design and real-estate. I did some big-time real estate deals in the city. The experience allows for when I sit down and pitch GVA Williams (a Connecticut real-estate firm) for the business. I’m not just a PR guy I know what’s going on. It’s a funny six-degrees thing.”
Stevens released his first album in 2005, aptly titled “I am not my job.” He recorded the entire disc in his basement studio and received some positive reviews and marginal success.

“The title of that CD seems to resonate for a lot of people, whether you’re a truck driver or a school teacher or a lawyer,” said Williams. “Whenever you go to a party people ask you what you do and some people are part of what they do and can’t separate it, and for others it can be very complicated. I love working with my clients and PR and it’s all great stuff, but I’m not really a PR person. I’m a lot of different things. At one point in the day I’m this and when I’m at Georgetown Saloon playing they don’t know anything about what I do during the day.”

 

While making his CD two years ago, Williams studied with Nashville musicians like Roseanne Cash, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Rivers Rutherford, Jeffery Steele and Chuck Cannon. The group put him in touch with 615 Music, the largest commercial music production house in Nashville. Williams now does artist scouting for the company, donning yet another vocational cap.

“If I hadn’t had the experience at EMI to where I was doing real estate stuff, I wouldn’t have been prepared to do the music publishing deal that I did with my music and 615,” said Williams. “From that thinking outside the box, I didn’t just go do a deal for myself; I went and said I know a ton of great musicians, so now I’ve got 60 or 70 songs in their catalog.”

He stays active and timely in music-related ventures. Along with 615, Williams is currently working with the famous underground music venue CBGB.

“It’s very funny how it’s comes full circle,” said Williams. “I was looking to CBGB to see what was happening in music in 1980, and now I’m working with them.”

Williams says keeping his hand in the world of music may have yet to bring him financial success, but it has kept his professional career tuned and contemporary.

“There is no money and I’m definitely making a lot more money in a day writing press releases for folks and working on strategy than I will all year doing my music and writing, but you know, I love this,” said Williams. “If I hadn’t been a musician and hanging out with my alter ego on MySpace I wouldn’t know as much about new technologies and the aggregation of information. Because I’m actively involved in this stuff I can tell my clients how these programs are going to work for them. Being a musician and being creative has really kept me young and in tune with what’s going on because I’m actually out there doing it.”

 

 

 

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