Michael Brown calls himself a “lifer” of the Little Rock nightclub and bar scene. The multi-talented Little Rock native and all-around nice guy just turned 40 last month. But for nearly two decades, Brown has been a constant in the central Arkansas nightlife scene, working at bygone clubs such as Firefly and Legends Sports Bar & Grill. And before he worked in the clubs, the Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School graduate attended them as a patron during teen nights at clubs such as Tugs, Wranglers and Reunion.
Off and on, and mostly on recently, for these past 18 years, Brown has worked at the Little Rock late-night club Discovery, booking and promoting shows there, supervising the club’s social media accounts, updating the club’s website, taking care of the visiting artists or DJing electronic dance music every other Saturday under his Big Brown moniker. But he bartends at Rev Room, too, between his Discovery duties. “If there’s a big show, I work it,” he says of his Rev Room schedule. He also oversees the River Market live music destination’s monthly Zodiac dance parties and promotes other shows there as well.
Q: How did you get into this life of promoting music, bartending and playing music?
A: My mother is an amazing woman and conceived me when she was 14 and had me when she was 15. My dad was a professional guitar player, so I grew up in Hot Springs motels and hotels and in the offices watching my dad play guitar. Him babysitting me was putting me in front of a Peavey amp. When I was in college, I became best friends with Aubrey Jones, who used to be the resident DJ [at Discovery] before everyone was a DJ, and you used vinyl and there was an art to it. At 20, a whole other world ago, when I was young and pretty, I was running low on money, and Aubrey said, “If you bartend at Disco, you can make money.” They were making $300 or $400 a night, and Discovery was open four days a week instead of one day a week. I started working construction [at Discovery] to get my feet in the door. That’s how I started. Then I worked security for about three or four months, and then a barback position opened, and I did that for about a year. I finally got into bartending and worked at Discovery for probably about four years and moved to Los Angeles.
Q: What did you do in Los Angeles?
A: Back then, there were only about three or four clubs in [Little Rock], and it was a different world, and I couldn’t get my feet in the door as a DJ. I was sort of hitting a lull. I moved out there and lived in L.A. for about four years and DJed all over and played some really big parties and all the big clubs. I worked at a place called Astro Audio Video & Lighting, and that got my foot in the door. Right before I came back home, I was a guest coordinator on the TV show Love Connection right on its last run.
Q: How did you come back to Discovery for the second time?
A: Norman Jones (Discovery’s owner) is like a father to me. [Discovery] needed some new juice, and that’s how I came back here. I work at Rev; I do this [here at Discovery]; I DJ. Just trying to put it all together, some of it for creativity and some of it for making the money and making ends meet. I’m real loyal. When it comes to Norman and Suzon [Awbrey at Rev Room and Stickyz], you’d be hell pressed to get me away from dealing with those two.
Q: Whenever you are promoting a show, what are you looking for in an artist?
A: It’s real hard now since all the big electronic guys are getting festival-based. It makes it real tough. If I see a flier for a show with Steve Aoki [an electro house musician and Grammy-nominated record producer], I’m looking down to about that third line [of acts] to see who is on tour with him. I get tours sent to me when they are routed and certain agents know I’m the guy in Little Rock, so if a DJ Icey is playing Dallas on a Saturday I can get him in at Zodiac on a Friday. I follow trends, too. I got a good network of people and my niche, which is the electronic scene. It’s funny; I describe myself as, “I’m a white guy who throws urban shows at a gay bar.” I like the characters in my life.
Q: What was it about electronic dance music that first grabbed you?
A: My dad was also the general manager of Discount Records, which used to be right across from [the University of Arkansas at Little Rock]. I grew up in a record store surrounded by Disco Jack [Jack Garner, the owner] and others. Even though I was born in the ’70s, I consider myself a child of the ’80s and MTV came out … and I got an urban experience at school and had metal at the house from my cousins being into Ratt and Mötley Crüe. It just sort of all meshed together. And skateboarding and breakdancing were my things when I was a kid. I also loved teen clubs. I lived in Greenbrier from seventh to 10th grade, and as soon as I got my car, I was driving down [to Little Rock] for teen nights at those clubs. That’s how I met Aubrey. And I always loved to dance, and I always loved women, and they go together pretty well. When I started [at Discovery], Norman would let me come in, and I’d go into the booth and learn how to mix. Nothing [gets me excited] like having a good set. I really, really, really, really enjoy the music. … The music is like the blending of life. At Discovery, we have the blending of gay, straight, black, white and all that. [Society is] multicultural, whether you want to accept it or not. It sounds cheesy, but it’s cool to bring people together through the power of dance. Discovery can’t be more of a melting pot. We got everything under the moon.
Q: Did the idea of a regular, 9-to-5 job ever appeal to you?
A: I went to college because my uncle was my biggest influence when I was a kid, and he was a male nurse. He worked three days on, four days off, and played golf and was married to a model. And I said, “That’s what I want to do.” But I got to college and my money was running out, and I found the perfect job where I made money, and I dropped out. I’m a lifer. It’s what I know.
Q: How do you describe the Little Rock nightlife scene when it comes to promotion?
A: It’s a very, very difficult market. Little Rock is a difficult market. I don’t really know why. I think it’s because we are a very, very large, small town. You have to pound out the promotion. That’s what I do. I’m a promoter. I’m trying to promote anything I can for anyone who is helping my livelihood. … If you are into something, you need to support it.