Yet Monte, 57 (Republic’s CEO), and Avery, 55 (the label’s COO), talk about their past struggles with an air of reverence. They oversee a roster packed not with novelty acts, but with today’s biggest pop superstars. They’ve got a breathtaking view of Manhattan’s West Side and the Hudson River, not to mention an array of awards and a collection of memorabilia on par with the Grammy Museum’s.
In their current offices at the Universal Music Group (UMG) building on Broadway, they’re just a few avenues west - but worlds away - from that dingy first Republic headquarters. The Lipmans have scaled that peak and then some. But we said, ‘Let’s just go.’ ”Īvery (left) and Monte Lipman photographed Nov. 16 in Brooklyn. “We started on a track not realizing it was Mount Everest. “I think there was probably some benefit in not really knowing how high this mountain was,” recalls Avery with a twinkle in his eye.
BLOODHOUND GANG HARD OFF SONG RATING UPGRADE
Finally, the brothers could escape the subsidewalk apartment - and, Monte notes with a laugh, upgrade to a Times Square office previously used as a broom closet. Suddenly the Lipmans’ phones wouldn’t stop ringing with inquiries about the group and partnership deal offers. Then, a few days later, that break came: KROQ, the Los Angeles alternative radio juggernaut, had just played “Fire Water Burn” by the Bloodhound Gang, rap-rock goofballs who were the Lipmans’ first signees. Avery hovers his hand over its center: “This is actually where I filled out my Chapter 11 paperwork.” Roughly two years after launching Republic as an independent label in 1995 - spending every spare moment and penny hustling for a big break - the Lipmans found themselves on the brink of declaring bankruptcy.
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