Henderson “Hendo” Cole is not only the founder and managing editor of The Alternative (a long-running independent music blog), but he’s also built a career as an entertainment lawyer with some pretty impressive clients.
In this episode, we get into the stuff musicians usually learn the hard way: when an attorney actually becomes useful, what contracts can quietly shape the next 10 years of your career, and why negotiating early matters more than most people realize. We also talk about some of the behind-the-scenes of running The Alternative like the experience of launching a Patreon, managing a team of writers, and the tension between chasing views vs serving a smaller group of true diehards.
As always, we get into Hendo’s mixtape, which features songs by artists he’s worked with, plus the stories behind them, and then we play “One For The Road” to close out the show. Enjoy!
More on IG: @getalternative http://instagram.com/getalternative
The J-Card is presented by Rue Defense Tape Club, a quarterly, mail-order cassette compilation and DIY audio project. Each episode is part music discovery, part oral history, part hangout show. We ask artists, musicians, filmmakers, and other music-minded folks to build us their own personal mixtape and talk about the moments and memories that inspired it.
New episodes drop here and wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for watching, and if you liked this one, share it with a friend who also might.
Created by Alexei Shishkin
Associate Producer: Alivia Stonier
Booking: Jamie Halliday, Jonah Evans
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⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 - Intro to Henderson & The Alternative
10:51 - Patreon and Not Selling Out
18:30 - What is Success?
21:48 - What Music Lawyers Do
24:49 - When Should Artists Hire a Lawyer?
26:57 - Two Tips for DIY Artists
29:15 - Mixtape Intro
30:16 - “Broc Ched” by Prince Daddy & The Hyena
34:15 - “the plant mouth” by Oso Oso
38:20 - “Billboard” by Wednesday
40:40 - “Boomer” by Bartees Strange
43:22 - “I Can’t Handle Change” by ROAR
49:48 - “TLC Cage Match” by MJ Lenderman
53:37 - Honorable Mentions
56:48 - Game: One For The Road
01:04:15 - Plugs & Outro
