On the Job With … Mona Dehghan of Domino Records and Mon Amie Records

The record label vet rocks around the clock

By Dana Raidt
Published: June 2nd, 2010 | 3:30pm

At Domino Records’ 2010 South By Southwest showcase, the crowd is shivering in the strangely cold-for-Austin weather, downing coffee, and layering on flimsy hoodies to keep warm. While British neo-trip-hoppers Malachai perform, Mona Dehghan hands out stacks of promo records, makes countless introductions, and ensures everyone she knows has food and drink tickets (and a hug). She then coordinates an interview for the band, tracks them down when they eventually disappear, and after our interview, she’ll be heading out to replace one of their effects pedals that stopped working.

Equal parts publicist, promoter, and band babysitter, Dehghan makes sure Domino’s roster of artists (which includes bigger names like Dirty Projectors, the Kills, and Animal Collective alongside up-and-comers like Wild Beasts and Villagers) not only get played on the radio and interviewed in the press, but that they make it back from tour alive and sane.

“We have to deal with everything. Like if a band gets a flat tire,” Dehghan explains. “Sometimes it’s more emotional things, too. Like if [a musician is] having a bad day, you try to talk them down or make them comfortable. Or, if they don’t want to talk about certain things, you have to prepare people.”

Given that her duties include accompanying bands on tour, organizing ticket giveaways, and assisting with album artwork, it’s easy for any music lover to be jealous. But Dehghan, who works out of Domino USA’s office in New York, maintains that while she loves her job and working in the music industry has always been her dream—it’s far from glamorous.

“Day to day, it’s like e-mail, e-mail, e-mail,” she says. “A lot of it is just being attached to your BlackBerry. It can get overwhelming.”

In August, Dehghan started her own label, Mon Amie Records. The label’s first release is a 7” single by San Francisco’s Magic Bullets, a band Dehghan had tried to get signed to other independent labels. “I really believed in [Magic Bullets] and thought, ‘Nobody else is going do it. I’m going to do it’.”

Between Domino and Mon Amie, Dehghan spends nearly every waking moment working with music. But when asked if it’s too much of a good thing, she doesn’t even hesitate to answer: “To be honest, I don’t think I could do anything else.”

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Mona Dehghan

The Job: Director of Radio Promotions/Project Manager, Domino Records. Owner, Mon Amie Records.

Education: Dehghan has a BA in English Literature from the University of California-Berkeley and a Master’s in Radio from Goldsmiths in London.

Résumé: A music industry veteran, Dehghan started out as the music director at KALX, UC-Berkeley’s radio station. While in London, she worked as a producer for the BBC’s 6 Music. After returning to the Bay Area, she was the operations manager at KALX and worked as a radio promoter at SubPop Records in Seattle before joining Domino.

Mission: With both record labels, Dehghan strives to get bands both small and large the attention they deserve. “I don’t have any grand ideals of [Mon Amie] being the next Domino, but there are a ton of smaller bands out there that I believe in,” Dehghan says. “If I can just at least help them get the exposure through the connections that I’ve made at other labels, hopefully they could get signed to a Domino or label like that.”

Why it works: She’s obsessed. “Music has always been my obsession, since I was a little kid. When I was six years old, my Walkman was my best friend.”

Advice: Be patient and resilient—and don’t be a prima donna. “[Succeeding in the record business] is a lot of grunt work,” Dehghan warns. “It’s about putting your head down and working really hard and maybe not getting the results that you want right away. I stuffed envelopes for years before I got a real job.”

For more information on Domino Records, click here

For more information on Mon Amie Records, click here

On The Job With … is a monthly column that explores interesting women with interesting jobs. We get the scoop on each lady’s working process, what makes her want to get up every day, and get advice for others looking to break into her field. The column is written by Dana Raidt who is a regular contributor for Venus Zine.