| LAS VEGAS – Lisa Braude and Anastacia share a remarkable bond. What these two gifted and determined women have achieved together since hooking up in 1998 is a Hollywood fantasy come true. This is a triumphant tale of two mavericks who refused to compromise and never regretted it for an instant – the funk/rock/dance-pop singing sensation Anastacia, 29, who, in the past two years, has sold 10 million records around the world and is poised to make a major impact in the United States, and her manager, Braude, 35, a San Diego resident.
It’s an obscurity-to-riches story that begins four years ago with a frustrated, confidence-shattered performer giving up her professional singing career after having been molded and remolded by a spineless music industry unwilling to accept her on her own terms. She was coaxed back to singing by Braude, who has helped transform the Chicago-born, New York-based Anastacia into an international superstar.
Recently, the two were in Las Vegas for the live VH1 concert special, "Divas Las Vegas," which found Anastacia holding her own alongside Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige, Shakira and others.
"I’m not a gambler in the literal sense," said Braude, as she and Anastacia discussed their intertwining careers and sister-like friendship in a suite at the Mandalay Bay hotel.
"But I think that, like a gambler, I take risks," continued Braude, who previously managed the San Diego band Loam and singer-songwriters Eve Selis and Gregory Page.
"Being in the music business is a risk. The difference between gambling and what I do is that when you believe in somebody, you have that faith that carries you through."
Anastacia shares that faith in Braude, who believed in her when no one else – including the electrifying singer herself – would.
"It’s nice to know that she sacrifices all her personal energy, like I sacrifice mine, to make it happen," Anastacia said, as the neon lights and lasers of the Las Vegas strip shimmered below.
"The people in the business I met before Lisa were smooth and said the right things at the right time, but they did nothing to back it up. Lisa backed up everything she ever said and everything she ever did – always – and still does."
Named Best Pop Artist at last year’s MTV Europe Awards, Anastacia has developed a following that includes fan-turned-musical-collaborator Elton John. She’s so popular abroad that she was picked by the Federation International de Football Association to write and sing the theme song for this year’s World Cup.
She was scheduled to perform that song ("Boom!") for billions of TV viewers at the World Cup final on June 30 in Yokohama, Japan, where she was the sole artist during the first halftime show in World Cup history. On July 9, she performed the national anthem at the Major League All Star Game in Milwaukee. To promote the recent U.S. release of her second album for Epic Records, "Freak of Nature," which has already sold several million copies in Europe, Anastacia will do 10 days of TV appearances.
As always, accompanying her to each appearance here and abroad will be Braude, who estimates having flown "at least 2,000 times" in the past several years.
"People say: ‘It’s so glamorous," she said, arching an eyebrow. "Well, come with me for one week, and you’ll see – there’s nothing glamorous about it. We’re in a different country, a different hotel, a different bed, every day, and you’re working at least 15 hours a day, every day.
"A typical day in Europe would be, like, we’d do a TV show in England at 6 a.m., another show at noon in Scotland, press stuff in Paris at 4 p.m., and then back to London for a show that night. And that’s just one day. The inside of a plane is my new home. I haven’t had a vacation, even a weekend off, in 2.5 years."
Braude, of course, isn’t complaining.
Music-loving workaholic
A workaholic and music fanatic, the Boston-born manager moved in 1984 to attend the University of San Diego. She double-majored in business and computer science, and earned a law degree as well. She was swiftly recruited by General Dynamics, which hired her to work in a special division that negotiated classified defense contracts nationwide.
"During that time, I always had a hand in music and I was always scouting talent," noted Braude, who freelanced for such top San Diego concert promoters as Bill Silva and Harlan Schiffman.
"Negotiation is negotiation, whether it’s for widgets, M-16s or an album contract – at the end of a day, that’s what a manager does. The manager is the only person protecting the artist; everyone else has an agenda."
Braude learned quickly, and wasn’t afraid to follow her instincts. She has no regrets about her decision to decline an offer to manage a budding young local sensation named Jewel.
"I didn’t necessarily see what everyone else saw," Braude said. "I thought she had an amazing voice and amazing potential to write songs, but I didn’t think her storytelling appeal was as great as I would’ve liked. With other San Diego artists, they think they’ve made it if they play at Java Joe’s and are on the cover of Slamm. That won’t get you to the next level. You have to hone your art and go beyond (San Diego)."
In 1996, eager to fully turn her attention to music, Braude quit her General Dynamics job, and – with two friends – opened the Bagel Bar in Bonita, Calif. Her expressed goal was to use the eatery-cum-live-acoustic-music-venue to finance her budding company, Braude Management.
She approached Loam after hearing the band perform a Christmas show at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, Calif. Her drive and attention to detail impressed Frank Lee Drennen, the leader of the now-defunct group.
"She was very focused, very encouraging and supportive, and I would never question her standing up for our best interests," said Drennen, now a member of the Hatchet Brothers, from his Los Angeles home.
"My appendix burst while I was with Loam, and I was a broke musician. She was instrumental in getting those bills taken care of at the hospital. She organized two benefit concerts for me. ... She’s not purely business, which I also loved about her. She has a passion for music, and I always appreciated that."
Galvanizing voice
Even before they met, Braude became indirectly involved with Anastacia’s attempts to make her mark in the music industry. A mutual friend in Los Angeles who was trying to help Anastacia called Braude in 1997 to ask for advice.
Braude, who had not heard Anastacia’s work, requested a recorded sample. She was "blown away" by the singer’s galvanizing voice, which suggested a turbo-charged cross between Chaka Khan and Tina Turner, by way of Taylor Dayne and Mariah Carey.
Against the advice of Braude, Anastacia signed a production deal that – one year later – saw her return to Los Angeles, defeated and depleted.
"I absolutely threw in the towel," Anastacia recalled. "Every single avenue I went down seemed hopeless. I’d done this sign-my-life-away production deal, and they wanted me to be something I totally wasn’t. They knew what I sounded like, but they told me: ‘Sound really small and simple, and have a white-girl sound.’ So I came back to Los Angeles and got a job at a facial salon. They fired me after three months because I wasn’t ‘Beverly Hills’ enough."
Braude was so convinced Anastacia should not abandon music that she offered to pay her bills for six months, no strings attached, so long as the singer followed her muse by doing only the music that pleased her.
"I told her I wasn’t willing to sign anything, that I was a handful and that it was a waste of her time," Anastacia said. "Lisa’s reaction was: ‘Somebody like you does not stop singing. People wait a lifetime to hear a voice like yours.’ I was like: ‘Yeah, right.’ And lo and behold, she was a gift. Because she gave me the power to do what I wanted to do. She believed in me enough to say: ‘Sing the way you want to sing.’ "
Making ‘the cut’
In theory, the pairing of an unknown young singer with an unknown young manager would seem a recipe for failure. In actuality, the opposite was true. Within three months Braude got Anastacia booked on the MTV talent show "The Cut," where she became one of 10 national finalists.
A month later, following a major bidding war that saw Michael Jackson personally vying to sign her, Anastacia inked a worldwide, multi-album deal with Epic Records. It was the start of a dizzying ride that shows no signs of ending soon.
"The day before the (MTV) finals," said Anastacia, "Lisa asked me: ‘Would you mind signing this little piece of paper that says you’re not going to walk away from me when these big managers come and try to steal you away?’ And I was like: ‘Sure!’
"Because at the end of the day, there was faith and trust and friendship in who we were together. And, of course, all these (music biz) people stepped up to the plate, trying to kick Lisa to the curb. They’d ask me: ‘Who’s she? Who’s she managed?’ And I was like: ‘Me’ ... she’s accomplished a lot more than anybody else I’d met that had a ‘name.’
"She is so hands-on, and she’s very, very personal. And I like that, because this is my life she’s dealing with, and my future."
Double double take
When Braude and Anastacia enter a room, people who haven’t met them before usually do a double take. Make that a double double take.
The blond singer, who stands all of 5-feet-2, does not look remotely like the soul-scorching vocal fireball those who have only heard her on record would expect. And the brown-haired manager, who stands 6-feet and looks like a taller, more sophisticated Sheryl Crow, does not resemble any other manager in the male-dominated music industry, period.
"I look like a midget next to her!" said Anastacia, chortling with delight. "Everyone thinks I’m Lisa, or that Lisa’s me. With the sound that comes out of me, if my manager walks in the door, they’re like: ‘Hi, Anastacia.’ And I’m like: ‘No, the midget, the Mini-Me, is the singer.’ "
She chortled again.
"When Lisa walks in the room," Anastacia continued, "anyone who’s only talked to her on the phone, is like: ‘You’re who I’ve been negotiating a 70-page contract with?’ And then they’re fantasizing for the rest of their lives: ‘I want her to be my wife!’ She’s brilliant and she’s beautiful, and you don’t often get such extreme intelligence with the look that she has. She walks down a hallway, and you think she’s done runway (modeling) all her life.
"I think it’s a great advantage. I tell people: ‘This is my manager, and don’t let the good looks fool you. Because she will own your first-born – in five seconds.’ "
Braude pays little heed to the reactions her appearance may inspire, although she admits to being "hardcore" in her work.
"But there’s a stereotype about what a manager should look like, and I don’t fit that. That’s why Anastacia and I are such a perfect match, because her voice doesn’t fit what she should look like."
What excites Braude most, she noted, is working with a self-contained artist like Anastacia, who writes or co-writes all her material and can strike a chord with millions of fans. But musical talent is no guarantee of success, and Braude’s management skills have not gone unnoticed.
"Lisa is one of the best young managers around," said David Massey, the senior vice president of Sony Music, and the man who helped get Anastacia signed to Epic Records.
"She’s incredibly committed, has very strong attention to detail and is unbelievably hard-working. And remember, Anastacia had to be introduced to the whole world. So Lisa had to get to grips with all the different international marketplaces, and she picked up very quickly on that."
Dynamic duo
Anastacia’s rapid ascent to stardom meant that Braude had to phase out her few remaining San Diego clients.
She hopes to take on other artists when time allows, and still accepts unsolicited demo tapes from unknowns. But for now, she and Anastacia are a dynamic duo with a singular sense of purpose.
"There’s a whole generation of kids who don’t understand what music is about, and my objective is to help bring back the art to music" said Braude, who served as executive producer for both of Anastacia’s albums.
"Having an artist like Anastacia gives you hope things will come back around. Someone asked Anastacia if she’s disappointed about not breaking (big) in the U.S. yet, and her response is the same as mine: ‘When it’s meant to happen, it will.’ "
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