NEW ORLEANS, LA, October 20, 2022 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Mr. Derek Scott Graves has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
With more than 25 years of experience to his credit in the entertainment industry, Mr. Graves has been a leader in that field since 2007. He found success as the director of publicity and marketing for his firm, DSG Entertainment Group, which is affiliated with the Graves and Graves Agency. A string of high-profile artists has worked with DSG at some point, notably Barbara Tucker, Celeda, and Amuka. DSG is known for collaborating with legendary producers Peter Rauhofer & Junior Vasquez, Billboard Recording Artist Sir Ivan, and singer Josie Cotton, and for producing three seasons of The Pill Awards NYC, an annual awards ceremony honoring artists in the LGBT community. He is well-known as the publicist for Little House on The Ferry, an off-Broadway musical that ran for five sold-out weeks at the American Theater of Artists in 2011. The DSG motto is "welcome to DSG Entertainment Group, where our directive is to fully integrate our music and fashion business services into solutions for You."
Prior to his East Coast move, Mr.Graves worked as a marketing associate for the Astralwerks/Caroline Distribution offices in Hollywood, California beginning in 1996. Graves then officially launched his career in entertainment as an assistant publicist for MFPR, LLC in New York City in 1999. MFPR was a music public relations firm specializing in electronic and rock music artists. He transferred his marketing position to the Astralwerks NYC main offices. Following an intense immersion into the electronic music world, his growing reputation landed him a spot at Ultra Records as the director of publicity in 2000. He showcased the Ministry of Sound UK's collaboration with Ultra, down at Winter Music Conference in Miami Beach. Several Ultra artists were nominated for IDMAs at a televised ceremony, and Mr. Graves accepted the award on behalf of Ultra's UK producer DJ Sasha, for Best Techno 12" single.
He acquired a role as the director for special events at KBA Development Marketing later in 2000, where he started off as the Hamptons representative for the summer season. Mr. Graves remained in the Manhattan office until 2001, but not before he produced his first major success, The Time Hotel Penthouse VIP party. He managed to secure Blackbook magazine as the presenting sponsor and successfully negotiated with the Thievery Corporation team to have them as entertainment. This led to a fortuitous meeting with Mr. Graves and the Star 69 Records team, initially regarding KBA sponsorship for the label at WMC. The meeting ended up extremely fortunate for him, as he received an email the following day from the label manager, stating the CEO Mr. Peter Rauhofer wanted to hire Derek Scott Graves, as his personal publicist and Director of Publicity for his Star 69 Records label and its artists. This ignited a chain reaction of events that elevated his career. Due to his acclaimed work with Grammy-winning producer Peter Rauhofer and his label, Mr. Graves was asked to join The Recording Academy's New York Grammy Chapter in 2007. He then represented Star 69 Records as a voting member for the annual Dancestar USA Awards and was a featured panelist/A&R for several industry events such as Winter Music Conference, Vegas Music Experience, and the Cutting Edge Music Business Conference. Graves worked with Rauhofer and Star69 Records from 2001 to 2009.
To commemorate his accomplishments, Mr. Graves was nominated multiple times for the International Dance Music Awards every year from 2005 to 2008, and was honored at the IDMAs ceremony live from Winter Music Conference, as the Best Record Label Promoter In-House in 2005.
Mr. Graves lent his expertise to JustCircuit, LLC and to deeperBPM Recordings. From 2002 to 2010, he acted as the national director of marketing and promotions for JustCircuit, a national magazine and events brand. Using his connections and skillset, he produced two JustCircuit Awards shows during the Winter Music Conference. In 2005, he operated as the director of publicity for The Saint At Large, Inc. until 2009. Balancing various enterprises at once, Mr. Graves launched his DSG company in 2007, with The Saint At Large as his first client He also held the positions of label manager and head of A&R for deeperBPM Recordings in 2013, and secured a distribution deal with BMG. During 2008-2009, he was a freelance publicist with KULT Records. Mr. Graves managed to perform as the co-host of REEL FRIENDS WITH WILL & DEREK on GayRadio. The weekly show with "porn star Will Clark & publicist Derek Scott Graves", reviewed the latest Hollywood movies and current affairs, and Mr. Graves' interview with Yoko Ono was a highlight of his career.
He developed a parallel career in the fitness industry. First with David Barton Gyms for five years and segued into the fuel bar assistant manager role and team lead for international brand Barry's Bootcamp from 2011 until departing New York City in March 2019. During Graves' time with Barry's, he oversaw multiple studios including Chelsea, Tribeca, NoHo, Park Avenue, and the Upper East Side. Both fitness brands fit into his entertainment outlook with clients who were celebrities, models, actors, power players, and industry insiders.
Mr.Graves cultivated roots in the art world after being hired by performance artist Linda Sibio while living in Los Angeles. During the late nineties, he worked on several of Sibio's productions as a props master, make-up artist, and stage manager, eventually ending up on the board for an arts nonprofit in 2005. He appeared in several art productions including Sibio's performances at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibition and the Walker Art Center, short films by UK artist Jesse Waugh, and partook in a live installation from one of the NEA4's Karen Finley at MOCA. In 2019, he was the sound director for a two-week run of Sibio performances at the Andrew Edlin Gallery in lower Manhattan.
With his professional life fully developed, Mr. Graves returned to school after pulling out of Los Angeles City College in 1994. He began with New York University in 2012 and eventually obtained a Bachelor of Science in Entertainment Business from the State University of New York- Empire State College in 2017. As part of his SUNY degree, he lived in London, United Kingdom, for several months during the spring/summer of 2015. He attended the London School of Sound while working with Defected Records and Barry's East London studio, both in Shoreditch. A highly-skilled professional, he holds numerous qualifications, including a New York University certification for entertainment media management, and a certificate in music industry business from the London School of Sound. To round out his qualifications, he maintains a valid Louisiana Gaming License and is licensed by the Louisiana State Board of Private Security Examiners.
Mr. Graves left New York City on March 5th, 2019, and relocated to New Orleans, on his career reinvention. He settled in the French Quarter and found work with the New Orleans Jazz Heritage Foundation and its annual production-JazzFest 2019 with the Artist Hospitality Krewe. His company endured working with a small handful of music acts. Between 2020 and 2021, adversity set in and Mr. Graves' father passed away, right before the pandemic enveloped the world. Months later, two uncles and a close cousin passed away, DSG business was virtually nonexistent, and a lack of financial resources induced Mr. Graves to a panic attack requiring hospitalization. Looking towards the future, he shifted his focus to graduate studies, literally to "pay his rent with financial aid", and increase his knowledge of the industry and networking. The prestigious University of Miami was the first college he applied to and consequently, he was accepted into the Frost School of Music program. In May of 2023, Graves graduated from the University of Miami with a Master of Arts in Live Entertainment Management. In the fall of 2022 and spring of 2023, he served as Senator-at-Large for the Graduate Student Association, served as a Student Ambassador for The Mechanical Licensing Collective, belonged to the spring AELS Grant Review Committee, and was readmitted to The Recording Academy in the Memphis Chapter.
Outside of his primary career efforts, Mr. Graves is an events and promotions associate for Caesars Casino New Orleans. He is also a freelance actor with Central Casting and Caballeros Casting and has appeared in several television and film projects filmed in Louisiana. He worked in festival operations for JazzFest 2019-23, French Quarter Festival 2022-23, and Satchmo SummerFest in 2019. He served as a freelance gallery director for the DeLancey Art Gallery at the end of 2020 and then subsequently worked as a sales and marketing executive for ARTmazing Gallery in late 2021.
With a strong passion for giving back to the community, Mr. Graves volunteered as the event production manager for GenArt from 2003 to 2007. He currently serves as the president of Bezerk Productions, a nonprofit arts organization he joined in 2005. Bezerk received a $1.5 million grant from San Bernardino County to help the organization with its efforts to provide an avenue for artists suffering from mental health challenges to express their creativity. He recently joined the nonprofit LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana and serves on the Public Relations & Communications committee. He volunteers for VCPORA, an organization that advocates for the preservation and protection of the Vieux Carré as an international historic treasure, a major cultural and economic asset, and a residential living area. In May 2023, Graves joined the review panel for the Louisiana Project Grants, which are awarded by the Arts Council of New Orleans, an organization dedicated to supporting arts and culture in the city.
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