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.about mike ziemer

a brief overview of 20+ years in the music industry

CONCERT + FESTIVAL PROMOTER
When it comes to the music industry,
Mike Ziemer is a man of many hats! Starting in 2002, Ziemer began interviewing bands and reviewing albums for online magazines in order to get into shows for free and meet his favorite artists. After building up a large list of contacts, he was asked by a local band to manage them. The band’s first request was for Ziemer to help them put together a concert in the suburbs, the rest was history. 

In March 2004, Third String Productions was born at The Plano Centre where Ziemer would hold shows in multiple rooms from 2004 - 2009 with attendance ranging from 500 to 4800! The Plano Centre was the birth place of Unsilent Night and So What?! Music Fest (previously known as South By So What?!).

After outgrowing the Plano Centre, Ziemer began booking live events across Texas, and beyond, averaging as many as 400 events annually between multiple markets from 2021 - 2023.

In 2022, Third String Entertainment formed a strategic join venture with Disco Donnie Presents, named Disco Punk, to further grow the So What?! Music Festival brand. 2023’s festival was the largest in the festival’s history bringing in over 22,000 people across 2 days in Dallas, TX.

So What?! Music Festival has established itself as the “go to” festival for catching multiple stages of up and coming talent mixed with legacy acts for metal / hardcore / pop punk /  emo fans, filling the void left from the end of Warped Tour and Mayhem Festival.

Ziemer is also a partner in Furnace Fest, taking place annually in Birmingham, AL featuring a wave of bands primarily from the late 90s and early 2000s hardcore and post-hardcore scene while still being inclusive of current up and coming bands in those genres.

Over the last 20 years, Ziemer has been instrumental in helping introduce and build artists through his festivals including A Day To Remember, Enter Shikari, Forever The Sickest Kids, Dance Gavin Dance, Beartooth, Of Mice & Men, Polyphia, and many more.

In 2023, Ziemer founded the entity Restless Shows with long time friend Arturo Piña. Following the success of the first year of his festival, Restless Fest, Ziemer realized that this brand was something special for the underground music of the next generation of artists and needed to have its own identity and team behind it. The company has already made major waves with a stacked resume of booking JPEGMafia, Glaive, OhGeesy, Lucki, Veeze, Lil Darkie, Homixide Gang, Bashfortheworld, Sid Shyne, Dom Corleo, Jeleel!, Nascar Aloe, Black Kray, Joeyy, 03 Greedo, Premo Rice, Jasiah, and many more.

OTHER VENTURES
Ziemer has also independently run his own record label,
Third String Records since 2014. The label has released music for over a dozen bands with streams totaling over 20 million across all platforms.

He also founded the artist management company, Flip A Switch Music Group alongside his partners Luke Knipe and Matt Dunne. The management company roster currently includes songwriters, producers, engineers, and bands.

During 2020, while live music was on pause, Ziemer opened up his first recording studio, Flip A Switch Studios in his backyard of his Oak Cliff home. The studio has attracted some of Texas’ hottest acts including Bashfortheworld, Tay Money, Lil Twist, SVDDEN DEATH, Luna Luna, LilBootyCall, Astrus*, oodaredevil, and many more. In 2021, he opened his second recording studio in Deep Ellum. The upgraded studio has attracted artists Slimesito, Milkshawty, Wasteey Monroe, brands including Pepsi + Takis, and labels including TDE, OVO, and many more.


.recent instagram posts

 

PIERCE THE VEIL @ SO WHAT?! 2023

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 TURNSTILE @ FURNACE FEST 2023

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MONSTER MOSH 2023

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.business ventures

CARDINAL SAUCE CO.

Coming soon…

FLIP A SWITCH CREATIVE [website]

Flip A Switch Creative is a full service agency with a heavy emphasis on creating a “fear of missing out.” With decades of experience in creating content for businesses, music festivals, artists, and more, our goal is to make your business or event look like the place to be.

Our services include content creation, social media management, brand identity + strategy, consulting, live event coverage, and much more.

FLIP A SWITCH MUSIC GROUP [website]

Flip A Switch Music Group is a management company with offices in Los Angeles and Dallas. Our clients include bands, songwriters, engineers and producers.

Mike Ziemer’s clients include Connor Gibbons, GuitarEmoji, He Is Legend, Hunter deBlanc, Maggie Miles, slo/tide, Slow Pulse, The Roads Below.

 

FLIP A SWITCH STUDIOS [website]

Founded in 2020, Flip A Switch Studios offers affordable recording services in Deep Ellum and Oak Cliff. Our clients include Tay Money, BashfortheWorld, Lil Twist, SVDDEN DEATH, Lilbootycall, Luna Luna, and more.

FURNACE FEST [website]

Originally taking place from 2000 - 2003, Furnace Fest was revived in 2020 (later pushed to 2021) as a one time resurrection of the event. Following the initial success, the festival founders agreed to extend the revival for a total of 4 years as tribute to the original 4 years. 2024 is the “end of an era” for Furnace Fest.

MONSTER MOSH MUSIC FESTIVAL [website]

Originally taking place in 2008-2009, Monster Mosh regained popularity in 2022 when it returned as a mini-festival at Gilley’s in Dallas. In 2023, the festival expanded to 2 days with acts including Attila, I See Stars, Suicide Silence, Carnifex and more.

RESTLESS FEST / RESTLESS SHOWS [website]

Founded in 2023 by Mike Ziemer, Restless Fest is a music festival with heavy emphasis on next-gen music. In December 2023, the brand was purchased by a private investor and transformed into its own entity Restless Shows with plans to build the brand coast to coast in 2024.

SO WHAT?! MUSIC FESTIVAL [website]

Since 2007, So What?! Music Festival has taken place 15 times in Texas including 10 spring editions, 2 fall editions, 1 Houston edition, and 2 summer editions. So What?! 2024 will take place in Fort Worth, TX on June 1-2.

THIRD STRING ENTERTAINMENT [website]

Founded in 2004, Third String Entertainment has produced thousands of concerts and dozens of music festivals across Texas and beyond.

 

.connect with me

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