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// services
Creative Producer
Photogrpaher
Designer
// Live website
Ride or Cry was born from the creative energy of the Emo Nite LA team—Morgan, Babs, and TJ—who were working at a digital company in Silverlake when they envisioned building their own agency. I invited them into my studio space and helped establish Ride or Cry as a multifaceted creative agency tackling diverse music industry projects. The work spanned social media strategy for legacy acts like Tears for Fears, release campaigns for Garbage's "Starved Little Birds," visual content for Emo Nite events, social content creation for FORM Arcosanti music festival, contributions to The Lumineers' "Cleopatra" album rollout, music video production including Sam Spiegel & Ape Drums' "Mutant Brain" featuring Spike Jonze's iconic Kenzo World fashion film starring Margaret Qualley, projects with Viz Media, and collaborations with artist Alexa Meade.
Building an Agency from Emo Nite's Creative DNA
Ride or Cry emerged from the intersection of DIY event culture and professional music marketing, founded by the team behind Emo Nite LA—a phenomenon that transformed nostalgic millennial music into sold-out club experiences. When Morgan, Babs, and TJ were ready to expand beyond events into full-service creative agency work, the studio collaboration provided the infrastructure and strategic foundation to formalize their vision. The agency's identity was shaped by Emo Nite's core philosophy: authenticity over polish, community over corporate distance, and emotional connection as the ultimate marketing tool. This wasn't traditional ad agency thinking transplanted into music—it was native music culture building outward into strategic services. The Silverlake roots mattered; the agency carried that neighborhood's creative ethos of collaboration, experimentation, and rejection of industry gatekeeping. Ride or Cry's model blended social media fluency, visual storytelling, event production experience, and genuine subcultural credibility—positioning the agency as peers to artists rather than external vendors. This foundation allowed the team to operate across vastly different projects while maintaining a consistent creative voice rooted in understanding how music communities actually function in the digital age.
Diverse Portfolio: From Legacy Acts to Experimental Collaborations
Ride or Cry's early portfolio demonstrated remarkable range, moving fluidly between heritage artists, contemporary releases, experiential events, and cutting-edge visual projects. Managing social media for Tears for Fears required translating decades of catalog depth and loyal fanbase into modern platform strategies without alienating longtime fans or appearing desperate for relevance. The Garbage "Starved Little Birds" release campaign balanced the band's alternative rock legacy with contemporary release mechanics, creating content that honored their established aesthetic while driving streaming and sales. Visual content for Emo Nite events maintained the brand's irreverent energy while professionalizing production quality as the concept scaled nationally. Work with FORM Arcosanti—the experimental music festival set in Paolo Soleri's utopian architecture project—required content that captured both the sonic programming and the unique environmental context, translating a niche experience for broader digital audiences. Contributing to The Lumineers' "Cleopatra" rollout meant supporting a major label campaign while adding the creative perspective and nimbleness that independent agencies provide. Projects with Viz Media and collaborations with visual artist Alexa Meade further expanded the agency's reach into anime culture and fine art crossovers. Each project required different tone, strategy, and execution while maintaining Ride or Cry's signature approach of culturally informed, emotionally intelligent marketing.
Visual Storytelling & High-Concept Music Video Production
The agency's capabilities extended into music video production and high-concept visual storytelling, demonstrated by work on Sam Spiegel & Ape Drums' "Mutant Brain" featuring Assassin. The project uniquely integrated Spike Jonze's iconic Kenzo World fashion film starring Margaret Qualley—the viral sensation of a woman unleashing ecstatic, uninhibited dance through a luxury hotel. By connecting the track to this already-celebrated visual narrative, the music video strategy leveraged existing cultural cache while introducing the song to fashion, art, and design audiences beyond traditional music channels. This approach exemplified Ride or Cry's understanding that modern music marketing often succeeds by creating unexpected intersections—fashion meets music, architecture meets festival culture, nostalgia meets contemporary relevance. The work demonstrated sophistication in licensing, rights negotiation, and cross-industry collaboration while maintaining the creative irreverence that defined the agency's identity. Whether producing original content or strategically aligning music with existing cultural moments, Ride or Cry's visual work consistently pushed beyond standard music video formulas, treating each project as an opportunity to build broader cultural relevance rather than simply promoting a song. This multidisciplinary approach established the agency as creative partners capable of operating across the full spectrum of modern music marketing—from grassroots social content to high-concept collaborations with world-renowned directors and visual artists.
Credits
