The Red and Black

Issue date: 7/2/09 Section: Variety

Through the Arches and out into the business world, many graduates from the University leave their
imprint. Their professions range from novelists, to recording artists, to Speaker of the House.
Justin Gage, a lesser known yet ambitious and talented 1999 graduate of Grady College, created and manages one of the most successful music blogs in the country as well as a small Los Angeles based recording studio and a Sirius XMU weekly radio show.
Gage, who moved to Los Angeles in 2001 with his wife for a "change of pace," started Aquarium Drunkard four years later. While today the blog focuses solely on music, it was created as a way for Gage to keep in touch with old friends, discuss the books he was reading, the movies he was watching and the music he was listening to. One of about 20 blogs that spoke about music at the time of its creation, Aquarium Drunkard slowly began to center on music alone.
"More people began reading the blog. It was no longer just friends of friends, but people I had never met before," Gage said about the web site's growth.
Aquarium Drunkard, now one of the thousands of music blogs currently on the web today, features many styles of music ranging from new indie rock to tropicana.
"The music in the blog is whatever I happen to be listening to at the time. It can be anything from 1979 to 2009," Gage said.
In 2006, almost one year after Aquarium Drunkard was created, Gage founded Autumn Tones Records as a way to spin off what he was doing in the blog. He also uses the record company to reach out to struggling new artists.
"The foundation of the label is to be an incubator for new artists," said Gage. "There is not as much support for [artists] as their was 20 years ago."
As Aquarium Drunkard garnered more and more success, Sirius XM Radio contacted Gage and offered him a two hour radio show on Sirius XMU every Friday.
"When [Sirius] approached me to do the show, I told them I would only agree if they let me have total creative freedom," Gage said. The music played during the radio show coincides with the music on Aquarium Drunkard.
"If you like the blog, you will like the show."
With so many accomplishments already under his belt, Gage looks to the future and only hopes to continue what he has started and enjoy every minute of it.
"The most rewarding part of this process is being able to wake up every day and do something that I am passionate about."

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