ML - Vegas Magazine

photography by MELISSa VaLLaDarES (rINg, rECorD); braD SwoNEtz (DraI'S) For the record: Michael Gruber's inclinations and inspirations Bare Necessities "A workout and a good meal after work." las vegas love Gruber is based in Los Angeles, where he lives with his wife and son (he also has two daughters in college). But he is a frequent Vegas visitor. "Five-star hotels, great restaurants, great entertainment, and gambling if people want to: Those things are going to keep this city on top of the charts for a very long time." must-see shows Absinthe with his wife; Love with his wife and son; Jersey Boys with his father; Britney Spears's Piece of Me with his daughters. rare Pleasures The occasional round of golf and catching up with old clients, such as Andrew "Dice" Clay, who has a residency at Vinyl at Hard Rock. "He's a sweetheart," Gruber says, "and the show is funny." coincidence that After Hours has returned to its orig inal basement location, where for 16 years it wa s t he post - club ha ngout for ever y indust r y worker and club kid in the city. It's also no coincidence that Gruber is the driving force behind another After Hours, this one a record label, w it h st rateg ic pa r t nerships eng ineered to shake up the world of electronic dance music. After Hours Records, the first major label headquartered in Las Vegas and the first located on the Strip, is a collaboration between Drai's Enterprises and Turn First Artists, the London-based management group that handles artists such as Igg y Azalea and R ita Ora. Gruber approached Turn First CEO Sarah Stennett with the label idea, and they eventually struck a deal with Capitol Records for a three-way partnership designed to offer emerging EDM artists everything they need to boost their careers. From Gruber's vantage point, the goal is to find "interesting producers and artists who are about to turn the corner." And operating three venues—the Beach Club, t he Nightclub, a nd A f ter Hours — means Gruber has a pretty good handle on who the rising stars are. The idea is that Drai's Enterprises can provide its talent with something that other venues can't: the opportunity to build a following by per for m ing at t he va r ious Dra i's clubs —a ny- where from five to 20 times a year—before crowds that change nightly but are loyal to the brand. "You get a fan base," Gruber explains, "and from that fan base you grow a core. From that core, these artists can perform in venues around the globe and create great music." Of course, what's good for the artist is also good for Drai's: The company is hold- ing a lot of real estate at The Cromwell and needs to fill it nightly. But speaking to Gruber, it's clear his work is a labor of love. "You want to discover, you want to break, you want to nurture, and you want to create," he says. "That's obviously what you want to be involved in." But he also wants After Hours Records to serve established performers—ideally as a dist r ibut ion cha nnel for inter nat iona l a r t ist s who need exposure in the US. "It's an injection of adrena line into a n oversea s a r t ist 's ca reer t hat they sometimes need," he says. And if a star with worldwide appeal wants to play the Nightclub and release a single on After Hours Records, that would be just f ine, too. A record label has been part of Gruber and Drai's plan right from the beginning. "We were talking about this from the day we looked at who we were going to put on the DJ stand," Gruber says. "For the last 10 years, this town has been breaking artists. Why not use the clubs and actually give the artists a platform and an opportunity to have record deals?" Ideas for additional Drai's clubs—in locales from Vancouver to Bangkok—have been f loated, but man- aging the everyday operations at Drai's, he says, is what keeps his juices f lowing. Last spring the $100 million-a-year company had 50 employees. By July that number had jumped to 600. With a knowing smile, Gruber adds, "This is just the beginning." V clockwise from top left: Gruber with Ice Cube on the set of Three Kings; the exterior of Drai's; a gold record for Queen Latifah's Black Reign album; a paperweight replica of an LA Lakers championship ring. 58  vegasmagazine.com PEOPLE Power Strip

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