Mammoth Live launches Challenger Artists management company via rooftop shouting, local leadership
Challenger Artists’ Peyton Marek (l) and Hank Wiedel (r). // photo by Katie Rich
Wednesday, Mammoth Live officially announced the launch of Challenger Artists, representing what the longtime event production company describes as “the next chapter in Mammoth’s mission to champion artists at each step of their career as they expand beyond the stage.”
The names behind it are Los Angeles-based Peyton Marek and Kansas City-based Hank Wiedel, and Challenger Artists comes out of the gate with a roster which includes both pop-rockers The Wrecks and your favorite boy band Post Sex Nachos, along with Valley Boy, TOLEDO, and Capital Soirée. Additionally, they have on deck The Wrecks’ Nick Anderson and Jordan Dunn-Pilz and Dan Alvarez of TOLEDO, as well as James Alan, as writing and production clients.
It’s a big move for Mammoth, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and Mammoth Live CEO and co-owner Josh Hunt says in a press release that “Challenger represents a natural evolution for us, expanding our commitment to supporting artists in new and meaningful ways.”
Hopping on Zoom with Marek and Wiedel ahead of the announcement, they say that the name is a nod to both tennis’ ATP Challenger Tour and the film inspired by it, Challengers, because, as Marek puts it,
“The definition of the ATP Challenger Tour is that young players are competing in the Challenger tour to advance their careers, which is what our artists are doing, so it felt very natural to us.”
Marek continues on to say that it feels like they’re really growing into the name, and “growing” is really the name of the game for Challenger Artists, as they’re doing that for not only their artists, but Mammoth Live and Marek and Wiedel’s own careers, as well.
Wiedel says the first iteration of Challenger began in the 2020 Covid era, but the Mammoth partnership began in earnest starting in June of 2024.
“We had a conversation with Peyton who was leaving her previous company and taking her biggest client with her, The Wrecks,” Wiedel explains. Given Mammoth’s work in artist development vis-à-vis their lengthy history of nurturing local bands and being an independent promoter, he says the partnership seemed like a really synergistic fit.
“October until now has been the real meat and potatoes of that partnership,” continues Wiedel. “We officially put it down on paper back in March or February. It’s been a over a year in the works.”
Given that the Wrecks are a national band and Post Sex Nachos are a regional band on the rise, it seems like a perfect start for Challenger Artists, in that they’ve already begun to develop a roster where one artist can help other.
“All of our artists, we want to build into global names, obviously,” Marek points out, noting that post Sex Nachos just signed with Sound On, the new music distribution service from TikTok. “We always say we want as many people shouting our artist names from the rooftops as possible.”
Challenger Artists is all about being the loudest possible voice shouting from those rooftops, says Wiedel.
“With each artist, you spend a certain amount of time getting to know them and their fan base,” he says. “Then kind of becoming their biggest fan and absorbing it in every which way possible so that you know how it’s being perceived or packaged and presented.”
That starts with Challenger and the artist, and then goes on to finding the rest of the team that makes the most sense: agents, publicists, distributor or label, lawyers, a business manager, etc. There are so many different components to each artist’s team, notes Marek, and it depends on the magnitude of the artists, where they’re at in their careers, what they need, and what they want.
“The common denominator of our roster is that everyone whose artist project we manage, we also look after their writer/producer career as well,” Marek says. “Honestly, we have found a lot of clients through our existing artists, and I think that’s the best-case scenario: when your existing clientele is telling other artists, ‘You should talk to them as management.’ That always makes us feel really good, ’cause I think it means we’re doing a good job, hopefully.”
That’s just how the network of the industry grows, too, confirms Wiedel.
“Artists who connect tend to take their friends on the road and that’s how new opportunity is formed for smaller and bigger clients,” Wiedel says. “It’s kinda like anything in life–you just never know until you open up the box. Connecting a few dots can usually lead to something really fun and exciting.”
In terms of particular models at which Marek and Wiedel are looking to help grow and develop these musicians at Challenger Artists, crafting a path to individual success for each of these artists is the real challenge, because it’s different for every artist, Marek says.
Using the Wrecks as an example, Marek notes that she’s been working with them since 2021, at which time they were signed to Big Noise Music Group, which they then left, and are now signed to Lava Records. A lot of the Wrecks’ success Marek attributes to a combination of factors, including the band itself, their musical voice, and what she described as a “really sticky fan base,” who really leaned into the band’s Super Half Marathon tour, where they played three different venues–the Moroccan Lounge, the Echo, and the Troubadour–within a 13.1 mile stretch, the distance of a half marathon.
“Their fans dressed up as runners and made name tag bibs that said their names or their numbers or their favorite band member in the band and then we sold half marathon themed merch,” enthuses Marek, pointing out that she and Wiedel focus a lot on the touring side, not only because of the Mammoth partnership, but also because they both have a rich touring band, with each having started in the industry by managing and driving and selling merch. “The live component is really well embedded into our overall plan for all of our artists.”
The goal is to create opportunities around these artists that speak to their fan base and bring them in, allowing the fans not only to interact with the band but also with other fans and create excitement about the community.
“It’s like its own ecosphere,” Wiedel says. “You spend a lot of time trying to figure out what that is for each band, you start to figure out what their voice is, and then amplify that voice.”
The best and most exciting part of the job is feeling like an artist yourself, Wiedel says.
“If I’m a fan, how do I want to consume this? What do I want to see? Then, actually bringing it to life and seeing real fans absorb it and love it is exciting.”
