Shira Knishkowy, Another Management Company
💭 Thoughts on Alvvays' first Grammy nom, Six Feet Under, and growing as a human being.
Thought Enthusiast is an AdHoc Project where we chat with fascinating thought leaders across various facets of music, tech, and culture whose work we admire, simply asking “what’s on your mind?” and “why do you care?” 💭
Shira Knishkowy is an Artist Manager and Director of Creative & Digital Strategy at Another Management Company. After graduating from Wesleyan University in 2006, her professional career began following in the footsteps of many other entertainment executives before her, in the William Morris Endeavor mailroom (though one might argue it really began attending punk rock shows while growing up in the Connecticut suburbs.) She quickly rose through the music PR ranks, with gigs at Partisan Records, Matador Records, and Spotify, before taking the leap into artist management in 2022. Shira is obsessed with nostalgia, 90s/00s midwest emo, abandoned stuff, her dog, and Law & Order SVU.
🏆 Current focus
I'm excited about mgmt client Alvvays' first Grammy nomination! Getting plans going for that is really fun because I get to dip my toes into the fashion / red carpet world, which is new for me. I'm also excited about Blondshell's first-ever tour to Japan next year, which I am still mulling over whether or not I'm going to join. (I should probably join).
Rewatching Six Feet Under from the beginning is ruining / saving my life. It's a perfect piece of 00s pop culture that still feels really fresh and original and important. It makes me FEEL something, which I like and also hate a little bit. My consumption of new TV shows has dropped greatly since the strike started, so its been fun rewatching old faves.
📚 A good bildungsroman novel
Can’t recommend Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver & A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles enough. These are two of my favorite books this year, and they fit squarely within my favorite literary genre: the bildungsroman. It's a pretentious word for a not really pretentious kind of book, which is basically just coming of age / epic tale of someone's life as they grow and develop and have adventures (though if I'm defining this wrong, sorry, feel free to make fun of me in the comments)...
💪 Mantra of the moment
I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me.
🌱 Growing as a human being (and a manager)
I really look up to Rennie Jaffe - my boss, mentor, and bestie. He welcomed me into his company and has helped me grow as a human being & a manager.
📻 Sirius XM in the car
One of my favorite forms of consuming content these days is listening to Sirius XM in the car, specifically the Willie Nelson classic country channel on Sirius (channel 61), as well as channel 50, or as I like to call it, the "middle school dance" channel because it's all 90s/00s R&B & hip hop.
🧼🧋💨 Can’t live without….
I'm gonna give you three things, sorry:
Zum Patchouli Goat’s Milk Soap - this is the only soap I use and have used for many many years. People always tell me I smell good and ask what perfume I wear (answer: none - just soap!!).
Golden Sumatra Mandheling coffee beans from the Chicago Coffee & Tea Exchange - I order bags of these in bulk because it's the best coffee in the world. Close your eyes and imagine the perfect cup of steamy warm rich coffee. That's what I drink every day because of these goddamn beans.
Also, pre-rolls.
👕 Independent fashion brands & IG bootleg tees
I pay a decent amount of attention to indie fashion brands, like Ilana Kohn and Ali Golden. They're expensive but not too expensive. Cool but not over the top. Simple and classy. I also pay attention to instagram bootleg T-Shirt brands (check out on IG: waveygoodsco, farewell.transmission, favorite.vegetable, and enterthenightgallery) and spend a lot of money buying gifts for people through these brands.
One of the best people in the biz