The man behind the scene
Promoter steering local, national acts
Anthony Fanger looks like a rock star. Sure, he’s quiet, unassuming, maybe a little nervous from time to time. But he hides it well, behind well-placed squints and a head of shaggy black hair.
To see him at the local rock venue the Brass Rail – surrounded by gig posters, stage in the background – he looks at ease. A guitar (or even a groupie) wouldn’t look unnatural slung across his back. A microphone seems at home in his hand.
But the truth is Fanger, the person behind local label Chain Smoking Records, is happy to stay behind the curtain and out of the limelight, he says.
“I’ve never played an instrument,” Fanger says. “I have no rhythm. I can’t dance. Really, I’ve got nothing here.”
Even so, Fanger has become a vital part of Fort Wayne’s thriving original music scene – all without ever picking up so much as a tambourine. How? Business. Fanger has a head for business.
Chain Smoking Records – the catch-all name for the behind-the-scenes help Fanger gives to local and regional bands – started five years ago, when Fanger was only 17. And it started, as these things always seem to, in a coffee shop.
“Cup A Joes in Auburn,” Fanger says. “They had a lot of bands coming through there, and they all seemed to need help on the business end. I didn’t really know how to play any instruments, but I knew a little bit about business from watching my dad.”
Fanger started the record label by recording, mixing and mastering albums by local artists. He was terrible at it, he says.
“I had no idea what I was doing,” he says. “So Chain Smoking Records started to evolve into something else.”
Today, the local record label is part album distribution company, part financial backer and part booking agent, with a roster that includes local bands the Staggerers, Poopdeflex, Flamingo Nosebleed and the B-Sharps and Indianapolis-based band Gay Black Republican.
Fanger is also responsible for bringing touring national acts to Fort Wayne. Local performances by Dexter Romweder (with help from Kenny Taylor), Two Man Gentleman Band, Black Jake & the Carnies and Bob Log III were all Chain Smoking Records shows.
“This is a record company run on enthusiasm,” Fanger says. “I break even financially. For the most part, it’s just a way for me to meet some of my favorite artists. Maybe I can’t join them onstage, but I can share a drink with them at the bar after the show.”
ACOUSTIC