This week, Edgehill’s single “Doubletake” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart, marking the band’s first charting single. The milestone is significant for both the band and its label, Severance Records, which launched in 2023 as a joint venture with Big Loud. In addition to Edgehill’s success, Severance’s inaugural signing, Dexter and The Moonrocks, hit a new peak on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, rising to No. 51 with its single “Freakin’ Out.”
And these twin successes land Severance Records president Steve “Stevo” Robertson the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
Here, Robertson — who previously worked for 25 years at Atlantic Records, where he signed and helped launch the careers of Paramore, Shinedown, A Day To Remember and Rainbow Kitten Surprise — discusses how the label achieved the dual chart feats, and what makes its partnership with Big Loud Rock a success.
This week, Edgehill landed its first-ever No. 1 on a Billboard chart, as its single “Doubletake” reaches No. 1 on Alternative Airplay. What key decision(s) did you make to help make that happen?
I approach these decisions from an A&R perspective, so when this very new, unknown band that we had just signed started talking about releasing a project, I stated the obvious: “Well, start turning in truly great songs, and we’ll talk about it.” They got to work and started writing really compelling music, but I’m listening for the big ones. After a while came “Doubletake,” and it just sounded like an awesome single and definitely a hit. So many things have changed in our business, but a hit still sounds like a hit. We put it out, it reacted, and we decided to send it to our friends like [Jeff] Regan at Alt Nation, and it was embraced by all of Alternative radio soon after.
The band just wrapped up an expansive club tour. How has their touring strategy helped them in other areas, including this airplay success after more than half a year on the chart?
Edgehill has a great manager (Chris Georggin) and agent (Ron Opaleski) who understood the value of booking intimate house shows early on with a young indie rock band like this, right around the time the All-American Rejects started going viral and breathed new life into the house show concept. I think the buzz and the content coming from those early Edgehill house shows went a long way.
What was your physical and merch strategy with the album’s release, especially as it’s the band’s debut?
As more songs were being written for whatever this project was going to be, they mentioned in one of our music meetings that they had this new song called “Ode To The Greyhouse,” and somebody in the room immediately said, “That sounds like a project.” We all just rallied around that concept of this house, where the music was born, and all of the analog, physical things you could do with that. So, we thought, “What if the grey house has a landline with an answering machine where fans can leave messages?” That became one of many tangible activations we built on with the whole grey house world-building. The album cover is an original painting of the actual grey house where the band wrote the album. Even the sound of the album is very analog and not polished, which was the band’s vision from the beginning.
You launched Severance Records in 2023, and your inaugural signing, Dexter and The Moonrocks, just cracked the Hot 100 for the first time, with “Freakin’ Out” reaching No. 51 this week. How have you helped the band grow over that time?
I have always believed Dexter could be the biggest band in the world, and I would tell that to anyone who would listen. I became a fan when I was still A&R at Atlantic Records, and when I left there, I chose the absolute greatest partners possible in Big Loud Rock. Seth England and Joey Moi have such passion for rock music and artist development. All of the biggest artists in our collective careers didn’t have a lot going on when we signed them. We just lock arms and believe. The biggest thing we’ve done to help Dexter grow is listen to them and lean in when asked, and get outta the way when they need to do it their way. James Tuffs is one of the greatest singers in rock music right now, and the band absolutely rips live. And we have to mention an absolute weapon in the band, Fox: along with being an awesome drummer, he understands internet culture better than anyone, as evidenced by the worldwide explosion of “Freakin’ Out”.
What specific decisions has the team made to support these songs in these moments?
I’ve got to give absolute props to Joey Moi, who made the courageous decision to completely reinvent Big Loud Rock into what a modern record label needs to be successful, and that you must behave like a digital agency with a dedicated strategy to monitor and react on the heels of engagement. No other label has a marketing machine like Big Loud Rock.
What’s next for these bands, and for the future of the label?
We’ve talked about Dexter and The Moonrocks and Edgehill, but we must talk about Dogpark! In my world of scouting and A&R, people ask what I’m looking and listening for, and the answer is always the same: vocals. Great bands need truly great, signature singers, and Dogpark has one in Eamon Mo. This NYC band hit me hard and fit my vision for Severance Records perfectly. The new songs they are writing are next level! You will hear incredible new Dogpark songs this year. Also, hot tip from Severance: Look out for Hendrix Frankenreiter.
