Dave Shapiro, a ground music executive in a heavy metal and hard rock scene, died in the San Diego plane crash. He was 42 years old.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Shapiro had a pilot license and was listed as the owner of the aircraft. The music agency Sound Talent Group confirmed that Shapiro died of two employees in an accident on Thursday morning.
The agency said in a statement, “We have been destroyed by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues and friends.”
Shapiro co-established the Sound Talent Group with Tim Bormer and Matt Anderson in 2018. The roster of the agency focuses on an alternative band in pop-pank, metalcore, post-hardcore and other popular hard rock subjunner. Customers include Hanson, Pierce The Veal, Parkway Drive, SUM 41 and Vanessa Carlton.
Shapiro was a strong lawyer for independent musicians and co-founder of the National Independent Talent Organization. She was included in the Billboard’s 2012 “30 Under 30” list, recognizing Rising Stars in entertainment. Industry veterans say Shapiro paved the way for the formation of other independent agencies and helped several alternative bands find the audience in the mainstream.
He said in a music industry podcast in 2021, “Something you like to do is just a better work because you really care. You don’t just look for Pachek, it’s not 9 to 5,” he said in a music industry podcast in 2021. “This is part of living your life if you really like it.”
Shapiro grew up in New York in the “Straitage Hard-core” scene, a subculture that promotes not using drugs and alcohol in the reaction of the mainstream punk.
At high school, he started a band with his friends and signed with a record of winning on graduation. He visited for a few years, during which he made connections in the music industry that would help help them on behalf of the business.
Shapiro said that he was immediately surprised at aviation after taking his first intro flight at the age of 22. They feel that they love music and fly with similar passion, opening an office of their talent agency in a hanger in San Diego at one point.
In an interview in 2020 podcast, Shapiro said, “Flying” helps me to focus and helps me not distract all nonsense in the world, and whatever is happening outside the aircraft in those moments. ,
Shapiro had a flight school called Velocity Aviation and a record label, Velocity Records.
He offered flights in both San Diego and Homer, Alaska, where he and his wife, Julia Pavlik Shapiro, were the owners of a house according to their online post.
Shapiro married his wife in 2016 in the small town of Talketa, a small town in Alaska. They raised their wedding licenses, climbed an aircraft and flew to a glacier inside Denali National Park, with a ski landing on the wheels of the aircraft.
“When I met Dave, we immediately tied the unconventional lifestyle and we wrote in a blog post,” we wrote in a blog post.
In 2019, he posted on Instagram that he had received his airline transport pilot rating, which is the highest level of certification issued by the US.
“Although I have a career and there is no plan to change that I always want to learn more and be a better pilot,” he wrote. He was also an adrenaline addict who enjoyed base-jumping.
On Thursday, tributes were paid to musicians and others in the industry, who called him warm, real and someone who helped the low-term bands.
Public Relations Agency Big Picture Media founder Daya Ghildi-Tovers said, “He will listen to any band that will put them in front of them,” said.
Nat Blasdale, former lead guitarist for the band, I set my friends on fire, said that he was “completely heartbroken.”
He said in a post on social platform X, “Dave was the first booking agent with whom I ever worked and he was a major part of my music career over my late teenage years.”
SUM 41 singer Deryck Whaily credited Shapiro to help back the rock band during the “low point” in his career.
“His opinion matters to me a lot,” said Vhibe. “That man was the man I used to go for advice on things.”
Published – May 23, 2025 01:24 pm IST
