Tekspacular officially launched in 2012 and it is a point of pride that our entertainment experience dates back to the heyday of the audio cassette! Only a forward thinking mentality could harmonize retro roots with success stories in the contemporary marketplace.

Our professional background at Tekspacular includes a stunning diversity of positions and start ups: internationally-known recording artist, marketing and sales executive, artist manager, digital media consultant, app developer, album producer, venue promoter, music publisher, fundraiser, DJ, film composer, stage musical producer, song plugger and more. We are metrics geeks, database freaks, early adapters, research hounds, diplomats, creatively explosive entrepreneurs, hook-up artists and pitchmen––all-the-while being masters of managing and truly owning the synchronous flow of business that promotes the values and needs of every stake holder.

Do we sleep? We’re thinking about it. But in the meantime, there simply isn’t a side of the fence we haven’t inhabited and that means we understand how to fill the needs of artists, managers, retailers and most importantly, FANS.

Willie Wisely [Founding Partner]

Music and the stage beckoned from age 15 when a friend first forced me to sing lead (shirtless) in front of his band at the 1979 Minnetonka East Junior High School Talent Show. That was cathartic, certainly. But I wouldn’t ever be satisfied merely being the artist. The business of being an artist was too fascinating. Chores that were normally abhorred by creatives, I found satisfying. The blend of business and art has guided my entire career and allows me to thrive in a dynamic world.

Two Paths:

  • While fronting my first touring band, I held a full-time position as head of promotions at the 1,500 capacity First Avenue & 7th St. Entry––the midwest’s most esteemed and storied venue.
  • In the mid 90’s, while launching a solo recording artist career with would-be platinum producer John Fields, I managed Minneapolis’ most popular band Greazy Meal, helping guide them through two quarter-million dollar years.
  • Upon moving to Los Angeles in the aughts and releasing three more Wisely albums, I split my focus between scoring, music placement, and sonic branding––building a proprietary catalog of music that generates ever increasing royalty annuities.
  • Then in 2008, on the cusp of an international tour in support of my first major-label distributed album, would-be partner Mark Copeland and I began bringing clients to what would become Tekspacular––a company as diversified and ready for the future as my 30-odd years as road-warrior-slash-music-biz-suit.

Mark Copeland [Founding Partner]

My dance with the Muse began with a hand me down collection of vinyl, leading directly to playing in obligatory garage bands with hopes directly in inverse proportion to talent. With D/FW, Texas as ground zero, I was soon a record store manager extraordinaire by day, playing in a band by night, selling our cassette on consignment and entertaining crowds deep into the tens. With failure as the key to success, I discovered a deeper well of talent in managing people and systems and thus a career path was illuminated, going on a near 30+ year entertainment industry run in content creation, strategic marketing, product management, brand development, consumer sales and talent relations.

An Illuminated Path:

  • From record store manager to official cog in the corporate machine as a music buyer for Wal-Mart and the Hastings Entertainment chain. A great office experience to bookend my time in the field.
  • The big move to L.A. to take the reigns of Priority Records catalog division, then riding their bumpy merge into the EMI Music catalog division. Later, followed my Indie passion with a General Manager run for Oglio Records.
  • All in all, I have managed extensive (and awesomely diverse) catalog lines, produced and marketed over 300+ releases and been fortunate to score #1 debuts on Billboard’s Heatseekers and New Age charts, and racking up a few Platinum and Gold certified projects along the way.
  • Fun business highlights include landing a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Instrumental Album and one of my distributed label’s winning a Grammy for Best Dance Recording.
  • More treasured has been the opportunity to directly help artists pursue their own Muse by connecting directly with their own fans, which makes Tekspacular with Willie Wisely the textbook example of dreams do come true.