An interview with the Co-founders of LineForLine

We do not want to spoil the opportunity to deliver a first time music experience so we can’t share some of the more intricate details of the application.  Admittedly we have to be a bit vague at the moment but we figured we’d offer you some backstory on the actual creators of the product and why they wanted to get into the making of a music application. In the interim we’re dedicated to providing you guys with content that is indicative of the quality and the tone of LineForLine.  Enjoy and if you have any questions, please just ask.

Where did the idea to start a music sharing app come from?

Dean Andriotis (Co-Founder): I would have to say in a car on the BQE expressway. In my early 20’s I was constantly driving from Queens to BK with CDs banging Hardcore 90s Hip Hop. When there wasn’t traffic, which was rare, I always got an amazing thrill bobbing and weaving with the music blasting. I wanted to share those feelings.  I think back to the way I have always bonded with music, decorating my walls floor to ceiling with Source posters. It came from a love for music. specifically hip hop and the pioneers.

Robert Holzhauer (Co-Founder): Lucky for me, I have a friend who is obsessed with music. And for as long as I’ve known him, he has been obsessed with music, a true audiophile. So when he said, “I have an idea for a music app”, I listened, no brainer. Partnering up with him was an easy decision to be honest. We are both very familiar with each other’s personality and work ethics, so it wasn’t a hard decision at all. I knew we both had different strong suits, with an overall love of music. The scary part was committing, but I think we are both happy we did.

So you’re both obviously huge music fans, what’s best show or shows you’ve seen live this year?

RH: Beach Boys at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn just a few nights ago. One of the most iconic American bands of all time. Awesome is probably the only way to put it. Thank you Brian Wilson.

DA: Ghostface Killah at the observatory in Santa, Ana – the Iron Man does not rust. Action Bronson in Anchorage Alaska which may seem hypocritical, but good Hip Hop cannot be ignored. Plus I think my Queens’ brethren got the message, respect your elders. Also, System of a Down and Lauren Hill put on amazing live performances. I mean you just listen to them in awe.

What were some of the challenges early on in starting LineforLine?

RH: The two things that stand out are time in a day and staying healthy.  They sound basic but they’re both tied into one another.  I find myself always looking for more hours to finish everything that I need to do and as a result I reject human needs like sleep, nourishment and sometimes general human contact (laughs).

DA: Yeah I mean I never forget to eat because it’s my favorite thing in the world but it is tough.  Specifically on the business side it’s come down to capital, licensing and maintaining a job earlier on in the process. I mean the idea was conceived in 2012 – and we began to work on building the vision in late 2014. Even though it was a challenge it felt great to work during the day at a job and then come home at night and work on my true passion of sharing music. I love to put people on and hear them form their own opinions on music.  It’s really cool to be able to say this is my full time job now.

You mentioned doing this full time, what were you guys doing for work before LineforLine?  

DA: Been in sales my whole life. Despite the stigma, I am proud of it. Taught me a ton about bringing value to people and what it takes to get people to listen. During my last employment, getting my first promotion was definitely inspiring for me. Moved to Denver, Colorado and was flying out Sunday night and returning Thursday night. Think “Up in the Air”. But on the plus side I was able to see over 50 different cities from Omaha to Anchorage, from Odessa to Seattle.  I actually wound up turning down another promotion to pursue this full steam.  The thing that really made me believe that this was the right choice was that it wasn’t even that particularly of a difficult choice for me to make.  I knew what I had to do but I’m thankful for starting out doing both because it has offered me a ton of perspective.

RH: I have been in public accounting and finance for all of my career. I interned while in college and stuck with the same public accounting firm for the next 7 years. While with that firm, I was offered a position with a growing ecommerce company. I stayed with that company for the next 2 ½ years. That was an experience. It wasn’t just the accounting and finances. It was everything that came with joining a growing company and team of people. I loved wearing multiple hats from managing paid ads to delivering analytics, down to daily operations with the owner.  That experience really made feel like I was ready to start my own product and the value in working in a smaller, more all encompassing environment.  I mean when you do something like this it takes you all over the place both emotionally and physically.

As far as a physical move, you guys are developing the app in Brazil, how did that come about?

DA: After beginning to work on building the app and speak to any and everyone in our network that has done this we were ready to begin putting the right people in place for everything we needed to fulfill our project. For me, it was really important to submerge myself in the culture and learn from people in the industry. Which is essentially networking. Well after about 5 months of intense research I met a talented Co Founder / Product Manager at a design and development firm in Marina Del Rey, Arturo Perez.  Arturo has turned out to be a great person, as well as someone that is very passionate about his work. We hit it off because Arturo loves music and saw the vision. One the most talented developers Arturo ever worked with was this guy by the name of Gustavo. Gustavo came from this great  design firm and he worked with a gentleman named Bruno in Brazil.  Now after much deliberation we wind up working with a development team in Brazil. So yeah it’s a bit convoluted but it’s amazing how fast and how far this this thing can take you.

That sounds very exciting, does anything else stand out as being particularly memorable from the process so far?  What do you most look forward to in the future?

DA: Sounds cliche, but everything. Something as simple as answering these questions feels amazing because it is about the vision of Line for Line. If I had to choose the most exciting thing thus far, it has been getting back the design slides of our product to be. From a selfish standpoint I can’t wait to use the product myself, but the truth is to see others use the product to its potential and see what comes of it.

RH: I’d have to agree with Dean here. Receiving updates from our development team is probably the most exciting. After every update we know that we are that much closer to sharing with others what has been in the making for months. There is nothing like progress. It makes you keep your foot on the gas no matter how long your days and nights are. The future? That all depends on the now. Talk to me in a few months.

Can you share any details about the timeline for the eventual release of the product?

DA: The goal is to hit the market by Summer 2016, probably at some point in July.  I’m sure we’ll have events and things of that nature before then but right now our timeline is trying to handle everything one day at a time and making sure we put out the best possible product.

RH: And hopefully when we get to our release date I can finally get some sleep.

DA: Probably not.  (LAUGHTER)