Fiona and the Bloom Effect

“Years back, people thought I was crazy and not focused,” said music promoter, marketer, publicist, booking agent, tour manager and Bed-Stuy resident Fiona Bloom.

“Now, full circle, people are like, I get it: In this day and age, you kinda have to wear a multitude of hats and have a plethora of skills. You cannot be one-dimensional any more.”

Tapping the inside of each of her fingers, she begins rattling off a long list of the clients – mostly independent music artists-- she has represented over the years through her boutique marketing and publicity agency, The Bloom Effect: Anthony David, Reverbnation, Terry Poison, Nelson George, Wayna, The Renaissance Hotel, Avery Sunshine and a host of others.

As an agency, The Bloom Effect is only four years old. But Fiona has been “in the business” for more than 20 years.

The U.S. indie urban music scene knows the name Fiona Bloom. And any independent music artist that has received at least moderate acclaimed has either been represented by or at some point worked with her.

“My name is Bloom for a reason: I make things Bloom,” she said in her British accent, giving away her immigrant roots. “I don’t necessarily want to come to something that has already happened or developed. My forte and talents lie in cultivating, nurturing and building a client or a brand, from the ground up.

“It takes much longer to water those seeds and watch them grow. But the end result is the most rewarding thing you can ever have in your life.”

Born and raised in London, England, across the street from Abbey Road Studios, Fiona was on the path to becoming a full-time concert pianist.

“Music has been in my blood from day-one; I can’t get away from it,” said Fiona. She did overseas study stints at the University of Maryland and the Philadelphia University of the Arts, before spending two years in Tel Aviv, Israel, “reconnecting with her roots,” she said.

Then, in the early 90s, when her father made a temporary move to Atlanta on an architectural project, she followed him. She was only 22.

“I fell in love with the music and urban culture scene there,” said Fiona.  “I was fascinated, because I had been studying classical music and jazz all of my life, but never had much exposure to anything else.”

Fiona shelved her classical piano pursuits and began devoting all of her time to studying a new type of music— one involving two turntables and a mic.

She started training as a DJ personality before landing a college radio gig at 88.5 fm at Georgia State University. Eventually, she was recruited on commercial radio in Atlanta on “Star 94” as an assistant music programmer, playing adult contemporary and pop.

“But I was going home and listening to Pharcyde, De La Soul and KRS-One,” Fiona said. “At that time, KRS-One was a big influence on my life, I was just loving hip hop.”

Then an EMI Records Executive Daniel Glass, recruited her to his company to work as a marketing manager in their New York City office.  And that’s how she ended up in New York. Or rather, that’s how she ended up in Brooklyn.

“And I love Bed-Stuy,” she said. “There’s such a great community spirit here; I love the culture, and as I watch the neighborhood diversify, I’m seeing it change in front of my eyes into this cultural mecca. You don’t get better than this.”

Aside from hunting down, cultivating and promoting raw talent, Fiona spends a lot of her free time volunteering with youth groups. She is excited when she talks about her block association, which she joined recently.

She got to know some of her neighbors when they all banned together to help cook meals for a family of children after their parent was shot and killed by a stray bullet last month.

“You hear about the shootings that go on,” said Fiona, “but very few people stop to think what happens afterward. There are families and children and pets and other things you still have to deal with and to think about. But no one really thinks about those things.”

But that’s Fiona—nurturing and most concerned about those to whom most pay the least attention.

Her three-year vision for the Bloom Effect is to form a network/collective with other like-minded entrepreneurs who are into arts and urban culture and bringing indie talent to other parts of the world like Tel Aviv and Singapore.

“But I never want to lose my DIY esthetic,” she said. “When it comes to my work, I am ubiquitous.”

You can learn all about her work at her website. She also has a blog called “The Bloom Blog,” and a YouTube channel where she just dropped her 100th webisode, which features up-and-coming talent doing everything from singing, to teaching.

“You can also find me on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Reverbnation… You can find me on MySpace, BlackPlanet and OkayCupid…”

She blushes and then laughs, “Oops, that’s a dating site.”

“But yeah, you can find me there too.”