Jimi Beach
Encyclopedia
James Beach Drummond is an artist, entrepreneur and concert promoter based in Orlando, FL. He is the creator and Executive Producer of the Bandwagon Roadshow, which was named "Best New Event Launch of 2010" by BizBash Magazine. He is known as an advocate for independent arts, and regularly promotes up-and-coming artists through the marketing programs of the companies he operates.
As an artist, Beach is known for using natural elements, nature's rhythms, and "water as art". He has a noted history of turning artistic concepts into successful business ventures.
based in Central Florida. Lo Presher recorded three albums and toured the surf industry circuit with a rhythmic act that featured homemade percussive instruments made from alligator skulls, turtle shells and bamboo. The New York Times described the band’s music as “wooden drums and didgeridoo added to hard-rock and punk”.
In 1996 he approached Warped Tour
founder Kevin Lyman
with a proposal to organize an independent artist stage which became known as the Surf Compound. The band went on to manage, produce and perform on this independent stage through their own indie record label, EVREC Productions, from 1996 to 1999.
In 1998 Beach used profits from tours and album sales as capital to launch a concept that combined his love for water and art. Bluworld of Water, started by Beach and his brother Sean Drummond, has grown into the largest commercial and residential indoor water feature
company in the world. Beach served as the creative force behind the brand until 2005, and has been referred to as the world's foremost authority on water art and design.
Beach and Drummond were featured on CNBC
’s The Big Idea
with Donny Deutsch
in 2008 to discuss the rapid success of Bluworld.
Beach successfully pioneered the concept of “water as art”, selling water sculptures to celebrities and international business clients, which enabled Bluworld to become an internationally recognized art and design studio. The company partnered on a furniture line with renowned spokesmodel and design entrepreneur Kathy Ireland
.
In 2003 Beach was commissioned by Fiji Water
to design an installation
for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week
(New York Fashion Week) at Bryant Park
in Manhattan, NY.
The high-end lifestyle magazine Robb Report
labeled Beach as "one of the country's leading water artists,"
Beach’s experience as a nightclub designer and owner inspired him to develop a brand concept for a line of distilled spirits, which resulted in the creation of Bong Spirit Vodka
. Beach chose the controversial bottle design
based on its symbolism as a communal object, and the cultural role it has represented for decades as an underground icon in the arts and entertainment community.
Beach debuted Bong Spirit in December 2005 at Art Basel
in Miami Beach and created a marketing program called Spirit of the Brand that allows up-and-coming artists the opportunity to design artwork for the company's bottles. Bong Spirit uses proceeds from the art bottles to promote indie arts
by organizing regional exhibitions, concerts, and bottle signing events.
In 2007 Beach selected the top finalists from hundreds of design submissions from around the world and debuted the winning bottle designs at an exhibition in Austin, Texas featuring art from such recognized street artists as Shepard Fairy, Aidan Hughes
, Istvan Orosz
, Vulcan, and Art Spiegelman
.
In 2008 Bong Spirit Vodka was launched in select international party destinations such as Ho Chi Minh City
, London
and Macau
.
Beach has won several design awards for the bottle concept, innovative marketing programs and designer accessories for Bong Spirit Imports
In 2010 Beach won the Platinum Medal at the Spirits International Prestige for the best overall package design out of 162 brands submitted from around the world.
On September 22, 2010 Bong Spirit Imports, LLC was acquired by Millennium Prime, Inc (OTC: MLMN), and currently operates as a subsidiary of the company. Millennium Prime is a developer, acquirer and marketer of lifestyle brands and enters lifestyle product markets to establish business units focused on brand categories.
In 2007 Beach launched the Global Talent Database. The comprehensive web network at TalentDatabase.com (theDB.com) was a free talent search engine and artist directory, similar to a global Yellow Pages for talent and creativity. The network’s servers suffered a catastrophic failure from a cooling system malfunction in 2009, rendering the project unrecoverable and in need of a rebuild that is said to be planned for the near future.
Beach was the editor and author of Talent Speaks, an artist blog centered around "a discussion of advancements in technology and the subsequent increased amount of opportunities for self-employed and independent artists."
From 1996 to 1998 Beach produced the “Surf Compound” on the Vans Warped Tour, which provided a platform for prominent action sports athletes and musicians such as Tom Curren
, Donavon Frankenreiter
, Kelly Slater
, Mark McGrath
, Peter King, and Ray Bones.
In 2003 Beach wrote and directed Rhythm of Nature, a theatrical production featuring percussion instruments and tribal rhythms with Cirque du Soleil
performers personifying the notions of water, rhythm and dance.
In 2010 Beach launched the Bandwagon Roadshow, a concert festival series combining national interest in car culture and popular music. Bandwagon was named “Best New Event Launch of 2010” by BizBash Magazine. In September 2010, Beach started an internet-based radio station called RadioBandwagon that serves as the centerpiece for the series’ promotional marketing, and features more than a dozen themed radio shows that support the car culture lifestyle.
In August 2011 Beach signed a broadcast deal with Fox Entertainment for a TV show entitled "Bandwagon: The American Roadshow" which will debut in prime time on the SPEED CHANNEL in the Spring of 2012.
As an artist, Beach is known for using natural elements, nature's rhythms, and "water as art". He has a noted history of turning artistic concepts into successful business ventures.
Musician
In 1992 Beach was a founding member of the surf-rock band Lo PresherLo Presher
Lo Presher is an American rock band formed in 1992 in Brevard County, Florida. The band released three studio albums and toured extensively, including performances on the Vans Warped Tour. The band is usually classified under Surf Rock, but fans are credited with labeling their style as Tribal...
based in Central Florida. Lo Presher recorded three albums and toured the surf industry circuit with a rhythmic act that featured homemade percussive instruments made from alligator skulls, turtle shells and bamboo. The New York Times described the band’s music as “wooden drums and didgeridoo added to hard-rock and punk”.
In 1996 he approached Warped Tour
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is...
founder Kevin Lyman
Kevin Lyman
Kevin Lyman is creator of a touring music and extreme sports festival called the Warped Tour, the Taste of Chaos, and the Mayhem tours. He also is a partner at SideOneDummy Records. He owns 4FINI which annually produces the above-mentioned tours as well as produced past tours such as the Down From...
with a proposal to organize an independent artist stage which became known as the Surf Compound. The band went on to manage, produce and perform on this independent stage through their own indie record label, EVREC Productions, from 1996 to 1999.
Bluworld of Water
In 1998 Beach used profits from tours and album sales as capital to launch a concept that combined his love for water and art. Bluworld of Water, started by Beach and his brother Sean Drummond, has grown into the largest commercial and residential indoor water feature
Water feature
In landscape architecture and garden design, a water feature is one or more items from a range of fountains, pools, ponds, cascades, waterfalls, and streams. Before the 18th century they were usually powered by gravity, though the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon are described by Strabo as...
company in the world. Beach served as the creative force behind the brand until 2005, and has been referred to as the world's foremost authority on water art and design.
Beach and Drummond were featured on CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
’s The Big Idea
The Big Idea
The Big Idea was a millennium-funded, interactive museum in Irvine in Ayrshire, Scotland.The museum, built on the site of Alfred Nobel's dynamite factory, is devoted to invention and inventors...
with Donny Deutsch
Donny Deutsch
Donald “Donny” Deutsch is an American television personality and advertising executive. He is also the former host of the CNBC talk show The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. The television audience first became familiar with him on February 11, 2005 when he appeared on NBC's The Apprentice with Donald...
in 2008 to discuss the rapid success of Bluworld.
Beach successfully pioneered the concept of “water as art”, selling water sculptures to celebrities and international business clients, which enabled Bluworld to become an internationally recognized art and design studio. The company partnered on a furniture line with renowned spokesmodel and design entrepreneur Kathy Ireland
Kathy Ireland
Kathleen Marie "Kathy" Ireland is an American former model, actress, and entrepreneur. She is the CEO and designer of her eponymous brand product marketing company, Kathy Ireland Worldwide.-Life and career:...
.
In 2003 Beach was commissioned by Fiji Water
Fiji water
thumb|right|FIJI Water for sale in a deli.FIJI Water is a U.S.-based business and brand of bottled water derived, bottled, and shipped from the Fiji Islands. It is available in 330ml, 500ml, 1 liter and 1.5 liter bottles...
to design an installation
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week
New York Fashion Week
The semi-annual New York Fashion Week, branded Mercedes-Benz FashionWeek in 2009, is held in February and September of each year in New York City. It is one of four major fashion weeks held around the world .-History:The first New York Fashion Week, then called Press Week, was the world's first...
(New York Fashion Week) at Bryant Park
Bryant Park
Bryant Park is a 9.603 acre privately managed public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan...
in Manhattan, NY.
The high-end lifestyle magazine Robb Report
Robb Report
The Robb Report is an American, English-language, luxury-lifestyle magazine featuring products — including automobiles, real estate and watches — for affluent connoisseurs.-History:...
labeled Beach as "one of the country's leading water artists,"
Bong Spirit Vodka
Beach’s experience as a nightclub designer and owner inspired him to develop a brand concept for a line of distilled spirits, which resulted in the creation of Bong Spirit Vodka
Bong Spirit Vodka
Bong Spirit Vodka is a super premium vodka, sold in a bottle shaped like a bong. It is made from European grain, distilled six times and filtered through four processes, using reverse osmosis and charcoal filtering. It is distributed in the United States by Southern Wine & Spirits, , and...
. Beach chose the controversial bottle design
Bong
A bong is a filtration device/apparatus generally used for smoking cannabis, tobacco,or other herbal substances.In construction and function a bong is similar to a hookah, except smaller and more portable...
based on its symbolism as a communal object, and the cultural role it has represented for decades as an underground icon in the arts and entertainment community.
Beach debuted Bong Spirit in December 2005 at Art Basel
Art Basel
Art Basel is an international contemporary art fair held each June in Basel, Switzerland. Similar to the Venice Biennale, it has been called "the Olympics of the art world". Art Basel features nearly 300 leading galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa...
in Miami Beach and created a marketing program called Spirit of the Brand that allows up-and-coming artists the opportunity to design artwork for the company's bottles. Bong Spirit uses proceeds from the art bottles to promote indie arts
Indie design
The indie design movement is made up of independent designers, artists and craftspeople who design and make a wide array of products without being part of large, industrialized businesses....
by organizing regional exhibitions, concerts, and bottle signing events.
In 2007 Beach selected the top finalists from hundreds of design submissions from around the world and debuted the winning bottle designs at an exhibition in Austin, Texas featuring art from such recognized street artists as Shepard Fairy, Aidan Hughes
Aidan Hughes
Aidan Hughes is a commercial artist. He was born in 1956 in Merseyside, England, and was trained as an artist by his father, himself a landscape painter.In the 1980s, Hughes published a pulp-style magazine called BRUTE! which earned him notoriety...
, Istvan Orosz
István Orosz
István Orosz Hungarian painter, printmaker, graphic designer and animated film director, is known for his mathematically inspired works, impossible objects, optical illusions, double-meaning images and anamorphoses. The geometric art of István Orosz, with forced perspectives and optical...
, Vulcan, and Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
.
In 2008 Bong Spirit Vodka was launched in select international party destinations such as Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
.
Beach has won several design awards for the bottle concept, innovative marketing programs and designer accessories for Bong Spirit Imports
In 2010 Beach won the Platinum Medal at the Spirits International Prestige for the best overall package design out of 162 brands submitted from around the world.
On September 22, 2010 Bong Spirit Imports, LLC was acquired by Millennium Prime, Inc (OTC: MLMN), and currently operates as a subsidiary of the company. Millennium Prime is a developer, acquirer and marketer of lifestyle brands and enters lifestyle product markets to establish business units focused on brand categories.
Talent Database
In 2007 Beach launched the Global Talent Database. The comprehensive web network at TalentDatabase.com (theDB.com) was a free talent search engine and artist directory, similar to a global Yellow Pages for talent and creativity. The network’s servers suffered a catastrophic failure from a cooling system malfunction in 2009, rendering the project unrecoverable and in need of a rebuild that is said to be planned for the near future.
Beach was the editor and author of Talent Speaks, an artist blog centered around "a discussion of advancements in technology and the subsequent increased amount of opportunities for self-employed and independent artists."
The Surf Compound
From 1996 to 1998 Beach produced the “Surf Compound” on the Vans Warped Tour, which provided a platform for prominent action sports athletes and musicians such as Tom Curren
Tom Curren
Tom Curren Tom Curren Tom Curren (born July 3, 1964, in Santa Barbara, California is an American surfer. He was born to father Pat (big-wave legend and shaper) and mother Jeanine. His brother Joe is also a professional surfer and popular photographer and he also has a sister, Anna....
, Donavon Frankenreiter
Donavon Frankenreiter
Donavon Frankenreiter is an American musician and surfer. He is a long-time friend of Jack Johnson and his debut self-titled album was released in 2004 on Johnson's Brushfire Records through Universal Music and made the Australian ARIA Top-40 charts in April 2004.-Surfing career:He took up surfing...
, Kelly Slater
Kelly Slater
Robert Kelly Slater is an American professional surfer known for his competitive prowess and style. He has been crowned ASP World Champion a record 11 times, including 5 consecutive titles from 1994–98. He is the youngest and the oldest to win the title...
, Mark McGrath
Mark McGrath
Mark Sayers McGrath is an American singer of the rock band Sugar Ray. McGrath is also known for his work as a co-host of Extra, and he was the host of Don't Forget the Lyrics! in 2010...
, Peter King, and Ray Bones.
Rhythm of Nature
In 2003 Beach wrote and directed Rhythm of Nature, a theatrical production featuring percussion instruments and tribal rhythms with Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...
performers personifying the notions of water, rhythm and dance.
Bandwagon Roadshow
In 2010 Beach launched the Bandwagon Roadshow, a concert festival series combining national interest in car culture and popular music. Bandwagon was named “Best New Event Launch of 2010” by BizBash Magazine. In September 2010, Beach started an internet-based radio station called RadioBandwagon that serves as the centerpiece for the series’ promotional marketing, and features more than a dozen themed radio shows that support the car culture lifestyle.
In August 2011 Beach signed a broadcast deal with Fox Entertainment for a TV show entitled "Bandwagon: The American Roadshow" which will debut in prime time on the SPEED CHANNEL in the Spring of 2012.