Nabil Ayers
Nabil Ayers is an American music industry entrepreneur, writer and musician. In July 2019 and again in June 2020, Ayers was named one of Billboard Magazine's Indie Power Players.
Since 2009, Ayers has been the U.S. Label Manager for UK-based record label 4AD where he has led album campaigns for Grimes, Big Thief, St. Vincent, Purity Ring, Deerhunter, tUnE-yArDs, Future Islands, The Breeders, and The National, whose album Sleep Well Beast won the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.
Ayers co-founded Seattle’s Sonic Boom Records store in 1997 with his business partner, Jason Hughes. Sonic Boom has been named one of the best record stores in America by Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal and SPIN Magazine, and has been profiled by NPR, The New York Times and The Seattle Times. In July 2016, it was announced that Sonic Boom Records was sold to a longtime customer. Ayers wrote a memoir about the store that was published in Seattle newspaper, The Stranger.
In 2002, Ayers founded the independent record label The Control Group where he has released music by Lykke Li, Cate Le Bon, and El Perro del Mar. In 2018, Ayers founded the independent record label Valley of Search to reissue his uncle Alan Braufman's album of the same name. The label has gone on to release music by Tomas Nordmark and Patricia Brennan. As a drummer, he has performed with various acts, most recently The Long Winters and Tommy Stinson.
As a writer, Ayers has recently published pieces in The New York Times, NPR, People, GQ, Huffington Post and The Root. His writing is often autobiographic, and touches on topics of music and race. In January 2020, Ayers signed a book deal with Viking Press to publish his memoir.
He currently resides in Brooklyn, NY., where Brooklyn Magazine named Ayers #7 in a list of "The 100 Most Influential People In Brooklyn Culture.”
