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Adam Hurstfield in recording studio.

Photo provided by Adam Hurstfield

Adam Hurstfield

By Joe Leary

Published 11:47 PDT, Fri June 7, 2024

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You can certainly tell a lot about a musician’s career by the amount of Gold Records that adorn the walls of their home.

Walking into the Richmond penthouse/studio that Adam Hurstfield shares with his family, it’s evident that he has seen and done a lot with some powerful names in the recording industry including Ludacris, Rick Ross, Snoop Dogg, DJ Khaled, Super Junior, Girls Generation and Lee Hyori to name just a few.

Originating as an artist while in his teens; the mega-talented creator, composer and producer heads up XOXO Entertainment. It’s his multi-tiered business venture that began in 2011.

His love of music was carved into his DNA in his childhood. “When I was a kid I was a huge Loverboy fan,” he says. “I remember getting a vinyl copy of their album and playing it on repeat.

“I used to slide around my parent’s house like Tom Cruise in Risky Business singing The Kid Is Hot Tonite at the top of my lungs.

“I was terrible but it didn’t matter because the song was so good.

“Mike Reno’s voice was epic and Paul Dean’s guitars were so driving.

“There was something magical about that song and that production that got me hooked on music.”

Oddly enough growing up, Adam lived just two blocks from lead Loverboy singer, Mike Reno’s house. “I remember trying to get the courage to knock on his door to try and get an autograph but I always chickened out.

“Cut to a bunch of years later and I actually got to produce an album for Loverboy and signed them to our Record Label. It’s funny how life works.”

Originally launching as a recording artist in a group called NRG, Adam H’s first ever solo single was called Feel Good. “Like every naive artist I thought the label going to be released, was my first single and it was going to be a huge hit. I could not have been more wrong and had no idea what it actually took to break a song.

“At the time I don’t think my team did either but luckily my manager believed in me and he also managed the famous 70’s soul and R&B group, The Manhattans.

“I had this idea to try and rewrite an interpretation of their hit single, Shining Star; which was crazy to assume they’d even be interested in working with me.

“I was living in New York at the time and I remember flying home to Vancouver to visit my family, and that’s when I wrote it.

“I had no approvals or anything and was very afraid to even ask, however when I returned to NYC I was in the studio with The Manhattans and their leader, the legendary Sonny Bivins; casually said to me “Hey, we should do a song together. Maybe we can remake Shining Star.

“I was freaking out because I was too afraid to even suggest it. I tried to play it cool meanwhile I had already rewritten it.

“That song opened up a lot of doors for me and I got to tour opening up for some massive groups at the time, but it still didn’t blow up like I hoped, so being the OCD kinda guy that I am I was determined to learn every job in the industry and figure out how to properly break a record.”

Hurstfield has certainly expanded his producing and songwriting portfolio exponentially along with artist management and conquering foreign markets.

His wife, pop star Elise Estrada is one such example. Hurstfield said “Elise was the first Asian Pop Artist to go #1 on Billboard and when we first signed her no major label was interested. So we released her independently on our label and out of all the artists I’ve worked with in my life, no one has blown up as fast as Elise did. It was crazy.

“Within weeks she had her first #1 and was performing in stadiums with Rihanna.

“The major record labels were wrong because Asian artists were incredibly underrepresented in North America and when Elise broke out and became a star; Asian kids in North America finally got to see themselves as a mainstream artist. It was a beautiful thing, which not only brought us success, it taught us a lot about what was missing in this business.”

While working in all aspects of the entertainment business, Adam H continues to expand his global brand, sourcing out new talent in new markets.

“One of the things that the early part of my career taught me is that it really is a big, amazing world,” he says. So I’ve always tried to connect the dots between as many countries as possible.

“My company, XOXO Entertainment Corp. has made it a priority over the years to expand into several strategic markets, so we heavily focus on many countries, in Asia as well as Europe, and North America.

“It’s a great excuse to get to travel and immerse myself in other cultures.”

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