Nicholas William Gross (born July 19, 1988) is an entrepreneur, musician and founder of the Find Your Grind education platform. Gross founded the band girlfriends together with Travis Mills in 2020. He is also a member of Goldfinger.

Early life

Gross grew up in

Laguna Beach, California Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and ...

, the only son of Bill H. Gross and his second wife Sue, and began playing the drums around age seven. He started a career as a drummer and in subsequent years was the drummer for bands Open Air Stereo and Half the Animal. With Open Air Stereo Gross took part in the reality show Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. The band later signed with Epic Records. In 2009, Gross launched STRZ Enterprises, a record studio and record label.

Career

Big Noise

In 2018, Gross founded the music group Big Noise together with ex-Vagrant executive Jon Cohen and rock producer

John Feldmann John Feldmann (born June 29, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He serves as the lead singer/guitarist of the band Goldfinger. Early life Feldmann grew up in Saratoga, California. He started writing song ...

. He is

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

of Big Noise. As of 2019 the label's roster included

Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatr ...

and New Politics. Also in 2018, Gross founded Gross Labs as parent company of Find Your Grind and Big Noise, among others. In 2019, Big Noise launched the Noise Nest, a 5000-sq. ft recording studio in Los Angeles and launched the FYG U Music + Tech Festival. In June 2019, Big Noise acquired the hip hop label Commission Record. Its roster includes

MadeinTYO Malcolm Jamaal Davis (born April 12, 1992), better known by his stage name MadeinTYO (pronounced Made in Tokyo), is an American rapper and singer born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He rose to prominence in 2016 after the release of his single " Uber Every ...

Lil Dicky David Andrew Burd (born March 15, 1988), better known by his stage name Lil Dicky, is an American rapper, comedian, and actor. He came to prominence with the release of the music video for his song "Ex-Boyfriend" in 2013, which became popular w ...

Derez De'Shon Derez De'Shon Lenard (born March 25, 1989), formerly known as D-Dash, is an American rapper and singer. He is best known for his single "Hardaway", which peaked at number 61 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Early life Lenard was born on March 2 ...

and DJ Envy. The same year

The Used The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah, that formed in 2001. The group consists of vocalist Bert McCracken, bassist Jeph Howard, drummer Dan Whitesides, and guitarist Joey Bradford. Former members include Quinn Allman, Branden Ste ...

and

Travis Tritt James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 20 ...

signed with Big Noise. By 2021 Big Noise had expanded their 10,000 sq ft. recording studio facility The Noise Nest with five recording studios and rooms for streaming and gaming. Alongside the signed artists from Big Noise other clients like

Post Malone Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his variegated vocals, Malone has gained acclaim for blending genres and subgenres of hi ...

DaBaby Jonathan Lyndale Kirk (born December 22, 1991), known professionally as DaBaby (formerly known as Baby Jesus), is an American rapper. After releasing several mixtapes between 2014 and 2018, he rose to mainstream prominence with his debut alb ...

and

A$AP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...

use the facilities for work. Mod Sun signed a long-term deal with Big Noise in March 2021.

Goldfinger and girlfriends

Since 2018 Gross had been touring drummer for Goldfinger. Two years later he became the official drummer of the band. In 2020, Gross formed the band ''girlfriends'' with Travis Mills, with the duo citing

Blink-182 Blink-182 (stylized as blink-182) is an American rock band formed in Poway, California in 1992. Their current lineup consists of bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though their sound has ...

, 5 Seconds of Summer and

All Time Low All Time Low is an American rock band from Towson, Maryland, formed in 2003. Consisting of lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Alex Gaskarth, lead guitarist Jack Barakat, bassist/backing vocalist Zack Merrick, and drummer Rian Dawson, the band to ...

as the band's musical influences. The band released the first single "California" on June 26, 2020, with the music video being released on August 11. This was followed by their second single "Eyes Wide Shut" on 21 August 2020. Their self-titled debut album was released on 23 October 2020 featuring 14 tracks. The production led by

was a success with almost 20 songs being written in a few months.

Esports

In 2018, FYG partnered with esports platform ReKTGlobal, parent company of

Rogue A rogue is a person or entity that flouts accepted norms of behavior. Rogue or rogues may also refer to: Companies * Rogue Ales, a microbrewery in Newport, Oregon * Rogue Arts, a film production company * Rogue Entertainment, a software com ...

and London Royal Ravens, in scholarships for students who want to pursue esports. In 2019 Gross led a series A funding of $10.8 million for ReKTGlobal. He became a member of the board and the lead investor in ReKTGlobal.

Personal life

Gross is married to Natasha Gross (born Natasha Barritt), the Executive Director of the Find Your Grind Foundation. They have one child together. Gross enjoys surfing, running and skating.

References

External links

Find Your Grind

Gross Labs

Big Noise
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gross, Nick Living people People from Laguna Beach, California American drummers American investors 1988 births