SLAMMIE PRODUCTIONS was a mainstay in the South Florida music scene for more than two decades (1992-2017), an independent concert promotion brand that had a hand in more than 400 shows at 30+ venues featuring more than 700 bands.
Throughout the 1990s, the South Florida Slammie Awards was the premiere local music event, and Slammie events intersected with the careers of a who's who of the local punk, metal and alternative scenes. Bands booked by Slammie in the early days of their careers include Marilyn Manson, New Found Glory, Nonpoint, Dashboard Confessional, Poison the Well, Against All Authority, Further Seems Forever, and many more.
Under the direction of music scene veteran Jim Hayward, Slammie promoted such top acts as A.F.I., Blink 182, Dashboard Confessional, Deftones, Fall Out Boy, Fugazi, Iron Maiden, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Marilyn Manson, Megadeth, My Chemical Romance, New Found Glory, Nonpoint, NOFX, Pennywise, Slayer, Sum 41, Taking Back Sunday, The Used, Yellowcard and many more. Signature events included the South Florida Slammie Awards, La Fiesta de Punk Rock and Freedom Fest. Hayward appeared in the VH1 documentary, Driven: Marilyn Manson, recounting the shock rocker's early days.
NATIONAL ACTS: Slammie and its partners produced hundreds of rock, punk and metal concerts from many of the nation's top booking agencies. In addition to those listed above, some of the more well-known artists that worked with Slammie Productions are: 7 Seconds, Alkaline Trio, Anti-Flag, The Adolescents, Agent Orange, Agnostic Front, The Aquabats, The Ataris, Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold, Sebastian Bach, Biohazard, Bouncing Souls, Brand New, The Business, The Casualties, Exene Cervenka, Circle Jerks, CKY, Coheed and Cambria, Dick Dale, Dead Kennedys, The Donnas, Dropkick Murphys, The Early November, Earth Crisis, Eighteen Visions Face To Face, Fear Factory, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, From First To Last, The Get Up Kids, Guided By Voices, Guttermouth, GWAR, H2O Hatebreed, KMFDM. Lagwagon, Lars Frederiksen, Life of Agony, Machine Head, The Mad Caddies, Ministry, MxPx, Nekromantix, No Use For A Name, The Queers, Reggie & The Full Effect, Rise Against, Rollins Band, Rufio, Saves the Day, Say Anything, Senses Fail, Shai Hulud, Sick Of It All, Silverstein, The Slackers, Snapcase, Something Coroporate, The Starting Line, Story of the Year, Strike Anywhere, Subhumans, Suicide Machines, Thrice, Thursday, Underoath, Unearth, Unwritten Law, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Youth Brigade and many more.
SOUTH FLORIDA TALENT: Among the bands that went on to national success while working with Slammie Productions on a local level are Against All Authority, Dashboard Confessional, Further Seems Forever, Genitorturers, Marilyn Manson, New Found Glory, Nonpoint, Poison The Well and Puya.
SHOWCASES: Slammie Productions developed several signature events that spotlighted South Florida talent. The South Florida Slammie Awards (1992-1999) was Florida's longest running original rock awards showcase and featured such top local artists as Marilyn Manson, Nonpoint, Puya, Further Seems Forever, Malevolent Creation, The Genitorturers, Collapsing Lungs, Strongarm, Shai Hulud, Raped Ape, and Load. La Fiesta De Punk Rock (2000-2003) showcased the area's growing punk scene and was one of the area's premiere local events, featuring performances by New Found Glory, Against All Authority, and many up-and-coming bands. Freedom Fest (2001) was a charity/benefit event that united the scene for a 50-band showcase that raised money for victims of the 9/11 attack.
THE PROMOTER: Jim Hayward, a South Florida resident since 1975, founded Slammie Productions in 1992 as a vehicle to promote the Slammie Awards and top local and national talent. Previously and through the late '90s, he was a personal manager of several artists, including the legendary local group Raped Ape (later Paingod). He sat on management panels at the Southeast Music Conference and other industry events, and produced and released several independent CDs that were distributed internationally.
In his main career, Hayward was a professional journalist for more than 40 years, working at two of Florida's largest daily newspapers, the Miami Herald and The Palm Beach Post. During his decades-long career as an editor, he dabbled as a local and national music writer at The Post. From 1988 through 1990, he wrote more than 80 stories that included concert reviews and dozens of interviews with members of touring bands including Aerosmith, Metallica, The Scorpions, The Cult, Heart, Judas Priest and many others. Hayward helped launch the newspaper on the Web in the 1990s, then spent decades developing new online applications. When he retired in late 2022, he was the lead planner responsible for coordinating all the content in both the print and online editions.
Slammie founder on Florida Sound Archive
YOUTUBE VIDEO: Jim Hayward talks about the history of Slammie Productions and the South Florida Slammie Awards, sharing rare stories and vintage images. Audio version also available on all major podcast platforms (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.).
In the early 2000s, Hayward became involved in the Polynesian Pop revival and the South Florida event that celebrates Tiki culture known as The Hukilau. Over the course of more than 20 years, the four-day weekender in Broward County has featured such top surf and retro rock bands as Los Straitjackets, Deke Dickerson, Messer Chups, The Surfrajettes, and many more. "Hurricane Hayward" continues to do publicity and promotion for The Hukillau and other Tiki events.
Since 2011, Hayward has funneled his creative energy into The Atomic Grog blog, which covers the local and national Tiki scenes and their events, music, art, cocktails and culture. The blog and his close association with the historic Mai-Kai restaurant in Fort Lauderdale have also paved the way for him to become a guest speaker at events across the country, including Tiki Oasis in San Diego, Inuhele in Atlanta, and Tiki-a-Go-Go in Orlando. His cocktail recipes and research posted on the blog have also gained him a worldwide following over the past 15 years in the booming craft and Tiki cocktail revival.
Like many other old rockers and punks, Jim has found a comfortable retirement home in Tiki.
