Staff
The Planetary Group staff is a blend of people who all bring their unique experiences and talents to the table. In fact, our staff is just unique as your music. No matter your style or genre you will find that you will feel right at home working with our high energy and dynamic team.
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Adam Lewis
Founder
One of Planetary’s founding members, Adam Lewis has demonstrated commitment to music promotion from the get-go. While at college, Adam acted as the Chairman of the Activities Board, as well as the Music Director & Arts Editor of the radio station and newspaper. Adam also produced and promoted an independent EP, which charted on CMJ for 9 weeks.
The Summer of 1990 found Adam with yet another task — tour managing the Aquanettas (IRS) on their North American tour opening for Nine Inch Nails and Meat Beat Manifesto. Upon graduating he worked for Harris Goldberg at Concert Ideas in Woodstock, NY, and opened a satellite office of Concert Ideas here in Boston. In between the move from Woodstock to Boston, Adam hit the road again — this time as Tour Manager for Alien Sex Fiend (Mechanic).
So, what’s Adam been up to these days? Besides leading Planetary into the new millennium, he spent five years as the New England Sales Manager for TVT Records, where he played an integral part in the promotion of such acts as Sevendust, Guided By Voices, and Snoop Doggy Dogg. Adam also does all of the publicity, promotion, and media buying for Great Northeast Productions. Great Northeast produces over 50 (club level to stadium-sized) shows a year throughout New England. They have also been responsible for all of the large-scale Phish shows for the last few years, including The Clifford Ball, The Great Went, Lemonwheel, Oswego, It, Coventry, and the 2000 New Year’s Eve show in Florida, which was the largest millennium rock show in the world. For several years, Adam also managed Blackbird/Atlantic recording artists, Angry Salad.
Luke Phillips
Radio Promoter
Luke “Diamond” Phillips was born and raised in and around Flint, Michigan. As a youth, he voraciously consumed all of the pop culture and random history he could possibly handle, which makes him great at trivia. All of that obsession finally culminated when, at 16, Luke read Our Band Could Be Your Life for the first time. That settled it — young LDP was now obsessed with music culture almost exclusively.
Our hero attended Oakland University in Auburn Hills, MI, where in his first week he stepped inside the doors of WXOU Radio. Thereafter, he pretty much never left the station’s walls until graduation, becoming a student DJ in the process. Fellow DJs and staffers soon took notice of Luke’s wide-ranging, all-encompassing, super-inclusive taste, encyclopedic knowledge of bands and artists, and willingness to animatedly discuss these and various other subjects with anyone and everyone.
Freshly graduated, Luke has transplanted to LA, where he’s joined the radio department at Planetary. He’s just as excited to talk to YOU about records and the minutiae of life as he is everyone else.
Cristina Ramirez
Office/Project Manager
Cristina Ramirez is a Los Angeles based multimedia artist and music enthusiast, originally from Pearblossom, CA. After moving to LA in 2009 to attend Loyola Marymount University, Cristina began volunteering at the on campus radio station, KXLU 88.9 FM, as part of the video crew filming and editing live performances. Her creative endeavors extended to DJing a weekly show and handling promotions and publicity for the radio station. She graduated in 2012 with a BA in Studio Arts with an emphasis in Screen Printing.
Cristina currently works as a Project Manager for The Planetary Group, manages several LA musical groups, and exhibits her artwork and zines in local art spaces and galleries. Her interests include petting cats, using Domino’s Pizza Tracker, and watching Bob’s Burgers.
Ben Zalman
Director of Promotion
As a music industry professional and attorney with over 15 years of experience in the music and entertainment industries, Ben started off as the music director at WMVL Radio. Soon after, Ben joined the Planetary Group and has led successful campaigns with artists including The Decemberists, Interpol, Bob Mould, Passion Pit, Gogol Bordello, Kings of Leon, Sun Kil Moon, Gaslight Anthem, DeVotchKa, and many others. Ben is passionate about developing new artists and creating opportunities for them to thrive.
Ben is also passionate about National League Baseball, craft beer, the intersection of music and the law, 90’s emo and punk rock, all things Larry David, Point Break, Spaceballs, and, of course, making themed playlists.
Zach Troyanovsky
Director of COllege Radio
Despite his degree in political science, Zach will tell you that the only news source he reads obsessively is Bandcamp Daily. Born and raised in New York City, Zach spent many weekends in high school traversing the city’s record stores with his friends. When he moved upstate to Skidmore college, he immediately embedded himself in the campus’ music scene. He managed the DIY music venue Falstaff’s Lodge and worked at the campus station (WSPN) for 3 years as the head music director, head of programming, and as an interim general manager.
In 2020, Zach co-founded Forte Creative Group, a multi-stakeholder music cooperative which helps musicians in the Capital Region of New York establish collective organizing, resource sharing, and peer-to-peer networks. That same year, Zach also produced a podcast for Harvard’s Eurasian studies center called How to Kill a Superpower: Lessons from the USSR, where he examined the mysterious circumstances behind the final days of the Soviet Union.
In his free time, Zach is either playing ultimate frisbee, listening through the many albums he’s bookmarked throughout the week, grinding Super Smash Bros tech skill, or, if inspiration strikes, working on some playwriting.
Sean Joyce
Director of Press Department
Alyssa Hughes
Social Media Dept.
Born and raised in Seattle Washington, Alyssa Hughes trained as a jazz
singer as well as wrote and released her own music under the stage
name Nuclear Heart. At the age of 25, she decided to move to Los
Angeles to get a degree in music business at the Los Angeles College
of Music in Pasadena to better understand and finally join the
industry. Since moving to LA, Alyssa has worked with Music
Supervisors, veteran songwriters as well as NFT startups through
internships at her college.
During her free time, you’ll find Alyssa playing video games,
exploring a new farmers market she found while doomscrolling on
Instagram, and venturing out to explore new parts of the city. Since
she moved to LA just before the pandemic hit, there is still so much
to explore.
Logan Kramer
Press
Logan Kramer comes to us by way of Boston, but was born and raised in the depths of South Brooklyn, just shy of Coney Island. From a young age, his parents recall him taking an interest in music and “making drumbeats” with his bare feet around the kitchen floor. This eventually led to Logan receiving real drum lessons and also learning how to play the piano.
Logan attended SUNY Oneonta and received a Bachelor’s of Arts in Music Industry in 2018. While there, he took advantage of the bustling music scene in town, often attending basement shows and performing on the keyboard in some – covering artists such as The 1975, The Killers, and Lorde. For six semesters starting his sophomore year, he was an on-air DJ at WONY 90.9 FM. While at WONY, he often assisted in writing reviews for CDs that were placed in rotation. After graduating, Logan used his passion for radio and music publicity to land himself opportunities at Girlie Action, Terrorbird, Gold Atlas, and The Syndicate. He even briefly reunited his passion for being on radio in the summer of 2019, as a DJ on Newtown Radio in Williamsburg, before relocating to Boston that August.
Once in Boston, he gained experience working concerts as an event security staff at House of Blues. Logan is also a studio assistant at Brighton’s My Lady On Fire. Outside of work, Logan loves drawing maps, nature, skateboarding, and listening to true crime podcasts.
Logan’s music taste gravitates mostly towards hyperpop, synth pop, ambient, and electronica. Some of Logan’s all time favorite musicians are CHVRCHES, Charli XCX, Flume, and M83.
Logan is stoked to learn further about artist management and to work on promotional campaigns. He joined Planetary Group in February of 2023, making him the newest member of the press team.
Max Gertler
Publicist
Max is a Brooklyn native who moved out to Los Angeles in 2018 to pursue a career in the music industry. Halfway through his time at Northeastern, he deferred to focus on his band, “Delivery Boys”.
The group recorded and toured for a few years, during which time Max acted as their manager, publicist and booking agent all while recording and performing. After finding success while running PR campaigns for everything the band was releasing, he started to branch out and help other acts with finding coverage. During the pandemic, he decided to finish up his degree at Berklee and graduated in December of 2022.
His hobbies include songwriting, gaming, taking his Shih Tzu to the park and watching the Knicks play.
Sam Schlesinger
Radio Promoter
Sam is a born-and-raised Angeleno hailing from the San Fernando Valley. He received a bachelor’s degree in English from Skidmore College, where he also served as a music director at the college’s radio station, WSPN. When home from college during the summers, he worked various roles at KCRW in Santa Monica. Before that, he acted as general manager of his high school’s Internet radio station, KHWS. When he’s not hunting for rare cassettes, Sam can be found diligently cataloging every cafe and restaurant in Los Angeles to try exactly once and then never return.
Rory Donohue
Radio PROMOTER
Biking around Minneapolis and Saint Paul as a youth, Rory fell in love with the smells and sounds of the city, taking extreme care to curate the soundtrack of his life. After high school, he escaped the frigid Midwest, traveling southward to Florida State University where he studied English Literature and Arabic while cutting his teeth in arts administration, magazine editing, and, most importantly, college radio!
As music director and disc jockey at WVFS Tallahassee, he became entangled in music history at large, forming the groundwork for a career in music programming, distribution and promotion. In his free time, he enjoys making mixes for community and online radio, roaming new neighborhoods, and turning carrots, onions and celery into mirepoix. With his recent move to Brooklyn, Rory looks forward to exploring the museums, concerts, and other capers that await him.
Sage Rothberg
Sage grew up in Redondo Beach California, and enjoys surfing, hiking, and playing basketball during his days off. After high school and community college, Sage quickly found a home at LMU and their college
radio station, KXLU 88.9fm. During his time at LMU, he was a student DJ, music director, and oversaw operations of KLMU, KXLU’s sister station. Sage continues his weekly KXLU show postgrad, showcasing different genres and global music styles.
He graduated with a degree in History, so he’s eager to talk about music, LA history, and the intersection of the two. He’s also a self-proclaimed cat guy, with one black cat and another orange, but doesn’t limit himself to just feline friends: Sage loves all animals. His perfect evening includes cooking some tofu, a walk to the beach,
and a few episodes of Adventure Time.
Chene Castrodale
Digital Distribution/Editorial Playlisting
Chene is a Detroit native who attended Michigan State University, B.A. Communications with a concentration on Mass Media and Entertainment. His family roots are deeply embedded in the music industry from his grandfather’s Big Band era ties to his Uncle having toured with Iggy Pop in the 70’s and many family members in bands spanning across generations. Chene decided to pursue a career in the music industry starting with management of local artists and heavy involvement in the Detroit local music community eventually moving to Los Angeles in 2022.
Founder of LIB MGMT serving in the traditional artist management space with a focus on Digital strategy and artist development. LIB MGMT is an audiomack verified tastemaker, hosting several verified playlists headlined by Fresh Picked Dope. He also serves as the Detroit community curator for the digilogue and aiding in artist discovery/onboarding. LIB MGMT offered a unique artist development program, PROOF, that focused solely on educating artists on how to release & market their music in 2022 with high success rates. Chene joined the planetary group in 2023 to lead a new department focusing on digital distribution and editorial playlisting services.
Jess Williams
RADIO PROMOTER
Jess is an upstate New Yorker hailing from the grim and depressing city of Rochester. They have been long obsessed with both new music and community building, which led them to become the Music Director at Ithaca College’s radio station WICB – their first exposure to Planetary Group’s radio promotion. Their Journalism and English double major brought them to Los Angeles for a semester to gain a deeper understanding of the music and radio industry, and an internship at Planetary Group seemed like the best way to establish some good
connections and skills. That internship eventually turned into a job, which is really good news for Jess’s addiction to buying vinyl.
A huge fan of Art Pop, singer-songwriters, and anything chronically online, Jess can be found fervently scrolling on music Twitter, live streaming on Twitch, banging out Ben Folds songs on the piano, or reading reviews for albums they already know everything about.
Cayley O’Brien
RADIO PROMOTER
Cayley grew up in the Bay Area, her childhood soundtracked by local stations like Live 105, KFOG, and Alice 97.3. She moved to the Central Coast to study journalism at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where she worked at the local Pride & Diversity Center and wrote articles for the campus radio station, KCPR 91.3 FM. She covered dozens of concerts
and festivals, interviewed artists, and dabbled in concert photography before landing a weekly radio show under the moniker Kale Salad. From there, she became the Programming and Music Director at KCPR, which led to her introduction to Planetary Group.
In her free time, you can find Cayley crocheting a hat, playing guitar, talking about Charli xcx, taking pictures of cows, or making her 283rd Spotify playlist.