Mike Ziemer

Founder of Third String Entertainment + So What?! Festival and Partner of Furnace Fest

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF 20 YEARS IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

When it comes to the music industry, Mike Ziemer is a man of many hats! Starting in 2002, Ziemer began interviewing bands and reviewing albums for online magazines in order to get into shows for free and meet his favorite artists. After building up a large list of contacts, he was asked by a local band to manage them. The band’s first request was for Ziemer to help them put together a concert in the suburbs, the rest was history. 

In March 2004, Third String Productions was born at The Plano Centre where Ziemer would hold shows in multiple rooms from 2004 - 2009 with attendance ranging from 500 - 4800! The Plano Centre was the birth place of Unsilent Night and So What?! Music Fest (previously known as South By So What?!).

After outgrowing the Plano Centre, Ziemer began booking live events across Texas, and beyond, averaging as many as 400 events annually between multiple markets from 2021 - 2023.

In 2022, Third String Entertainment formed a strategic join venture with Disco Donnie Presents, named Disco Punk, to further grow the So What?! Music Festival brand. 2023’s festival was the largest in the festival’s history bringing in over 22,000 people across 2 days in Dallas, TX.

So What?! Music Festival has established itself as the “go to” festival for catching multiple stages of up and coming talent mixed with legacy acts for metal / hardcore / pop punk /  emo fans, filling the void left from the end of Warped Tour and Mayhem Festival.

Ziemer is also a partner in Furnace Fest, taking place annually in Birmingham, AL featuring a wave of bands primarily from the late 90s and early 2000s hardcore and post-hardcore scene while still being inclusive of current up and coming bands in those genres.

Over the last 20 years, Ziemer has been instrumental in helping introduce and build artists through his festivals including A Day To Remember, Enter Shikari, Forever The Sickest Kids, Dance Gavin Dance, Beartooth, Of Mice & Men, Polyphia, and many more.