Sarah Lewitinn
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Sarah Lewitinn (born on February 3, 1980 in New York City), also known by her nickname Ultragrrrl, is the founder of Stolen Transmission, a record label. She is also the author of The Pocket DJ (ISBN 1-4169-0723-8). Lewitinn writes a personal blog, Ultragrrrl.com, and is a deejay. She was a former assistant editor at Spin Magazine.
New York Magazine named Lewitinn as one of "The Most Influential People in Music" in its May 15, 2006 issue, citing that "she has more power than any print music critic".[1]
[edit] Biography
Born to Egyptian-Jewish parents, Lewitinn was raised and educated in Tenafly, NJ. Lewitinn began her career as a teenager writing for the AOL-based ABC Kidz site before interning at Spin Magazine. It was at that time she received the moniker of "Ultragrrrl", by which she continues to be known. After briefly working at the defunct Kurt Anderson-run Inside.com in 1999, Lewitinn was hired as an assistant to Michael Hirschorn at VH1. In 2002, she was the first manager for both rock bands stellastarr* and My Chemical Romance, both prior to their first major record deals. Her blog, Ultragrrrl.com (launched in July 2003), further established her as a taste-maker in the New York indie rock scene, as did her early championing of the rock band The Killers before they were signed to Island Def Jam. She returned to Spin several months later, this time as an assistant editor with her own column. In 2005, Lewitinn quit Spin to start her own record label, Stolen Transmission in partnership with Island Def Jam and Rob Stevenson, the Island Def Jam A&R executive responsible for signing The Killers as well as Fall Out Boy, Thrice, and The Bravery.
Lewitinn is also a deejay and, along with New York-based publicist Karen Ruttner, throws a weekly party also called "Stolen Transmission". Originally held at Orchard Bar on Orchard Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the Stolen Transmission party was changed a block south at The Annex and moved to Thursday nights. The Stolen Transmission party has won two Paper Magazine Nightlife Awards for People's Choice Best Party (2005 and 2006) and Lewitinn herself won People's Choice for Best Deejay (2005 and 2006). Lewitinn and Ruttner recently announced that they will be moving the party to a different night and venue, though they have yet to make details known.
Lewitinn has published a book, "The Pocket DJ", a guide to "building the best music library", divided into "Essential Genres" the best music of certain eras and genres, "Essential Artists" a list of musicians who are important to pop culture or have "a profound influence on music" including such diverse artists as Eminem, The Beatles, Nirvana, Madonna, Björk and Queen, "Celebrity Playlists", recommended music from DJs, musicians and others and "Other Playlists", a list of various situations with recommended songs for them, ranging from pool parties to playlists for going back to school.
Lewitinn graduated with an Associate's degree in Advertising and Marketing from Fashion Institute of Technology in 2001.
Lewitinn recently adopted a Brussels Griffon dog which she named Monkey. Monkey has developed a small cult following of her own and has been mentioned in several newspapers, including one mention in The Boston Phoenix which referred to her as a "creepy tiny dog" and two mentions in The Village Voice, which named her as the "Best Dog Owned by a Club Personality".
