93 An ILMC Publication OCTOBER 2020 | £25 | €25
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New Bosses_Feature
The New Bosses 2020 – the latest edition of ’s annual celebration of the brightest young talent in the live business today – has been our most engaged process to date, with hundreds of people around the world taking the time to nominate some of the finest young people in our industry. The class of 2020 is undoubtedly enduring the strangest, most challenging time of their careers, but the hard work that they are putting in to ensure that the business, globally, is ready to resume at the earliest possible opportunity, is generating a lot of enthusiasm among their peers, who have recognised them as future industry leaders. Our distinguished dozen this year comprises promoters, bookers, agents, A&R and production experts, all involved in the international business, in some shape or form, and each whom is making a real difference in their respective sector. These individual profiles are heavily edited versions of full interviews that will appear on the website in the coming weeks. These promising young execs will also play a key role in forthcoming editions of Futures Forum, the discussion and networking event for the next generation of industry leaders that has become an integral part of ILMC over the past couple of years. Congratulations to everyone who made it into The New Bosses 2020 – being selected by a jury of your peers is truly one of the finest accolades you can receive.
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Madie Cavilla (28) SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER PARADIGM TALENT (UK) Following work experience at Marshall Arts Talent during her penultimate year at school, Cavilla hastily finished her final year and returned to take on a full-time job, before joining The Agency Group. She then took a break to go backpacking, and on her return to London, Dave Hallybone at Paradigm offered her a six-month contract, which quickly turned into a permanent role. What impact has Covid-19 had on your job? As strange as this may seem, I’ve enjoyed some of the difficult moments over the past few months. It’s made me realise I’m a lot more resilient than I thought and that I’m capable of any task thrown at me.
Filippo Palermo (27) FOUNDER UNTITLED GROUP (AU) After cutting his teeth on the Melbourne nightclub scene, aged 18, Palermo co-founded Untitled Group, which has grown to encompass a portfolio that includes music festivals and artist management, along with a booking agency, record label, international touring division and a music-tech investment arm. Since its first music festival in 2014, the group’s festival roster has grown to over ten touring and camping properties and bespoke metropolitan events, selling more than 250,000 tickets annually. What are you working on right now? I'm in the process of hunting down, negotiating terms and actioning compliance and feasibility studies on new, exciting locations in preparation for our return. I've enjoyed discovering new breakthrough talent and brainstorming all-Australian line-ups for when mass gatherings return but before travel sanctions update to allow for international touring again. Did you always want to be a promoter? As a child, I was a passionate guitarist and drummer. I always wanted to be the star on stage until I started promoting clubs at 18, discovering my true passion was in project managing and curating an event experience holistically from behind the scenes. What's it like working in the Australian market? We're traditionally an afterthought for a lot of artists. However, our stunning Aussie outback, unique architecture, pristine wineries, CBD parks and state-of-the-art venues provide us with some fantastic location opportunities I personally haven't discovered abroad. What does the live music industry do well, and what can we do better? It needs to improve on its diversity in programming and subsidising costs associated with accessibility infrastructure. At Beyond the Valley Festival, we've pledged a 50/50 line-up gender balance from 2022 onwards and we're proud co-owners of Australia's first all-inclusive festival, Ability Fest. However, I know that there's a lot more we, and the rest of the industry, could be doing.
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Do you have a mentor in the industry? Gillian Park, MGR Touring, is a true angel. She has taught me so much and is never too busy to help when I’m stuck. She’s also taught me how to laugh through the madness: if we weren’t laughing we’d have most definitely been crying! What does the live music industry do well, and what can we do better? Equality. We’re great at having conversations about it, but the actions aren’t always consistent with what we’re saying. There’s no singular answer — from the festival bills down to staffing — but by creating an inclusive culture across the board we’ll eventually achieve and consistently improve. Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time? Prior to 2020, I felt somewhat certain about the future. That changed this year. I’ve had the opportunity to learn elements of the business that wouldn’t typically land on my desk, so I’m interested to see where that will take me. Ultimately, I know I’ll be happy, successful and have accomplished more than I ever thought possible when I walked into my first job in this industry more than a decade ago.
New Bosses_Feature
Alexandra Ampofo (26) PROMOTER METROPOLIS MUSIC (UK) In addition to her work as a promoter, Ampofo, a Coventry University business management and leadership graduate, heads up Metropolis Music’s diversity employee resource group, and started Embrace Nation at Live Nation UK – a cultural and learning hub that strives towards racial equality in and out of the workplace for all Live Nation employees. She also works across The End Festival, Black Music Coalition, The F List and Unicef Music Group. Ampofo started her career in 2013, founding events company Acoustic Live, which focuses on stripped-back, acoustic live shows. Her second not-for-profit organisation, Women Connect, is a collective creating safer, inclusive spaces and equal opportunities for women and non-binary and gender-variant people in the creative industries.
Virág Csiszár (30) INTERNATIONAL BOOKING MANAGER SZIGET CULTURAL MANAGEMENT (HU) Having finished her university studies, Csiszár joined Sziget Cultural Management, which organises Hungary’s leading music festivals such as Sziget, VOLT, Balaton Sound, Strand Festival and many other events. She is involved in more than 150 shows every year, primarily through the festivals and headline gigs at Akvárium Klub in Budapest. In 2019, she received the highest state award for young talent in tourism from the Hungarian government.
What are some of the highlights of your career to date? Being blessed enough to be part of the team who put together the SiR tour at Shepherd’s Bush Empire [in London] in February. I’m such a big fan of his, so that was definitely a bucket-list moment for me. Another highlight is starting my company Acoustic Live – founded when I was 19 and now an award-winning events company dedicated to keeping stripped-back music alive. I’m able to facilitate free services for artists of all calibres; all I’ve ever wanted is to help break the glass ceiling. Acoustic Live provides artists with tangible opportunities, and that’s priceless. What are the biggest challenges you face as a promoter? Ageism, race and gender. Sometimes people can be reluctant to work with younger promoters because they associate age with inexperience, which I find isn’t always the case. Gender and race have played similar roles in my personal journey; the disparity that follows marginalisation is a huge one, but I am pretty hopeful. The industry is slowly changing and there are so many women and people of colour spearheading that change.
What are some of the highlights of your career to date? I will always be proud that I was working on the first Hungarian festival appearances of Foo Fighters and Depeche Mode, and the first ever Hungarian shows of Linkin Park, Lana Del Rey, Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa and Shawn Mendes. Bringing artists to our country and introducing them to the Hungarian audience is an important mission for me. Did you always want to work in festivals? I grew up in a family of artists. I remember when I was about five years old, my parents took me to see the stadium shows of Michael Jackson and Rolling Stones in Budapest. I’m lucky to be able to work in an industry that I’ve loved from a very young age. Do you have a mentor in the industry? A few years ago, I lost an amazing mentor, colleague and friend, Dan Panaitescu, who was the international booking manager of our company. I never felt ready to take over such an important and responsible role, but I feel privileged having the support of all these amazing people around me every day. What are the biggest challenges you face as a festival booker? Coping with constantly growing artist fees; finding a solution for a billing on our poster that all our headliners are happy with; and, on the human side, finding the right balance between private life and work. Magazine
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Kedist Bezabih (28) PROMOTER FKP SCORPIO (NO) Born in Oslo, Bezabih studied cultural project management at University of Innlandet from 2014 to 2017. In her first year at university, she was introduced to Torgeir Gullaksen, the founder of Goldstar, and began an internship at the company while also working at Red Bull Sound Select and Oslo venue Parkteatret. After finishing her degree, she started working as a promoter at Goldstar, which became FKP Scorpio Norway in late 2017. Her roster includes Juice WRLD, Conan Gray, Aitch, Lennon Stella, Jay Rock, Yxng Bane, Omar Apollo, Jay1, Not3s and ZE. What are you working on right now? Still moving a few shows from 2020 and looking at new dates for 2021/22. I haven’t been that busy the last few months, but this time has opened up room to be more creative, look at new possibilities and develop solutions for the years to come.
Bilge Morden (26) AGENT CAA (UK) Istanbul-born Morden started promoting shows while studying at Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (LIPA), putting on soldout events with artists including Bastille and James Bay. In his third year at LIPA, he interned at promoter Communion Presents, where he starting working with various booking agencies. “That’s when I knew I wanted to be an agent,” he explains. “I always saw CAA as the pinnacle, and when they introduced a two-month internship programme that summer, I jumped at the chance to get my foot in the door. Emma Banks gave me a shot, and three years later I became an agent.” What impact has Covid-19 had on your job? There’s been no touring in the last six months, so there is a clear financial impact across every part of the food chain, which presents all sorts of challenges for agents and the wider industry. From a social aspect, we have been working from home during this time and I miss walking up to someone’s desk and having conversations in person, or overhearing people on the phone and gaining information in all sorts of ways that does not rely on video conferencing. I can’t wait to never use Zoom again! Despite the very real challenges our industry faces, I think I’ve become a better agent in this time. I’ve got more perspective than ever, and I am more astute and creative in the way I approach problems. It’s opened my eyes to other ways I can service clients, as well as shine a light on the new clients I’ve taken on over the past few months. Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time? Living in a nice house in Chiswick where my kids go to private school, and playing golf on Fridays. That’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re successful in the music industry, right?
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What are some of the highlights of your career to date? Growing up, we didn’t have places where we could experience the music we loved and listened to. To be able to book UK/US hip-hop acts, and seeing kids from where I grew up having the time of their lives in the mosh pits has really been one of the most rewarding things about my job. Also promoting the only headline show with Juice WRLD in Norway. I was a huge fan, so I appreciate that I was lucky enough to have met him. What does the live music industry do well, and what can we do better? We’re really good at doing it for the art. At the end of the day, the passion for music is what drives most of us, and that is extremely important. We have a way to go in terms of diversity. I think that the last few months have been a real eye-opener in terms of the issues certain groups face, where we as an industry have fallen short, and that we have a lot more work to do. I’m feeling hopeful that we’ll see many changes in the coming years – it’s about time.
New Bosses_Feature
Camila Salinas (26) BOOKER PRIMAVERA SOUND (ES) Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Salinas moved with her family to Madrid aged five, leaving Spain 15 years later to seek her fortune in London. “I started flyer-ing, doing doors, repping shows for different companies,” she explains, “which led me to do a few internships. However, it never really led to a job with a decent salary, so when I couldn’t handle the economic instability I moved back home.” Back in Spain, Salinas started doing production work for a management and booking company. Then, one day, the call came from Primavera Sound: they wanted her to join their booking team.
Jolien Augustyns (27) JUNIOR PROMOTER LIVE NATION (BE) A graduate of Karel de Grote University College in Antwerp, Augustyns specialises in promoting indoor shows at Live Nation Belgium. After beginning her music biz career interning at Sony Music Belgium, Augustyns “lost her heart” to the live music industry while working as a festival assistant for Rock Werchter in 2014. After graduating the same year, she had to make a choice: chase her “teenage dream” of being an A&R manager at a record label, or “take a leap of faith and stumble into the live music industry.” As you’ve probably already guessed, she “did the latter, and haven’t once regretted it,” she explains. What’s it like working in the Belgian market? We have such an interesting market, with a clear difference between the French-speaking part and the Flemish-speaking part of the country. I mainly operate in Flanders – we have some great venues and I’d like to think we’re quite the early adapters with some genres. It’s such a small country, and yet we’re able to put on massive shows. Also, what a luxury to be able to travel through the whole country in a matter of hours. No need to take flights or to have different offices at key locations. Everything’s within reach. The sky is the limit, basically.
Did you always want to work in the festival business? Not really, because when I started to feel like music was something that I wanted to dedicate my life to, I wasn’t aware of that entire universe… [but] once I [had] spent my first summer going to festivals, obviously that changed. When I started to develop a bigger interest in music, when I was around 14, and I started to pay attention to all the soundtracks from the shows I was obsessed with – Grey’s Anatomy, One Tree Hill and The OC – I definitely decided that I wanted to work with all these bands that made me so happy, and help them to go to places. And, if it was possible, to go to those places with them! What can the live music industry do better? It needs more diversity in every aspect. More open doors for women, for people of colour, for the LGTBQ community, for people who are not wealthy enough to do hundreds of internships for free in order to get a real job. That is something that really needs to change. What advice would you give to someone who’s new to the business? To persist, to ask questions, and to be a sponge everywhere you go.
Do you have a mentor in the industry? There is one person I’d like to mention in particular: Tom Van der Elst, festival manager at our festivals, and my mentor while I was interning there. He gave me a chance at a time when I hadn’t achieved anything yet, and introduced me to the team I now call my work family. What are the biggest challenges you’re facing currently? Growing as a promoter definitely is a big challenge for me right now. While wanting to go full steam ahead at the start of the year, the industry obviously has drastically changed these past few months. In no way could I have guessed I would be spending most my time cancelling and rescheduling shows, instead of starting to work on my own shows. Luckily, we’re already working on 2021 and 2022, and even though it’s going a lot slower than I hoped, I’m confident that whatever’s happening now will help me become a better promoter in the end. Magazine
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Sally Dunstone (30) AGENT X-RAY TOURING (UK) Admitting to a lifelong passion for live music, Dunstone moved from Barnsley to London to study music and events management at university. After completing many short-term internships and spells as a casual broadcast assistant across various BBC programmes, she joined Live Nation as a receptionist. After working a year at Live Nation, she moved to X-ray six years ago and has been building an impressive roster ever since. What are some of the highlights of your career to date? The shows that mean the most to me are the ones that feel like a significant turning point in an artist’s career: Places+Faces at KOKO; Rina Sawayama at Heaven; and Kelly Lee Owens late-night set at End of the Road 2019. Kelly’s show at End of the Road was the final live show of her first album campaign. The set was flawless, and the crowd had an incredible energy. It felt like a celebration for all the team’s hard work on the first album and the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the next album.
Artur Kasper (28) AGENT DER BOMBER DER HERZEN (DE) Despite wanting to be a journalist when he was younger, Kasper joined Melt! Booking as a booking assistant in 2016 and was responsible for looking after urban domestic and international acts, while his remit also saw him take on the role of booking assistant at the company’s splash! Festival. Last year, Kasper’s hard work saw him promoted to booking agent at Der Bomber Der Herzen, where he mostly takes care of domestic urban talent. What are you working on right now? Mostly on postponing touring dates due to Covid, but also booking my acts onto festival line-ups for 2021. This summer I had a few seated, open-air gigs and live-streams. What are some of the highlights of your career to date? During my time as a festival booker, seeing the result of my work at the festival was a highlight. Also selling out the first tour of a newcomer act, who I believe in, is always a highlight. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt working in live music? You really need a passion for music because it becomes a big part of your life, because you become emotionally involved and you may lose the separation between private and professional life. This can be very unhealthy sometimes, but I love my job. Do you have a mentor in the industry? My Der Bomber Der Herzen colleague, Ilke Ulusoy. What does the live music industry do well, and what can we do better? There are many great and talented people in this industry who are very passionate about their job. As we’re all profiting from the culture, I think as a promoter the first aim of the job should be to help talented newcomer acts to grow, and to respect the culture, not just exploit it.
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What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt working in live music? Never be afraid to ask questions or take advice. Learning from my colleagues has helped benefit my clients greatly. Do you have a mentor in the industry? I am grateful to Beckie Sugden who has provided endless support to me throughout my time at X-ray and taught me a lot about being an agent and about the wider industry landscape in general. Beckie’s determination continues to inspire me every day. I’ve also learned a lot from Josh Javor whose encyclopaedic knowledge of venues, capacities and festival routings never ceases to amaze me. What advice would you give to someone who’s new to the business? Believe in yourself and be determined, I have had many doors slammed in my face, figuratively and literally, over the years and have always found a way to get myself in the room.
New Bosses_Feature
Joe Skarzynski (30) PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR (US) Also known as “Jersey Joe” or “Joe Skarz,” Skarzynski has been working in the live event industry since 2013, touring extensively for the last seven years. He began his career as production assistant on a Jay Z tour, which led to production co-ordinator for the first Jay Z + Beyoncé On The Run tour. Since then he has worked with the likes of Linkin Park, Demi Lovato, Meghan Trainor, Mike Shinoda and Beyoncé around the world in amphitheatres, arenas and stadia. What are you working on right now? I have been taking weekly industry-related courses, OSHA 30 classes, and working with colleagues on their independent projects. What are some of the highlights of your career to date? The last two years I’ve spent a lot of time in Saudi Arabia. In 2018, we successfully held the first concerts in the country where men and women could attend together. While challenging professionally, it was extremely rewarding personally.
Bertie Gibbon (29) A&R ATC LIVE (UK) Manchester-born Gibbon got his start in the music business promoting shows at the University of Sheffield, where he first came into contact with agents and managers. After graduation, he moved to London, where he interned at a management company and label before joining ATC Live in 2013 as a scout and general assistant. The same year, he founded a management company with Rough Trade’s Paul Jones, Gross Management, which became part of Rough Trade Management in 2018. Today, he continues to work in management while bringing artists to agents at ATC Live and managers at ATC Management. He is also developing a start-up label in Camden, London, called Ra-Ra Rok.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt working in live music? It takes a village to create incredible and responsible events. The more brainpower, expertise, and co-ordination, the more you can achieve. Do you have a mentor in the industry? Jim Digby and Bobby Schneider gave me my first chances in the touring world. Both men took me around the world, teaching me along the way while giving me space to grow. What advice would you give to someone who’s new to the business? Don’t talk, listen. Ask questions, but know when to ask them. Even if time is of the essence, being correct is more helpful than a quick wrong answer. Be helpful and positive. Communication is key. Let your own work define you, and be consistent. Be proud of what you can accomplish in a day. Find passion. Do this job for the right reasons. Working often leads to more work. Never stop learning, no one knows it all.
Do you have a mentor in the industry? Alex Bruford from ATC Live, who hired me about eight years ago, has taught me almost everything I know about the live business (I originally applied to be his assistant – glad I didn’t end up doing it!). Also Paul Jones from Rough Trade, who I’ve been working in management with for about the same amount of time, and Dan Market at Sony, who gave me a leg-up into the industry in general and has consistently shared his unbound wisdom on A&R for over a decade now. What impact has Covid-19 had on your job? There have been a few bits some colleagues and clients alike have experienced related to mental health, which have presented some new challenges. Not being able to develop ideas in the office or dressing room on the road together has been tough at times; keeping people motivated and feeling part of the team has been something we’ve had to keep on top of week to week. Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time? Hopefully working in a greener, more ethically driven music business with my current roster, and still part of the team at ATC Live. Magazine
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