All of the people involved in Unconvention Swansea, have experince, understanding and a desire to share what they know about working in the music industry. Everyone involved is happy to talk to all attendees so please approach people freely if you have any further questions or want to get something clarified form a panel or sidebar session.
Huw Stephens – Radio 1
Huw joined Radio 1 at the extremely young age of 17 and has since gone from strength to strength. Huw now presents Radio 1’s New Music We Trust – Best of BBC Introducing (Wednesday 9-10pm) pulling together the highlights from the UK’s BBC Introducing shows. He also hosts his own BBC Introducing in England on Radio 1 (Thursday 0000-0200) which concentrates on the finest new music and unpredictable emerging talent. Huw regularly deputises for Zane Lowe, Steve Lamacq and Rob da Bank.
Being very proudly Welsh and with the language being his mother tongue, he presents three shows a week on C2 for BBC Radio Cymru, the Welsh language radio station, playing the best new music.
He is the host for Bandit on S4C, the flagship music show for the TV station where he interviews bands, musicians and reports from all the festivals. Most recently Huw was lucky enough to travel to LA and Texas to film with some new bands and often films up and down the country at gigs and music events.
Not limited to Radio and Television, Huw also writes reviews and articles for various magazines, newspapers and is always asked for his professional opinion on new bands for all types of press.
His career started with him presenting his own show on hospital radio, getting the Independent Ankst to kindly sponsor his shows with records and CDs, which he played to an audience expecting to hear Bryan Adams. He answered phones on BBC Radio Cymru shows, listened to the radio, bought music and went to as many gigs as he could until he met Bethan Elfyn who he went on to co-present the Radio 1 Session in Wales show with. The show highlighted the best underground and alternative releases of the day, concentrating on the vibrant and eclectic music scene in Wales.
He also DJs and comperes at gigs, clubs and festivals, including Radio 1’s Big Weekend and main stages at Reading, Glastonbury, Latitude and Bestival.
With his laid back attitude, ridiculously extensive music knowledge and unique charm Huw is a raw talent who, at 27 will undoubtedly continue to become more and more successful.
Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/huwstephens/
Andrew Dubber – New Music Strategies
Andrew Dubber is an Arts and Humanities Research Council Knowledge Transfer Fellow in Online Music and Radio Innovation and a Senior Lecturer in the Music Industries at Birmingham City University, UK.
Originally from New Zealand, Dubber moved to the UK in 2004 to begin a research project in Online Music Enterprise. With a background in both the radio and the music industries, and with an academic record that includes numerous articles, book chapters, and conference presentations about digital media, the music business and media ecology, Dubber has fast become one of the UK’s leading experts in the field.
His research includes a project on online fandom within the BBC’s Audio and Music Interactive division; explorations into jazz and other specialist music consumption online; the social impact of iPods; and post-graduate work on digital radio and deregulation. He is the co-author of a book about new technologies for broadcasters in developing nations, commissioned by UNESCO, and has been a member of the steering committee for the Radio Studies Network.
He has written articles for Computer Music Magazine and sections on blogging and podcasting for the Alternative Media Handbook (Routledge, 2008). He is currently co-authoring an undergraduate textbook on the Music Industries.
When he’s not teaching and writing, most of his time is spent travelling, presenting seminars and workshops across the UK and around the world; as well as consulting independent music businesses – from established record labels and retailers to entrepreneurial online music start-ups.
In his spare time he hosts whisky tasting events, rides bicycles, plays chess and Go, takes photographs and collects jazz records.
Website: www.newmusicstrategies.com
Dan Thomas – Fat Northerner Records / Manchester Mastering House
Dan Thomas is the original founder of Fat Northerner Records and now runs the music production and mastering side of the label. Dan is both ‘fat’ and a ‘northerner’ hence the labels name. Dan is kept away from the general running of the label due to his ‘thuggish’ ways of operating within the music industry, he seems to hate anyone and everyone involved in the more corporate end of the industry, but at the same time has much time and love for anyone and everything independent. He also despises writing biogs.
Website:
www.fatnortherner.com
www.manchestermasteringhouse.com
Favourite pie: Greggs steak bake and a cheese and onion pasty sandwiched together and eaten at the same time.
Ruth Daniel – Fat Northerner Records / Un-convention
Ruth Daniel
Ruth Daniel is a young creative entrepreneur who believes in making music as culture, rather than music as commerce. Current music businesses and projects include Fat Northerner Records, Un-Convention, TourCore and the management of bands and artists. Ruth is a member of the Beating Wing Orchestra board. Ruth was short-listed for UK Young Music Entrepreneur 2008. Ruth’s huge passion for music comes from being a musician and playing keyboards with The Fall on their greatest hits tour and collaborating with various bands. I am particularly interested in how the music industry is currently changing with the increase in digital music and technologies and how this affects the way new music is made, marketed, consumed and sustained.
Website: www.fatnortherner.com
Jeff Thompson – Fat Northerner Records / Un-convention
Jeff helps to run Fat Northerner Records, an independent label based in Manchester. The label, now in its sixth year, works with artists across a variety of genres, from rock and country, to folk and electronica. He is also part of a team working to develop a new online tool for the live music industry.
At last count he had ten guitars, two tambourines and a harmonica, as well as a degree in Economics; he is still trying to find a use for the latter.
Jeff co-founded Un-Convention, and is proud to be part of such an innovative and vibrant community.
Contact: jeff@fatnortherner.com
Website: www.fatnortherner.com
www.unconvention.wordpress.com
Gareth Main
Dismayed at the lack of coverage of alternative and independent artists in the press, Gareth founded Bearded magazine to give small labels a route to the ears of those picking up mags in WHSmith and Borders. He is a vocal champion of independent music and alternative culture and – through his publishing company Fleeing from Pigeons – has released records, put on shows and published festival programmes. He is a lover of the old, as well as the new, and when not talking nonsense on Twitter, collects rare vinyl copies of library music and softcore pornography soundtracks.
John Rostron – Swn/My Kung Fu Records
John Rostron is a live music promoter living and working in Wales. With Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens he organises the now annual Sŵn Festival which takes place across a dozen venues in Cardiff through one Autumn weekend. He’s also created other Sŵn events showcasing new music in and out of Wales, with concerts at the ICA, tours of Wales, and forthcoming Sŵn concerts at In The City, UnConvention and in 2010 in New York, Croatia and SXSW. Recently he created the Association of Promoters and Events Cardiff (APE Cardiff : www.apecardiff.com) a body representing all live music and clubnight promoters in the city to give them a voice to speak to Council and Authorities in response to increasing pressures on live music promoters and venues within the Welsh capital. He hopes such a body can be replicated in other UK cities.
John also runs My Kung Fu, an international independent record label which has fostered releases from Richard James (ex of Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci), Soft Hearted Scientists and the first ever Welsh language release from Cerys Matthews amongst others. John is also the co-creator and author of ‘Sleeveface’.
Gareth Main
Dismayed at the lack of coverage of alternative and independent artists in the press, Gareth founded Bearded magazine to give small labels a route to the ears of those picking up mags in WHSmith and Borders. He is a vocal champion of independent music and alternative culture and – through his publishing company Fleeing from Pigeons – has released records, put on shows and published festival programmes. He is a lover of the old, as well as the new, and when not talking nonsense on Twitter, collects rare vinyl copies of library music and softcore pornography soundtracks.
Stephen Ackroyd – This Is Fake DIY
“Stephen Ackroyd is a founder of online magazine This Is Fake DIY and it’s spin off label, as well as Head of Digital for Sonic Publishing, an exclusively digital operation which produces a number of music webzines. These roles give insight into working with PR as both a publication receiving bags full of promos every day and a record label promoting releases, as well as how to effectively go about getting screen space in today’s increasingly influential online media.”
John Rogers aka John Brainlove – Music publicist, writer, DJ, booker, promoter, and indie label owner
Despite coming from a DIY music background, the value of publicity has always been apparent to me. Part of the reason I started Brainlove Records in 2003 was that I was frustrated by the lack of industry/media attention that bands I knew were receiving. Brainlove started off making more promo copies than stock for sale with this in mind. Now I work as a professional music publicist, and it seems a lot of small labels still get the cart before the horse, releasing music for sale before a band has an audience – bands in the early stages often don’t have an audience yet, so getting the word out about them is more valuable that having a 7″ release gathering dust on indie store shelves or a box of 200 unsold CDs in a cupboard. I think a more holistic approach is helpful, working on developing artists rather than one off releases. The world of music (and music media) is saturated and in flux – making a band stand out is more important now than ever – although the best way to set about the task is open to debate.
Nick Fitsimons – Penny Distribution
Nick Fitzsimons spent 6 years as Marketing Manager for indie labels Real Music & Redgummy Records in the San Francisco Bay Area, covering physical and digital distribution & promotion for the labels as well as handling synch licensing duties. An interest in digital music found him working for Shawn Fanning’s MySpace store-creator, SNOCAP but following that companies sale to Imeem (it wasn’t his fault, honest!), Nick & collegue Kim Helmuth founded Penny Distribution in May 2007. Initially focusing on tour management, physical and digital distribution of both Irish and US artists, Penny has since evolved to focus on online marketing strategy, tour planning and licensing for it’s affiliated artists and labels.
Operating in both Belfast & San Francisco, Penny offers digital distribution to over 97 stores worldwide, and 35 indies stores in California & throughout the UK as well as online promotion and marketing services.
Nick is also a co-organizer of UnConvention Belfast.
Website: www.pennydistribution.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/pennydist
Email: nick@pennydistribution.com
Favourite Cake: When it comes to cake, he’s a Banoffee lover – now whether that’s a pie or a cake, he’s not sure -but he thinks that’s a good thing.
