Your host, Paul Cheetham, is joined by one of the UK's most highly respected booking agents, Rob Challice, Senior Vice-President of the Wasserman Music Group.

Rob has over 40 years of experience in the live music industry as an agent, promoter and festival organiser. Starting in the early 1980s, Rob co-founded a series of music companies one after the other - from FAB to Concert Clinic to CODA - and evolved from gigging, wide-eyed, around the country with anarcho-punk outfits, to overseeing sold out world tours for a roster of artists that includes Beirut, Billy Bragg, Bon Iver, Charlotte Cardin, Christopher, Cory Wong, HAEVN, Kings of Convenience, Novo Amor, Sturgill Simpson, Toro Y Moi and Warpaint.

Our conversation with Rob is like a who's who of the live music industry and takes us on his inspirational and remarkable journey from creating fanzines and promoting shows in London's gritty 80s scene to booking legendary bands like Nirvana and going on to help operate mammoth global enterprises.

We talk about the hiring and firing, the network building, the need for innovation, the challenges and concerns of a post-pandemic world, and the inevitable need for consolidation and change in order to stay alive and competitive.

The episode also highlights the critical role of grassroots music venues in the UK, the efforts to sustain them, and how the pandemic has shifted the dynamics of the music ecosystem.

There's also time to remember colleagues who have sadly been lost - but not forgotten - and the growing need to reflect on his own legacy.

We recorded this episode during the Tallinn Music Week conference on Friday 5th April, 2024.

Thank you for listening. Here is the episode.
We made it just.....for......you!

Links:
Wasserman Music: https://www.teamwass.com/
Paradigm acquires CODA: https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/paradigm-acquires-50-stake-in-coda-music-agency-5877120/#!
The Subhumans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subhumans_(British_band)
Warchild RideLondon: https://www.warchild.org.uk/get-involved/fundraise/find-an-event/ride-london


The SuperSwell intro/outro music: "Music Machine" - TV OFF

The SuperSwell Newsletter: http://www.thesuperswell.com/sign-up.html

Contact: podcast@thesuperswell.com

Join us as we listen to Bertis Downs, the legal mastermind behind R.E.M., and take a rare peek behind the curtains of rock 'n' roll history.

Imagine being at the heart of R.E.M.'s rise from Athens' indie scene to the zenith of global stardom. Bertis reveals the nuts and bolts of their journey and - in his immensely humble way - his own crucial supporting role, offering personal insights into the band's ethos that resonated with fans worldwide, including our host, Alex Maiolo—a Southern kid whose life was forever altered by their music.

This episode is a treasure trove of memories, from the complexities of touring to the magical moments that define a band's career. Bertis takes us on a tour of his own, from a history-loving student to the man who helped navigate R.E.M. through the thrills and spills of the music industry before pioneering their own path for others to follow . We dissect how R.E.M.'s strategic decisions inspired a generation of artists like Radiohead, The National, and Coldplay to forge ahead with their own ambitious plans towards worldwide success.

Central to the lasting impact of R.E.M.'s journey is the importance of preserving artistic integrity and band unity. We delve into the critical choices that safeguarded the band's legacy and their eventual amicable split that stands as a testament to their friendship and creative spirit. It's more than just a conversation—it's an exploration of the indelible mark R.E.M. has left on music and culture, and a chance to listen to the heartbeat of one of the most iconic bands of all time.

This conversation was recorded on stage at the Tallinn Music Week conference in Tallinn, Estonia on Friday 5th April, 2024.

The original audio recording has been edited and modified for an enhanced podcast experience.

This podcast is published with the approval and kind cooperation of Bertis Downs and Alex Maiolo and in association with Tallinn Music Week.

Thank you for listening. Enjoy the episode.
We made this just.....for......you.

Links:

All things R.E.M.: https://remhq.com

Bertis Downs Homepage: https://bertisdowns.com
Causes & Campaigns: https://bertisdowns.com/affiliations

R.E.M. by MTV (clip): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=099QC_mzfbU

Athens, Georgia Inside/Out documentary (clip): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJCoik8NsZ4&t=11s

Alex Maiolo Homepage: http://alexmaiolo.com
Alex's 40th Anniversary of "Murmur" article for Louder Than War: https://louderthanwar.com/r-e-m-s-generation-defining-murmur-at-40

Tallinn Music Week: https://tmw.ee


The SuperSwell intro/outro music: "Music Machine" - TV OFF

The SuperSwell Newsletter: http://www.thesuperswell.com/sign-up.html

Contact: podcast@thesuperswell.com

This is the seventh edition of The Delicates' Lounge - a podcast for all us music event tourists who love to be where the action is and occasionally like to grumble about having to queue for our passes or a beer or to get into a venue. You know, all things that we missed for so long during the pandemic (remember that?).

Now and again we’ll get together with a handful of delicate delegates at one of the many events we love to go to.

This time we're joined by PR legend & author Jane Savidge; journalist & musician Alex Maiolo; Tamsin Embleton of the Music Industry Therapists Collective (MITC); booking agent Rob McGee from One Fiinix Live; Jess Partridge of the European Music Managers Alliance (EMMA) & the European Music Exporters Exchange (EMEE); and founder of Tallinn Music Week itself Helen Sildna to find out how they are managing themselves, their projects, and the events they are now attending.

We talked about our experiences at this year's Tallinn Music Week as well as all the projects we are working on.

We recorded this conversation during Tallinn Music Week in Tallinn, Estonia on Friday 5th & Saturday 6th April, 2024.

A huge thank you to the very helpful Tallinn Music Week conference & media teams - especially Indrek Migur & Ingrid Kohtla - for bringing us to their event, and to the management and staff of the Nordic Hotel Forum for providing us with the lovely space to set up our little studio.

For further information about some of the things & people mentioned in this episode:

Jane
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jane_savidge
"This Is Hardcore": https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pulps-This-Hardcore-Jane-Savidge/dp/B0C5W1MXVC
"Here They Come With Their Make-Up On": https://www.roughtrade.com/en-gb/artist/jane-savidge

Alex
Home: http://alexmaiolo.com
"Themes For Great Cities" - TMW Opening Gala performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjr6EEdPNzA

Tamsin
Music Industry Therapists Collective (MITC): https://musicindustrytherapists.com
"Touring And Mental Health - The Music Industry Manual": https://www.touringmanual.com
MITC on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weareMITC
MITC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearemitc

Rob
One Fiinix Live: https://onefiinix.com

Jess
EMMA: https://emma.community/events
EMEE: https://www.europeanmusic.eu
EMEE/SEWEM: https://www.europeanmusic.eu/sewem

Helen
Tallinn Music Week: https://tmw.ee
Station Narva: https://stationnarva.ee
Shiftworks: https://shiftworks.ee

The Delicates' Lounge Podcast is a SuperSwell production.

For more info and news about our podcasts and events please sign up to our mailing list

The SuperSwell Newsletter: http://www.thesuperswell.com/sign-up.html

Contact: podcast@thesuperswell.com

This is the sixth edition of The Delicates' Lounge - a podcast for all us music event tourists who love to be where the action is and occasionally like to grumble about having to queue for our passes or a beer or to get into a venue. You know, all things that we missed for so long during the pandemic.

Now and again we’ll get together with a couple of delicate delegates at one of the many events we love to go to.

This time, I was very happy to speak to friends from the festival family who over the years I’ve seen more than I’ve seen my own family at times.

I’m joined by Andy Jones from Focus Wales; Jeff Beaulieu of Hopeful Tragedy Records; Healthy Touring & The Back Lounge's Suzi Green; Lotje Horvers from Backstage Pass; Manuel Schottmüller of Emerged Agency; So Alive Music Conference's Ruth Koleva; Peter Briggs of VIP-Booking.Com; and Robert Stolt from the Future of Festivals event to find out how they are managing themselves, their projects, and the events they are now attending.

We talked about our experiences at this year's Eurosonic Conference & Festival as well as all the projects we are working on.

We recorded this conversation during Eurosonic in Groningen on Thursday 18th and Friday 19th January, 2024.

A huge thank you to the very helpful Frank Janssen, Eveline van der Slijde, & Robert Meijerink of the Eurosonic team for letting us use a quietist corner of the De Oosterpoort to record these conversations.

For further information about some of the things & people mentioned in this episode:

Andy
Focus Wales: https://focuswales.com/
Welcome To Wrexham (trailer): https://youtu.be/R6v28e3MmhA

Jeff
Hopeful Tragedy Records: https://hopefultragedyrecords.com/
Le Maison De Tanger Hotel: https://lamaisondetanger.com/

Suzi
Healthy Touring: https://healthy-touring.com/
The Back Lounge: https://healthy-touring.com/the-back-lounge/

Lotje
Ghostlight Productions: https://lotte-horvers.squarespace.com/
Backstage Pass: https://www.backstage-pass.nl/en/

Manuel
Emerged Agency: https://emerged-agency.com/

Ruth
So Alive Music Conference: https://www.soalivemusicconference.com/
Ruth Koleva: https://ruthkoleva.com/

Peter
VIP-Booking.Com: https://vip-booking.com/

Robert
Future Of Festivals: https://www.futureoffestivals.com/en/home-en/

For more info and news about our podcasts and events please sign up to our mailing list here

Contact us directly with feedback, questions, ideas, and requests at podcast@thesuperswell.com

The SuperSwell Newsletter: http://www.thesuperswell.com/sign-up.html

Contact: podcast@thesuperswell.com

This is the fifth edition of The Delicates' Lounge - a podcast for all us music event tourists who love to be where the action is and occasionally like to grumble about having to queue for our passes or a beer or to get into a venue. You know, all things that we missed for so long during the pandemic.

Now and again we’ll get together with a couple of delicate delegates at one of the many events we love to go to.

This time, I was very happy to speak to friends from the festival family who over the years I’ve seen more than I’ve seen my own family at times.

I’m joined by Steffi Von Kannemann from Better Things agency, Joe Sparrow of Music Ally, Tamizdat's Matthew Covey, Andrea DaSilva from Keychange USA, and Adam Lewis of the Planetary Group to find out how they are managing themselves, their projects, and the events they are now attending.

We talked about our experiences at this year's Reeperbahn Festival as well as all the projects we are working on.

We recorded this conversation during Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg on Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd September, 2022.

A huge thank you to Lena Ingwerson of Music Cities Network for letting us use her office at the Karostar Musikhaus to record these conversations.

For further information about some of the things & people mentioned in this episode:

Reeperbahn Festival: https://www.reeperbahnfestival.com/en
Keychange USA: https://www.keychangeus.com
Better Things: https://better-things.berlin
Music Ally: https://musically.com/music-ally-podcast/
Planetary Group: https://www.planetarygroup.com
Tamizdat: http://www.tamizdat.org

For more info and news about our podcasts and events please sign up to our mailing list here

Contact us directly with feedback, questions, ideas, and requests at podcast@thesuperswell.com

The SuperSwell Newsletter: http://www.thesuperswell.com/sign-up.html

Contact: podcast@thesuperswell.com

Your host, Paul Cheetham, is joined by Press & PR legend, Jane Savidge.

Jane is one of the UK's most influential media personalities, co-founder of Savage & Best PR, and instigator of the famous and infamous Britpop scene.

I talked with Jane about the brilliant book she wrote about her time at the epicentre of Britpop and some of the exploits and adventures that were undertaken to get acts like Suede and Elastica on the front pages of the NME and Melody Maker.

We talked about her involvement with Brit artists, especially Damien Hirst, and branching out into projects such as Dave Stewart's art & business extravaganza, Hospital, and London super club, Home.

We also had to mention her involvement in helping make Tony Blair hip enough to be voted in as Prime Minister in 1997, where the Labour leader used Britpop figures such as Noel Gallagher and Alan MacGee as a way to be part of the Cool Britannia moniker.

Jane is really a fascinating, funny, and engaging guest and it's a thrill to have had the chance to talk to her for the SuperSwell.

"Lunch With The Wild Frontiers" is a brilliant book that you really need to read. Buy a copy from the link below. And prepare yourself for the exciting follow-up that is due out in Spring 2022.

We recorded this episode on Tuesday 7th September, 2021.

Thank you for listening. Here is the episode.
We made it just.....for......you!

Links:
Jane Savidge PR: https://www.phillsavidge.com
Jane on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Savidge
Jane on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jane_savidge/

Buy "Lunch With The Wild Frontiers":
http://jawbonepress.com/lunch-with-the-wild-frontiers/
https://www.amazon.com/Lunch-Wild-Frontiers-History-Chapters/dp/1911036491

Pre-order Jane's upcoming book, "Here They Come With Their Make Up On: Suede, Coming Up...And More Adventures Beyond The Wild Frontiers" (released April 2022)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Here-They-Come-Their-Make-Up/dp/1911036890
https://www.waterstones.com/book/here-they-come-with-their-make-up-on/jane-savidge/9781911036890

The SuperSwell Newsletter: http://www.thesuperswell.com/sign-up.html

The SuperSwell Newsletter: http://www.thesuperswell.com/sign-up.html

Contact: podcast@thesuperswell.com

This is the fourth edition of The Delicates' Lounge - a podcast for all us music event tourists who love to be where the action is and occasionally like to grumble about having to queue for our passes or a beer or to get into a venue. You know, all things that we missed for so long during the pandemic.

Now and again we’ll get together with a few delicate delegates at one of the many events we love to go to.

I was joined during Tallinn Music Week by Dan Koplowitz from Friendly Fire Licensing and Sandra Perens from Tier Music Publishing to find out how they are managing themselves, their projects, and the events they are now attending. I also talked with Ragnar Berthling from Musikcentrum Öst & Keychange and Lena Ingwersen from Music Cities Network to find out more about their work and to summarise a panel we shared at TMW called "Equality As A Business Advantage". Well worth a listen.

Once again, this episode was recorded live, face to face and it felt wonderful to be in a room talking with people once more.

We recorded these conversations during Tallinn Music Week in Estonia on Saturday 2nd October, 2021. A BIG thank you to Toomas Olljum for letting us use his conference room at the Made In Baltics office in Telliskivi!

For further information about some of the things mentioned in this episode:

Tallinn Music Week: https://tmw.ee

Friendly Fire Licensing: https://www.friendlyfirelicensing.com
Tier Music Publishing: https://www.tiermusic.com/publishing
Keychange: https://www.keychange.eu
Music Cities Network: https://www.musiccitiesnetwork.com
European Music Business Taskforce: https://www.musiccitiesnetwork.com/projects-details/european-music-business-task-force
Musikcentrum Öst: https://www.musikcentrumost.se/en/
Heather Gibson @ National Arts Centre, Canada: https://nac-cna.ca/en/bio/heather-gibson
Global Network For Female-Identifying Music Producers: https://nac-cna.ca/en/international-producers-program
Clara Bodin @ Telia: https://tmw.ee/speakers/clara-bodin
Diversity @ Telia: https://www.teliacompany.com/en/sustainability/diversity/

Made In Baltics: https://www.madeinbaltics.eu
Telliskivi Creative City: https://telliskivi.cc/en/

Themes For Great Cities: Tallinn: https://youtu.be/gjr6EEdPNzA
(Live performance from the official Opening of Tallinn Music Week 2021.
Featuring Alex Maiolo, Jonas Bjerre, Jonas Kaarnamets, Erki Pärnoja)

Death By Audio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_By_Audio

Dan’s Ferry Ride: https://brokeassstuart.com/2016/04/04/man-captures-worst-ferry-ride-ever-through-hilarious-updates/

For more info and news about our

The SuperSwell Newsletter: http://www.thesuperswell.com/sign-up.html

Contact: podcast@thesuperswell.com

This is the third edition of The Delicates' Lounge - a podcast for all us music event tourists who love to be where the action is and occasionally like to grumble about having to queue for our passes or a beer or to get into a venue. You know, all things that we missed for so long during the pandemic.

Now and again we’ll get together with a couple of delicate delegates at one of the many events we love to go to.

This time, I was very happy to speak to two friends from the festival family who over the years I’ve seen more than I’ve seen my own family at times.

I’m joined by Francine Gorman from the Ja Ja Ja and Keychange platforms and Rasmus Damsholt from ATC Management to find out how they are managing themselves, their projects, and the events they are now attending.

The main point about this episode is that, for the first time, IT WAS RECORDED LIVE, FACE TO FACE, ALL IN THE SAME ROOM instead of over Zoom. It was a complete joy to see my friends' faces across the table and hear their beautiful voices in my headphones!

We talked about our experiences of SPOT Festival in Aarhus, and Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg as well as all the projects we are working on, the artists we are in to, and how Denmark has done away with Covid-19.

We recorded this conversation during Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg on Friday 24th September, 2021.

For further information about some of the things mentioned in this episode:

ATC Management: https://www.atcmanagement.com
Ja Ja Ja: https://jajajamusic.com
Keychange: https://www.keychange.eu

SPOT Festival: https://spotfestival.dk/en/
Reeperbahn Festival: https://www.reeperbahnfestival.com/en

For more info and news about our podcasts and events please sign up to our mailing list here

The SuperSwell Newsletter: http://www.thesuperswell.com/sign-up.html

Contact: podcast@thesuperswell.com