Coffee or Beer?

This week we are joined by Nathan Barley Phillips senior A&R at Nuclear Blast Records. Barly gives us his thoughts on what labels look for when signing artists, the role of an A&R in today's music industry and the long term strategy thinking that bands must adopt in order to last and succeed at being in a band over a long period of time.

Jerry Ewing, editor and founder of PROG magazine and the host of the annual Progressive Music awards, joins us for this week's Coffee or Beer. Come with us on a debaucherous trip into Jerry's past and how he came to start Classic Rock and PROG magazines. We find out about how much the industry has changed over the years and what's in store for the future of printed press.

He's back! After almost a year since the first episode with Lewis his career has rocketed into bigger and better places. We catch up with him to find out more about how shooting the recent videos for Pendulum and The Hunna was and what it was like being nominated for a VMA Award for his video he did with All Time Low.

When it comes to music education and mentoring musicians to strategise their career, Damian has proven he is the best in the world. At 23, Damian founded and built The British Institute of Modern Music (BIMM - now known as BIMM Institute), currently valued at over $100m, and they are the largest set of music colleges in the world. Artists that studied at BIMM under Damian include George Ezra, The Kooks and James Bay. In addition to this, Damian has worked as a professional bass player internationally, alongside artists such as Eric Clapton, Alanis Morissette, The Who and Bob Dylan. After building BIMM, Damian went on to successfully build and invest in several other businesses, including a management company for musicians (DK Music Management), a live agency (Warble Entertainment) and a social media company (Black Rock Media). The constant for Damian has always been educating & advising musicians throughout all stages of their career, whilst being at the forefront of navigating changes in the music industry. Damian has built an online community of over 100k musicians online, through YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. Damian has also released two Amazon best-selling books for musicians, The Rule Breakers Guide to Social Media & Stop Selling Music: Career Changing Lessons for Musicians. Damian is inundated with messages every day from musicians wanting his expertise & guidance for their career. He realised that he wasn't able to keep up with the demand through YouTube & Instagram alone, so wanted to establish a community where musicians can have more access to him & his training.

Alex is a senior label manager at The Orchard one of the worlds largest distribution companies operating in 25 global markets. We discuss how The Orchard releases music in today's market, strategies and services that are popular right now and other ways bands can distribute and market themselves effectively to promote their latest releases. For more information about The Orchard check out: https://www.theorchard.com

Is print dead? Or dying? Do people even read magazines anymore? What role does a magazine like Metal Hammer play in today's music scene? What are publications doing now to adapt and change with the times, how does their online presence complement their physical outlet and what do bands have to do to get featured in these publications? All of this plus a whole lot more. Support the Metal Hammer team by subscribing to the mag, following them on socials and checking out the podcast!

Years of hard graft, persistence and determination are what Sophie attributes to her success. Conducting excellent live interviews with huge artists in high pressured situations is not easy. To gain the skills required takes practice, making mistakes and learning from them, and knowing your own strengths and weaknesses on the camera. As well as presenting, Sophie produces video content and marketing campaigns for brands such as Primark and Ugg. Sophie presents the Kerrang! Radio Breakfast Show and has worked for over 10 years in the music industry.

Ben Patashnik is the European Label Manager for Unified Music Group. With a career in the music business expanding 10 + years, Ben's seen a lot of change over that time when it comes to the success and development of artists. In today's episode we touch on some vital points such as the importance of hard work and grafting, a right of passage that any band in the rock/metal scene, in particular, has to go through, how there is no such thing as an overnight success and the first and most important thing to do is write the best song you can. We also discuss Spotify and how that shapes the way a label approaches an artist's release as well as what skills are missing from the industry, but will be of the most benefit going forward that someone who wants to work in music could begin to learn now.

Jack has experienced and learnt from many aspects of the music industry over the past decade. He spent his earlier years writing, recording and touring the UK and EU in his band Giants (signed with Holy Roar Records) and working for Basick records, and he is now primarily recording/producing as well as running a digital marketing agency. This incredibly talented and all round lovely bloke delivers some seriously sound advice for young artists. We discuss the world of streaming and how the way people consume music is changing, and what that means for artists releasing new material. He also covers playing live and the importance of running your band like a business. To find out more about Jack and the services he offers - drop him a line via the links below. www.jacklongman.com jack@jacklongman.com

Anurag Tagat is a freelance journalist who writes for multiple music publications including Rolling Stone India. He's been writing about the rock and metal scene in India for many years and has witnessed the genre grow and change. We talk about how certain festivals are starting to embrace metal music more and more. We also discuss the difficulties in breaking a metal band in India, and the do's and don'ts live that can make the difference between a great review and a bad one.

Flower KC manages the most successful metal band from Nepal; Underside, as well as being one of the founders and directors of Silence Festival in Nepal. He is also part of a team spearheading the campaign "Metal For Nepal", an organisation set up to help those suffering and starving on the Nepalese border. In this episode Flower talks at length about this crisis and what people can do to help. A donation of £25 is enough to feed a family of four for seven days. There are also art prints, apparel and other products that are on sale with all the proceeds going to help those people who have lost their jobs and aren't allowed back into their own country. They don't have any food or shelter and are in desperate need of help and support. Any donation helps - you can learn more and make a donation here: https://www.metalfornepal.org/

Eli Chamravi is the director for Wild Thing Records and Wild Thing Presents based out of sunny Australia! The Australian music scene is booming, producing many incredible bands over the years. It's hard to break a band onto the international scene and takes tremendous amounts of hard work and patience to go beyond the reach of your local scene. Eli shares some of his thoughts, his ideas and experience on how bands can do this no matter where they're from. Check out some of the awesome bands and good work Wild Thing is doing: wildthingpresents.com wildthingrecords.com For PR enquiries please email info@holdtightpr.com For Digital Marketing services please email darren@holdtightpr.com

Have you ever missed a day of work? Ever called in sick or just slept in? Well, Alex Baker hasn't. Does that make him a better person than you? Arguably. Does it make him a better radio presenter than you? Almost certainly. The Kerrang! Fresh Blood Radio show has championed some of the most influential bands the UK has to offer. Alex's long-standing career and experience make his seal of approval truly sought after and is a big vote of confidence for any band who is lucky enough to get featured on the show. Fresh Blood airs every Wednesday night from 10pm (GMT) - midnight. For PR enquiries please email info@holdtightpr.com For Digital Marketing services please email darren@holdtightpr.com

We all love a festival. They're a huge part of our culture and community. Obviously, in light of recent events, festivals and live shows have all been hit extremely hard. Goc O'Callaghan is one of the 3 Founders and Director of ArcTanGent Festival. Since 2013 Goc and the team have been putting on a truly special festival and growing a real sense of community along the way. In our chat, we go over the highs and lows of planning and putting on a festival, as well as current challenges facing promoters at this time and what you can do to help ensure that they are all in a position to come back bigger and stronger next year. For more info please follow Goc @: Instagram @gococallaghan Twitter @gococallaghan www.arctangent.co.uk Instagram @arctangentfestival facebook.com/atgfestival Twitter @atgfestival For PR enquiries please email info@holdtightpr.com For Digital Marketing services please email darren@holdtightpr.com

For over 10 years The Ranch has been producing incredible music by some of the best bands and acts the UK and rest of the world has to offer. From mixing, mastering, profiling to rehearsing in the amazing live room. The Ranch is an awesome place to go and produce great music. Check them out here: http://ranchproductionhouse.com/ https://www.facebook.com/theranchprod... For PR enquiries please email info@holdtightpr.com For Digital Marketing services please email darren@holdtightpr.com

Check out Katherine's advice and experience working for 5B artist management. They represent some of the biggest bands in rock and metal including Babymetal, Behemoth, Megadeth, TesseracT, Slipknot and Trivium. Check out their roster here: https://www.5bam.com/ https://www.facebook.com/5bartistsmedia https://www.instagram.com/5bartistsme... For PR enquiries please email info@holdtightpr.com For Digital Marketing services please email darren@holdtightpr.com

Ever wondered how pitching to radio stations and getting on things like The Rock Show actually works? Well in this episode we answer all of that and more - our legendary guest is the awesome Carly Maile whose credits include producing the Rock Show on BBC Radio 1, and overseeing various other productions across 6 Music and podcasts via the production company Somethin' Else. Carly was kind enough to share her thoughts on working in radio, how DJ's and producers share ideas and how to get started in the business. Check out Somethin' Else and all the cool work they do here: www.somethinelse.com For PR enquiries please email info@holdtightpr.com For Digital Marketing services please email darren@holdtightpr.com

Flo is a Project and A&R Manager at Nuclear Blast Records as well as the co-owner of his own management agency Deadshot Music management. With years of experience managing campaigns and overseeing large projects from start to finish, Flo was kind enough to give us some of his time and discuss the things bands should do when approaching labels. Where they need to be in their career before they can expect label attention as well as what to expect once they're signed. We discuss marketing, branding and the costs involved being in a professional long term band. Loads of pure gold in this interview. Lots of stuff people will find invaluable and applicable to their own bands and marketing efforts. You can checkout Deadshot Music Here: https://deadshotmusic.com Check out all things Nuclear Blast below: https://www.nuclearblast.de/en https://www.facebook.com/nuclearblast... https://twitter.com/nuclearblasteu https://www.youtube.com/user/NuclearB... https://www.instagram.com/nuclearblas... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6aw... For PR enquiries please email info@holdtightpr.com For Digital Marketing services please email darren@holdtightpr.com

Remfry is an experienced journalist who specialises in all things metal and rock. He co-hosts the Riot At Podcast with his mate Stephen Hill. Their combined knowledge and passion for music gives way to an honest and thorough music review podcast, that is both entertaining and controversial! Follow Riot Act Facebook https://www.facebook.com/riotactpodcast Twitter https://twitter.com/riotact_podcast For PR Enquires please email info@holdtightpr.com For Digital Marketing Services please email darren@holdtightpr.com

Jake is a freelance journalist who rights for the likes of Kerrang! and Loudwire. Jakes interviewed over 200 bands and listens to ALOT of music. Definitely, someone whose opinion is worth paying attention too. You can follow Jake on Twitter - @JakeRichardso17 For PR Enquires please email info@holdtightpr.com For Digital Marketing Services please email darren@holdtightpr.com

Mark is the Founder and Ceo of Music Venue Trust. A charity set up with one goal. To stop grassroots venues up and down the UK from closing. Mark and his team offer support and help to venue owners who face constant threats that could result in their venues closing down. Whether that's legal advice or a putting in place a long term business strategy. Without the help and financial support from the charities patrons and doners. All of these places provide musicians with their first gig, local communities with entertainment and the country with a richer cultural scene. Anyone who plays in a band or works in the music industry needs to support this cause and give the team at Music Venue Trust the resources they need to keep Grassroots venues alive and thriving. To Support Mark and Music Venue Trust Visit: DONATE https://www.gofundme.com/f/2pt5g8k http://musicvenuetrust.com/ https://www.facebook.com/musicvenuetr... https://www.youtube.com/c/MusicVenueT... For PR Enquires please email info@holdtightpr.com For Digital Marketing Services please email darren@holdtightpr.com

Andy has had a long and successful career in the music industry covering a range of jobs from promotions to management, to tour managing and now running one of the largest merchandising companies for bands and artists in the world. From internal design to collaborating with outside artists. Backstreet is an innovative company who always strive to stay ahead of the curve and try out new things when it comes to the relationship between fan and artists. They truly understand the importance of good design and how the revenue from merch can make such an important impact on their careers. To get in touch with Backstreet and for more info visit them here: https://www.backstreetmerch.com/ https://www.facebook.com/backstreetme... https://www.instagram.com/backstreetm...@backstreetmerch Call 020 7428 1799

Shaun has been working in the industry for over 10 years. He's shot music videos for some of the biggest bands in the world of Heavy and alternative music. Loki films is synonymous for producing incredible looking, unique and impractical music videos from a guy who truly cares about each and every person he works with. Shaun was good enough to come down and share his ideas and opinions with us on what it takes to make a great music video, how things have changed over the years and where things are going. Reach Out To Shaun Here: www.lokifilms.co.uk www.instagram.com/lokifilms7/ https://twitter.com/lokifilms7www.youtube.com/user/Lokifilms7 www.facebook.com/lokifilms

If you've ever been hanging around Essex and happened to tune into your local BBC Introducing show then you'll be more then familiar with the one and only Mr Ollie Winiberg. Ollie was the second youngest radio presenter to join the BBC (the first was Noel Edmond's) and since then has grown a reputation for supporting local bands and keeping new and upcoming music firmly supported and encouraged however he can. Recently Ollie got asked to curate his own Spotify playlist which anyone can submit to if their track is of the more heavy persuasion. He also, somehow, finds the time to present a TV show called "Rising" which is aimed at supporting new and unsigned talent from around the UK. You can follow Ollie at all the usual places: https://www.instagram.com/olliewiniberg/ https://www.facebook.com/ollie.winiberg https://twitter.com/olliewb

Emma's career began at Warner Music, where she carved out a solid reputation for spotting serious talent in the heavy and alternative side of music. Working with the likes of Deftones and Linkin Park in the early days of their career, Emma left Warner to start Public City in 2007. Emma has gone on to work with Deftones, Parkway Drive, Henry Rollins and Mastodon as well as many many others. In this episode, we discuss the relevance of PR, when a band is ready for a PR campaign and the good and the bad side of working in the industry. For all Public City enquires get in touch via these links: http://publiccitypr.com/contact-us https://www.facebook.com/PublicCityPRUK/

Kirstie has had years and years of experience managing and touring with the like's of Local Natives, Nina Nesbitt, Jess Glynne and most recently Halsey. From selling merch to driving vans and sorting out foreign parking - Kirstie has quickly become an extremely sort after touring manager whose skill's and experience is taking her company Northstar from strength to strength. Follow Kirstie and get in touch via these links: kirstie@northstar-touring.com https://www.facebook.com/kirstie.hopper

James started his career in law working as a barrister. After retraining to become a solicitor he started his own firm and then joined forces with a co-partner that became Collins Long. With over 20 years of experience working in the music business. The depth of knowledge and understanding James has is immense. From Intelectual property and copyright law to understanding the complex but necessary agreements that artists, managers and labels must all adhere to. There isn't much that James and his colleagues haven't seen. We hope you enjoy this episode and get a lot of value from learning about a side of the business that doesn't often get talked about or explained. If you'd like help with any legal matters regarding your band or music career you can contact James directly at: jcollins@tspmlaw.com t 020 7734 8303 m 07803 504852 25-26 Poland Street. London W1F 8QN www.tspmlaw.com

This week Darren speaks with Daryl Pryor AKA Mr Relationships. Daryl is the founder and one of three working managers for the company Capital Artist Management as well as an international relations manager for Rude Records. Prior to working in the industry, Daryl was in the band High Hopes and for many years cut his teeth living on the road and learning all about the ups and downs that come with being in a band. All this wealth of experience and time in the industry has made him into the manager he is today, giving the acts and people he works with a unique and personal relationship all based on first-hand experience. There's lots of excellent advice and value that bands and artists can take away and start implementing today! Hope you all enjoy it. You can follow Daryl at: www.capitalartistmanagement.com https://www.ruderecords.com/artists

Mandy Aubry is the Director, Global Business Development and Client Relations for Songtrust the worlds largest music publishing administrator. In this episode of Coffee or Beer, Mandy guides us through the steps that artists should take to make sure they receive any and all the royalties their entitled to from their music publishing. It can feel overwhelming and quite the uphill battle to wrap your head around the music publishing side of things, but Mandy and all the excellent information on the Songtrust website does a fantastic job of making it as comprehensible for people as possible. To learn more about Songtrust and its services or to learn more and ask any questions you might have visit: https://www.songtrust.com/​ https://twitter.com/songtrust https://www.facebook.com/songtrust/ https://www.instagram.com/songtrust/ https://www.youtube.com/user/SONGTRUST

We kick off 2020 with the tour de force which is Lulu Davis head of INCENDIA Music Management and PR. We talk about the skills a good manager needs to have and what expectations bands need to set for themselves and their teams in order to be successful over the long term. Lulu shares how she started out in the industry and some of the best lessons she's learnt along the way while growing her company, expanding the team and bringing on some of the most exciting bands around today. You can check out all things Incendia right here: https://www.incendiamusic.co.uk/ https://www.facebook.com/IncendiaMusic66/

This week we sit down with Catherine Jackson, co-founder and co-promoter of the new Radar Festival, as well as owning and running the Lounge Bar in Alton. Hit the button to hear all about Catherine's experience of being a woman in the music industry, as well as coordinating the launch of one of the most exciting new progressive music events in the country. For all RADAR Fest Enquiries: https://www.radarfestival.co.uk

What does it take to shoot for Rocksound Magazine? How does one get started in music photography and land the chance of working with Panic At The Disco, Enter Shikari and As It Is to name but a few, while on top of all of that run your own photography studio? Well, our excellent guest this week Corinne Cumming talk about just that. How she got started and what advice she'd also give to people who are just starting out. To Follow Corinne and her work visit: https://www.instagram.com/capturedbycorinne/?hl=en HotDogStudiosLDN@gmail.com https://www.instagram.com/hotdog_studios/?hl=en To Follow Some of Corrine and Darren's favourite photographers right now check out: hello@carlamundy.co.uk info@jennifermccordphoto.com https://www.instagram.com/ashleabeaphoto/?hl=en

We cover a shed load of topics in this week's episode. Darren talks with YouTube Vlogger Tristan Pratt AKA The Metal Tris about the important role that music reviewers play in today's society. As well as the best and worst metal albums of 2019. Tris talks about some of his favourite interviews and how he grew his YouTube following to over 4.5K subscribers. We also discuss mental health and how encouraging people to talk and open up about the pressures they face within music and life in general need to be addressed. Follow Tris Here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGCNnOfEUk3NJQFXU5po9Ag https://themetaltris.com https://www.instagram.com/themetaltris tristanhpratt@gmail.com

This week Darren chats to Nathan Barley Phillips the UK manager for TuneCore. Barley drops some serious value bombs that many a musician will benefit a lot from hearing, including the massive opportunities out there on platforms such as Tick Tock. How to release your music on Spotify and get the most streams for your track as well as the steps and assets that bands need to have in place to make a successful long term career in music.

In this week's episode of Coffee or Beer, Darren talks with Achal Dhillon the managing director of Killing Moon and head of A&R at Last Man music. In what is possibly one of the most honest and valuable interviews so far. Ach describes how the music industry is more accessible than ever and what opportunities that provide artists who want to have a career in music. The importance of setting expectations and being honest with yourself. As well as the 3 key components that every Label will look for in a band they want to work with. We hope you enjoy this episode and as always you can reach out to us at the usual places. Achal Dhillon ach@killing-moon.com http://killing-moon.com For PR Enquires please email info@holdtight.co Follow Us at the usual places here: http://www.holdtight.co

This week Darren talks to Film Director Lewis Cater. Lewis has filmed a ton of music videos including but not limited to bands such as Sum 41, Neck Deep, Architects, Nothing But Thieves and Tiny Moving Parts to name a few. Lewis talks about getting started as a film director, his process of working with artists and creating a concept. And what every video needs to have to stand out in today's saturated market. Reach Out To Lewis at the following places: https://www.lewiscater.com https://www.instagram.com/lewiscater For PR Enquires please email info@holdtightpr.com For Digital Marketing Services please email darren@holdtightpr.com Follow Us at the usual places here: http://www.holdtightpr.com https://www.facebook.com/holdtightpr https://www.instagram.com/holdtightpr/

In the first-ever episode of Coffee or Beer? Darren talks to Tesseract guitarist James Montieth about how he first started out in music. We discuss his journey to touring the world playing the music he loves while also running a PR Agency. As one of the managing partners at Hold Tight PR. James talks about what PR means in today's world, why PR is still important to artists and what makes for a successful PR campaign. For PR Enquires please email info@holdtight.co For Digital Marketing Services please email darren@holdtight.co