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Paul Watson CEO
Keith Watson Chairman
Rian Zoll-Kahn COO
Amit Patel Managing Director
Alice Gustafson Editor-in-Chief
Adam Protz Senior Writer
Liz Wilkinson Content and Communications Manager
Rick Dickerson Reviews Editor
Marc Henshall Head of Digital
Grace Mcguigan
Artist Relations Manager
Rae Gray Head of Design
This month saw Headliner pack its sunglasses and head over to IMS in Ibiza for three action-packed days (and nights) to get up to speed with the market trends shaping the future of electronic music..
From hands-on workshops and expert-led sessions to curated networking, and a dedicated space for health, wellness and human potential, IMS’ agenda should be commended for its commitment to educating its badge-wielding delegates on topics affecting the electronic industry here and now: Headliner witnessed sessions on if radio is still relevant in today’s digital age; a new initiative designed to create safer, fairer spaces for trans and non-binary people working in music; a discussion encouraging copyright societies to adopt technology over outdated methods to ensure more accurate distribution of license fees from clubs and festivals to music creators and rightsholders; and a look at how AI is revolutionising the way music is created, licensed, and monetised, bringing both opportunities and complex challenges to the music industry.
The key takeaway, other than Factor 30 was not strong enough to withstand the Spanish sun, was that the electronic music industry grew 6% year-on-year in 2024, reaching a $12.9 billion global valuation. Independent labels increased their market share again (now accounting for 30% of global label revenues), while fandom around electronic music grew by 566 million across all major platforms. Ibiza club ticketing revenue rose to €150 million, despite a drop in overall volume. Afro House, Drum & Bass, and
Minimal/Deep Tech genres surged in global popularity — all signs point to these micro-movements becoming the new mainstreams.
Indeed, Africa’s electronic and dance scene is incredibly diverse — from Amapiano to Afro House and beyond. Africori (acquired by Warner Music Group earlier this year) has played a huge role in shaping Africa’s music landscape, especially in the dance and electronic space. In one panel session entitled, ‘Africa Is Not A Country – The Growth Of Electronic Music Across The Continent’, Adam Tiran, Africori director of operations, took part in a panel session on the rise and sheer diversity of African electronic genres.
Headliner caught up with Tiran at IMS to discuss the international appetite for African dance music and spoke with Marco Pantuso, Warner Music’s director of global marketing, dance music, to find out how he approaches nurturing and promoting emerging dance music talent in today’s competitive industry. Meanwhile, Kevin Segler, director of dance marketing at Warner Music Central Europe revealed how TikTok influences marketing strategies for dance releases in 2025, while Jorn Heringa, EVP, A&R at Spinnin’ Records, opened up about the way artist discovery has changed, and how Shazam plays a role in analysing the tastes of music fans today. Keep an eye on Headliner’s website to read these interviews in full.
On the panel for numerous sessions (as well as on the decks at the Amapiano rooftop afterparty) was DJ, producer and Oroko Radio co-founder
and presenter Kikelomo Oludemi, who Headliner spoke to for this issue about new documentary, We Become One, which explores how electronic music can help bridge sociological division on and off the dancefloor, and why the arts and club spaces need to be protected – a sentiment that was reflected by cover star, Ife Ogunjobi’s band, Ezra Collective at the BRIT Awards, where they used their acceptance speech to highlight the importance of youth clubs. In this issue, Ogunjobi discusses reimagining the work of Chet Baker, his new single, Speak Low, and why he’s keeping a level head amidst Ezra Collective’s unstoppable success.
And while last year we had a Brat summer, now it’s time to make way for Medieval girl spring. UK artist Ellie Dixon explains how a song she never intended to release became a fantasy-fuelled banger straight out of The Shire. Meanwhile, FrenchCameroonian artist and producer James BKS (who has collaborated with will.i.am, Little Simz, Q Tip and Idris Elba) speaks to Headliner about coming into his own as a vocalist and solo artist, while broadcasting veteran Matt Everitt chats all things 6 Music Festival 2025.
Plus, we bring you the latest from the worlds of studio, live sound, install, sound production, emerging artists, and review the must-have tech creatives are using today.
Enjoy the issue, and trust me on the sunscreen.
Alice Gustafson Editor-in-Chief
By Adam Protz
By Alice Gustafson
By Alice Gustafson Kikelomo
LIL’ OBSESSION
by ADAM
BOY SODA
Broadcasting the combined sounds of soul, jazz, contemporary R&B and pop to the world from Sydney, Australia, Boy Soda is on a stunning upward trajectory. After self-releasing his music since 2019, he recently signed to Warner Australia. Having dropped some huge singles in 2024, he chats to Headliner about his epic new track, Lil’ Obsession.
“Music was always something that I was very drawn to,” Boy Soda says. He joins the Zoom call from Sydney, with management and press staff from Warner Australia on the call on mute – usually a sure sign a major label sees a lot of promise in an artist. “I always loved singing and being musical. My parents were great for supporting that love and that inclination to do musical things throughout my life.
“I was very lucky to be doing some singing and songwriting lessons out of a studio with some country
music mentors. I learned a lot about songwriting, song structure, and working with other people in rooms. And then I moved to Sydney when I wanted to start taking it more seriously.”
Release-wise, it all started in 2019 with the self-released, self-produced Time For That, featuring Boy Soda’s sister, singer Mahni. It’s a much more rap-inspired song than what was to come, before the soul influences would take a stronger hold.
“That was the second song I ever put out,” he says. “I’ve pulled down a lot of early music, but I have to leave that one on, because my mum and dad would kill me if I took it down. That’s me and my sister. I’d just learned how to produce, and was figuring out how to put it out myself and learning what distro companies were. I was super green to the industry. That song is a really nice reminder of where it all began and how much everything has changed; how it’s evolved to be at this place where I’m now releasing music and projects with a big team behind me. It’s nice to see the journey.”
Even with the next single, See Someone, the progression is deeply tangible, as Boy Soda’s vocals and lyrics come to the fore, as he sings over a bed of guitar, hip-hop beats and backing vocals and ad-libs. Besides that early single, Boy Soda has also been part of Converse’s All Stars programme since 2019, allowing him to be mentored by superstars such as Tyler The Creator.
“I’ve had an amazing relationship with Converse through the programme for the past five years now, and they’ve been very gracious to me in terms of opportunities and spaces they’ve put me in,” he shares. “The Tyler thing was awesome, because they flew me out to L.A. in 2019, and now we had this full circle moment where he was in Australia and they were doing a Sydney experience. I got the opportunity to ask him a question. To be in the same room as someone who’s such an expressive creator — it was a beautiful thing.”
The next set of singles, LoveU2Bits and Welcome To The Glow Up, saw Boy Soda having little choice but to keep the momentum going by making and releasing songs during the COVID lockdowns.
He explains that he felt he didn’t have a choice – “On an internal level. I think I had so much to put out and so much time to get better at it,” he explains. “And even if none of that music came out, I’m someone who likes to be practising the craft of songwriting and making music at all times, irrespective of that stuff. I think we went into lockdown just after I got signed, and I was also navigating everything: the rise of
TikTok, short-form content, while still wanting to deliver longer visuals to go with my music. It’s been a turbulent but exciting ride. I always believe everything happens for a reason. So, yeah, COVID had its downs, and I also had a lot of positives on an internal and creative level. You just keep it moving, you know?”
Credit: Satoru Takamatsu
Credit: Satoru Takamatsu
2024 saw Boy Soda releasing some huge singles as he cemented a brilliant, more mature sound, while his vocal ability has blossomed. Merlot sees him showing off his vocal range and jumping to falsetto with ease, over an instrumental with buckets of funk and soul. On Company, he sings, “If you need some company I swear I won’t move,” over a bed of ‘70s style guitar and high piano chords.
With regards to the new single, Lil’ Obsession, it was a case of figuring out what his sound is. “I think it’s this character arc that I’ve been on since I started making music. This feels like things have finally aligned. I’ve left the world of replicating sounds – I love to find my own version of them. That happened to be in a very live space, in a very musical space. It was also the result of coming to Sydney and being around people who had chops and come from jazz and music conservatoire backgrounds – just being around people who meet my tastes and who are extremely musical. I’m getting to experience the euphoria of making something original for the first time.”
Lil’ Obsession is something of an instant classic, with shades of Stevie Wonder. The opening chords announce the track in the boldest way imaginable. It’s undoubtedly Boy Soda’s biggest track yet, with a huge backing choir. Throw in the brass players and a hit chorus, and the result is a song that really could announce this artist to the world outside Australia.
To record the song, Boy Soda went down the tried and tested route of getting away from the city and all its distractions, opting for a studio in the mountains in New South Wales. The song would appear to show he got the right level of headspace to bring his vision to life.
“We went to the Blue Mountains, an hour and a half out of Sydney,” he recalls. “Just mountain ranges where
“I NEED TO LET THE LITTLE OBSESSION GO IN MANY WAYS, AND FIND ROUTES TO DO THAT.”
you find your peace and can sit near running water, the air feels cleaner, all of that. There’s a lot of space to think and arrive at a neutral place, which is perfect when you’re trying to make music. I think it’s allowing yourself to leave a very hectic city scene and be in nature and be in the quiet. It’s a very spiritual experience to go out there and make music, and hear an echo literally through the valleys, and look out the studio window and see fog. It’s like a fantasy R&B film or something. It’s crazy up there.”
Another wonderful thing about Lil’ Obsession is the cathartic role it has served for Boy Soda — originally written about a breakup, it also revealed something deeper and helped him do some internal emotional work.
“Catharsis is definitely the word,” he says. “It was the result of a relationship not working out, and going through what felt like an irreparable rupture. When I wrote it, it was directed to someone saying, ‘Let’s let this little obsession go. I don’t want to talk to you, la, la, la.’ But ironically, I think it’s a message to me more than anything. I need to let the little obsession go in many ways, and find routes to do that. Routes that arrive through love and
accountability, and not wanting to hold on to any anger or resentment. That’s why I love making music, because the lyrics often aren’t what I thought about at first. It ended up being quite a reflective song for me.”
In terms of what the phrase ‘play out loud’ means to Boy Soda and his music, he says, “Things that should be expressed and not hidden inside our souls and our bodies. I think everyone, even non-creative people, have little bits of light that they need to share with the world in whatever output that arrives, and they shouldn’t keep their sound inside.”
We appear to be witnessing Boy Soda become a man both musically and spiritually — where that takes his career and how his sound continues to evolve will be fascinating to watch. “I’m the most prepared I’ve ever been to deliver my art to the world. It’s a nice feeling to have songs in the chamber, and to have them all feeling very aligned and living in the same world.”
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EZRA COLLECTIVE’S IFE OGUNJOBI: REIMAGINING THE MUSIC OF CHET BAKER
With Ezra Collective, Ife Ogunjobi has won the Mercury Prize and a BRIT Award, and he even has a GRAMMY to his name for his work on the Bob Marley: One Love soundtrack album. Following the release of his debut solo EP in 2023, this London-born trumpeter and jazz artist has revelled in the chance to be part of the Chet Baker Re:imagined album on the legendary jazz label Blue Note. Presented with the chance to rework the music of one of his all-time heroes, jazz icon Chet Baker, he chats to Headliner about his new single, Speak Low, and why he’s keeping a level head amidst Ezra Collective’s unstoppable success.
Born to Nigerian parents, Ogunjobi grew up in southeast London, where his home and surroundings immersed him in the sounds of jazz, afrobeat, and hip-hop. He was introduced to the likes of Fela Kuti, Erykah Badu, and jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove, which are sounds you can hear in all his projects to this day.
Ogunjobi is most famous as one-fifth of the jazz quintet Ezra Collective. Fusing the sounds of jazz, afrobeat, reggae, and soul, it is difficult to overstate the success of the group,
who have brought enormous energy to the UK’s contemporary jazz scene. They met each other at the jazz youth project Tomorrow’s Warriors in London, which has helped produce other artists such as Soweto Kinch. The band scooping the Mercury Prize for Where I’m Meant to Be in 2023 was quite a feat, but a jazz band winning Group Of The Year at this year’s BRIT Awards, the biggest, most mainstream music ceremony in the UK, was a jaw-dropping achievement for the group.
In both his acceptance speeches, drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso used the opportunity to highlight the fact Ezra Collective wouldn’t exist without youth centres and youth music projects such as Tomorrow’s Warriors and the existential threat they face with so many cuts to public and arts funding in the UK. And, besides arguably reaching the UK live music pinnacle by headlining Wembley Arena, they received another unique accolade when Barack Obama placed them on his 25 favourite songs of the year in 2024 — it was God Gave Me Feet for Dancing that chimed with the 44th American president.
Ogunjobi is also a GRAMMY winner for his part in the Bob Marley: One Love soundtrack album, which picked up the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album. His three awards feel akin to Manchester United winning the treble — perhaps an Oscar is the only missing piece of a Manchester City-esque quadruple. He will tell you, however, that he isn’t in it for the awards and accolades.
Apart from Ezra Collective, he has graced stages such as Madison Square Garden twice, performing with Wizkid and Burna Boy,
respectively. His name as a solo act is rapidly picking up pace, with credits including a sold-out headline show at the EFG London Jazz Festival, festival appearances at Love Supreme and We Out Here, and his excellent and well-received EP STAY TRUE in 2023.
Ogunjobi chats to Headliner from his home in London and, in true British style, is very enthusiastic about the first signs of Spring sunshine. “The weather is picking up,” he says. “The sun is coming out, it’s still a little bit chilly. But you can’t complain when you see a bit of sun in London.”
In regards to first picking up a trumpet and the life-altering trajectory that set him on, he says, “I’ve been doing music for a long time; my mum got me into music lessons at a local music school on Saturdays. I have been playing piano since I was four years old. But when I was 10, I saw the legendary South African trumpet player, who sadly passed, Hugh Masekela. I think it was at the Royal Festival Hall. When I saw that performance, it changed things for me because it was the first time I saw a trumpet in a live context. Something about the sound and energy of the instrument really spoke to me. After that concert, I was
bugging my mum, saying I wanted to play the trumpet. And she’s thinking, ‘I’ve wasted all this money on piano now!’”
Becoming involved in a Chet Baker project and album was by no means a casual bit of work for Ogunjobi, as he speaks passionately about how discovering the jazz legend’s music and playing style proved pivotal in his own life and music making. Dubbed ‘The Prince of Cool’ in the 1950s for his innovations in the jazz subgenre (also made famous by the likes of Miles Davis), Baker remains one of the most enduring figures of early jazz, with tracks such as Autumn Leaves and My Funny Valentine keeping a firm place in the jazz repertoire.
“When I was learning jazz and the trumpet in my early days, his music made a lot of sense to me,” Ogunjobi says. “When you’re starting out, jazz is quite complicated to grasp. But Chet Baker’s music felt really natural. I need to word this in the right way because I don’t want to say it’s simple. It felt natural and effortless. That helped me get to grips with jazz and understand the music — he was a musician who really helped me.
“I think one ability that Chet Baker has over a lot of jazz musicians is that his music speaks to a lot of people who aren’t necessarily jazz heads or heavily into jazz. Whether it’s his trumpet playing or when he’s singing, it moves people; it speaks to people. And, for me, that’s the main purpose of music: being able to connect with people. That’s something I always try to take from his music: being able to communicate through music with a range of people, regardless of what genre it is.”
The full Chet Baker Re:imagined will be released on May 16 on Blue Note Records, the legendary home of jazz greats including Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and Herbie Hancock. The collection of reworks celebrates the 70th anniversary of Baker’s seminal record, Chet Baker Sings. The label has been drip-feeding the singles from an exciting and diverse range of artists, including UK artists dodie and Joel Culpepper, Californian mxmtoon, South Korean Sara Kang, and Australian-Filipino grentperez.
Ogunjobi’s brilliant version of Speak Low dropped on January 31.
On becoming involved with the album, Ogunjobi says, “It made a lot of sense, being a trumpet player and someone who has been inspired by Chet Baker in my early years. And it was a good opportunity for me as well because, although I’m inspired by jazz, I would say a lot of my influences are Nigerian afrobeat, fuji music, and stuff like that. So I always wanted to put that spin on that kind of music as well. It was a nice way for me to combine different elements of my influences.
“It’s an incredible and iconic label [Blue Note], and is one that has inspired me countless times through Herbie Hancock to Wayne Shorter to Miles Davis. To even be associated with the label and now to have a song out with them is incredible.
“In terms of the lineage of jazz, it’s a big deal.”
Ogunjobi could not have understood the ‘reimagining’ brief more clearly. Baker’s version is a great example of the ‘cool jazz’ he built his name on with a small group of musicians playing in the seemingly languid style. As he points out, Baker’s playing is somehow both simple and deeply complex at the same time. There’s also a slowed-down version by the late jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove.
With this new version by Ogunjobi, you have to listen a few times to understand how the two songs are connected. The Londoner has set the original piece to a faster beat with West African sounds and rhythms, his own production with some electronic drum sounds and keys, and a bass guitar part that is much more West African than it is 1950s California. It’s an irresistible track.
“THEY GAVE ME LICENCE TO PICK WHICHEVER CHET BAKER SONG I WANTED.”
“They actually gave me licence to pick whichever Chet Baker song I wanted,” he explains. “I initially wanted to choose My Funny Valentine, but someone had already picked that [Matt Maltese]. So then I was searching for a while because I didn’t know exactly which song I wanted, but I knew the kind of qualities I wanted in the song. I picked Speak Low because the melody is very malleable in my opinion. It’s a melody that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. So I didn’t feel too boxed in. I didn’t feel too restricted. I was able to blend the tune into whatever I wanted it to be while still keeping the identity.”
Before working with the other incredible musicians who feature on the track, Ogunjobi started by making the beat. “I produced the track and made the electronic drums. I wanted to bring that afrobeat sound, not like Fela Kuti, more like Burna Boy and Wiz Kid. That’s a big part of my culture, a big part of the music I listen to and my identity. Then, once I put the melody on top of that, it just found its
way into what it needed to be. My dad says a funny thing, ‘What’s the point of music if you can’t dance to it?’ Take that with a pinch of salt, but there is some truth in that. For me, even if there is a track you can’t dance to, you still want to be able to feel the music. That’s why I knew I wanted to make this version a high-energy track because I knew the melody had that potential.”
The Re:imagined album is a fantastic showcase of how powerful music can be: Chet Baker was a white American who grew up in Oklahoma in the 1930s in a very different time (although many of the societal problems from that era remain), and his life was defined by his music and then tragically claimed by heroin addiction. Ogunjobi is a Londoner born to Nigerian parents, with an approach to music and the trumpet that is both similar and completely different at the same time. He considers how wonderful it is to now be connected to Baker in this way and be part of his story.
“It’s incredible,” he says. “Music really can break down a lot of barriers in society and culturally. He’s from America, from a completely different time and decade. But his music still has relevance today. It still inspires people today, and it’s beautiful that it has been realised in the creation of this song. Hopefully, by me reimagining it, I can do that for someone else decades down the line. This is the kind of power that music has to bring people together, who think they have nothing in common. Sometimes we have more in common than we think, and sometimes a song can bring that out in people.”
You could be forgiven for thinking that, with Ezra Collective now certified Mercury Prize and BRIT Award winners, Ogunjobi might be looking for that next huge dopamine hit of winning another major music award, excited for the next glitzy red carpet music event, and rubbing shoulders with famous musicians and celebrity hosts. However, that isn’t where his head is at — he largely wants to just crack on with the music.
“There are plenty of great musicians in this day and age that are doing so
well in their careers and haven’t won anything,” he says. “Winning awards is so low on my list of priorities. In terms of my career and what I want to do musically, my highest priorities are connecting with audiences, expanding fan bases, playing great shows live and connecting with people live. I cherish that a lot more than winning an award. Those memories and those moments are precious; you can cherish them forever, and they actually have an impact on other people’s lives.
“An award is an object. It’s great to win one, and the significance of winning that award can be great as well. But at the same time, I think it’s having these interactions with people and impacting people’s lives; that’s priceless.”
In both acceptance speeches, bandleader Femi Koleoso spoke about Ezra Collective and each of his bandmates being indebted to youth centres and youth music projects. And how having a musical instrument, a musical practice, and a dream can be so vital in helping the UK’s youth follow a positive route in life. Ogunjobi certainly shares that
sentiment and feels the UK has a lot of work to do in this regard.
“I went to the Borough Music School when I was young every Saturday for years,” he recalls. “Those were formative years of me learning my instrument, getting the foundation, and also just having a community of people that I played music with. And then projects like Tomorrow’s Warriors were a continuation of my Saturday music school.
“I think there’s a lot of work to be done — everywhere you’re looking now, something’s being torn down and a new block of flats is being put up. I know a lot of people think art isn’t a valuable part of society. But when I think of London, I don’t think about the blocks of flats being put up. I think of things like Notting Hill Carnival. I think of places like the Southbank Centre that put on great events. I think of places like Tate Modern, which have great art exhibitions. A lot of these places are protected, such as the Tate Modern and the Southbank Centre. But a lot of the people and a lot of the projects that go on in there start with people from youth clubs. Young creative centres can develop and nurture their talent to help them one day get the chance to do something in those kinds of places. If we keep losing these spaces for young people to express themselves artistically, that’s going to get harder and harder, and we’re going to lose those communities.”
Besides Speak Low being out to enjoy already and the full Chet Baker Re:imagined album releasing on May 16, there are also plenty of Ife Ogunjobi solo slots and Ezra Collective appearances across the UK and Europe at festivals this Summer. And as for more solo music this year, “There’s definitely more music coming this year. Very, very soon.”
Credit: Artur Tarczewski
PRODUCING JUDAS PRIEST’S INVINCIBLE SHIELD
ANDY SNEAP
Since stepping in as Judas Priest’s touring guitarist in 2018, English guitarist, producer, and composer Andy Sneap has become an integral force behind the metal legends. Most recently, he took the reins as producer on Invincible Shield – the band’s thunderous 19th studio album, released in 2024. In this interview, Sneap pulls back the curtain on the album’s creation, teases what’s coming next from the band, and doesn’t hold back on why he refuses to mix Judas Priest in Dolby Atmos.
Invincible Shield marks your second album as the producer for Judas Priest, following Firepower in 2018. What did you aim to achieve differently with this album compared to your previous work with the band?
I wouldn’t say it was any more stressful than doing Firepower. We just did what was natural to everyone. That was the same with Richie and the riffs he was writing – he was putting forward what he felt comfortable with, and what he was feeling, musically. It has a very natural way of coming together. Rob has got a certain approach to how he puts things down. We’d sit there and we’d go over verses, bridges, choruses and piece the songs together and see what felt right. If we needed to add any parts, key changes, or make the tempo move a little bit more, or if we wanted to take it up in register with the vocal, we did. It’s all a natural progression, really.
Could you describe your production process for Invincible Shield? How did you manage recording sessions spread across different locations with band members on tour?
It was just what was convenient, schedule-wise. We thought, ‘Let’s get the drums down, and then at least we’ve got something we can be working on as we go on tour.’ We’d had some writing sessions at Glenn’s and got the basic structures together. Richie did the guitars in his studio in Nashville. The bass we
actually did on the road. On days off, I had a little Pro Tools rig out with me, and I would just sit there with Ian, slowly going through the album and getting the bass down on the album. Then we had two sessions in Phoenix with Rob doing vocals. I was in charge, as producer, of getting all the information together and making it all gel. Then it was a good month spent on the mix going over and over and over it to the point where I didn’t know what I was listening to anymore [laughs]. On tour, we have a lot of downtime. So rather than watching Netflix, we’re better off tracking an album. They’re getting a good deal out of me! [laughs] But I don’t mind because I’ve always enjoyed that creative side of things and putting things together. And I get bored so easily. I don’t like sitting around doing nothing. So to have the chance of putting something together on the road and being creative is good.
Richie Faulkner said that the album was not a musical continuation of the experimental Nostradamus or as progressive, but more like ‘70s Judas Priest. How did this factor into your production process in terms of capturing Judas Priest’s classic heavy metal sound?
It didn’t really! It is a continuation of Firepower, in a way that it’s a little bit heavier. It’s got some busier riffs in it. Some of the arrangements are a little bit more complicated. People always
Would you like to set the record straight now on Invincible Shield with regards to that?
I’d say…it’s just a natural progression. How about that? go, ‘It’s more progressive’ if they start sticking more riffs in. There are some interesting twists and turns. Richie has got a really good ear for melody and where to take things that are a little bit more unexpected. The mix is governed by what they bring to the table. I never sit there as a producer and think, ‘We need to take it in this direction’. It’s just: are the songs good enough? That’s what it comes down to at the end of the day. You try to get a balanced mix with what you’re given. We just let it naturally take its course. Bands always have to have something to say about an album description, but, if I’m honest, it is its own entity. People always want a bit of an angle when they’re doing interviews on new albums, and they’re always, ‘We’re going back to the roots.’
Credit: Artur Tarczewski
Panic Attack and other singles from Invincible Shield received a positive reception. How do you navigate the balance between meeting fan expectations for Judas Priest’s sound and pushing creative boundaries?
I don’t really, because I’m a fan, and I’ve been a fan for years. If it’s good enough for me and I like it, then that’s the only way I can judge it. If you start worrying about other people’s opinions, you’re not going to be focused. Richie, Rob and Glenn write from the heart and write what is true to them. As a producer, I’ve got to do what I feel is right for the songs, so you don’t think about other people’s opinions. You go on your gut instinct, and that’s always been the way that I’ve seen things. That’s all you can do. Hopefully, people agree with you and come along for the ride. I mean, you can do an album, you think it’s great, and it gets a bad response, and you’re baffled by it. But usually, you know if you’ve got something good, deep down. You’ll listen to it, think, ‘Yeah, we got it there.’ If we did have doubts, we would go back to the table with it, and we wouldn’t rush a release out just for the sake of putting something out. It would be a case of, ‘What do we need to do? Why isn’t this meeting expectations?’ and we’d go back and revisit some songs and pull them apart.
Is there a standout track on the album that you are particularly proud of?
There’s not one particular track. I thought the heavier elements of the album, like Panic Attack, Invincible Shield, The Serpent and the King, harked back a little bit to Painkiller, which was what we wanted to kick the album off with. We wanted to get a 1,2,3 punch to the start of the album. The faster songs are always fan favourites, especially in places like South America, where they like the heavier stuff. But we always try to keep it a little bit balanced as well with stuff like Gates of Hell and Crown of Horns, because we need to have melodic stuff on a Priest record as
well. We’re always trying to create a balance. It can’t be one thing all the way through. The slower stuff always gives you a little bit more room with the low end and reverbs, and the faster stuff, you have to tighten up a little bit more.
What can we expect from the new Judas Priest album?
We’re gonna go back to the roots [laughs]. There’s going to be another
album, for sure. We’re going to start putting ideas together. Rich has got a whole bunch of ideas. Glenn’s got a few things that are in the pipeline.
We’re going to start putting ideas together with Rob and piecing things together over the next year while we’re together on the road.
“WE WOULDN’T RUSH A RELEASE OUT JUST FOR THE SAKE OF PUTTING SOMETHING OUT.”
You’ve been using Genelec 1031 studio monitors for years, which are a legacy model now. What initially drew you to this particular model, and why have they remained a staple in your studio setup all these years?
Well, everyone’s got them! I was working all over the planet in different studios, and everywhere had 1031s. So it’s that familiarity. I found a 5.1 studio that had cleared out. I don’t know if they went bust or what. I bought five 10301s and the sub, and I’ve got enough for the B room and I’ve got enough for the A room. It’s just what I’m used to. It’s like with your hearing – you know what your hearing is like, so you know what your speakers are like, and you know what you’re doing with them. Both rooms sound pretty similar to me, just purely because I’ve got the same monitoring in both of them. I can go between the two, no problem at all. I’ll use the Genelecs and the sub to make sure the low end is in the right place, the high end is not too spitty, and the vocals are sat right. I have 1031s in the main room as well, and everything that I do on those, I can tell where the low end is and what’s going on in the mids.
You are not a fan of Dolby Atmos music. What is it about the format that you don’t like?
I’ve had guys at the major labels saying, ‘We are being shoehorned by Apple to get Atmos mixes,’ and that’s exactly what’s happening. They’re sort of blackmailing
the labels so they can sell their headphones. Every Apple device you get is actually set to default for Atmos. So if you’re just listening to it as normal, you’re listening to a down mix of an Atmos rather than the stereo mix. A lot of people don’t realise that. I’ve not heard an Atmos mix that beats a stereo mix yet, with the metal side of things. I just don’t like the separation. I don’t like the fact that you can’t master it like we do a stereo mix. It loses the glue.
Have you been asked to mix a Judas Priest in Atmos?
I have, and I say no. I won’t do it. I give it to someone else to do. I haven’t heard a metal mix and thought, ‘Yeah, that’s great.’ With the more progressive stuff, maybe you can go somewhere with some of that, but I don’t think the consumer has got the setup to appreciate what you’re trying to do with it. I might be wrong. I might be long in the tooth and just set in my ways. I don’t think I am, though. I don’t see people embracing it like the labels hope they do. My gut instinct tells me that people are quite happy with stereo and just listening to it on their phones these days. I’m more concerned about how a mix sounds on an iPhone when it’s tipped on its side, rather than doing a Dolby Atmos mix.
Credit: Camden Marco
DROW S by ALICE GUSTAFSON
HOW I’M FEELING NOW
CROIXX
Continuing a rapid rise as an alternative phenomenon, 18-year-old artist, vocalist, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Croixx has unveiled his debut EP, How I’m feeling now. In this Emerging Headliner interview powered by JBL, Croixx explains how, while still in high school, he went viral and created his six-track EP in a single week.
Officially a high school graduate, Croixx is celebrating the end of an era, he shares, speaking to Headliner from his home in L.A.. Originally from Henderson, Nevada, he recalls that life in the desert felt like being stuck in a loop.
“It was not my speed, really,” he explains of his hometown. “I wanted to be somewhere where something new was happening every day. There, you have to find things to do, and in California, there are lots of different things to try every day.”
Not to mention its thriving music scene. “That wasn’t necessarily the
reason at first, but then everything just fell into place when I came down here,” he says of the move to L.A.. “I was able to let my creativity fully go.”
Croixx’s real name is Jake Vanderpool. The inspiration for his artist moniker? An American brand of sparkling water. “I was inspired by the sparkling drink, LaCroix,” he says with a grin. “I could not figure out a name for so long, and it was killing me! I hated every name I was thinking of. I just looked at one of those cans, and I was just like, ‘Screw it. That’s the name!’ I was very unsure about it for a while, and then people started to tell me that it was cool,” he shrugs.
“I WOULD MAKE MUSIC RATHER THAN DO MY SCHOOLWORK.”
Experiencing intense loneliness at school, Croixx found a sense of solace and acceptance in songs by Machine Gun Kelly, Post Malone, Dominic Fike, Sueco, and The Kid LAROI. “I like studying their music,” he says of being drawn to music made for outsiders. “That might be why I was drawn so much to their music,” he considers. “It helped me get through some of those feelings. I feel like it was something that had to happen in order to get the best product out of my music. It was just part of the process.”
Indeed, Croixx makes music people can lean on when things get dark, and can sing along to as things get better. “A lot of my tough times were selfinflicted,” he confesses with a laugh, “and were me making things more dramatic in my head than they are. But you can still get to a new place with your music.”
At 14 years old, instinct pushed him to spit over a YouTube beat, and he dove into writing, recording, and playing guitar. “That’s when I started recording vocals and stuff,” he says, adding that he’s self-taught via YouTube videos. “I realised that you have to scroll through a million YouTube beats to find something that you might like. I just wanted to learn how to make what I like immediately.”
As soon as he got home from school, Croixx would freestyle his words over his own D.I.Y. production rather than writing lyrics down – a method that
he still employs to this day. “It’s the most natural thing,” he explains of his technique. “It’s easier for me to freestyle stuff than to sit down and write a song. I probably would say I do that about 85% of the time now. It’s the reason why I got awful grades! I would make music rather than do my schoolwork, but somehow I graduated,” he laughs. “I went through the motions at school and then got home, and then really got to work.”
Maintaining a steady flow of uploads, his following snowballed and paved the way for Losing Me to catch fire in 2023. It lit up TikTok, inspiring singersongwriter David Kushner to comment, while Croixx received hundreds of thousands of views.
“I was getting ready for school one morning and I saw [the video’s response and Kushner’s comment] and I freaked out,” he recalls. “I smiled the rest of the day. That song in particular, even though it may not have been the biggest song, it definitely did give me motivation and showed me, ‘Yo, you might actually be able to do this’.”
He kicked off 2024 with In Your Arms and Can You Love Me? – the latter which garnered more than 2 million streams. “I did not think that one was gonna be big,” he admits. “I had the little snippet of it and I put it on my Instagram story – everybody was like, ‘Finish this one!’. I put it on TikTok, and it just went insane. I would just be in
class in third period, I’d post a video, and by the time I got home, it had half a million views.”
Croixx’s debut EP, How I’m feeling now was created with producer Shy Kid over the course of a single week in Malibu. “Honestly, it was one of the best weeks of my life,” he enthuses. “I do like to work fast. I like to start a song one day, and by the time I’m leaving the producer’s house, I like to be able to listen to a full song in the car on the way home. I feel like it’s my best work when that happens.
“It was super fun,” he adds. “Shy Kid is amazing. I was like, ‘Dude, we gotta make an EP in a week’, and he was like, ‘Okay!’ – so we just did it. It was so natural; nothing felt forced. How I’m feeling now was a turning point for how I approach making music,” he points out. “It made me realise that it is okay to evolve and try new sounds. This EP is a gateway for all the music yet to come.”
He reveals that with this EP, he purposefully set out to make something that sounded different to his previous work. “The music I was making was something I was just really into at the time,” he says of his earlier material. “My music taste is always changing. I listen to every sort of music, and I’m not really into the kind of stuff I was making before. So I definitely was like, ‘Let’s put something out that’s not what I’ve been doing, and hopefully people like it!’”.
Credit: Camden Marco
Balancing dreamy alternative beatcraft with larger-than-life pop hooks, the EP laces kinetic soundscapes with hyper-personal storytelling, mirroring life’s ups, downs, and everything in between. The project’s title track
– How I’m feeling now – revolves around a pulsating bassline, organic percussion and hazy guitar. The refrain culminates with a confession, ‘I just want to hear the sound of your voice in my head, things that I never said, reflecting how I’m feeling now’.
“It described where I was at that point,” he says of the song’s inspiration. “Lots of crazy things were happening. I was graduating and I just signed a record deal. The EP describes how I was feeling at that moment.”
Croixx’s favourite track on the EP is One Day At A Time. “I actually made that in my room,” he shares. “It was
originally just a guitar demo, and I loved it. It’s pretty deep when you really listen to it. What happens with a lot of my music is I’ll work quickly and freestyle stuff, and I don’t put the pieces together on what I just said. I’ll listen to it back and I’ll be like, ‘Wow, that kind of made sense’. That was one of them.”
When he performs his songs live, Croixx shares he is using a JBL EON ONE Compact Portable PA with Professional-Grade Mixer, which is small enough to carry in one hand, and yet its sound is big enough to fill a room, he says.
“It’s great,” he nods. “I didn’t know how small it was, but I was happy about that! I was like, ‘Man, this thing’s small, but super loud!’ It definitely can help with taking it to do shows, and it can also help with singing karaoke
in your room, because I’ve tried that. My neighbours probably hate me,” he laughs. “It’s super easy to take anywhere you want, and it doesn’t have a bunch of parts. You can take that thing to the park and just go set it up and play. I’m looking forward to using it more,” he smiles.
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WORDS BY ALICEGUST A F NOS
ELLIE DIXON KNIGHT SHIFT
What’s Legolas getting down to in the tavern? The age-old question has been answered in Ellie Dixon’s latest single, Knight Shift . Grab your chainmail and bend the knee. It’s Medieval girl spring.
On her last two releases, Renaissance and Guts , there was an unmistakable air of BSE (big sword energy).
On Knight Shift – a medieval club banger the Londonbased artist and producer never intended to release –the concept has been fully unsheathed.
Mixed by Manon Grandjean (FLO, Cat Burns, Stormzy), Knight Shift invites you to step into a fantastical – and let’s face it, fun – realm and pull up to the tavern with your fellow witches, elves, trolls and girls. The inspiration? All roads lead to The Lord of the Rings
“With this whole round of new music, it’s all been very fantasy and medieval inspired,” says Dixon from her flat in London, although she’s originally from Hertfordshire.
“Me and my whole flat were re-watching The Lord of the Rings and watching this Netflix show called Delicious in Dungeon – unbelievable ,” she stresses, midsentence – “a great show. I highly recommend it. It’s an anime based on D&D campaigns. I love fantasy. I love these otherworldly worlds. The great thing about D&D and medieval imagery is it’s something that everyone understands. It’s a fantasy world that we’ve agreed on.
“Obviously, Medieval times existed, but I mean it as in, you have these fantasy worlds that are very influenced by medieval culture, so you have this fantastic pool of inspiration that doesn’t take itself too seriously.”
Credit: Nicole Ngai
Take a peek at Dixon’s Instagram, and amongst the impressively intricate deconstructed harmony videos that have seen her go viral, you’ll see armour, goblets, elf ears and capes. And swords, naturally. “There’s so much visual imagery to work with,” she nods. “I don’t have to do any pre-educating for everyone. If I wear elf ears, everyone knows I’m an elf, because I am an elf,” she laughs.
Knight Shift was never meant to see the light of day. The song was inspired by a few memorable nights out with friends – “we’re an eclectic group” – and captures the feeling of confidence, fun, fantasy and chaos. “Knight Shift was a joke – I wasn’t writing it to release it,” she admits. “I was like, ‘What’s Legolas shaking ass to in the club when they’re not adventuring?’” Dixon’s inspiration also derives from the weird and wonderful minds of Doechii and Doja Cat, and her masterful lyricism is kindred spirits with the chaotic camaraderie of Remi Wolf. “It’s also super inspired by ‘90s and noughties R&B and hip hop, as well as Doechii’s latest album,” she shares. “I love her flow and how much humour she has in everything. Night Shift is this melding of pure feel-good, danceable, groove-led music that’s about being a little elf girly throwing ass in the tavern.”
A lot has changed for Dixon in a few short years. These days, she tends to her staggering online following, (1.2 million TikTok followers, over 1.3 million YouTube views, 300K Instagram followers, and counting) she’s racked up over 18 million music streams, was nominated as TikTok Songwriter of the Year at iHeartRadio Awards, and her single, Swing featured as an official demo in Apple Logic Pro 2024 update. She’s been plastered across Amazon Music billboards across London, been BBC Radio 1’s Hottest Record and Tune of the Week, and the Level Up Your Game campaign with VISA for the
Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games saw her work alongside threetime gold medalist Adam Peaty OBE and creative technologist Tigris Li to make music using the swimmer’s body (and that’s not even her most unusual sample – it’s a microwave door closing, if you were wondering).
On the flip side, she also moved to London during COVID and got dropped by her label.
“I love a bit of London,” she declares. “I moved here when COVID started kicking off. It was a weird introduction to London, but I was very fortunate that it was a very prosperous time, thanks to the internet. Best believe I did some live streams,” she laughs. “I did a live stream in an inflatable space suit. It was for my single Space Out! which was about dissociating and feeling stuck. This inflatable spacesuit
became the absolute highlight for me and my family because I would run around the house in it, and we would all have tears streaming because of the way my little legs would shimmy past one another.
“It was a time of hysteria,” she points out, adding that it’s currently in her wardrobe, should the need arise. “It’s ready to go at any point.”
Headliner and Dixon trade stories about the recent BRIT Awards and the afterparties. Dixon was at the TikTok party with the stars of tomorrow; Headliner at Warner’s with that horse from Danny Dyer’s table and Teddy Swims. From lockdown spacesuits to celeb afterparties, does Dixon find it surreal mingling with the music industry’s stars?
“I’ve had some moments,” she answers, grinning. “I’ve had some shocking BRITs after parties. One time, I spoke to Lewis Capaldi, but I was so drunk I couldn’t see him. As a fly on the wall, that interaction must have been very strange. It is completely mad. It’s something that quietly happens, and you don’t notice it as you start making more and more friends in the industry. Everyone says it’s a small world, and it is. You don’t realise how few connections you are away from everyone. I was watching the BRITs with all my friends, and we were looking at all the nominees, and everyone sat at the tables, and we were like, ‘We either know every single nominee personally or have one friend in common.’ It’s nice seeing all your peers doing amazing things and
being inspired by the people around you. It’s made me up my game and never rest on my laurels.”
It might be all BRITs parties, electrifying live shows and viral videos these days, but as a teenager, Dixon was so anxious she missed out on many formative teenage experiences. Releasing Guts in January 2025, she calls the song a samba-rock-dnb-pop fusion, painting the frustrations of the anxious mind. It’s a party song for the people who weren’t at the parties.
“That’s the whole point of Guts,” she nods. “I truly felt like I’d missed out. It wasn’t until recently that I started making friends with people who had had way more chaotic teenage years than me – some had the most
genuinely crazy stories, and they are so much fun to listen to. But I had this weird moment of self awareness where I was like, ‘Oh my God, I have none of these.’ Growing up anxious, you don’t take as many risks, so I didn’t have any of these bonkers stories, because I wasn’t putting myself in a position to mess up or have something go wrong.
“I suddenly saw the benefit of what going wrong looks like and having all these amazing stories and life experiences. I felt like I massively missed out, and it was this panic of, ‘What have I done with my life?’”
She’s making it up for it now, though, she assures Headliner. “At 26, I’m living a crazier, more entertaining, risk-taking life than I have ever taken before, and I love it, but it’s taken me this long because of the type of person that I am. I’m old enough and have enough confidence now that when I go into these situations, I’m not giving in to peer pressure. My safety and my comfort come first, and so Guts was almost a grieving process. It was like, ‘I need to scream about this because I’m upset, but I’m still me, and I’m still brave for doing these things that scare me, even if it’s just taken a little longer.’
“I didn’t want it to just be a woe-isme song. It was like, ‘I’m annoyed about this, but also I’m proud of myself,’ so it’s this big, heavy, rocking out song about being anxious.”
Choosing to forgo the rite of passage that is passing around a Smirnoff ice in a field with mates, as a teenager, she and her friends found solace in the fantasy world instead.
“I had a friendship with a group of nerds, and we loved our teenage years,” she reflects. “Me and my best friend watched so much anime. We would learn dances to anime Idols, and we would make our own cosplays – I had wigs in the
wardrobe. There was a particular night where there was a massive school piss up in a field, and me and my best friend just stayed in and marathoned all three The Lord of the Rings films. It’s not to say that I didn’t have really amazing teenage years,” she points out. “I’m grateful because it’s made me very creative, and you can still see that in everything I do now, but sometimes you’ve got to mourn the thing that you didn’t have as well as appreciate the thing you did have.”
Hopefully, Dixon fans won’t have to wait too long to hear her new music, as an EP is in the works, and more singles. Expect swords, bangers and fat riffs.
“It’s all in this fantasy world, but it touches on a lot of different themes,” she reveals. “It touches on a lot of different genres and a lot of different sounds. What I love about this particular campaign is that you literally cannot predict what the next song is going to sound like. If you heard Renaissance, you probably wouldn’t have predicted Guts. If you heard Guts, you’re definitely not seeing Night Shift coming. I don’t think anyone’s gonna see what’s coming after Night Shift. The other two tracks on the EP add a different aspect to the world. It’s quite experimental in
terms of how many different things it touches on. I love it.”
With the music ready, Dixon is currently toying with two EP names that may or may not be Knightrelated. “They are so similar,” she laughs. “We’ve been arguing about grammar in terms of, how do we phrase it? It’s like, ‘Am I going to the shops,’ or, ‘Do I go to the shops?’ It’s the semantics of it.”
Headliner asks if today’s music title aversion to the Caps Lock has also factored into the discussion. Dixon is horrified at the thought.
“Oh no, the caps are there! Listen, I love grammar. I love a good capitalised title.”
This year promises to be a busy one for Dixon, as in addition to the EP and singles to come (as well as another project her fans are sure to love), her UK and EU headline tour kicks off in September – her biggest shows to date. Dixon stays grounded through it all.
“I’ve had big wins in my career, and then I’ve woken up the next morning and made beans on toast,” she shrugs.
LINKIN PARK FROM ZERO WORLD TOUR Words
After a seven-year hiatus, two-time Grammy Award winners Linkin Park are back on the road. Their 50-plus-show From Zero World Tour will take them from Mexico City’s Estadio GNP Seguros on 31 January through to 15 November in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and pretty much everywhere in between to stadiums and arenas globally.
“Getting back out on the road has been incredible,” says band cofounder, Mike Shinoda. “The fans’ support is overwhelming, and we’re ready to take this energy even further around the world.”
Some of the world got a taste of what’s to come when the band did a whirlwind mini tour late last year to key regions the band would do multiple shows in, including Europe and Asia, which also served to introduce new band members - co-vocalist Emily Armstrong, and drummer Colin Brittain - and dropping new album singles, The Emptiness Machine and Heavy Is the Crown
Also playing key roles on the tour are a pair of DiGiCo consoles: a Quantum852 console at FOH, and Quantum338 desk on monitors, all sharing two SD-Racks, one each stage left and right, and one SD-MiNi Rack for track playback, on a dual Optocore loop.
These are joined by Fourier Audio’s transform.engine loaded with v1.3 software and transform.suite ’25 at FOH, plus an immersive KLANG:konductor IEM monitor mixing system in monitor world. All of this DiGiCo-centric gear was supplied by the tour’s technology vendor, Sound Image, a Clair Global brand.
Jim Ebdon, the tour’s front-of-house
engineer, is new to the band and chuckles at the memory of their NDAheavy invitation. “It was about April last year when they started asking around, and of course, no one would name the band, as it was a heavily guarded secret,” he recalls, noting the impact the band wanted to make with the new personnel lineup.
As impactful are the DiGiCo consoles. Ebdon says he’s a huge fan of the platform’s Spice Rack processing, and regularly uses its compression and EQ as a starting point. “I love just the default one on each channel when you open that tab up, and I like the EQ, which sweetens the entire console out a bit for me,” he says.
Over in monitor world, engineer Pasi Hara is piloting a Quantum338, his favourite surface of the lineup, with a KLANG:konductor IEM mixing system integrated. “The flexibility that the Q338 offers is incredible for workflow, and being able to easily route things wherever needed point-to-point, as well as being able to share the head amps with FOH,” he says.
The tour is complex; Hara jokes that he would have had to scrounge a bit to find even three extra inputs for a tiny cocktail drum set the band
wanted to try. But the Quantum338 has the latest Pulse software loaded, which upgraded capacity to 156 input channels and 72 aux/group busses.
The fact that both he and Linkin Park are fans of the KLANG system just makes the incredible flexibility of the Quantum’s workflow that much smoother. “The band has been on KLANG systems before; they’re familiar with it and what it does,” says Hara, who first used KLANG when working with System Of A Down back in 2015. “It’s been like a
10-year journey for me already with KLANG, so it’s part of my toolkit now on almost every gig I do. DiGiCo isn’t just the console anymore; it’s an ecosystem, and one that’s making a huge difference every night.
LINKINPARK.COM
DIGICO.BIZ
Credit: Janell Riedl
WAKA GO
JAMES BKS
Having gone from making his first beats on a PlayStation to collaborating with the likes of will.i.am, and producing the hit track New Breed featuring Little Simz, A Tribe Called Quest’s Q Tip , and A-list star Idris Elba, James BKS is a Paris-based producer who is rapidly being recognised as a music artist in his own right. The French-Cameroonian songwriter speaks to Headliner about coming into his own as a vocalist and solo artist on new singles On My Way and Waka Go .
Born in Paris, music is very much in BKS’s bloodline; his father is the legendary Cameroonian saxophonist Manu Dibango, who built a multidecade career fusing jazz, funk, and traditional Cameroonian music. Like
father, like son, he has built his name by blending hip-hop, the urban genre sounds of France, with West African instrumentation, rhythms and sounds.
This fusion is all too natural as his life has seen him grow up in France and the US and spend time visiting family in Cameroon. His music is the sound of the three continents that have shaped him as a person and musician. His career seems to magnetically draw in hugely influential people: while in the US, he signed with Akon’s label Konvict Muzik, and he would quickly find
himself working with the likes of T-Pain, Snoop Dogg, and Ja Rule.
Upon returning to France, BKS was placed on the radar of actor and DJ Idris Elba and then put to paper again, this time with Elba’s Londonbased label 7Wallace. This wasn’t to be a mere professional collaboration, however. BKS had the A-lister contribute a verse to 2019’s New Breed, a single that also enlisted the extraordinary rapping talent of Little Simz and one of the legends of hiphop’s golden age, Q-Tip.
With his second album on the way, there is plenty to listen to in the meantime — he released his debut LP in two parts across 2022 and 2023, in Wolves Of Africa (Part 1 of 2) and then (Part 2 of 2). BKS speaks to Headliner from home in Paris, having just returned from South Korea, where he was one of the songwriters leading a writing camp organised by one of the country’s biggest record labels.
“I moved to the US when I was 19,” he says. “And that’s when I really took music seriously. In France, I was a fan of hip hop and pop music, artists like Michael Jackson, the Fugees, and Jay-Z.
But I didn’t see myself pursuing that career. In the US, I met a lot of people who told me that I had something. I started producing for fun as a hobby, and people saw something in me; they saw skills in everything that I was doing. And they were like, ‘Yo, you should pursue this seriously.’ I got my first internship at Akon’s label, Konvikt. I met a lot of songwriters and top liners, and that’s how I got my foot into the game.”
A fascinating part of BKS’s trajectory is the move from studio-bound producer to releasing a debut album with featured artists on almost every track, to his latest singles seeing him come to the fore as a solo artist. He shares his thoughts on why collaboration was so integral to his early journey.
“As a producer, I started behind the scenes,” BKS says. “You want to be able to work with the best and have multiple collaborations with artists that you look up to. When I saw producers like Swizz Beatz, Pharrell Williams, and Timbaland, they had multiple collaborations, but they were still able to infuse their signature sound in everything that they were doing. And that was truly inspiring to me, and that’s what I was aiming at.”
Credit: Fifou
When a music artist breaks through into mainstream success, you can often pinpoint a big moment where it happened for them. For BKS, all his hard work and producing for other artists came to a head with New Breed, his 2019 single featuring Idris Elba, Little Simz and Q-Tip. It’s a brilliant introduction to what BKS does — opening with West African folk instrumentation, suddenly Q-Tip is rapping over a silky beat with his trademark flows. He certainly shows why he’s regarded as a hip-hop icon. Meanwhile, Little Simz shows what the newer generation is offering with a very powerful final verse on the track.
In terms of BKS and Elba’s worlds colliding, he says, “I was already back in France. I really wanted to create my signature sound. Every collaboration that I was doing felt like I was serving the artist that I was working with. But it was time to develop my own project. My partner and I decided we would try to do this on our own. And we went to Africa, to Gabon, to shoot a music video. I met one of Idris’ partners at the time, who really liked my approach to my music, and he knew afrobeats well.
“I followed all of Idris’ work: every mixtape, compilation and soundtrack that he was releasing. I knew that he was a DJ as well. I felt that whenever I got the opportunity to meet him, I knew that musically, we would connect. So I asked if his partner would send him my music. I said, ‘I have this song that I’m working on, and I know that if he hears it, he’s gonna like it.’ Idris responded right away. I met him, and our relationship became more than music — I truly see him as a mentor.”
And on how both the rapping lineup of New Breed and the song itself came together, he says, “That was a dream come true. Q-Tip is the kind of person I’ve always looked up to, and I see myself in him also. I went crazy when I heard him on my record. Then, I was actually at the studio when Little Simz
recorded her part, and it was one of the best experiences I’ve had in my life. She was so talented, so gifted, and Idris jumped on it and went crazy, too. It wasn’t just a commercial song. There was a lot of substance put into it, as far as messaging, the approach, the African pride, and trying to connect people, trying to build bridges together. I knew that that song would resonate with the world.”
Where do you go from there, BKS’s most-streamed song that has helped catapult his career? The answer is Waka Go, his latest single. 2025 sees him make his full transition from collaborative producer to bona fide solo artist as he performs each verse and chorus himself. It’s unmistakably a James BKS track, as he sings over his unique blend of Cameroonian afrobeats and touches of contemporary hip-hop. While conservative critics of hip-hop music stereotypically claim it encourages behaviours such as promiscuity, BKS does quite the opposite with this ode to resisting temptation and keeping his vows to his wife close at heart.
“I wanted to offer a different perspective on what’s cool these days,” he says. “I wanted to flip the script on the people who talk about cheating and having multiple relationships. I’m not trying to throw anybody under the bus. I’m just trying to approach things differently, trying to give the world a different perspective on what’s truly cool. Especially for my son. Having a relationship, growing with someone, and building something from the ground up. We humans are far from perfect. I get tempted every day. So I feel this purpose of trying to put great values on the table and leave something really positive behind us.”
Prior to this single was On My Way, a song that sees a reflective BKS realising now is not the time to let his success so far go to his head, to get complacent or rest on his laurels. He’s clearly not allowing that to happen, as it’s more new music without
him having the likes of Idris Elba or will.i.am to fall back on and hide as a producer — he takes the starring vocal role again. There’s a stunning moment in the song in which his vocal melody is matched by the guitar and bass guitar parts. The West African sounds and instrumentation shine particularly on this track.
BKS is keen to impart the advice of On My Way’s lyrics onto people: “It’s about being confident about yourself, not being scared of trying new things, getting out of your comfort zone, but still being an eternal student. After the last tour that I did, I had a great cast around me, features with Grammy award winners, and I had a lot of things in mind that I didn’t achieve. At first, I took it personally, thinking, ‘That’s crazy, because my music is good. I’m as good as such and such.’ But I didn’t know at that time that I still had to grow as an artist. Once I understood that, things became clear in my mind, and I started working on my second project. It’s all about growing and never thinking that you have arrived. You constantly need to go at it more and take new challenges.”
It’s a wonderful privilege to get to witness James BKS grow as a musician, producer, and now, as a performing vocalist. And 2025 could prove to be his biggest growth as an artist yet, as he reveals that these new singles are building us up to album number two. “I’m actually done making the new album, and I can’t wait for people to listen to it. As we’ve started with Waka Go and On My Way, we’re planning on releasing way more music. We’ll keep going.”
MYTH OR TRUTH?
The best sounding live console was originally designed for broadcast.
Hearing is believing – sign up and find out for yourself.
Wordsby ALICEGUST A F NOS
NO-CONTEST COURTROOM SOUND
S&L INTEGRATED
Meet S&L Integrated, the top-tier A/V systems contractor in the American Southeast. From government and corporate offices to schools, hospitals, and houses of worship, the company is dedicated to enhancing audiovisual experiences. Heading the charge is Gage Helton, director of operations, renowned for his expertise in courtroom audio systems. He’s engineered setups for nearly 150 courts, ensuring every word is crystal clear. In the realm of law, precise audio is paramount, ensuring accurate records and clear communication among all parties involved.
Helton’s signal chains begin with AUDIX conferencing microphones, most often the MG18 and MG18HC gooseneck condenser mics mounted in the ATS1 heavy-duty tabletop base. Next, ADX60 boundary microphones capture remaining speakers that may not have per-person mics. Helton details the unique needs of courtroom sound reinforcement and why he chooses AUDIX.
“From an audio perspective, the most important person in the room is the witness,” he begins. “The second most important is the judge. Then, obviously, you need to be able to hear the jury. Many contractors who do general-purpose installations
don’t make things audible enough when they do courtrooms, or there’s feedback because they didn’t EQ the room. For this reason, we tend to use column array speakers, tune them, and then the MG18 mics in most places. But for positions closer to the arrays, we’ll opt for the MG18HC, which is essentially the same mic with a hypercardioid pickup pattern.”
The ATS1 base units accept gooseneck mics via an XLR input, and Helton explains how they form a literal solid foundation for the sound.
“We love the ATS1,” he enthuses.
“Even if I were using a non-AUDIX gooseneck mic, I’d still use the ATS1 as the base. First off, it’s built like a
tank, so it deadens table vibrations, and doesn’t scoot around surfaces. Another thing we really like is that it has a physical button. Via a DIP switch on the bottom, you can set that up as push-to-talk or push-tomute. The important thing is that the button has tactile feedback, it’s not a touchscreen or capacitive button. We’ve found that users can get confused by those — especially when you factor in the stress that comes with being in court — and either fail to trigger them when it’s their turn to speak or accidentally turn them on when it’s not. The beefy button here removes this possibility.”
The ATS1 also helps Helton keep installations tidy, which is always desirable in the formal setting of a courtroom. “It sounds like a minor thing,” he reflects, “but the ATS1 has an XLR output jack for a detachable cable. If you’re in a band or recording studio, everything is like that, right? But a lot of gooseneck bases for conferencing have an attached cable, so you need to figure out how to dress it and route it in an unobtrusive way. With the ATS1, we can just run our own cable and terminate, which makes the install so much cleaner. Honestly, everyone should make a product like the ATS1.”
Of the MG18, MG18HC, and ADX60 microphones, Helton says, “We like them because we don’t have to think about them. They just do what they’re supposed to do. We’ll have
the witness and jury foreman mics on shock mounts, and everything else on the ATS1 bases.
“Then, the ADX60s go on surfaces like the prosecution and defence attorneys’ tables, for sidebar conversations, which also need to be on the record.”
Why so many microphones? “One reason is, in many installs we send multitrack audio to the court reporter so they can produce the most accurate transcript possible,” answers Helton. “Another is that we like to have a press feed plate for higher-profile cases, so reporters can just plug in and get a clean audio mix. For larger courtrooms, we’ll also do a mix-minus through small speakers at various locations, so the participants can hear everyone else clearly but not have
an echo of themselves. All that begins with microphones that reject unwanted sounds but take in voices clearly, and that’s what AUDIX does.”
“I also want to shout out to AUDIX’s customer service,” Helton points out.
“Guys like Lofty [Whitaker, eastern regional sales manager] have been fantastic to deal with. Our local rep, Richard Hembree with Griffith Sales, makes sure we always have the most current information about products that might solve problems. Every time we’ve ever needed any kind of service from AUDIX, they’ve been quick and responsive, so we love those guys. We love AUDIX products because they’re freakin’ bulletproof. They. Just. Work.”
JOE ELLIOTT
DEF LEPPARD | LEAD SINGER | 8424 CONSOLE
Our Engineer Ronan and I wanted a Neve, and we identified the 8424 - which is a magic desk. I have one in my studio here, and Ronan has one in his studio - it works really well.
FROM BEATS TO BRAINWAVES
WE BECOME ONE
We Become One is a new documentary that delves into the transformative power of music. From packed dancefloors to sprawling festivals, this film illuminates how music transcends barriers, unites souls, and ignites a collective euphoria. Journey alongside DJ, producer and curator Kikelomo Oludemi as she embarks on a global quest to unravel music’s universal language, exploring its profound neurological effects with leading scientists and iconic artists across the USA, Ghana, South Africa, Germany, the UK, and France.
At its core, We Become One celebrates music’s ability to transcend boundaries and unify humanity in a harmonious symphony of shared experience. By the end of her journey, Oludemi shares with the viewer a greater understanding of what clubbing and shared musical experiences can do for us from a
neurological, racial, gender, sexual orientation, spiritual, and human perspective. In this interview, Oludemi talks about what she discovered about the profound power of music, why club spaces need to be protected, and how electronic music can help bridge sociological division on and off the dancefloor.
On your travels, you interacted with experts like Daniel Levitin and Dr. Julia C. Basso, who discussed how music affects brain activity. How has their research reshaped your understanding of music’s influence on human connection?
It reinforced things that I was already feeling, and it enabled me to connect with my craft differently. I’m quite embarrassed sometimes to admit that I’m a DJ. I do recognise that it has this social standing, and I’ve seen that impact me. But I also think there are certain stereotypes or perceptions that people can have of you when you work in nightlife, so I almost reformed my perception of my craft. Not to sound cheesy, but it mirrors ancient forms of shamanism in terms of being able to connect with so many people, not verbally, but through sound, and to be able to guide them on these journeys using music as a tool. I spent a lot of time in Brazil watching the impact of samba and seeing these gatherings of people galvanised by drum beats and music, and being surrounded by people dancing and singing together. I’ve seen how that heals, so being able to put that lens on what I do reconnected me with the craft, and it helped me see the potential of where we could go with it. Some of the scientists that we spoke to talked about the applications of their research in terms of using dancing as a form of pain relief, or using it to treat postnatal depression in mothers. I would love to see wider society changing their perspectives and perceptions of club culture and seeing the potential for it to benefit us.
how electronic music fosters societal unity. What insights did you gain about the role of music in bridging sociological divides?
I’m the co-founder of Oracle Radio, and at the time of the filming of the documentary, we were collaborating on this Boiler Room experience where we had got a bunch of DJs together from our community, and also some international DJs to come together. Accra’s electronic music scene is going through an incredible rate of change at the moment, and to be able to apply all of this knowledge that I’d taken from this documentary, and apply it myself to this night was amazing. Seeing the night come together successfully, seeing people happy, and seeing people celebrating and being able to platform another side of West African music was amazing. It is one of the most beautiful community hubs, and time and time again, I’m constantly reminded of how music just brings people together.
One touches on how music impacts the brain and wellbeing. What did you learn about music’s role in mental health, especially about the dance floor?
Music, and specifically the dance floor, facilitates this feeling of social salience, like when you’re moving together in unison with people, driven by this beat and entertainment. Your body is releasing all of these chemicals in your brain: dopamine, serotonin, endocannabinoids, and you are also using some of the patterns in music. For instance when you hear elements of repetition, or when the DJ plays with your emotion by using elements of surprise to play with your emotions. I do it in my sets all the time – whether it’s playing elements of songs that people recognise for that familiarity, or bringing in elements of a new song – it’s all playing with emotions. That combined enables people to feel super connected with one another. It makes people feel more open. There have been plenty of studies that have shown that as we’re living
At Oroko Radio and Vibrate Studios in Ghana, you explored
We Become
in a world that feels more and more isolated, social salience and feeling connected are becoming more and more key. We’re seeing an increase in depression and anxiety, and a lot of this is driven by feelings of disconnection. Human beings are social creatures. We’re supposed to feel connected, so anything that can facilitate that connection, whether it be music or the dance floor, in my opinion, should be heralded.
There’s an undeniable joy that comes from dancing with others. What role do shared musical experiences play in combating loneliness and fostering community, especially in today’s hyper-digital world?
I think they’re essential. These kinds of environments hark back to some of the very beginnings of our existence as
a species. In the environment that we’re living in right now, there is a lot of isolation and loneliness. I think it’s a result of very unnatural circumstances. People engaging with the dance floor more and coming together is so key, and so much fun as well. There are many examples throughout history where we had opportunities for gathering, whether that would be in religious spaces, a church, people going to school together, people engaging more in bars and clubs, community activities, or afterschool clubs. We’re seeing declines in those activities all across the board. The dance hall plays a more vital role now than ever, to be able to combat a lot of the loneliness that we’re seeing all around the world.
Clubs have historically been safe spaces for marginalised communities, yet we’re seeing more and more club closures. How do you think this impacts society and our ability to connect through music?
It provides fewer opportunities for connection. The role that clubs, bars and nightlife in general play is offering a unique set of conditions that facilitate connection, and if we’re losing those, then we’re losing more and more opportunities for connection. The unprecedented rate at which clubs are closing should be seen as a cause for concern. Certain initiatives are trying to tackle this. For instance, The Nightlife Taskforce, headed up by Sadiq Khan, is a group of people from across different factions of nightlife. That’s a positive start, but I hope that people start to invest more and see the potential in the dance world, particularly with this documentary.
Did your journey through different club scenes highlight any key differences in how various cultures protect or neglect nightlife? Are there places getting it right that the rest of the world should look to?
I’m lucky enough to be based in Berlin, and there is something we have called here called the Berlin Club Commission. They are an advocacy group that also provides advice and training to numerous people across nightlife, whether it be clubs or nightlife workers. They do reports and release information to help guide people. Berlin recognises the importance of clubs. They are protected as cultural institutions, so they have the same kind of protection that a gallery, a museum or an opera house would have, and that includes tax benefits. That’s something that can be emulated in other places. Berlin has a lot of tourism that is related to clubbing – a lot of people come specifically to Berlin to club. It’s home to some of the most famous clubs in the world. I love to see that championed. I think some places
are taking the right steps. But I have also been to places where it’s going the other way. It’s about changing perceptions of what club culture can offer the world. A lot of people associate it with hedonism, with excess consumption and negativity, but it is a positive thing.
In many cities, we’ve seen political pressure and gentrification threaten club spaces. What do you think needs to happen to ensure club culture is preserved for future generations?
A change in perception of public perception is one. A lot of people aren’t aware of club culture’s history and its impact on society as a whole. A lot more could be done to showcase that, whether it’s through exhibitions, immersive experiences, or more content that denotes a lot of what’s happened with club culture. Club culture has evolved dramatically over the past century. I would love to see more economic and scientific studies on what club culture can offer us if we understood more about the value that night life brings to the economy as well as to our health, and the health of society as a whole. I think that could also help us in terms of advocacy. We’ve seen that a lot of the younger generation, Gen Z, are leaving clubs in droves; they’re not going out as much anymore. So we need to look at ways where we can make nightlife more accessible, because inflation makes it hard for people to be able to afford to go out. That could be subsidies, special curations, or funding, for example.
What do you hope that people take away from We Become One?
I hope that people take away just how imperative they are and how useful they have been in allowing people to connect. I hope the nightlife industry can start to think about ways we can evolve to keep up with the times and maintain the community that we have built over generations. I had a lot of
friends that after watching the documentary said that it made them want to go out the next weekend. I think that’s nice that it ignited that spark and made people want to step out their door again, out of their comfort zone, and have a little boogie. Saying ‘taking clubbing more seriously’ sounds a bit weird, but I hope people recognise that it is something that is contributing to the way that we live as a community today.
Where can people watch We Become One?
It is available for free to watch on YouTube or the AlphaTheta / Pioneer DJ Global YouTube channel.
Words bYAdam pr o zt
6 MUSIC FESTIVAL 2025
MATT EVERITT
After a few years enjoying success with bands Menswear and The Montrose, broadcasting veteran Matt Everitt found his true calling in radio on XFM and then his long-term home of BBC 6 Music. He chats to Headliner about 6 Music Festival 2025 and its phenomenal lineup, and his show The First Time, which has seen him interview Noel Gallagher, Yoko Ono, David Gilmour, and more.
“I REMEMBER MAKING RADIO SHOWS ON MY OWN, ON LITTLE CASSETTE TAPES IN MY BEDROOM.”
The 2025 edition of the 6 Music Festival took place in Manchester and featured BRIT Award and Mercury Prize-winning jazz act Ezra Collective, rising indie stars Fat Dog, acclaimed writer and musician Kae Tempest, English Teacher (who scooped last year’s Mercury Prize for their debut album), Glaswegian noise-act Mogwai, and more.
Were there any early signs you were destined to become a radio presenter?
There’s that thing where sometimes you don’t realise how significant something in your childhood is until many years down the line. And you think, ‘Oh my gosh, the signs were there.’ If I ever do any interviews with musicians, and I’m asking questions about the start of their life and how they first fell in love with music, you can often find the direct through-line with what they became famous for doing with very early formative things. It’s always there straight from the off. I remember making radio shows on my own, on little cassette tapes in my bedroom. So I probably would have been about eight or nine, recording myself pressing the two buttons on the recorder and recording myself doing links for imaginary radio shows, but I never wanted to be a radio presenter. I never thought, ‘That’s my ultimate goal. That’s something I want to do.’
Did your experiences in Menswear and The Montrose as a drummer help you when interviewing musicians, given your knowledge of touring and the financial side of being a musician?
Or the lack of a financial side of it! I think that definitely there’s empathy, but there’s an understanding of how it works when you’ve done it. There is a knowledge and understanding of some of the nuts and bolts of it. I don’t often get intimidated when I interview well known or famous musicians; because, no matter how famous you are or how big the stadium you’re playing these days is, at some point, you were probably sat in the back of a rubbish van, living on terrible service station pasties, and playing to no one. And I don’t care if you’re Muse or David Bowie or Florence Welch, it doesn’t matter. You probably did that, which means there’s a certain down-to-earthness. Even the most egomaniacal musicians, you’ve probably all done that bit. It’s a great leveller. All bands have probably slogged it out and played to two people and a dog in Carlisle and made a loss. So I understand what that’s like. I think it takes the edge off the hero worship for me.
How did you pivot from touring band member to an XFM presenter?
When the wheels fell off both the bands I’d been in, I started to question myself. ‘Is it me?’ Then I started to
write music reviews for anyone who would have me while I was working at a video shop in Camden. I was basically doing it for free, often getting ignored, and then occasionally someone would say, ‘Here’s 25 quid for that 300-word review you wrote.’ And then I eventually started getting to do interviews as well, and I became a music journalist via that route.
And then when the dot com thing happened and websites became the big thing, all of a sudden I was actually getting paid decent money to write reviews, interview bands, and to go and review four gigs a week.
And then XFM, now known as Radio X, was coming through. It had just been bought by Global, who were Capital back in the day. And it was a really interesting time for music.
After the Britpop slump, there was an opportunity for indie to go more mainstream. XFM were looking for journalists, and I applied for the job and got that. Weirdly, the guy who gave me the job is now my co-director at Cup & Nuzzle, my production company, which is nice. XFM had me writing stories for the website, doing lots of interviews. And they’d often say, ‘Oh, this is a good interview. This should go on air.’ So I would talk about the music news on air. XFM was a good station back in the day. It was really strong, which is also where I met Sean Keaveny (who only recently left 6 Music after a very long stint as one of its weekday DJs).
In 2007, you found your spiritual home of BBC 6 Music, where you presented the music news, and your show, The First Time With… with some huge guests. Could you talk us through your connection to the station and what it means to you?
I remember when the station was first getting started, and it was where I wanted to be. I knew I wanted to be at 6. I was thinking, ‘Listen to what they’re doing. Listen to how diverse this is. Listen to how connected they are to all different kinds of music, and genuinely care.’ I was overjoyed when I got the job. And I love the familial nature of it. It does feel like there’s a shared ethos, even if the music taste is varied. I think it’s enormously important. As a platform for breaking new artists, it’s still vital. Radio is still really, really important. It can make a difference. Going back to when I interview people, older musicians all talk about the first time they heard their track on the radio, and it’s still like that for new artists, even when there are thousands of platforms, countless different ways of communicating to people and communicating to your audience. Hearing it on the radio, and especially, hearing it on 6 Music, means something. I believe it’s the biggest digital station in the UK. Every single one of those people who listen cares about music and will tell you they’ve discovered so much music by listening to the station.
There must be a huge buzz around the place, with Lauren Laverne returning and with Nick Grimshaw presenting the new breakfast show.
Nick has been doing so well! I know someone who worked with him when he was on Radio One, and they told me whenever Nick got to do a free play and choose a track himself, it was always a song he’d found listening to 6 Music, for example, an FKA Twigs song or something like that. He’s always loved it. And I’m so glad Lauren is back. She’s a broadcaster of huge pedigree and experience! She does the One Show and Desert Island Discs, so she doesn’t have to keep doing 6 Music. But she loves it, and she’s so connected to the station.
Why do you think the 6 Music Festival is special?
I’m trying to communicate what’s going on in the audience to the listeners. You don’t want people to listen to it and come across as, ‘Hey, we’re at a great thing, and you’re not; isn’t this great for us?’ Whereas with Glastonbury and the 6 Music Festival, the BBC gets to go deep and play whole sets, and then get them up on BBC Sounds. You can hear them again. It’s not just a blink and you’ll miss it clip. And then we get that access where we can take you backstage, we can talk to those artists. 6 Music isn’t just like, ‘Hey, artist, when did you get your name from, what’s the new album about?’ We’ve got a chance to dig deep in those interviews and find out more about the motivations behind the artists and why they do what they do. And I think with everyone playing, Ezra Collective, Fat Dog, Mogwai, English Teacher, and Kae Tempest, there is an existing relationship with 6 Music. I think one of the reasons they do the festival is because it’s not just a trusted place, but a place where their music will get heard and get heard properly.
Something the BBC does so well with coverage of events such as Glastonbury and the 6 Music Festival is how it’s done so immersively, and it softens the blow if you weren’t able to make it.
You want to paint an audio picture… I wish I hadn’t said that. [laughs] But you do want to put people in the crowd so they hear it when the gigs are broadcast like they are there. And this isn’t just blowing the BBC’s trumpet, but there isn’t a broadcaster that captures live sound and live performances both sonically and visually better than the BBC. You see it at Glastonbury. You can see it at the 6 Music Festival. It’s not like we’ll just film it on phones, and we’ll take a feed off a desk. It’s filmed brilliantly with some of the best technical crews in the world, and it sounds amazing. So we put you in the audience for that, to capture that excitement. I do love those afterperformance interviews. We try to do those quite a lot. We did one with Gossip last year that was completely insane. I spoke to Beth Ditto within minutes of her coming off stage, still completely adrenaline-rushed out of her mind. A lot of music broadcasting can be quite sanitised and safe. We film the artists doing it, but we love speaking to someone just after they’ve performed because it’s perhaps the most honest and least guarded capturing of how someone’s feeling if you get them straight in the euphoria of that.
BBC.CO.UK/6MUSICFESTIVAL
OLIVIER CHAMBIN BROADCAST INNOVATOR
Stepping foot inside a music studio at the age of 15, Olivier Chambin knew he’d found his calling. A lifelong music enthusiast with an early interest in computing, he quickly realised he could combine both passions into a career, the recording engineer tells Headliner from his home in France...
“When I was a teenager, I was very passionate about music and also computing,” he recalls. “I took sound on my old Windows 98 computer to try to produce drum and bass. I asked sound engineers in my area to meet and discuss what the job of a sound engineer is. I’m still in contact with them today.”
Chambin studied at a music conservatory, where he enrolled in sound recording and Musique concrète (a style of music where composers use recordings of realworld sounds, like environmental noises or sounds from everyday objects, to create their compositions).
“Honestly, I didn’t know what ‘concrete music’ was until my first day of class,” he laughs. “It was fascinating to discover experimental music and be in this environment with classical, jazz and electronic musicians.
“It was very stimulating.”
His education continued at the Institut National de l’Audiovisuel, while gaining hands-on experience mixing and producing TV programmes. Early in his career, he worked alongside renowned classical sound engineer Denis Vautrin, recording hundreds of live concerts for television and albums.
“We used new technology, which was very innovative at the time, like Ravenna and Dante,” he explains. “When you record in a church, you have long distances. Traditional XLR cables can impact audio quality over those distances, but IP transmission improved the sound.”
Chambin’s technical curiosity subsequently led him to broadcast engineering at Eurosport, part of Warner Bros. Discovery.
“TECHNOLOGY IS A TOOL TO SUPPORT TALENT. AI AND CLOUD SOLUTIONS ARE NOT BAD IN THEMSELVES - IT DEPENDS HOW YOU USE THEM”
“They asked me, ‘Can we connect an on-site event to the headquarters using this IP technology?’ I said, ‘Yes, it’s not a problem,’ but in fact, it was a big challenge,” he smiles. Over six years, Chambin helped deploy one of the largest audio networks across Europe and Asia, supporting events including the Olympics, 24H of Le Mans and the Tour de France.
“When you produce the Olympic Games, you don’t have a choice. You cannot say, ‘Let’s delay and go again.’ Everything must be ready,” he says. “It takes about nine months to prepare, with over 100 engineers working on the project for just two weeks of broadcasting. It’s stressful, but when it works, it’s very satisfying.”
Throughout his career, he has relied heavily on Merging Technologies. “Merging is more or less part of my family. They were one of the first to use IP solutions in their products, understanding that it could increase audio quality. In 2018, when I started at Eurosport, not many solutions were available for remote production. The Merging team was crazy enough to follow me on this project,” he laughs.
Chambin recalls a particular standout collaboration with Merging which involved developing a remotecontrolled audio system where an operator could trigger a sound from a touchscreen, sending instructions
across 5,000 kilometres to a virtual machine in a data centre.
“The sound appears in less than one hundred milliseconds,” he offers enthusiastically. “That’s less than human reactivity! The operator didn’t believe it. It was crazy, but it shows that if technology is used well, it can increase content quality. Technology is a tool to support talent. AI and cloud solutions are not bad in themselves - it depends how you use them,” he furthers.
“Sometimes, I hear people say they don’t trust technology, or they worry that AI is copying content, generating poor music or images. For me, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Technology itself is not smart. AI does what it is told. The real question is how we choose to use it.
“If we use it with intention - to enhance creativity, to improve workflows, to share resources - then it becomes a powerful ally. It’s the same with audio.
“Technology should never replace the human touch; it should enable talent to shine more brightly.”
He refers back to the Merging collaboration project. “At the end of the day, the operator is not thinking about the kilometres, the cloud servers, or the virtual machines. They
are just focusing on the sound. That’s when the technology disappears, and the artistry takes over.”
Never one to sit still, Chambin currently balances broadcast engineering, consulting and teaching. “To be honest, it’s a mess,” he laughs. “But I don’t like routine. Having multiple activities allows me to step back and look at my work differently. Teaching, especially, is important for me.”
He recently founded OLCAST, a company offering broadcast consulting and training under one roof. “Unfortunately, I don’t have much time now to record music anymore,” he admits. “I only do a few productions a year with friends or musicians I appreciate. It gives me more pleasure now than before.”
“When I was younger, people told me, ‘There are too many sound engineers on the market. Don’t do it.’ I didn’t listen. My advice to anyone starting in this industry is ‘do not listen’. If you feel good with what you are doing, continue.”
Words by LIZWILK
SHAPING SOUNDS
GARETH JOHNSON
For more than a decade, producer, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist Gareth Johnson has been based at the iconic Metropolis Studios in London, where he continues to craft music across genres for film, TV, games and artists alike. Speaking to Headliner from his second studio, a purposebuilt workspace at his home, Johnson discusses how his setup has evolved, his approach to recording and mixing, and the continued role that Neve products play in shaping his sound…
“I’ve always had two spaces to work in,” says Johnson. “Like a lot of people, I have a second space at home, which is often used for preproduction and writing. It’s evolved over the years to be a mixing space as well. This time around, I moved to a house where I could design a studio from the ground up.”
This space is purpose-built, combining the feel of a high-end mastering room with the flexibility of a modern production environment. “It has great acoustics designed with help from Level Acoustic, big PMC MB3XBDA monitors, and a selection of fantastic outboard from Analoguetube, Neve, Chandler, API... I’m lucky enough to
have some really great analogue bits I’ve collected over the years,” he says.
Compared to his Metropolis setup, which Johnson describes as “a cool vintage vibe” with his Neve BCM10 MKII console, old Ludwig drum kit and a “ludicrous” collection of amps and keys ready to go, the second studio is
more modern in terms of its aesthetic and workflow.
One of the main design considerations was future-proofing for Atmos mixing. “Metropolis is an old power station and a listed building, so there’s no way to do that in my studio there.”
Central to both spaces is Johnson’s long-standing relationship with Neve gear. His BCM10 tracking console and collection of vintage 1073s are the foundation of his sound, particularly on drums.
“The Neve sound of those classic modules on drums is a huge part of what I do,” he says. “I run the front end hot, saturate the output transformers, and trim the outputs down before the DAW. That is THE sound as far as I’m concerned.”
More recently, Johnson has incorporated a 1073SPX-D into his home studio, helping to streamline his solo tracking workflow. “I literally have it sat on my desk and love having the controls for gain and EQ directly in front of me,” he explains. “Also, having the headphone controls directly in
front of me makes adding vocals, acoustics, perc, etc, lightning-quick. I’ve always got a mic plugged into it within arm’s reach.”
His approach to mixing remains refreshingly straightforward. “I often use remote controls on my iPad to operate the computer when I’m playing drums or other stuff at Metropolis,” he says. “At my home studio, it’s similar, but the SPX-D has added an extra element for tracking with ease.”
“I LIKE TO KEEP THE INTEGRITY OF THE MAIN STEREO MIX INTACT WHEN FLICKING TO ATMOS.”
Alongside the 1073s, Johnson’s Neve 33609 compressor is another essential tool, used across multiple sources, including mix bus processing.
With the second studio designed to support Atmos as well as stereo, Johnson is now actively working in both formats, depending on the project. “It’s been a learning curve, and whilst I prefer stereo for some material, I love Atmos for some of the projects I’ve been working on. It’s a crazy listening experience,” he says.
“The immersive nature of the audio really does contribute to how music feels as a listener.”
“I did a project recently called Separation Anxiety that was designed with Atmos in mind,” he uses as an example. “Multiple layers of keys, beats, sub bass, orchestral elements
and lots of sound design. I did a vinyl release and also did a whole Atmos release as well. It works so well in Atmos, there is literally loads of extra space to play with.”
“I like to keep the integrity of the main stereo mix intact when flicking to Atmos,” he notes. “There are occasions where this isn’t appropriate, so I’ll start from scratch in Atmos.”
In addition to his solo work, Johnson has also been involved in highprofile Atmos projects, including a live concert film release for The Who, alongside Richard Whittaker. “That was great. It was about capturing the feel of a live concert and putting the listener in the best seat in the house. It works,” he smiles.
Despite his enthusiasm for immersive
audio, Johnson notes that Atmos is an addition, not a replacement. “I still love stereo,” he says. “I’m very much learning as I go with Atmos. It’s a great addition to an already exciting listening experience.”
AMS-NEVE.COM
RICKDICKE
RAY OF LIGHT
LEWITT AUDIO
Headliner takes a detailed look at Lewitt’s RAY microphone and discovers that there is more to this creative tool than meets the eye (and ear, for that matter).
Lewitt has rapidly gained recognition in the audio industry for its innovative approach to microphone technology, and none less so than the unusually-named RAY. This microphone features something
called AURA: a sensor-based system of auto gain and EQ to provide a consistent level of sound no matter how much the performer sways and moves about in front of the mic. While this seems like a simple and obvious concept, it’s something that’s not that easy to do well, even with a bunch of sophisticated plugins.
Like Lewitt’s LCT 440, RAY features the same true condenser, a large
one-inch diaphragm capsule with a fixed cardioid pattern. For those in the know, the LCT 440 PURE is already considered a very goodsounding microphone in its price bracket (and has a presence not too far removed from AKG’s C214) - but in RAY’s case, the front is not the side with the logo on - which is a bonus, as the AURA and MUTE controls are pointing at you, which makes operation all the easier. Words bY
AURA relies on a distance sensor which constantly monitors the distance the performer is away from the mic and, via onboard DSP, adjusts the level and EQ in real-time. Above the AURA and MUTE buttons is the distance display, which looks a little like a zebra crossing and lights up to give you an interpretation as to what the sensors are seeing; and the sensors are discreetly located on either side of this display.
In practice, this arrangement is nothing short of amazing. Normally, when the subject moves into the mic, you would be swamped with low end and pops associated with
the proximity effect, and having just adjusted the mic to compensate for this, your talent then takes a pigeon step or two backwards, and their voice very likely disappears from your DAW’s recording. AURA is essentially an antidote to inexperience and poor mic technique; likewise, as you move away from the mic, the level stays the same, as does the low end, which is also subtly increased.
AURA is especially useful for podcasters who have a habit of moving about, gesticulating wildly, leaning forward and sitting back in their chairs, and generally doing anything and everything except
Next to the AURA button is the MUTE button, but if the thought of leaning forward to mute this every time you want to comment off-mic doesn’t appeal, fear not: Lewitt has also utilised the distance sensor so you can simply step or lean back to a specific distance and the mic mutes automatically. This is an incredibly useful feature that allows you to step back and clear your throat, or comment to a third party during a podcast or broadcast, not to mention practising and checking phrasing before the next take.
concentrating on keeping a steady voice and a consistent distance from the microphone. And why should they? Podcasting is every bit a performance, and as such, the performance is where the artist’s focus should be, not on keeping one’s head still. Using RAY feels like you’ve got a couple of experienced engineers on hand: one to ride the fader, while the other adjusts the high pass and boosts the low end accordingly. There is no need for any attenuation, and no fear of any clipping as this mic looks after everything for you.
Press and release MUTE, and the display turns red; press and hold, and you enter MUTE by distance, at which point you move to where you would like the mic to mute and wait until the appropriate bar on the display stays red. Now, when you move past that distance point, the mic mutes itself, and as you move in closer, it unmutes. All the time, AURA is also actively doing its thing.
Like the LCT 440 PURE, there’s a shock mount cradle for the mic, a magnetic pop shield which attaches to the cradle, and a foam
windshield - and you get all this for under £300. I have to admit, despite numerous searches, I can’t find anything out there that is a comparable technology.
With RAY, Lewitt has developed a product that is not only unique and the first of its kind, but a product that actually works in real-world scenarios. What’s even more impressive is that Lewitt seems to have got it right first time.
Thomann, CEO of Thomann Music
HANS THOMANN, CEO OF THOMANN MUSIC
THE CELESTION INTERVIEW
Thomann Music, one of the largest music retailers in the world, has been a family business since its founding just over 70 years ago in 1954. Located in the small village of Treppendorf, Germany, the company has grown to become a global leader in the music retail industry, with over 1,800 employees and a thriving online business. In an exclusive interview, CEO Hans Thomann shares insights into his journey in the music retail business, the company’s phenomenal growth, the secrets to their customer-centric approach, and his vision for the future.
How did you get your start in the music retail business?
In 1954, my father founded the music shop that would become today’s Thomann in Treppendorf. That’s part of the village of Brugebach in Bavaria, Germany. Don’t tell the Labour Standards Office, but I started “working” in the shop when I was just a kid! I really loved working in the shop with my father, and with great pride, I remember selling my first instrument around the age of seven or eight. Things got even more interesting for me during my formative years as a teenager
and young adult. There was so much innovation in the MI space, with whole new classes of electric instruments, synthesisers, PA gear, and more coming onto the market. What an exciting time to be involved in the industry! Our shop in Bavaria was far from the big cities. By keeping my fingers on the pulse of both local tastes and industry developments, I had a knack for connecting our customers with the instruments that they loved…I think my late father would agree. In 1990, I took over the company as CEO, and I am still doing it today.
How did your background influence your job today and the company overall?
The two key points are: I come from a musical family and also worked for and now lead the family business. My father’s great passion for music was the prime motivation that led him to start the shop. He had strayed from the path that my grandfather, a farmer, had laid out for him. He worked hard to become a musician, and after finding fulfilment in being a musician first, he then found fulfilment by providing musical instruments to fellow musicians in the region. Growing up under the strong example that my father set, this passion for music is something that I, along with my brother and sisters, inherited. We keep it alive within the family and the company. Most people who work at Thomann are musicians; they know what they’re talking about because they truly understand and care for our customers. Secondly, I believe that when you’re in charge of a family business, that makes you profoundly identify with and care about your job.
“That’s because you’re not a hired hand, you’re continuing a legacy. You see your staff as family, and it’s easy to feel responsible for them. Even when we became a very large business, I always knew it was possible to stay a family company. I never wanted outside investors who would skim the cream of our profits off the top while not having any investment in the industry
beyond its financial aspects. I am proud that three generations of my family work in the company right now, and hopefully, the Thomann family members will be a part of the company forever.
You and your company are legends in the industry. What do you feel is the main reason for that?
We love music. Just like when my father started the company, music is our passion. I truly believe it is as simple as that. Sure, we sell instruments, but we also know what those instruments and music can truly mean to people. It’s always been more important to us that our customers get the instrument that they really need and which will truly make them happy, rather than the one with the highest profit margin.
We’ve always wanted to be more than just another store, and we’ve done that by providing things like money-back guarantees and unparalleled after-sales service. And we support our customers’ growth by providing online content on all major social media channels and entire web portals devoted to musicians’ concerns and interests.
What do you think has been the single most important technological achievement in our industry?
For us as retailers, this has to be the Internet. Of course, there have been revolutionary developments within instrument categories, and even entirely new classes of instruments or other goods – electronics and software, to name just two. But the one thing that has completely revolutionised the world of retail is “online”. This is how we communicate with the vast majority of our customers; this is where our sales happen. We have a huge team that takes care of every aspect of our online store and social media communications, and our pioneering work in this area is frequently recognised in the industry.
When I took the helm at Thomann, I had the good luck of having a team that was confident that the Internet would offer real advantages for retailers. This was early on, but we were already doing a significant mail-order business, and that put us ahead of our competition as far as imagining how the retail landscape could extend beyond the brick-andmortar walls of our shop.
We realised that as a small music store in the countryside, we couldn’t rely on customers coming to us, and the only way to grow was to take steps to go out and find them. Our competitors and even some of my friends thought I was certifiably mad when we started sending our “Hot Deals” catalogues to customers. Their belief at the time was, “No one is going to buy something as personal as an instrument by mail,”. Well, look
at where we are today!
So, the jump into online sales was not as much of a conceptual challenge for us as it was for other retailers. Of course, it was a new sales channel, but we could easily adapt to it by doing what we were already doing in catalogue form. Luckily, everyone on our marketing and sales team were on the same page, unlike in other retail companies. There
were no fights between old-guard traditionalists and “upstarts”, and we ran both catalogue and online sales side-by-side for many years.
I’m convinced that the next big thing will be AI, of course, and I am confident that we are in a good position to use it in ways that benefit our customers, too.
Thomann, CEO of Thomann
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
I am very proud that I have continued and built upon my father’s legacy. The music retail business, of course, has grown to dimensions my father would never have thought possible – and to be honest, I didn’t foresee it in the early ‘90s, either. But the Hans Thomann Foundation, which I launched in 2012, is how I most feel I am fulfilling my father’s legacy.
I spoke earlier about my father’s passion for music and how his dreams were not aligned with what his father had in mind for him. My father had to make his way in music with barely any familial support. He scrimped and scrounged to pay for music lessons, instruments…really, everything himself.
Many young people find themselves in similar situations to my father, especially those from financially disadvantaged backgrounds. Many young people don’t even have the chance to encounter the joy that music can make them feel in their kindergartens and schools anymore. The Hans Thomann Foundation supports a wide variety of projects and scholarships that make music accessible to more people, and I think my father would be proud.
Tell us about Thomann’s company culture and your philosophy in leading the team.
In many ways, as we’ve grown, we’ve still managed to keep the virtues of a small company. We’ve always been on a first-name basis at Thomann. To this day, everyone still calls me “Hans”, and they know they can get in touch with me directly if they have an issue. This is quite unusual in Germany, where the professional world is still more formal.
Of course, with the company being so much bigger now – our staff totals about 1,800 – we’ve put in more formal channels of communication with a team of ombudsmen, but I am still available to everyone. Plus, our hierarchies are still comparatively
flat, which improves communication between staff members at every level of the organisation.
Lastly, we believe that happy employees make for happy customers, and that is one of our key principles.
To further this end, we provide our people with a range of benefits, such as discounted meals in the oncampus restaurant, a gym, gaming rooms, a quiet zone for break times, a staff kitchen and dining room, and many others. We also put on events, including a Summer family day and a legendary Christmas bash.
How is Thomann poised for the future?
This is a very current topic for me. I am getting on in years, and I’ve been thinking about how we can ensure that the Thomann spirit will continue even when I and the others who’ve built the company from the ground up no longer work here.
Step one was to put in place a strong team of executives so that everything doesn’t depend on a single person. To that effect, we introduced a C-level team of executives a few years ago who oversee the general responsibility
of large divisions of the business –Operations, Marketing, Logistics, HR, and so on.
Just this year, I’ve set up a foundation that is now essentially the sole owner of Musikhaus Thomann. I’ve transferred almost all of my shares in the company to the foundation. The foundation’s charter specifies that in the future, the company must be run along such lines that the spirit of Thomann continues.
THOMANN.CO.UK
CELESTION.COM
Words by LIZ WILKIN S
OVERCOMING ACOUSTIC COMPLEXITY
REIMS’ LACARTONNERIE
La Cartonnerie has been a vital cultural cornerstone of Reims’ contemporary music scene since 2005. The venue’s Great Hall, which hosts up to 120 concerts annually, has written a new chapter in its musical journey with its recent upgrade to an L-Acoustics eco-friendly L Series system with inherent cardioid technology, marking a milestone in La Cartonnerie’s commitment to maintaining its renowned acoustic performance standards, Headliner learns.
La Cartonnerie’s 4,000 m² complex, which has welcomed artists such as Justice, Christine and the Queens, and Stromae, houses three distinct performance spaces, including the
expansive 1,200-capacity Great Hall, an intimate 350-seat Club, and the versatile Floor - a warm-up area that doubles as a bar and restaurant. Beyond concerts, it supports musicians through residency programmes and drives cultural initiatives like the La Magnifique Society festival.
When certified L-Acoustics partner
MDS Audio and Orion first walked into La Cartonnerie’s Great Hall, they faced an acoustic puzzle, with the venue’s distinctive multi-level architecture and challenging asymmetric configuration demanding a sound solution that could deliver crystal-clear audio throughout the space.
“The hunt for the perfect sound wasn’t just about technical specifications,” explains Jérémie Valensi, technical director at La Cartonnerie.
“L-Acoustics stood out through their sustainable manufacturing approach and commitment to French production. The L Series, with its Progressive Ultra-dense Line Source technology, offered exactly what our complex space needed - exceptional sonic performance, impressive power-to-size ratio, and versatility that could handle our unique architectural challenges.”
The installation presented several challenges, including ensuring consistent sound coverage across a complex multi-level space while maintaining pristine sightlines. L-Acoustics Soundvision software became the team’s essential tool, enabling precise acoustic modelling that validated speaker placement before installation began. “We had to be meticulous,” Valensi recalls. “Our goal was to create an audio experience where every seat feels like the best seat in the house. We needed to cover the entire room, from the front row to the back of the balcony, without visual compromise.”
Sound regulations added another technical challenge, particularly
regarding dB(C) measurement. The team had to position subwoofers to meet decibel standards while maintaining sound quality throughout the venue. Their solution involved a central cluster of three subwoofers in cardioid mode, requiring the creation of new rigging points to achieve a visually discreet result.
The final installation features L/R hangs of one L2D per side, flanked by L/R hangs of two KS21 subwoofers in cardioid mode, a central flown cluster of three KS28 subwoofers, also in cardioid, plus one KS28 at the centre of the stage floor. Two X8 placed on stage left and right serve as infills, while three X8 spread across the stage provide X8 lip-fill.
“This isn’t just a sound system, it’s like we’ve brought a world-class recording studio into a live music venue,” Valensi enthuses. “Visiting sound engineers are initially sceptical when they see the compact setup, but within seconds of hearing it, their doubts vanish. Areas that once presented acoustic challenges are now sonically indistinguishable. We’ve ensured La Cartonnerie’s reputation for exceptional sound and hope it will inspire the next generation of artists and audiences.”
L-ACOUSTICS.COM
CARTONNERIE.FR
ENHANCING THE SKYLINE
KTV REVOLUTION
The popularity of Karaoke Television, more commonly referred to as KTV, continues to grow globally. The trend towards groups of friends sharing private karaoke rooms is a musical and cultural phenomenon, and nowhere more so than in China, where entertainment businesses have invested heavily in the sector, creating well-equipped venues where ambience and audio quality are key, as Headliner learns…
Covering a total area of 30,000 sqm, the recently opened Skyline venue in the Chinese city of Hangzhou is the largest single-party and KTV entertainment complex in the world. Spread across four floors, it comprises a combination of small, medium and large party spaces, including KTV rooms created for private and business customers. Leading audio specialist Zhejiang Tongbo Vision Technology was drafted in to install the audio requirements of this large and prestigious project, with CODA Audio
systems chosen to meet the demands of every space.
During the installation, which began in 2022 and took two years (officially opening in December 2024) the Tongbo team faced many challenges, including the sheer size of the complex, with its many high ceilings and large floor areas requiring careful audio planning and design. Project manager Cai Baoliang was responsible for ensuring the complexities of the project were met with solutions: “The key features of the Skyline were its height and scale,” he says. “The installation was a complex integration of sound, light and electrical systems, which posed a number of challenges in terms of soundproofing and aesthetics. All of these were overcome by the collective efforts of our dedicated team.”
Despite some of the challenges described by Baoliang, Skyline executive general manager Chen Wei was confident about the choice
of CODA Audio systems to deliver the quality they needed. “I’ve been a manager at top-tier entertainment venues in China since 2012,” he expresses, “and in every high-end entertainment venue across the country, I always see CODA Audio loudspeakers!”
As well as KTV, the main hall at Skyline regularly hosts live professional DJ sets. With an area of 500 sqm and a ceiling height of 23m, it required tight, punchy, controlled sound, which was provided by six APS (arrayable point source) supported by two PW418 subwoofers and driven by a single CODA Audio LINUS14 DSP amplifier. On the first floor, there are also 10 smaller DJ party rooms, with floor areas of 240 sqm and ceiling heights of 13m, each equipped with four HOPS12i-96 (high output point source) loudspeakers, two PW418 subs, and two PW118 subs. Driven by LINUS amplification, the systems ensure that every corner of the rooms enjoys powerful, evenly-distributed sound.
On the second floor of the vast complex are 40 medium-sized party rooms, each covering around 80sqm with a ceiling height of 6m.
Two G512-Pro, two G515-Pro (versatile full range, two-way 12” and 15” respectively) loudspeakers, and two PW118 subs provide the required quality and power for a premium karaoke experience.
Finally, the third floor comprises 50 business KTV rooms, each covering around 50sqm with a ceiling height of 5m, and equipped with two or three G512-Pro, two auxiliary G308 (full range, two-way 8”) loudspeakers, and a single PW118 sub, ensuring that the highest level of audio quality is maintained throughout.
“The CODA Audio systems at the Skyline are the most advanced I have
seen in any club,” affirms Wei. “Since its recent opening, both our clients and management have praised the CODA speakers very highly, and the sound quality has fully met our expectations.”
“Hangzhou Skyline carries significant influence as a global benchmark in the top-tier Party-K sector,” states Tongbo general manager, Mr Zhou Wenbao. “A great club system should be loud and clear, immersive, expansive in coverage, smooth yet dynamic, combining power and delicacy. We understand these requirements and are always committed to innovation and driving the upgrade of industry standards.
“We are pleased that our partners have consistently responded that CODA Audio is the undisputed star of the party!”
With over 600 CODA Audio loudspeakers installed across this expansive facility, the teams involved have praised each other’s collective efforts. Reflecting on the scale of the installation, global sales and marketing director for CODA Audio, David Webster, says, “Tongbo’s work at the Hangzhou Skyline is a remarkable achievement. The scale of a task like this can’t be underestimated, but once again, their team has passed every test with flying colours.
“We’re very proud that CODA Audio loudspeakers are at the centre of this development, and playing their part in delivering high-quality sound in such an amazing venue.”
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S by ALICE
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GUSTAFSON
FROM BASEMENT RECORDINGS TO ARTISTIC LIBERATION
LONEY DEAR
Emil Svanängen, better known as Loney Dear, emerges from a journey that embodies the essence of DIY music culture and artistic evolution. Starting in the early 2000s, tucked away in the basement of his parents’ home in Sweden, he began crafting music with nothing more than a minidisk microphone and a home computer. His debut album, The Year of River Fontana, was a humble self-release distributed through homemade CD-Rs and sold exclusively at live shows and through his website. Yet, through sheer word of mouth, his music resonated deeply, sparking a quietly burgeoning fan base that set the stage for what would become a remarkable career.
Today, the artist, writer and multiinstrumentalist speaks to Headliner not as an artist striving for mainstream recognition, but as a seasoned creator who has found fulfilment in the act of making music itself. It’s a journey that resonates with authenticity and artistic integrity, embodying the essence of a musician who has transcended the need for external validation, finding strength and inspiration in the purity of
his craft. He explains why he’s taking production back to basics, why he no longer craves that acceptance, and how he’s gone from making music in a basement using basic tools to a professional studio using cuttingedge music production technology, Steinberg’s Cubase 14.
Your journey began with selfreleased albums recorded in your parents’ basement using basic equipment. How did those early experiences shape your approach to music production and creativity?
My recording career started in quite a fussy place, technology-wise – using everything at the same time, in the spirit of ‘the more, the merrier’, and trying every colour possible. Looking back over those 25 years, I can see how things have narrowed a bit, in the sense that I’ve come to understand it’s more about simplifying rather than constantly adding. I started working with my colleague Emmanuel about 10 years ago, and that’s been a big part of how I learned to take things out instead of always putting more in. I think it was the Ramones who said something like they would hear music and think they could add more, but instead, they decided it was a good place to stop. That’s an exciting idea – and I feel like I’m just starting to get close to that.
“MAKE MUSIC THE WAY YOU USED TO – FEEL FREE, GO BANANAS, STAY UP ALL NIGHT AND RECORD.”
I used to think you could keep adding more, like more sonic sub-qualities and textures, but now I’m realising that when you add something, it can just end up hiding something else. Being more minimalist is probably the best way to describe it.
Your first album, The Year of River Fontana, spread purely through word-of-mouth. What do you think resonated with listeners back then, and how did it feel to see your music connect in this way?
It was a different time. The biggest difference compared to today is that there wasn’t unlimited access to music. If someone heard about your work, they had to actively add it to their collection because only a limited number of albums were available. These days, it’s more about finding a reason to release music at all, or to add more of it into the world. Back then, I think it was simply my love for music that came through in what I was making – and perhaps that’s what drew people to it. The circles were probably quite small, too – it might’ve just been me telling people about my music. I was the word of mouth!
In the early 2000s, word-of-mouth and live performances were crucial for exposure though. Today, it’s social media and streaming. How has this shift impacted the way you share and promote your music?
That’s such an interesting question because I think social media is already
starting to change shape. When I look at my Instagram and see I haven’t posted anything, I mostly just feel proud of myself. At the same time, I wonder if that’s the best way to run a record label... But it’s also a reminder that I’m making music, and in the long run, I don’t think it really matters whether I talk about it online or not. I just try to focus on what feels important to me. A colleague of mine – Michael Colson, a brilliant composer – once shared an idea I liked: that you just need to be the best cobbler in town. It’s a lovely thought because it means you don’t have to be the best in the world. You just need to do a good job and keep going.
Right now, I’m really proud of focusing on what I want to do artistically – and sticking with that, without worrying about who’s going to listen. In the Western world, we’re so often consumed by the idea that we need to be constantly visible or that everything we do needs a practical purpose. But it’s liberating to imagine another way. What if we think about what will make us happy in the long run, simply from making music?
“CUBASE IS AN INSTRUMENT IN ITS OWN RIGHT.”
Your early work was lo-fi, intimate, and home-recorded. Would you say your sound has evolved since then in terms of production quality and musical ambition, or have you stayed true to the quintessential Loney Dear sound?
Going back to my colleague Emmanuel, who also produces, he’s interesting because he doesn’t try to inject himself into the process. He’s just genuinely curious to see what might happen. For the album we’re working on now, he told me: “Make music the way you used to – feel free, go bananas, stay up all night and record.” So this record loops back to what I was doing 15 or 20 years ago – a slightly more chaotic, “mad hat” approach. At the moment, we start with a lot of chaos in Cubase. I throw things in, then try to shape them into just a few stems. When I’ve got it down to maybe four or five stereo tracks, I send them to Emmanuel, who sits five metres away, and he edits, gives feedback, and we go back and forth. We’re starting to find our rhythm.
These days, you’re using something much more sophisticated to craft your music: Cubase 14, the most recent version of the software. How long have you been using Cubase?
Since 1999! Buying my first copy of Cubase was such a special day – it felt like I was doing it for real. I loved that first version. That time was full of joy –getting the software, watching it evolve, trusting it, getting support and seeing your ideas come to life. I’m a proud Cubase user.
What specific features of Cubase 14 do you find most essential to your current music production process?
What I enjoy most isn’t particularly modern – I love customising key commands. It’s almost like a hobby –finding the most efficient way to do things. I suppose I treat Cubase a bit like an accountant might approach numbers – I want to make the process as elegant and clear as possible. The software is reliable – it all just works. But what’s special is the closeness to the development team, being able
Can you walk us through your current process in Cubase 14 when starting a new track for the new album? Where do you usually begin – melody, harmony, rhythm, or sound design?
Traditionally, everything – recording, producing, arranging, mixing –happened all at once. I’d lay down a keyboard part while singing a scratch vocal, then build on top of it, often in a not very structured way. It was maybe interesting, but not always helpful! This album is different – it’s more about making blueprints. Seeing whether an idea has potential and then deciding if we should build it further in a different studio environment. On the last two albums, we barely used a click – we to request features and actually see them added. Cubase is an instrument in its own right. I also really enjoy being able to change keys quickly – whether microtonally or by semitones. It’s an old feature, but I’ve never seen it done as smoothly or sound as good in any other DAW.
just made crossfades. It’s similar to how symphony orchestras are recorded now – you record the parts separately. We even recorded piano and vocals together, with full mic bleed – so you couldn’t really edit the vocal. That limitation actually felt quite freeing. I’d recommend turning off the metronome to anyone looking for new creative energy – see what happens when you use your own tempo.
How big are your Cubase sessions getting these days? Do you find yourself working with large arrangements and layers, or do you still keep things relatively minimal?
They always grow when I’m being creative. But now, we try to create stems quite early on – making decisions we don’t need to revisit later. So, ideally, the projects are smaller.
You’ve said that after all these years in the music industry, you have now reached a stage where you are “not striving to be loved, to be big, or to be recognised”. What has led you to this realisation, or does this come with age, experience and being content?
I’m living in that space where you’re no longer a debutant. When you’re just starting, people listen. And after that, you’re always chasing the feeling of being new, but you’ll never be new again. So now, it’s about staying committed to what I believe in and not worrying too much about how it’s received. Just trying to be the best version of myself.
If you could go back and tell young Emil in his parents’ basement something about the journey ahead, what would it be?
I’d tell him to start learning classical piano, which I’ve only started in the last five years, and it’s one of the most fun things I’ve ever done. And I’d also say: don’t overwork things. When something feels finished, don’t keep going – it won’t get better. Just keep creating things you love and are proud of. That’ll take you far.
The new Loney Dear album will be released in January 2026.
BEHIND THE FADERS
Words by LIZWIL K I NOSN
HUUB LELIEVELD
Amsterdam-based sound supervisor and audio engineer Huub Lelieveld has spent the past 25 years travelling the world, delivering live mixes and broadcast sound for some of the biggest events in the calendar. Speaking to Headliner from his home studio in Amsterdam, Lelieveld reflects on his career to date, the realities of working on large international productions, and why Lawo consoles have become a key part of his setup.
Like many audio professionals, Lelieveld’s career began with a love of music. “I started as a musician. I played bass guitar and studied music technology at a conservatory here in Holland. I never finished it, but I always knew I wanted to make a living with music,” he explains. “Music studios were already on the decline back then, so I figured if I worked in broadcast audio, I could still use nice equipment and probably make a living. That was the plan.”
The turning point came when he first saw a broadcast truck. “When I saw these big outside broadcast trucks, I figured, yes, that’s what I want to do,”
he says. Starting with Dutch company Videohouse, which later became part of EMG, Lelieveld began working in live TV production.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time, but I still love it. It’s more than liking itit’s a constant obsession.”
Last year, Lelieveld worked on a wide range of global projects, including the Joy Awards in Riyadh, Madonna’s Copacabana Beach concert, Andrea Bocelli’s AB30 celebration in Tuscany, David Gilmour live at Circus Maximus in Rome, Pinkpop Festival, and the UAE Union Day broadcast, to name just a few.
“Last year was actually quite typical for me,” he says, acknowledging the varied projects across Europe and beyond. “Those types of international jobs are quite common. Maybe 10 a year. And then there’s the regular work I do here in Holland, like chat shows, Champions League games, and national football broadcasts. I really like working in sports broadcasting, too. It’s fairly complicated because it’s in 5.1 or Atmos, and you’ve got multiple feeds going to different countries.”
He explains that when it comes to live shows, preparation is critical and flexibility is key. “You have to prepare as much as possible. Getting all the signals clean and in time is the first challenge,” he explains. “For a tour, the setup is the same every night, but for a broadcast, we’re the last ones to arrive, and we’re not the priority. So, actually getting what you need from the touring crew in time is key.”
To help him deal with the demands of live broadcast, Lelieveld almost exclusively uses Lawo consoles, and he says the ability to react quickly during live shows is what sets Lawo apart for him. “I’ve used Lawo on almost every major show this year,” he says. “Aside from Madonna in Rio, everything else was on Lawo.”
“The main thing is flexibility. On a Lawo desk, I can change the setup, from stereo to mono to 5.1, while I’m live, without using a mouse. I can change anything on the fly,” he furthers. “That’s really important. Especially on a show like the Joy Awards, where there were three orchestras and the schedule kept changing.”
“ON A LAWO DESK, I CAN CHANGE ANYTHING ON THE FLY WHILE I’M LIVE.”
Lelieveld first encountered Lawo consoles after an earlier period working on analogue Studer desks and early AMS Neve digital consoles.
“When we had to move to digital, we tested different consoles and ended up with Lawo,” he recalls. “At first it’s a bit different compared to other consoles, but once you get used to it, it’s the fastest system out there.”
In such high-pressure, live environments, mistakes and problems
are part of the job, but experience helps, as he explains. “Things go wrong all the time: faulty equipment, unexpected things, but the goal is that nobody notices. That’s really the core of my job.”
He recalls one example during a Simply Red concert in Amsterdam when things didn’t quite go to plan.
“When the music started, one of the MADI feeds, probably a faulty
BNC cable, started crackling. It was the first note of the concert. I had to adjust the mix quickly so I didn’t need those channels, while the guys on the floor fixed the problem.
“I was also remixing it myself afterwards, so nobody ever noticed. That’s the important thing.”
“I’VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR A LONG TIME, BUT I STILL LOVE IT. IT’S MORE THAN LIKING IT - IT’S A CONSTANT OBSESSION.”
Looking ahead, 2025 is already shaping up to be busy, with more international shows including Pinkpop Festival and André Rieu’s annual concert recordings. “And then there’s always those last-minute calls,” he says. “Sometimes it’s literally, ‘Can you go to Argentina next week?’ You never really know.”
As for musical highlights, Lelieveld says every project is enjoyable when the performance and arrangements are strong, but for this music-lover,
some opportunities stand out: “A few years ago, someone asked if there was anything I still wanted to do. I said I’d love to work with Foo Fighters. Two months later, there was a Foo Fighters concert in Barcelona - it was a coincidence, but that was special.”
He adds, “All music is fun to record and mix. If the musicianship is good, it’s easy to make a good mix.”
After two and a half decades behind the faders, it’s clear Lelieveld’s calm approach under pressure, technical skills and ability to adapt have made him a trusted figure across live broadcast and recording projects worldwide, and by the sound of it, there’s no sign of him slowing down anytime soon.
LD SYSTEMS ANNY 8
Headliner takes a deep dive into LD Systems’ smallest portable PA system: the ANNY 8.
Ten years is a long time in portable PA terms. Designs have moved on, Bluetooth has less lag, and DSP has taken over what seems like every aspect of modern life. It wasn’t that long ago that I would see a busker with a converted pram wheeling about a speaker with a homemade
or adapter amp powered by a car battery – guitar strapped to their back – rising precariously up the escalator after a hard day’s graft! Oh, how times have changed.
Headliner recently shot content with emerging artist Ace Clvrk, busking with the LD Systems ANNY 10. I was impressed with not only the sound quality and the functionality, but the battery life in particular, and the ease
with which you could move this all-inone PA system around.
ANNY 8 delivers all of that and more, in a smaller, more affordable and lightweight frame.
Unlike ANNY 10, there is no trolley-style handle or wheels on ANNY 8 - but you don’t need them: it’s light enough to carry around without stretching your arms or pulling any muscles.
It’s also about 20% cheaper than ANNY 10, as well as being significantly more compact, and has a far more striking aesthetic, with various colour options available. It features the same mixer configuration (be it one fewer channel when fully loaded, as ANNY 8 only supports one radio system, as opposed to two on ANNY 10 ), but the really significant difference here is weight: ANNY 8 is almost 10kg lighter than ANNY 10 at just 8.8kg, yet the max SPL rating is only 1dB lower than ANNY 10.
That is impressive.
Another thing I like the sound of is the TWS feature (True Wireless Stereo), where you can pair up a set of speakers for stereo operation without cabling. I didn’t have a second unit to experiment with on this occasion, as it would be useful to know if this is just a Bluetooth setup option or whether you can transmit the audio from the mixer of one ANNY 8 to another without
having to resort to the mix output XLR and linking via a cable. But the fact you have a stereo playback option – as with AirPods, for example – via Bluetooth is certainly a bonus.
ANNY 8, as the name suggests, is fitted with an 8-inch woofer and a 1-inch tweeter. Straight out of the box, it sounds balanced and impressive whether it’s on a stand, on the floor, or tilted back, pointing up at you. Placing it flat on its base actually produces a little more bass, as does selecting the music preset, which reminded me of the old loudness button on a HiFi separates amp I used to love back in the day!
As you move away from the unit, it’s the low end which tends to fall away first, which is probably why the music preset is so bass-heavy in close proximity; however, if you’re going to be using these out and about, which is exactly what they’re designed for, then it’s great that LD Systems has got this just right.
Pressing the master volume rotary gets you into the settings menu, and Bluetooth is your first option, where you select between pairing and the earlier mentioned TWS. Below Bluetooth is Audio, which opens the Master EQ section; this gives you a Presets menu with five options: Music, Live, Vocal, Eco, and Flatplus access to the bass, middle, and treble controls should you want to tweak these yourself.
Below Audio is FX, which selects the type of effect from three reverbs and a delay; and the FX sends, which control the amount of send level from each channel to the effect.
This is useful if you want a little reverb on your acoustic guitar but not on your vocals, or vice versa. Last on the menu is Settings [of the LCD screen], which allows you to tweak for bright light or low-light applications.
The mixer is very easy to use with simple menus, an easy parameter selection for Master EQ and FX, and tactile rotary controls for all channel and radio level controls. Balancing between an acoustic guitar, vocals, and a backing track is simple; adding FX is plain sailing; and there is also a foot-switch for the ANNY series so you can kill the FX in-between numbers so you don’t sound like you’re announcing the next song from a public bathroom – that is a really professional touch for any street performer. And vocally, again, I think LD Systems has got the ANNY 8 spot on: whether you’re a singer-songwriter, you’re into reciting poetry, or you just want to be heard in assembly, this is an affordable unit that sounds better than the price tag would suggest.
Connectivity-wise, channels three and four are a stereo pair fed from either a stereo mini jack or a pair of phono sockets; a separate volume control for Bluetooth helps to balance over-exuberant phone levels; and there’s also a USB-C port to provide power to your external device as well as a very handy slot on the top of ANNY 8, in which I could slot my 16 Pro Max on its side quite comfortably.
I had just a couple of very minor niggles, none of which were to do with the box itself, but more to do with the handling noise of the radio mic. I appreciate that it’s more likely that if somebody wants a specific mic, they’re going to plug it in with a cable, however, the LD Systems mic could benefit from a suitable mic clip for those who are going to be singing and playing, as it’s a perfectly good quality mic, sonically - it just doesn’t like being ‘juggled’.
Which leads me to another of the amazing options available with this unit: the belt pack and headset, which leave your hands free.
My ANNY 8 unit turned up in a rather delightful colour, described as ‘adventure green’. I have to say it made a change from the usual black that most speakers are adorned with (it also comes in black, white, and urban grey), and I have to say it was an absolute joy to work with, and sounded excellent.
Battery life was also very impressive: LD Systems claims an 11-hour life span at moderate level on the Eco audio preset, and 3.5 hours at proper busking levels. My test unit from fully charged was still going strong after a couple of days of persistent background music, so I have absolutely no reason to doubt these claims.
There are a couple of really cool carrying covers for ANNY 8 as well, one of which is a waterproof duffle bag with flaps on the right hand side for letting you get to the controls (and your audience to the sound) without letting the weather in. That’s definitely worth checking out.
All in all, this is a very well-designed and built system that should give its owner a great return, not to mention a great garden party or more! It has a wealth of features going for it: good sound, easy to use, light, and a great price. From the streets to the small stages, it’ll do a very solid job.
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MIXING ‘NAKED AND AFRAID’
RICARDOGARZA
Ricardo Garza mixes location sound for Naked and Afraid, Discovery’s hit reality series in which two contestants meet for the first time in a remote wilderness. There, they grapple with the elements and complete challenges for 21 days - while clad au naturel. As the sound maestro behind the scenes, Garza ensures every whispered strategy and triumphant shout is captured, despite the torrents of rain, mud-soaked plains, and wild winds that threaten production, as Headliner discovers…
During filming the long-running series, crew members have truly seen it all; plus, there’s the unpredictable weather, water, and wildlife to contend with. Garza has found his Lectrosonics wireless to be the staunchest survivor of his 10-year tenure on the show. It pairs WM water-resistant and HMa
plug-on transmitters with tried-andtrue UCR411a, SRb, and SRc receivers. Of course, Garza is not among the naked on the production, and with this wireless rig, he is also not afraid.
“At first, I wanted to do post,” he recalls of his days in audio engineering college. “I realised quickly that I enjoyed interacting with people more than being in a dark studio many hours per day. I also liked being outside.”
As the saying goes: be careful what you wish for.
When the opportunity to work on Naked and Afraid came up, he found himself very much out in the wilderness.
In lieu of garments in which to conceal mics, the signature necklaces that are the contestants’ sole garment serve
an important function: they contain a microphone with a wire that connects to a wireless audio transmitter hidden in their satchel, which also contains a personal diary/camera for use when the camera crew is not there at night, and a map.
“There’s a mic hidden inside,” he nods. “It goes to a WM transmitter hidden inside those pouches they carry.”
“I THOUGHT, ‘I’M GOING TO LOSE AUDIO ANY SECOND NOW.’ BUT I DIDN’T. THEY JUST KEPT GOING.”
Fans of the show know that “those pouches” endure exposure to everything nature can dish out, but the WM transmitters have shrugged it off more consistently than their wearers. “Man, those things have been so reliable,” enthuses Garza. “They’ve got dunked, dirty, they’ve been rained on, stepped on, dropped, and have just kept going.”
An extreme case of how unpredictable the show’s locations can be occurred in South Africa. “We were doing what we call an insertion – establishing the duo in the new season’s environment,” Garza explains. “It was the dry season, so we weren’t expecting any rain. We were on this huge plain, a little grassy, but mainly this clay-like earth that’s native to the region. A torrential downpour blew in out of seemingly nowhere, and that clay turned into mud. I always carry a rain poncho with me. But it was also so windy that my poncho kept blowing up, water was going sideways everywhere. My rig was doused in a matter of minutes.”
Garza is still amazed the incident didn’t end the production day outright. “The mics inside the necklaces kept going down and I kept swapping them out,” he says. “The WMs, though, lived up to their waterproof reputation. My 411s, I just kept wiping them off with towels, but I couldn’t stay ahead of the water. I thought, ‘I’m going to lose audio any second now.’ But I didn’t. They just kept going.”
Speaking of water, Garza employs the HMa to go where neither a boom nor wireless can: “Sometimes one or both survivors go swimming and take off their necklace mics. There are some of those times where we can’t get a full boom in there without it being in frame. So, I’ll take an HMa, put it on a shotgun mic, which I have on a little pistol grip, and get in the water with them. I’m able to stay out of shot but get far into the water. You’d swear the dialogue was boomed or from a lav mic.”
With Naked and Afraid travelling nonstop, it’s hard to find an interval to upgrade or experiment with new equipment. However Lectrosonics’ reliability has meant that so far, Garza hasn’t felt the need.
“It’s pretty amazing,” he beams. “If you look at the camera department, they’re constantly spending thousands of dollars on new gear. The cameras get the crap beat out of them, too, obviously. But over here in sound, our Lectro just keeps ticking.”
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DIAS
THE 3 RULES TO AVOID SPECTACULAR FAILURE
MIKE DIAS
We’ve spoken a lot about product placement and securing endorsement deals over the last few months. Taken as a whole, this collection of articles could serve as a MasterClass on the subject matter. We’ve looked at the wins from all angles — from the manufacturer’s perspective and from an artist’s point of view. And we’ve discussed how that networking-mindset is at the heart of every successful interaction.
But we haven’t talked about my favourite aspect of this topic at all. We haven’t even begun to explore all the different ways that relationships devolve and blow up. And that’s my favourite part of it all! Knowing all the different ways that these deals can go south should help you avoid some of the more common mistakes. And understanding what real failure looks like should help you better calibrate what winning feels like. Because once you understand that, staying in your lane is pretty easy.
Like anything else in life, there are an unlimited variety of spectacularly
awful ways to fail at this. But more often than not, it usually boils down to not reading the room, not caring, and not checking your ego. I just witnessed a longstanding deal completely and unnecessarily implode and meltdown! One meeting was all it took for it to become unrecoverable; years of hard work ruined in less than 30 minutes just because some new guy wanted to flex. Which is really a shame. But not for the reasons that you think.
“YOU WIN A LOT MORE FIGHTS BY NOT FIGHTING THAN YOU DO BY ALWAYS WANTING TO GET YOUR WAY AND SHOW YOUR DOMINANCE.”
Since all relationships are based on emotions, when they break down, they become emotional — highly emotional. Which means that all the goodwill that was built up quickly morphs into animosity and acrimony. Whatever positive effects that the initial deal was supposed to have had, it all flips completely. And rather than talking about the relationship in positive terms, negative sentiments are openly shared and expressed which is exactly the opposite intent of the original plan. Rather than having a stellar ambassador and cheerleader out there boosting your brand, you end up with someone who genuinely no longer likes you or wants to be associated with you. There really is no such thing as neutral when it comes to breaking up. And that’s the most important thing to understand when it comes to talking about the success or failure of any placement or endorsement.
What this really means is that for any deal, there is a small probability of tremendous success mixed with a high certainty of catastrophic danger that really should be avoided at all costs. And if you’re not approaching your relationships with this level of understanding, then you have no way of shifting the odds in your favour and you are almost certainly guaranteeing the undesirable outcome. For as I have mentioned in previous articles, most
manufacturers go into placements and endorsements and reviews with completely unrealistic expectations. Which ultimately leads to nuking the relationship and creating the situations that push artists and engineers right into the arms of their competitors.
Of course, all of this can and should be easily sidestepped by adhering to a few basic rules. Let’s call these the 3 Rules of Avoiding Spectacular Failure. Just think about these guidelines every time before you act and you will find that nine times out of 10, doing nothing is actually the most prudent choice if you wish to move forward. And of course we’re talking about the context of product placement and endorsements, but these three pillars could be taken as the foundation for success in any venture.
RULE ONE: GOOD ENOUGH WINS THE DAY
There is no such thing as a magic bullet and no placement alone will ever bring about all the changes that you are hoping for. Besides… Why would you hang all those impossible hopes and aspirations on a single event or outcome? Why would you put all your eggs in just that one basket? Your placement strategy should simply be a small part of your much larger goal of
being everywhere all at once. And each individual placement should simply be an aspect of that larger vision to help you achieve your goals. And when you hold that to be true — especially in the larger context of everything mentioned above — then you realise that the actual goal is not success. The only goal that actually matters is to avoid failure and the damaging implications that go along with each loss.
Which means that a good dose of healthy neutrality is a great way to win the war. You win a lot more fights by not fighting than you do by always wanting to get your way and show your dominance. It is much more advantageous to call it a draw than to lose every time. Think about that one and really let that sink in next time you want to ask your partners about their “deliverables.” Just having your partners on your side is good enough — much better than the alternative of having them turn against you.
RULE TWO: YOU ARE PLAYING DEFENSE NOT OFFENSE
There used to be that great saying that you needed to touch a new lead at least six times before they even began to recognise your brand. But those numbers are so old and so tired now that I’m not even going to clown myself by guessing how to earn attention these days. It’s next to impossible! So if you’re lucky enough to have anyone that genuinely cares or who wants to be authentically part of your story and associate with your brand, then you must be doing something right. And no matter how big you think you are, you still need all the help that you can get from all the people who care enough to want to help. So make a space for everyone. Figure out a way to find a YES that lets everyone be part of your success. Because if someone cares enough to reach out and you don’t care enough to be welcoming, they will find
somewhere else to park their loyalty and you will end up the target of their scorn. Take this further down the road and let’s say that you start off great and then give up because it doesn’t pan out or it’s not worth your time or you haven’t figured out how to monetise/ commoditise the relationship. Okay! That’s life. That’s how most deals end up. Be realistic about that and just let it be. You are still way ahead of the game. But if you decide that you need to shake things up just to feel better about yourself or to prove that you are doing things, then go for it. But do it knowingly and be prepared for the consequences.
RULE THREE: LOSE GRACEFULLY
If it’s not already abundantly clear, when it comes to placements and endorsements and press and partnerships and even sales, there is no WINNING. There is no dominating over someone else. There is no using someone’s name or likeness to make yourself look bigger or better than you are. There is only willful collaboration and help. And people only help when they want to — not when they feel forced or coerced into doing something for you.
Winning is getting the honour of standing next to someone for a period of time. And if you get anything more out of it, you should consider that a bonus. It’s much healthier to go into
every agreement knowing that you’re never going to get everything that you want. In fact, you’ll probably get very little. But that’s all it takes. You just need a little. That’s forward motion. It turns out losing gracefully is often the most wonderful way for everyone to win.
Now for anyone reading this who comes to the conclusion that it is better to not play at all than to risk spectacular failure, I hear you. That makes sense and that is a wise move. Except that you don’t really have that luxury because your competitors are playing so you just standing still doesn’t work either.
Once you really think about it, you too will come to the conclusion that there is only one winning outcome in every scenario. And that’s to lose gracefully. And here’s where the beauty of this whole philosophy really shines. When both the manufacturer and the talent enter into the deal with this level of understanding — both having this realistic expectation of what is possible and how things should play out — then both parties are free to negotiate a fair deal upfront that allows everyone to do great things together. That’s what winning really looks like!
Mike Dias writes and speaks about Why Nobody Likes Networking and What Entertainers Can Teach Executives.
He is one of the few global leaders in Trade Show Networking and he helps companies maximise their trade show spend by ensuring that their teams are prepared, ready, and able to create and close opportunities. This column will be an ongoing monthly feature because Mike loves talking shop and is honoured to give back to the community. If this article was helpful and useful in any way, please reach out anytime at Mike Dias Speaks and let Mike know about what you want to hear more about next time.
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