For Emily Hornbuckle, artist management came after years spent working across live music, festivals and grassroots shows. Before launching Charm alongside Cali McKinney in January 2025, Emily worked as Senior Events Coordinator at Vision Nine, contributing to major UK events including Boardmasters, NASS and BBC Introducing Live, while also programming independent gig nights across London featuring artists including Olivia Dean and Goat Girl.
After moving into artist management at One House in 2022, Emily went on to co-found Charm, an artist management company rooted in electronic and underground music culture. Today, the agency works with artists including Shanti Celeste, Call Super, Surusinghe, Lulah Francs and James Rand, while also representing CCL and studio20. Alongside day-to-day management and long-term artist strategy, Charm has expanded into events through its Seave series, which launched at Next Door Records Two with Leeds band HONESTY and support from studio20.
This year also sees the launch of Charm’s new mix series, featuring artists Emily and Cali admire, including Sarkawt Hamad and T90s, alongside longer-term plans to develop the company further through future label projects and continued events programming.
How did you get your start in music?
My very first job in the music industry was working as a production & artist liaison assistant for SC Productions based out of Cardiff in 2018 between my second and third year at university. I moved there on my own, all my friends were working in hospitality back in Cornwall but I knew the world I wanted to get into I needed to get some experience before leaving uni so took the gamble and made the move to Cardiff for the summer to work on a bunch of shows.
My first show was working on a Stereophonics show at Cardiff City Stadium as a site office assistant where I literally learnt everything there was to know about building a temporary site from Heras fencing to track mats. After that I worked at Cardiff Castle (Pete Tong + the heritage orchestra, Catfish and the Bottlemen), Parc Areas with Paloma Faith. The second half of the summer working on the artist liaison team and advancing Bloodstock festival which gave me my first real insight into being across a project from a more planning & delivery perspective (as well as a free tattoo from the tattoo artist we’d booked for the artists!)
My final show with SC was working as the artist liaison office manager at Creamfields, I would greet every artist, take them to green rooms, organise transfers to and from stages. I was already interested in electronic music from living in Bristol for uni and would regularly go to Motion, The Love Inn, Crofters rights and so this show really cemented the fact I wanted to work in electronic music. A friend of mine was the logistics manager at Motion and knew I’d been working over the summer and offered me a day or 2 a week to support him advancing shows at the club every week during its in:Motion club series which I loved.
At Boardmasters + NASS (RIP) I also started as the Events Management intern and progressed over the 3 years to be working alongside the festival director to produce Boardmasters, a 60,000-cap festival as well as navigating it through covid… probably one of the hardest jobs I’ve experienced to date but the pay-off when a show like that comes to life is unreal — you see all the hours you’ve put in all year, then it’s over and you go again! This job taught resilience on another level which I took with me onwards to my next venture in management.
I made the move into artist management at One House in 2022, through which I assisted Sandy Marris his roster, and fast forward to today, we’re still working together on a couple of artist projects. At the time One House was a 360 agency with bookings, management and a record label in house, I learnt so much from my time there across all the divisions and the first few years were full of learning and absorbing what was going on around me both at the office and outside at gigs.
One House is where I also met my now business partner Cali McKinney, very quickly Cali, Suze Surusinghe (an artist we now manage full-time, but who was a manager at One House at the time) and I became close friends. My first week at One House was also Suze’s first week being managed by One House, so I happily became part of that team from day one.
I was fortunate enough to start my career in management working with artists across different points of their careers, with Suze everything was a first together - first EP released, first press coverage, first radio plays etc which is the best feeling to see achievements roll in like this.
With more established artists like Shanti Celeste, the focus is on continuing to build and develop projects like with Club Celeste London, we are producing the 4th edition this year at The Cause and are so proud of the space we’ve created with the team. We have over 3000 people attending and over 50% of the audience is female identifying, it’s a key date in the calendar we all look forward to working on.
charm was born in January 2024 with Cali McKinney, it began because we wanted to run gigs together and then it U-turned into us starting our own company together. I had never envisioned going freelance, I’d been employed since my first job at 14 but just felt like the right time to go out there and start something of our own.
We signed some new artists to the roster and our first year was a whirlwind but so motivating and liberating, into our second year we are focussing on what we want to charm to be and begin to develop our brand through our charm curates series - watch / listen / read / visit recommendations from us and guest DJs who provide a 1 hr mix as well for us. Secondly, the focus is launching the label, autumn 2026 watch this space.
Fast forward a few months I met Sophie Bradley who was the A&R at VG at the time, she’s now one of my best friends & couldn’t be more thankful that our paths crossed during this time.
We worked together to produce the VOCAL GIRLS launch show at Moth Club in October 2021, we booked Olivia Dean who I’d been a huge fan of since finding her in late 2019 and was the first person we’d suggested to book.
She was the last gig I went to before lockdown Off the Cuff in Herne Hill for an EP release she did and now on the other side of covid we had booked her for our own show. The show sold out with double the venue capacity on the waiting list which was only a sign of what became and now she’s sold out 6 O2 Arenas in London!
After that we continued to do various gigs across the year Molly Payton at Shacklewell Arms, Pixy at Windmill Brixton, and curated a stage at The Great Escape. I loved every moment of it and the fact I was doing this outside of my current job showed me a new side to working with artists more closely. The feeling of being a tiny stepping stone in someone’s career was the best feeling and the first time I felt that I could do this as a job not as a side hustle.
You’ve worked closely with artists at very early stages. What do you look for beyond the music when deciding who to support long-term?
I feel very fortunate that the majority of my roster that I’m working with now is who I began my journey with in management (Call Super, Shanti Celeste & Surusinghe).
When we started charm I started working with James Rand & Lulah Francs too.
The majority of my roster are touring DJs & producers, and what’s exciting is that the creativity doesn't stop there; Call Super is also an artist, in 2023 alongside Call Super’s album we announced an an art exhibition called ‘Tell Me I Didn’t Choose This’ at St.Marys Church on Bourne Street, London where we held a week long exhibition with paintings it was part of a wider project with the album around self reflection and other themes of the album.
With Surusinghe we launched ‘Drifting’ a music blog & community online as well as starting her own events. On the community side one thing we do is a monthly Zoom call we call a music ‘book’ club where we talk about an album once a month with people from the community. So far we’ve done, Nick Leon’s, Erika Decasier, YWH Nailgun and more! It’s so fun to connect with people who love music in that way.
With Lulah Francs, what was inspiring about our early chats together was that first and foremost she’s a singer, and feels most comfortable writing lyrics and singing and has the ambition to be in a live band one day. Something we have been working together for over a year now so watch this space!
Overall, what draws me in is the wider creative world an artist wants to build, the projects beyond the music, and the ambition behind them. What's most exciting to me is where I can add value in these other projects, and creatively they're some of the most rewarding.
On a personal level there needs to be a level of compatibility between us working together, it's an equal partnership between manager and artist. You'll talk to each other most days so there's a level of personal relationship needed, and being able to align on communication style. It's not a one size fits all so being able to adapt with every artist is key. Equally, it's not an easy industry to be in, as managers we can only provide as much value to your career as the artist is willing to put in alongside us.
For artists trying to build sustainable careers right now, what’s genuinely worth focusing on and what’s just noise?
There is a lot of noise out there, especially online where people are projecting what you should and shouldn’t be doing as an artist which I can imagine it’s very overwhelming for not just emerging artists but all artists.
The scene is constantly changing, trends are shifting, and social media has a big influence on these and how quick things can move. I don’t think social media is all that bad though, it’s part of our everyday lives within this industry. The era of the influencer content seems to be fizzling out and people are craving authenticity and community online more than ever. Keeping true to what your own creative interests and passions are is what will cut through all the noise.
Being aware of current trends is important but you don't need to change who you are as an artist to fit the moment in time. If you can find a way to utilise what's trending in your own voice as an artist then go for it, but don't force it. There's plenty of artists out there who are 'breaking through' but have been grafting, touring, producing records for years and have stuck true to what they believe in. It's easy to look at someone having a moment and assume they came out of nowhere, but there's almost always years of work behind it that just isn't visible online.
Through Charm, you’re building something that goes beyond management — events, a mix series, and potentially a label. Why was it important to create a wider ecosystem rather than just a roster?
Genuinely being able to build something outside the roster is so we can work with artists we are fans of in a different capacity to management. With the charm curated mix series for example this is purely a space to showcase artists we are fans of. Some we may know already, some will be completely new relationships, and if we are opening doors for artists to showcase their talent to more people it’s only a positive thing.
We’d love one day to be able to become a platform that has influence like so many others like Truants, untitled808, Dekmantel podcast and others!
For the label, similar to the mix series the aim is to be able to work with artists within a different capacity as well as across other genres. Cali & I originally wanted to run live gigs together because we both love bands as well as club music and would often go to gigs and say why don’t we do this.
That’s how ‘Seave’ began which was our first gig night where we had HONESTY headline & studio20 support, caveat to my previous point on us working with artists in a different capacity to management, Cali now manages studio20. I think it’s an amazing opportunity to work with someone because you’re a fan of them and you never know where it might lead. We hope the label can not only showcase club music we love but bands too, naturally the label will have an electronic overarching genre to it as it’s what we love and know best. We have already started plans for our first few releases, autumn 2026 watch this space!
Overall, it’s important to us not only from a passion and creativity point of view but we want charm to grow into an established company within the industry. Would love to start bringing people into our ecosystem and collaborate together to make it grow beyond management.
What’s been inspiring you creatively lately, both inside and outside of music?
My semi new years resolution was to go see more band gigs, I can often get swept up with work shows that there’s less space for me to go to see new music / artists. I find this super inspiring, whether it’s supporting friends bands or recommendations from friends, there’s no better feeling than watching an amazing gig and walking away like you’ve witnessed something special. Also, knowing the other side of promoting shows and how much work goes into them no matter the size of the room it’s always the best feeling seeing it come to life, from 300 cap rooms at MOTH Club to 3500 people at The Cause.
I’ve always loved taking photos on film cameras / digital cameras from a young age, every year I have a new camera on go. The majority of the time they’re photos at festivals, gigs of my friends, artists just a nice way to create memories that feel more real with a film camera. I definitely prefer being behind the camera than in front of it!
With charm we have recently started a ‘charm curates’ series where Cali & I give monthly recommendations of what we’ve read/ watched/ listened and recommend to visit. It’s fun being able to share that side of us through charm that’s not just through music but our personal tastes.
Women doing great things in and outside of the industry I work in is inspiring whether it’s amongst my friends, family, artists etc. Sophie Bradley, who I mentioned is a close friend, is juggling a new life in motherhood as well as booking your favourite artists at Lost Village festival.
My Dad is one of my biggest inspirations in the work I do, he’s got the best work ethic of everyone I know, and he’s definitely instilled that in me. He’s travelled the world in the work he does and showed me at a young age there’s a whole world out there you can explore when it comes to your work. I’m inspired by my friends, family and creatives I see and work with every day to remind myself what I’m doing is having an impact.
Shoutout to everyone I work with everyday, Sandy Marris who I wouldn’t be in this job if he didn’t take a chance on me! He gives me perspective on everything I work on, not just with the artists we still work with now but other projects I’m working on.
This industry can be intense. What’s your way of resetting or unwinding when things get overwhelming?
As much as I can do leaving the job at the door when I get home, it doesn’t always happen of course. Now that I’m working for myself I can have more flexible working hours.
I’m most productive at the start of the day and the end of the day and try to get home when my partner does so my brain switches off for a bit. I may check back in after this but try not to unless urgent or an especially busy period.
I’m still learning everyday how to manage my emotions in and out of work, especially if I’m feeling overwhelmed or when imposter syndrome starts to creep in and then the anxiety I get about feeling all of those things, and then the classic case of questioning yourself!
It’s a personable job, you talk to people all day everyday which can be exhausting especially if you have other things going on in your life outside of work. My work consists of late nights on the weekends so my weekdays are so precious, Monday to Wednesday / Thursday I’m pretty strict on keeping those evenings free of plans to just be at home, rest & regain the social battery. Trying to eat well, not drink too much, going to the sauna all helps me keep a clear head entering the work week.
Taking time off! Time flies in this job and it will be months before you think wow I’ve not had any days off that haven’t been for work / travelling. I always try to get a week back home in Cornwall before summer kicks in and usually the same afterwards in September / October time. You are your best self when you can take a rest and switch off.