Roland & [PIAS] Panel at Roland Store London & Raffle Supporting shesaid.so Featuring Signed Vinyl from RAYE, Arlo Parks and Olivia Dean

Roland, [PIAS] and shesaid.so present Women Shaping Sounds, an evening of conversation, community and live music celebrating women and gender minorities in the music industry.

Following the success of last year’s edition, the event returns to Roland Store London with a programme that combines a panel discussion, live performance and a special charity raffle in support of shesaid.so.

As part of the evening, Roland will also announce the winners of the Women Shaping Sounds Raffle, a fundraising initiative supporting shesaid.so.

The raffle gives participants the chance to win exclusive signed vinyl records donated by three artists:

RAYE – Where Is My Husband! & I Know You’re Hurting – Live at Montreux

Arlo Parks – Ambiguous Desire (signed copy of her upcoming album)

Olivia Dean – The Art of Loving, winner of the BRIT Awards 2026 Mastercard Album of the Year

Raffle details HERE

** Entries are open to UK residents aged 18+, with a minimum £5 donation per entry. All proceeds go directly to shesaid.so to support its work creating community, education programmes and opportunities for women and gender minorities across the music industry.

** The raffle runs from 8 March until 8 April 2026, with winners drawn live during the event.

The event is free to attend and open to everyone.

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The evening will centre around a panel discussion exploring this year’s International Women’s Day theme: Give to Gain.

Bringing together artists and industry professionals, the conversation will focus on how sharing knowledge, guidance and opportunities can create a more inclusive and supportive music ecosystem.

The panel will be hosted by Amy Sheldon, part of Roland’s Artist Relations team, whose work centres on connecting artists, labels and organisations across music culture.

Joining the panel are:

Nissi Ogulu — A multidisciplinary creative working across music, visual art and entrepreneurship. As co-founder of Kemet Automotive, Ogulu explores themes of sustainability, empowerment and African innovation while maintaining an active artistic practice.

Anis Marks — Head of Marketing at Mute, with over 16 years of experience across label and management roles. Marks has worked with a wide range of artists including HAAi, Apparat, Yann Tiersen, Underworld, Greentea Peng and Beth Orton.

Vix Brand — Community & Operations lead at shesaid.so, as well as a life coach and events professional with more than a decade of experience across live music and cultural projects. Brand focuses on building supportive communities for creatives and advocates for greater visibility and care for LGBTQ+ people within the music industry.

Miso Extra — A Japanese-British artist whose genre-fluid work blends rap, R&B, hyperpop and electronic music. Following breakthrough EPs Great Taste and MSG, her debut album Earcandy (2025) was created at Damon Albarn’s Studio 13 and features collaborators including Metronomy, DJ Boring and AK Paul.

The discussion will also open up to audience questions, offering attendees the opportunity to join the conversation.

Following the panel, Talulah Ruby will perform live.

Born in Lanzarote and now based in London, Ruby is a vocalist, writer and producer whose work moves between recorded music, live performance and collaborative projects. Drawing influence from trip hop, soul, jazz, folk and electronic music, her sound is shaped by artists such as Radiohead, Fela Kuti, Etta James and Billie Holiday.

Her work explores emotional depth and sonic atmosphere, creating music that invites stillness, reflection and connection.

RSVP and more info HERE.

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Event details

Roland, [PIAS] & shesaid.so Present: Women Shaping Sounds 2026
Location: Roland Store London
Free entry (RSVP required) HERE

The evening will conclude with the announcement of the Women Shaping Sounds Raffle winners, bringing the community together in support of shesaid.so.

Raffle details HERE

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Summer C Stepped Away From 1 Million Followers to Focus on Her Mental Health. Now She Returns With New Single “My Quiet Kind of Brave”

Photo Credit: @emilx.w

Summer C is a Hong Kong–raised, London-based pop artist and songwriter whose work is defined by emotionally direct, vocal-led songwriting and an intentional approach to storytelling.

After building a social media audience of more than one million followers, she made the rare decision to step away from public visibility to prioritise her mental health and focus on developing her craft away from the pressures of constant output. Rather than chasing viral momentum, she chose to rebuild her creative practice on her own terms—an experience that now shapes both her music and artistic direction.

Her return is marked by My Quiet Kind of Brave, her most personal and musically accomplished work to date, produced with Jamie Sellers (Elton John, Ed Sheeran, FLO) and Annie Rew Shaw. First conceived during her time studying in New York and completed in the aftermath of a mental health crisis, the track reframes bravery not as something loud or performative, but as a quiet, internal act of persistence.

Drawing from her Hong Kong upbringing alongside a deep appreciation for precise pop songwriting, Summer creates music rooted in melody, emotional honesty, and resilience. As a proud trans woman, Summer is also committed to improving access to arts education and supporting organisations that provide mental health resources and safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ young people. With My Quiet Kind of Brave, she reintroduces herself with clarity and intention, marking the beginning of a new chapter defined by artistic autonomy, balance, and renewed confidence in her voice.

Your new single “My Quiet Kind of Brave” marks an important personal and artistic return. What is the story behind the track, and what inspired you to write it?

“My Quiet Kind of Brave” represents a new chapter for me, and it was the first song I wanted my audience to hear. I actually began writing the melody over a decade ago when I was a student at New York University. And when I was writing it, the melody gave me goosebumps and I felt there was something special about it. But I never finished it because it sat right at the top of my chest voice, and I kept telling myself I’d complete it when my voice was ‘ready.’ 

Photo Credit: @emilx.w

A decade later, in the aftermath of a mental health crisis, I finally finished writing the lyrics. And recording this song helped me realise it wasn’t about being ready. It was about showing up. I recorded the lead vocals six times, and each take taught me something new about my voice and my voice was my way back into my body.

When I listen to the track now, I still hear the freedom and joy in it. And I feel a lot of pride with this song. My hope is that the audience will take away that bravery is not something loud or performative, but internal and steady. It’s really about choosing to stay.

You made the difficult decision to step away from a large online following to focus on your mental health and artistic development. Looking back, what did that period teach you?

I think after going through my mental health crisis, it really showed me how unsustainable it is to constantly produce. For the three years that I was active on social media, I was posting daily and at times posting up to five times a day because momentum is everything when you’re growing. But stepping away forced me to face the uncertainty of what would happen if I stopped feeding the algorithm.

What that time gave me was perspective. I realised that I had built my life around being creative when really I should be building creativity into my life. So there’s a lot more balance and coming back now, I feel more aligned with who I am and what I want to say. I’m quite excited and I have a lot more curiosity because I can see how I can do this more sustainably now.

The song reframes bravery as something internal and steady rather than loud or performative. How has your understanding of “bravery” evolved over the past few years?

Over the past few years, my understanding of bravery has shifted a lot. I’ve learned that some of the bravest acts are showing up for yourself, allowing yourself to feel, creating even when it’s uncertain, and choosing honesty over performance.

To help promote this song on social media, I interviewed a lot of people asking about hope, courage, and through them, I’ve learned that being brave is about staying present with your own truth, even when it’s uncomfortable. That you can trust that your voice matters simply because it exists. That has been a huge learning.

What practices or boundaries help you protect your mental health while working in the music industry?

A huge part of protecting my mental health has been about learning how to build boundaries. When you’re posting everyday and multiple times a day you eventually share things before you’re ready to or have fully processed yourself. My brain was trained to constantly look for how to turn what I was going through into an “angle” or “hook”. Unlearning that was the key and it gave me back the power to make the decision to share what it is that I wanted to. 

And practically, I prioritise rest, community, and time offline. I have designated time windows for when I post, reply to comments and analyze what went well and what didn’t. Outside of that, I don’t look at the analytics and that has given my brain time off and rest. I’ve learned to give myself permission to create in cycles rather than on constant demand.

What is your favourite part of making music, and what is the most challenging part that audiences rarely see?

I genuinely love the craft of making music. When I stripped the numbers away from the art, I rediscovered that I love the challenge of shaping a vocal, refining a lyric, and finding subtle details that make a song feel alive.

There’s something deeply satisfying about building something from nothing and watching it take form and I love working with people that challenge me or push me to go further. It’s always cool to see how ideas can change or develop depending on the chemistry of the person you’re with.

Photo Credit: @emilx.w

I think the most challenging part for most artists is the financial reality. So many of us have these grand visions but practically we all have a budget and limited resources to work with. I’ve found that these restraints force me to be more inventive but I think that’s part of the fun too.

What are you listening to at the moment, and which artists or sounds are currently inspiring your songwriting?

I’ve been reconnecting with the music I grew up with in Hong Kong, and it’s been pretty cool to revisit those songs with fresh ears. One songwriter that keeps popping up is Mark Lui. He’s written hits for all the A-list musicians in Asia and I look at him as Hong Kong’s Max Martin. But outside of that, I naturally gravitate toward Top 40 tracks as a pop girl at heart, so there’s a lot of  Olivia Dean and Bruno Mars on my playlist.

With that said I also love Sufjan Stevens. There’s a level of honesty, creativity, and vulnerability in his music that really moves me, and he’s someone I would love to collaborate with one day. 

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Listen to 'My Quiet Kind of Brave' HERE

Follow Summer C on TikTok & Instagram 

Lost Village’s Sophie Bradley on Curating Artists and Shaping Festival Culture

Sophie Bradley is a senior programmer and event producer working at the intersection of music, culture and live events. As Senior Booker at Lost Village, she plays a central role in shaping one of the UK’s most distinctive festivals, overseeing artist programming, cultural curation and the complex logistics that sit behind large-scale productions.

Her path into festival programming began in touring, where early experiences on the road offered an unfiltered view of the realities artists and crews face. That perspective continues to inform her approach today — one grounded not only in musical instinct but in an awareness of the human and logistical dimensions that underpin live performance.

Since joining Lost Village in its inaugural year, Sophie has helped develop a programming ethos centred on discovery, representation and long-term relationships with artists and collectives shaping progressive dance music culture. Alongside her work with the festival, her experience spans major events and venues including Glastonbury, Labyrinth Events and Printworks, as well as programming for NME and producing sold-out London shows for artists such as Olivia Dean.

Now navigating senior leadership in the music industry alongside new motherhood, Sophie brings a thoughtful, people-first perspective to her work — balancing ambition, care and creativity while continuing to shape spaces where culture and community can thrive.

You started your career in touring before moving into festival programming. What did life on the road teach you that still shapes how you book artists and build lineups today?

Starting out in touring gave me a real, unfiltered glimpse into what life on the road looks like — the long days, crazy working hours, constant travel and the physical and emotional toll that can take. I gained a super strong work ethic, but it also showed me that the industry can ask way too much of people.

Because I’ve worked shows from an artist/tour manager perspective, I’ve seen firsthand how backstage operations, hospitality, and communication can directly affect the artist’s experience. That knowledge stays at the forefront of my mind now that I’m on the other side.

I’m always thinking about how decisions land logistically — from set times, to travel, to level of care and comfort on site. For me, it's shaped a more considered, humane approach to my role where I value the artist's experience just as much as anything else.

Lost Village has grown into one of the UK’s most distinctive festivals. Looking back, what decisions were most defining in shaping its identity?

It goes without saying that the creative set design, production, décor, theatrics, storytelling and immersive experiences at Lost Village are second to none. But when I think about my role and the impact I’ve had in shaping its identity, there are a few things that I’m particularly proud of.

First and foremost, one of the most important decisions was committing to at least a 50/50 balance of female and male artists across the lineup — something we’ve maintained since 2019. When I first began programming, my main aim was to equalise lineups and create more space to platform talent from marginalised communities. That focus continues today and remains front of mind when I’m working with new artists and collectives.

Our booking ethos is one of the things I believe truly sets us apart. Alongside a conscious commitment to diversity and representation, we actively champion emerging talent — something Lost Village has become known for. Discovering, nurturing and propelling new artists is central to how we programme.

Beyond the lineup, I was keen for these values to reflect in the wider festival culture. When I first entered the live events world, I was tired of going out and feeling unsafe and underrepresented. I wanted to be part of something that celebrates people equally, in a way that’s genuinely inclusive and open-minded. That’s why building long-lasting partnerships with allied collectives like HE.SHE.THEY. has been so important to me.

The same mentality led me to help launch the Village Guardian movement at Lost Village — a roaming taskforce - now fronted by UN Women, there for anyone who feels uneasy in any way. Prioritising audience care felt like a natural extension of everything else we were building. It is incredibly important to me that everyone feels welcomed, free to be themselves and truly at home in the Village.

And these aren’t projects in their own little silo; they’ve become bricks in the wall of the wider festival culture. As a team, we are constantly pushing each other and sharing our perspectives, always looking at how we can improve, and that creates a butterfly effect throughout everything we do. 

Balancing senior leadership with new motherhood brings a different set of pressures. Has that shifted how you approach your work or leadership style?

Motherhood has completely shifted my perspective on work. The endurance you need to balance a full-time role while raising a child, running a household, commuting back and forth to London and juggling freelance projects on top — all while recovering from childbirth — is next level!! It’s forced me to become more focused, more intentional, more productive and a master at time management.

Above all, it’s shown me just how strong and resilient I am. I didn’t fully realise that before. Now, I lead with confidence and clarity, knowing that if I can navigate this chapter, I really can achieve anything.

Beyond streaming numbers/socials etc, what tells you an artist is ready for a platform like Lost Village?

Stats do play a part in the process, but it’s not the be-all and end-all for us. As a team, we’re constantly listening to music. We listen to everything that’s sent to us, and we go on our own discovery journeys too. If we like what we hear and feel passionate about it, then we’ll make space for it on the lineup.

You’re known for building long-term, values-aligned relationships with artists and collectives. What does a healthy artist–festival relationship look like in practice?

For me, a healthy artist–festival relationship is built on mutual respect and support, not transactions. It’s about backing one another as you evolve and grow, working collaboratively, investing time in each other, bouncing ideas back and forth and never cookie-cutting the same thing. 

What’s the most useful networking advice you’ve learned that goes beyond visibility or chasing contacts?

Be yourself — as cliché as it sounds! It’s easy to feel like you need to act or think a certain way in the music industry - maybe be more hard-nosed than you are naturally - but if you’re mimicking other people, there’s nothing that truly sets you apart.

We can learn from each other, of course, but backing yourself and your personality is what makes people remember and respect you. That’s what lays the foundation for real, lasting relationships in my eyes.

Equally important is listening. Remember people, their stories, insights and small details. It always works in your favour. I work hard to make meaningful, professional relationships in the industry, which over time has blossomed into reciprocal friendships & genuine interests in one another.

And above all, be kind and honest. We don’t need to play poker games; being upfront and genuine, not wasting each other's time, goes a long way in my opinion!

On a difficult or high-pressure day, how do you unwind, and what helps you reset?

We took the leap out of London and moved to Margate last year, and living by the sea has been a real reset for me. It makes me feel cut off from the rest of the world — in the best possible way. After a day in the London office, I’ll read a book on the commute back to the coast, using that time to decompress and switch off from devices. Stepping off the train and taking a deep breath of fresh sea air helps me properly reset and reminds me there’s a world beyond the laptop screen.

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Sophie Bradley on Instagram | Lost Village

International Women’s Day 2026: Celebrating Creatives and Professionals Across the Music Industry

Each year for International Women’s Day, shesaid.so highlights a group of women and gender-expansive voices working across the music industry.

Selected through recommendations from our global community, this feature brings together artists, journalists, organisers and industry professionals whose work is making a meaningful impact across culture and the wider ecosystem.

For the 2026 edition, we invited a few of them to reflect on their journeys in music and share advice from their experiences so far — from protecting your vision to staying focused on your own path.

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Chippy Nonstop

Chippy Nonstop got her name for a reason. She is an audacious, undeniable party starter with a penchant for travelling the world and always bringing her unique energy. As a sound selector she makes the dance floor shake, but there’s much more to the story. Chippy is a DJ, rapper, songwriter, writer, producer, activist and organizer of community events. She is of Indian descent, but is more of a cultural nomad; she was born in Dubai, grew up in Zambia, has citizenship in Canada, lived in Los Angeles, Oakland, New York, and currently resides in Toronto after a very public deportation.

Chippy Nonstop is currently working on new music-related endeavors such as new music, touring globally, a party rave series called Pep Rally and a project called ‘Intersessions’, a sound initiative curated by and for women & the LGBTQ+ community. Chippy strives for balanced representation in music by producing these global workshops and her curation of Pep Rally events.

A piece of advice would you give to someone just entering the music industry?

Make a clear vision board of what you want and what you want to put out there into the world. Protect your vision, don't sell yourself short and make compromises of your ideals for the sake of getting ahead, everyone's journey is different so don't compare yourself to anyone else.

What piece of advice has kept you going during challenging times in your career?

if u CAN envision seeing yourself doing anything else you aren’t meant to do it .

CHIPPY NONSTOP on Instagram | Website

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Heran Mamo

Heran Mamo is an award-winning Ethiopian American music and culture journalist. She recently served as the Senior R&B/Hip-Hop/Afrobeats Writer at Billboard, where she worked for six years. Heran believes in amplifying the voices of underserved and overlooked communities within the industry through authentic, diverse reporting on Black music and culture for the diaspora.

She's written cover stories on The Weeknd, Burna Boy, SZA, Ice Spice, Metro Boomin, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Tyla and Tems. She's moderated panels at AFRICON and the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, California; Billboard MusicCon in Las Vegas, Nevada; SXSW in Austin, Texas; and Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, Germany. And Heran has made appearances on Good Morning America, CBS News, Entertainment Tonight and NPR.

What has been your proudest moment in your career so far? 

I made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list this year! That was a professional dream come true. 

What piece of advice has kept you going during challenging times in your career?

Comparison is the thief of joy. It's so hard to be proud of what you've accomplished or feel motivated to keep going because you're constantly looking at this person's success or what that person is doing. Put your blinders on and stay focused on your own career path because no one else can replicate it. 

Heran Mamo on Instagram | Website

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LYZZA

LYZZA is a multidisciplinary artist and cultural organiser working across sound, film and performance, treating sound as a tool for transformation, collective experience and radical expression. Emerging as a self-made teenage DJ and producer, her 2017 debut EP Powerplay came to be recognised as a foundational release in what became known as deconstructed club, helping shape a sound that gained wider visibility nearly a decade later. That same year she founded XXX Network (f.k.a. X3), the Netherlands’ first safe(-r) space club platform and educational initiative, eventually helping lawmakers and other organisers within the Dutch festival and club landscape formulate new visions and influence nationwide policy on night culture.

LYZZA and her collective were inducted into the Amsterdam City Archives for their contributions to the city’s nightlife. Her work has drawn collaborations and support from artists including SOPHIE, Nicolas Jaar, and the estate of Lee “Scratch” Perry. Her critically acclaimed mixtape MOSQUITO was accompanied by a self-written and scored film now archived by The Criterion Collection. In recent years she composed the score for Third World: The Bottom Dimension, an award-winning interactive video game and touring exhibition at Serpentine Galleries, where her audio work made her the youngest artist exhibited. In 2024, she was named Mixmag’s Producer of the Year, recognizing her ability to shape sound into something immediate, intimate, and massive all at once.

A piece of advice would you give to someone just entering the music industry?

Music is not something you casually choose. It chooses you. If you feel called, treat it as a real extension of yourself and answer it fully.There will be moments when you feel lost. The industry can be exhausting, confusing, and sometimes disappointing. You may question everything and wonder if you should walk away.

But if music is truly yours, you stay almost irrationally and delusionally because you know the connection is real. Commit to giving it your time, your patience, and your belief. The longer you stay devoted, the more you will experience moments of true resonance and moments where everything aligns and reminds you why you began. Over time, those moments grow and they begin to shape your life and everything will feel like it's worth it. 

LYZZA on Instagram | Tiktok | Connect with LYZZA

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Sam Mobarek

Sam Mobarek is a marketing leader and brand expert with over two decades of success in gaining cultural recognition for her clients through a bespoke approach to building loyal communities and lasting legacies.

Most recently serving as Head of Major Recordings — Warner Records' flagship dance label and home to artists including Sam Gellaitry, PARISI, TSHA, 33 Below, J. Worra, and The Blessed Madonna — Sam is now evolving Mob Creative, her full-service marketing agency, into a new chapter dedicated to closing the gap between independent artists and the resources, strategy, and brand-building infrastructure that move careers forward. Mob

Creative has previously worked with renowned brands including BMG, Disney, Atari, Unidisc Records, MK, and Maya Jane Coles.

What has been your proudest moment in your career so far?

Honestly it's less one moment and more a feeling I keep finding. 'White raver rafting' at Steve Aoki's Hammerstein Ballroom show in 2013. Hearing Kenya Grace's "Strangers" in a grocery store, a liquor store, and a clothing store all in the same day. Watching PARISI and Sam Gellaitry's live shows evolve and reveal just how uniquely talented they are. And now relaunching Mob Creative on my own terms, staying true to the culture first, artist first approach I've always believed in and held to when I built Major Recordings at Warner. It's a proud moment every time you bet on great art and get to watch it find its people.

A piece of advice you'd give to someone just entering the music industry?

Never forget that your product is a person who took a real risk on something vulnerable. They didn't have to do this. Getting to the beating heart of why an artist makes their art is the actual job, and when you treat it that way, you'll be rewarded in your career and as a person. But don't forget to extend that same grace to yourself.

Sam Mobarek on Instagram | LinkedIn

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VASSIŁINA Discusses Her Existential Avant-Pop Album ‘i.par.ksia.ko’ and Creating Between London and Athens

Vassilina x Lissyelle

Athens-born, London-based avant-pop artist VASSIŁINA returns with i.par.ksia.ko, her second album and first written entirely in Greek. Released via Kiki Music, the record was developed between London and Athens with producer TOTALWERK (Tom Wright), building on the dark electronic and electro-pop foundations of her 2021 debut Fragments while moving into more personal territory shaped by migration, identity, and family.

The project began as a collaborative EP with Greek indie and alt-pop artists before evolving into a full-length album. Its title—Greek for “existential”—reflects the experience of living between places and versions of yourself. Tracks including “Dolini,” “Red Flag,” and “Katadiki” explore belonging, emotional inheritance, and the uncertainty of entering a new phase of adulthood, while an interlude featuring a recorded conversation with her mother brings these themes into direct focus.

Inspired in part by Alice in Wonderland, the album incorporates AI-processed vocal excerpts alongside field recordings and layered vocal arrangements, reflecting shifts in voice, language, and identity. Since releasing Fragments, VASSIŁINA has performed across Greece, the UK, and Germany, including shows at the Athens Digital Arts Festival and London’s Shacklewell Arms, and has opened for artists such as Miss Kittin and Kadebostany.

In this conversation, she discusses the personal experiences behind i.par.ksia.ko, her approach to voice and technology, and the realities of building an artistic practice between cities.

Vassilina x Lissyelle

Your album i.par.ksia.ko explores identity, belonging, and existential transitions. What is the story behind the project?

i.par.ksia.ko /“existentia” was written during a time of constant movement between London and Athens. It was a period of intense questioning: where do I belong and who am I in the process ? When you migrate between cities and countries, your identity doesn’t feel stable, it adjusts depending on the language you’re speaking, the room you’re in, the version of yourself that environment expects.

The album became a map of those parallel lives: the small-town girl, the city girl, the Greek girl in London, the ex-orthodox Christian girl, the daughter, the immigrant, the girl in therapy, the artist vs the girl in depression .It captures the sensation of living on unstable ground,  as if the ground could collapse at any moment and choosing to remain present rather than escape

After years of therapy and taking SNRIs, I kept confronting the same question: why do I have this need to radically change my life? Is it a pattern of self-sabotage or is it evolving and curing your trauma?

The record also explores inherited guilt, shaped by growing up within an Orthodox Christian Environment and the emotional legacy that passes quietly between mothers and daughters. Constant shame that is rarely spoken but deeply rooted .

It’s the first time I’ve written entirely in my mother tongue. That choice made the process more exposed and more truthful and weirdly it became my most extroverted work so far.

The record incorporates AI-processed voice excerpts and conceptual storytelling. How did you approach using AI as part of the creative process? What did it allow you to explore sonically or conceptually?

I didn’t use AI as a replacement for humanity.  I wanted to reflect exactly the feeling that we’re constantly being asked to adapt, accelerate, and reshape ourselves in order to survive within late capitalism. The pressure to produce more, to optimise, to become more “efficient” versions of ourselves , more westernize.  It reshapes our confidence and identity.

We move countries for opportunities. We shift accents to be accepted more. We fragment who we are to fit systems that were not built for us.

So using AI on my voice just to alter my accent was about exaggerating that fragmentation. It became a sonic metaphor for how we are already being altered by technology and music industry by the demand to constantly reinvent ourselves and how awkward and unreal that actual make us sound.

What is your favourite part of making music, and what is the most challenging part that audiences rarely see?

The best part is the creation itself, that raw, unfiltered moment of inspiration. It feels almost like a drug. A creative rush that takes over your whole body. It’s like stepping into a deep emotional retreat or an intense, non-verbal therapy session. You access parts of yourself you didn’t even know were there. That state is addictive. It’s one of the few spaces where I feel completely aligned instinctive, present, untamed.

The most challenging part is everything that follows that goes beyond the music itself. The waiting. The planning. The endless emails. The rejections.

You pour your whole self into something vulnerable and then, suddenly, you’re expected to become the manager, the strategist, the content creator, the producer, the negotiator, the art director everything except the musician. You’re asked to package and promote something deeply personal within systems that often ignore or dismiss it.

There’s also a subtle pressure to reshape yourself in order to make that personal work more “marketable.” So you find yourself altering parts of who you are just to amplify something real inside you. And when the results are slow or invisible which they often are, it can be deeply disheartening. It takes enormous emotional stamina to continue creating when recognition isn’t immediate.

For emerging artists trying to build meaningful connections, what is your best networking tip?

I think we hear so many tips and stories  but realistically Is very subjective. Most of the times is all about luck. Of course, if you are staying back home and not talking to anyone You will rarely see results.  For me, I can only do what works best with my ethics. I freak out when I have to network. I still do it but My social anxiety peaks. I prefer real connections and to be honest that where I see actual results. I love collaborating with other creators. 

Collaboration should feel aligned, not transactional. Show up consistently. Support others genuinely.  Don’t be competitive with others. You are you and they are them. The right people stay and will support you when there’s mutual respect and support.

Which three women in music have inspired you the most?

Bjork; for building entire ecosystems around her work and never compromising her artistic language.

SOPHIE; she didn’t just contribute to hyperpop, she reshaped the sound of contemporary pop altogether.

Kate Bush; for theatrical Performativity and fearless experimentation long before it was safe to do so.

Vassilina x Lissyelle

What is your best advice for young people who want to become producers, singers, or songwriters today?

Do your research and talk to other artists. Stay open. As women especially, we believe that we have to struggle alone in order to prove our worth by doing everything the hard way. That process is so isolating.

My perspective shifted completely when I started connecting with other femme artists while studying at Goldsmiths in London. I attended a female and non-binary music technology group called Omnii and for the first time I felt genuinely empowered in production spaces. Community changes everything.

Understand production at least to the level of building strong demos. Learn the basics of the music industry, contracts, publishing rights, booking etc. Observe how other artists made it. Talent alone is not enough. At the same time, don’t let the industry take away the reason you started creating in the first place. If you have a vision stay true to it. Be patient with your timing.

And build a team. No meaningful vision is built entirely alone. Collaboration doesn’t weaken your voice ,it strengthens it. You can create much more powerful worlds when you allow others to contribute to them. I keep on saying how my stylist and co-art director is now essential part of my band. I grew up so much and evolved as an artist and a person  since I started collaborating with Vinyl Face. 

What are you listening to most at the moment?

I go through phases but It’s been almost two years that I can’t stop listening to Oklou. So I’d say Oklou’s music . it’s not a phase for me. I also love the new album of A Greek artist and a friend of mine Olina and I love to explore new artists.

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Follow on Instagram | More Links

“We Must Protect These Spaces”: Sam Divine on Grassroots Clubs and the 555 Tour

At a time when UK club culture is facing one of its most fragile periods in decades, Sam Divine is returning to the small rooms that first shaped her. More than 400 nightclubs have closed across the UK in the past five years, with grassroots venues among the hardest hit, eroding the spaces where local scenes form, artists develop, and communities gather. In response, Divine launched her 555 Tour, a series of five-hour, open-to-close sets in intimate venues across Liverpool, Bristol, Brighton, Exeter and Manchester, created in partnership with Save Our Scene.

The tour arrives alongside “The Groove,” her new single and the first release on her newly launched imprint, 555. Stripped-back and built for the floor, the track reflects the instincts of a DJ shaped by decades inside dark rooms rather than festival spectacle. First introduced during her Tomorrowland main stage set in 2025, it has since become a recurring centrepiece in her performances, bridging the scale of global stages with the intimacy of grassroots dancefloors.

Framed as both a personal and political gesture, the 555 project marks a full-circle moment in Divine’s 25-year career. With £5 early-bird tickets and a strict no-phone policy, the shows prioritise immersion, accessibility, and presence—reviving the long-form DJ set as a space for storytelling and experimentation. The project also coincides with a period of personal transformation she describes as “Sam 2.0,” shaped by sobriety, wellbeing, and a renewed relationship to nightlife.

As the 555 Tour continues through March, Divine reflects on what grassroots venues made possible in her early career, what is at stake as they disappear, and how returning to these spaces has reshaped her understanding of the dancefloor today.

The 555 Tour brings you back to intimate venues for five-hour open-to-close sets. Why was it important to build the concept around duration and depth rather than scale? 

I’ve always been big on storytelling in my career, and I’ve approached my 5 hours sets in the same way. Starting off low and slow around 119 bpm and building it throughout the night peaking to around 135 bpm. That takes a lot of skill, experience, and knowledge. I wanted to challenge myself whilst giving back to grassroots venues. 

Being in the industry for 25 years I think it’s easy to forget why you fell in love with DJ’ing in the first place and I wanted to take myself back to when I was a resident warm up DJ . I was so carefree . I didn’t care too much if I made mistakes , I was really experimental.

There wasn’t as much pressure as there is now as a headline DJ and everything that comes with that. Selling out big venues is amazing and I’ve worked really hard to get here. This grassroots tour is about giving back to the very clubs that gave me a chance when I first started out . 

Looking back at the early grassroots clubs that shaped you, what did those spaces give you that bigger stages can’t?

Taking people on a journey is really important to me. Creatively there’s only so much you can do of that in a 2-hour set. A set can go in so many different directions depending on the energy of the dance floor.

This way I get to set the tone from early doors leaning into my 25 years of knowledge and experience. Revisiting tracks that I never get to play anymore that I wouldn’t necessarily play on a bigger stage. I also learnt DJ etiquette.

Really appreciating the headline DJ. I always wanted to do a ‘good job’ warming up. This is how I earned respect from my peers.   

In practical terms, what does a five-hour journey allow you to explore musically that shorter sets don’t?

Trust. My audience trusting me but also trusting my intuition. Around hour 3 I find myself reaching for records that sonically shouldn’t go together but using my skill to make them work.

Taking the dance floor in different directions seamlessly because I already know where I want or need to get to . Bringing the vibe down for a couple of records so you can take the energy back up again . Longer sets should feel like a full body workout.

Leaving people guessing where you are going to go next, so they don’t want to leave the dance floor. Longer sets are such a joy. 

Touring at your level can be relentless. What does a typical day on the road look like for you now and how do you consciously unwind after a show?

I’m still to nail the winding bit down. It typically takes me 2 hours to fall asleep from the moment I plug out to the minute my eyes shut. I do have rituals before I play though. I like to sage and clean the energy of my space and say a prayer. Whether that’s a green room or lately the whole club before a 5-hour set. Touring abroad consistently is just in my blood now.

Sam Divine sets the pace for 555 with new single ‘The Groove’
The first release on her new 555 imprint lands as the UK tour kicks off with a call to protect independent venues.

The days leading up to the weekend are more important than on the actual day. Making sure I am going to bed early, self-care, packing, checking in for flights, social media for the show and prepping music is all done in the days leading up to the show now. Sobriety has unlocked a new superpower of being organised so on the day of the shows all I have to do is catch a plane and play music.

That can be disrupted sometimes with delays etc but keeping myself calm and not stressed in those situations is paramount so I don’t bring that energy to the decks. 

You’ve been open about your sobriety and recovery. How has that shifted your relationship with club culture and the dancefloor?

Sobriety has been such a huge blessing in my life. I feel hyper focused and really In-tune with the dance floor. Things you might miss when you are under the influence of alcohol.

In addiction you feel numb a lot of the time. You remember places and experiences and how you felt but you are never truly present and now I feel more present than ever. The club is my church, and the dance floor is my saviour.

With more than 400 UK nightclubs closing in the last five years, what do you think is misunderstood about what we lose when a grassroots venue disappears?

The statistics are shocking and I’m saddened by this as I had no clue how bad it was and is the whole reason for doing this 555 tour.  Some of my favourite clubs have shut down. I met some of my best friends in those clubs. They hold so many memories.

When these grassroots venues disappear, we’re losing the very foundations of what our culture is built from.

Scenes are born in these spaces; headline DJs are born from these spaces. When they close, the loss ripples outward. Fewer entry points for emerging artists. Communities are shattered . These smaller spaces are the very heartbeat of our cities.

If we opened your record bag right now for a 555 set, what are three records/tracks that would almost definitely be in there?

Frankie Knuckles - Tears 

Sam Divine - The Groove 

Sade - Smooth Operator 

Name three women in music who have inspired or influenced you?

My mum. I lost her 2 years ago and she’s still inspiring me with music. I just collaborated on a record with Capri using the sample of Billy Ocean - Caribbean Queen. It was one of her favourite songs. From an early age my mum always had music playing and it’s inspired me a lot in my sets over the years. 

Lisa Lashes. Lisa was a huge influence on me in my early days. I loved that she had her own record label as well as being a badass DJ. She was breaking the norm and flying the flag for female DJs over 2 decades ago and she’s still crushing it today. This game is all about longevity. 

Annie Mac. I was listening to her radio shows for as long as I can remember, I found so much new music and new artists from her BBCR1 show . I love her before midnight concepts. Bringing wellness into the music space. Annie has inspired me that there’s no limits you can do as a mom in the music industry.

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SAM DIVINE’S 555 TOUR: Tickets

TOUR DATES

6th Mar – Move, Exeter

14th Mar – Joshua Brooks, Manchester

30th - Ministry Of Sound , London (new)

Follow Sam Divine 

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Producer, Composer and Sampha Collaborator elsas on Her Creative Process and the Making of Her EP APORIAMOR

Barcelona-born and now based in London, producer, composer and vocalist elsas has quietly become one of the most distinctive voices operating between the UK’s alternative music landscape and a wider experimental pop continuum. Her work moves fluidly across disciplines and scenes, shaped as much by her classical foundations as by years spent collaborating with artists including Sampha, Florence + the Machine, Little Simz, Jockstrap and Duval Timothy. Those exchanges, particularly her ongoing creative relationship with Sampha over the past three years, have played a formative role in refining her approach to songwriting, production and sonic storytelling.

Her new EP, APORIAMOR (out now) released via Barcelona’s Lapsus Records, marks a decisive moment of artistic consolidation. Largely self-produced over four years and developed across multiple geographies—from her childhood home in the Spanish countryside to stages across the United States while touring—APORIAMOR reflects a more distilled and intentional evolution of her sound. Drawing on both her Mediterranean heritage and the textures of UK alternative music, the record explores love, heartbreak and emotional transformation through a deeply personal lens, building a language that embraces vulnerability rather than closure.

If her debut EP The Art of the Concrete introduced an expansive and exploratory artistic identity, APORIAMOR signals a clearer articulation of that vision. Conceived as both archive and release, the project captures a period of personal and creative becoming, positioning elsas as an artist concerned not only with experimentation, but with legacy, memory and emotional authorship.

APORIAMOR is framed as “the death of love’s contradiction.” At what point did you realise this record needed to exist, and what emotional or conceptual shift set it in motion?

I must’ve come up with this word during a very inventive late night etymological rabbit-hole. I was in romantic turmoil, trying to invision a type of love that would be freed from all contradictions, all logical dysjunctions. I was wondering if pure clear and peaceful love existed, even as a reaching point, an asymptote. Needing to repeatedly process and overcome heartache was the catalyst to creating these songs and grouping them under this project.

Photo by: Aitor Rodero. Outfit: Bebé Espinosa

Compared to The Art of the Concrete, this EP feels more distilled yet emotionally expansive. What did you consciously decide to leave behind in order to arrive at this new sonic language?

If a record was a stim, that’s what The Art of the Concrete was for me. It was my way of learning how to produce, and in the process I was equally overexcited and overwhelmed by the vastness of possibility (hence the irony of the title).

I had to become some sort of sound hoarder before I could understand how I really wanted to articulate myself musically. It’s an experimental record in the full sense of the word, enveloped in the high-frequency energy of my early twenties, and I love it for that. 

Since then, I gave myself the time to be in music, but without the agenda of being an artist to the world - just keeping my input antennae open. I had to reconnect with the heart of it, and deconstruct the trained musician within (call it ‘conservatoire syndrome’). I started listening to my intuition, keeping only the essences, enjoying my own company, and building my world from that place. I also spent time developing my skills as a producer, becoming more intentional in my choices. And, most importantly, I eventually understood my gift, started prioiritizing my voice, and stopped hiding behind my ideas. And there’s still a long way to go!

You’ve described this project as part of building your own archive, a documentation of becoming. When you imagine listening back to these recordings ten years from now, what do you hope they will remind you of?

I hope I still feel proud of the work, and that it reminds me of my commitment to my artistry. I hope it makes me hold my past self tenderly and appreciate the hard work she put in to get me ‘here’. Maybe I’ll have destilled and deconstructed so hard that I’ll be making exclusively drone-based ambient music, smoking a pipe and thinking to myself ‘wow that girl was really working through some s***’.

You often describe songs as organisms that respond to their surroundings. How do different environments (e.g. touring, cities, solitude) practically shape the way a track evolves for you?

They are very much alive and pulsating. I enjoy letting the music breathe in real-time before making it permanent. This EP shape-shifted while I was touring it.

I performed the songs on APORIAMOR while supporting Sampha in the US in early 2024, and it became a kind of testing ground. It helped me see what felt aligned and what didn’t - what needed changing and what needed deepening. Exposing myself in that no-strings-attached way became a real incentive to finish the music.

Going back to the drawing board tends to be easier for me when its prompted by the inercia of external living. Solitude can result either in my thoughts jamming in a loop whilst I drift in a limbo of in-between activities, or I enter a state of hyper-focus and forget I have a body. It is in the latter where the magic tends to happen.

Collaboration seems central to your artistic ecosystem, from long-term work with Sampha to exchanges with artists across very different scenes. What makes a collaboration feel creatively “right” for you?

I’ve been very lucky to have worked with some extraordinary musical minds. I’d say a collaboration is right when everyone is showing up in their truth and working in the service of music (the muse, the craft), and mantaining a sense of mutual respect whilst exercising freedom.

I usually trust that the conspiring forces that lead us to be sharing a room in the first place can be enough to make it worthwhile, or “right”. Of course, like in any collaboration, there’s more or less personal and creative affinity that can unfold. But at the end of the day, making art for a living is a huge privilege.

What is your favourite part of the music-making process and the part you struggle with the most?

My favourite part is the initial spark and the throb of or vision that follows, whether it’s the maturing of a long-time mulling idea or a spontaneous manifestation. The creative infatuation phase. Usually these early ideas arise with energetic bounce and in collaboration.

I just love jamming. I love those moments of lucidity (who doesn’t!). I struggle more with moments of diffuse intention and indecision, when there’s an inner wall that stalls progress and it’s hard to locate and break down. And like most artists, I can find it hard to know when a song is finished, almost to a pathological level.

But so far, more often than not, I’ve proven myself right when I persevere until the end, however torturous it might feel at times…

Photo by Connie Keane | Headpiece by: Annika Thiems

For emerging artists trying to build meaningful relationships rather than transactional networks, what has been your most effective way of connecting with the right collaborators and communities?

I think the key is overcoming the fear of reaching out to people whose work moves you, sparks curiosity or familiarity, because you never know what might come from it!

Creative work can be emotionally intense, especially when projects are rooted in personal experience. On difficult days, what helps you step back, reset, and return to the work with clarity?

Honestly, on those days I get really good at replying to all my emails. I get all my admin done, probably clean the house and get on the phone to my close friends for hours. Most of them are musicians or artists, so they understand and share the underknitting of my daily struggles.

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APORIAMOR by elsas is out now | Listen & Download

elsas on Instagram

Music Supervisor Julie Blake on Building AURA and What Artists Should Know About Music Licensing

Photo credit: Joe Watson

With more than two decades shaping how music meets moving image, Julie Blake has built a reputation as a leading creative voice in music supervision, working across film, television, theatre, and immersive projects. She was previously a partner at Third Side Music and led the sync and publishing operations for influential independent organisations including Ninja Tune and Erased Tapes, building a career at the intersection of creative storytelling, catalogue strategy, and sync licensing.

At the centre of her current work is AURA, the UK-based music agency she founded to bring a more curator-led approach to music supervision and licensing. Working closely with a roster of contemporary composers, AURA pairs distinctive musical identities with screen and stage projects while ensuring streamlined rights clearance and tailored creative direction. The agency’s newly announced independent sync collective further expands this vision, assembling hand-picked catalogues from leading independent labels and composers across Europe and North America to provide music supervisors with deeply curated, sync-ready repertoires.

Following the announcement, we spoke with Julie Blake about her path into music supervision, building AURA’s supervisor-first model, and what artists should understand today about preparing their music for sync opportunities.

What does a typical day look like for you at the moment?

My day always starts with a massive cup of tea. I have a saying: “no decisions before tea”. I like to ease into the morning and strategize, identifying my top two or three priorities for the day before the outside world sets the pace. I try to tackle those immediately, which usually involves creative work like reviewing artists’ new mixes, demos, or upcoming releases.

The rest of the day involves playlisting, searching for interesting tracks for particular scenes or projects, and then I try to reserve any meetings and admin (like reviewing contracts) for the afternoon. Because I work across timezones from GMT to PST, I have the odd video call in the evening, but I’m pretty strict about my schedule and “life/work” balance is really important to me. There are way too many burnt-out leaders out there, and you can’t captain a ship if there’s no gas in the tank. 

Can you tell us how you first started working in music and the key early experiences that shaped your career path?

My career began in the '90s record store era. It was a nostalgic time when shops were the true gatekeepers of new music discovery. I managed both a record store and a musical instrument retailer early on, which gave me a broad knowledge of genres, gear, and experience managing teams. I also learned a lot about listeners and musicians - how to genuinely connect with them and fuel their curiosity to check out that new album or effects pedal.

A major turning point in my career was when I moved to Montreal in 2004 and became an intern at the record label Ninja Tune. That role evolved into leading the startup of their new publishing venture (Third Side Music) in 2006.

Helping to build that company from the ground up set the tone for all of my future work in business development. Looking back, it taught me the value of learning through observation, being highly agile, and that a determined, hardworking attitude is the foundation of success.

Vox-Ton Studios - Photo credit: Claudia Goedke

From your perspective, what practical steps can artists take now to make their music easier to license, both creatively and administratively?

There are a few basics that you need to get right if you’re pitching music for sync. Make sure the music has good production value (i.e. is properly mixed and mastered, broadcast quality is usually 24-bit 48 kHz WAV), provide lyrics, instrumentals (and clean versions for anything explicit), have stems ready, and ensure that audio files are tagged with metadata like mood keywords, contact information and ownership details.

Think about how many mp3s a music supervisor might have in their music library - you don’t want yours to be “track 1” by “unknown”.

Don’t pitch music you don’t own, control, or that contains uncleared samples from someone else’s work. It makes a music supervisor’s work much more difficult if they have to go to more than 2 or 3 rightsholders to clear your music. They have to really like that track and have ample budget and time to want to do that.

So if you’re working with a variety of collaborators or partners, try to make an internal agreement that allows you to offer streamlined sync approvals. Any publisher or label you work with should be your proactive partner, helping secure opportunities, and responding quickly to licensing requests. Ask about their track record.

Creatively, my top tip when writing music for sync is to make sure the song has a very clear mood and vibe. It should give you an immediate feeling and sense of place - we’re on a beach sipping cocktails, we’re in an industrial nightclub on a big night out. Songs that build are fine, but a sudden shift, like a song that starts off sad and becomes happy, or a song that is too short (less than 2 minutes) can make it difficult to place within the context of a scene. 

For people hoping to enter the music industry today, what is the most important piece of advice you would give them? 

Music is a creative industry, but it’s still a business. I think people starting out in music get impatient and want to skip right to the “glamourous” roles like A&R, producing, or music supervision. I’ve also found a lot of musicians in junior roles who then got frustrated to be supporting creatives rather than creating music themselves.

Be clear about why you want to work in the music business, and appreciate that there is a lot of administration and marketing work to do, especially in entry-level positions.

I highly recommend interning before applying at a company to see what roles are available, and which ones genuinely appeal to you. Be an avid listener of all kinds of music, a hard worker, and keep up to date on relevant trends which are constantly changing the landscape of how listeners connect to our product.

Photo & Styling credit: Meriana Crespo @streetsugar

What is one habit or mindset that has helped you sustain a long-term career in the industry?

I think my brutal honesty has been what has allowed me to create both very high quality relationships and music over the years.

You can’t be afraid to mention it when a violin is slightly out of tune, even if it’s on a recording that has already been mastered… Or to say a song just isn’t good enough (yet, or ever). Or to fight for one that you believe is too good to cut from a project. When people aren’t being fair, good, or trying hard enough, I’m also not afraid to call that out and/or stop working with them. I’ve had to let go of some talented people and partners over the years.

There’s a bit of tough love that has to happen to create high value work, and to constantly push boundaries, or people’s capabilities. Honesty for me is also just about being an authentic, genuine person.

When I walk into meetings with clients, I’m the one asking about their kids, dogs and what matters most to them in life right now, before diving into the project. Once I know where they’re truly at, I can meet them there, and I’m much better positioned to offer something of true value. 

What are you currently listening to?

Just for fun, I’ve been doing a deep dive into all of the music released in 1999. It was a mind-bogglingly huge year in pop and electronic music, with Moby Play, Genie In A Bottle, Hit Me Baby One More Time, Backstreet’s Back, Slim Shady, Livin’ La Vida Loca, Say My Name, and tons of amazing hip-hop releases.

That exercise lead me to rediscover Sakura by Susumu Yokota which has been on repeat this month. I’ve also been listening to a lot of music by a harpist I work with, Nailah Hunter. Her albums ‘The Pavilion Of Dreams’, ‘Sleeping Sea’ and ‘IYUN’ are a wonderfully relaxing way to start or finish the day.

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Julie Blake on LinkedIn | Podcast

AURA on Instagram | Website

Award-Winning Presenter Abbie McCarthy on Good Karma Club and Building a Career in Music Media

Award-winning presenter, DJ and tastemaker Abbie McCarthy sits at the centre of the UK’s new-music ecosystem, with a career built on trust, curiosity and long-term artist development rather than hype. Best known for her work on BBC Introducing, McCarthy has been instrumental in discovering and championing emerging talent, earning a reputation as a reliable first listen for artists on the cusp of wider recognition.

Her impact has been recognised across the industry, including induction into the Roll of Honour at Music Week Women In Music Awards and a Silver ARIA for Best Music Presenter.

Alongside radio, McCarthy has become a familiar face on some of the UK’s biggest stages, making history as the first woman to host the main stage at Reading Festival and fronting coverage from Glastonbury, Abbey Road Studios and major red-carpet events. A sharp, instinctive interviewer, she brings the same depth to The Eras Podcast, where she explores the creative turning points that shape artists’ careers, with guests ranging from rising stars to established international acts.

McCarthy is also the founder of Good Karma Club, a critically respected live platform now celebrating its tenth year, known for championing artists early and pushing back against pay-to-play culture.

Beyond music, her work extends into sport and culture through presenting roles with BBC Sport, Chelsea TV and major live events, reflecting a broader approach to broadcasting rooted in personality, credibility and genuine connection. In this Q&A, McCarthy reflects on how it all began—and the values that continue to shape how she works today.

How did you first get your start in music and radio, and what helped you find your path early on?

My very first show was on student radio while I was at Warwick Uni. Presenting immediately made sense - I’m obsessed with new music, I’m a big talker and I love getting to know people. Realising I could combine all of that into one job lit a proper fire in my belly and I started applying for work experience at the BBC and volunteering at both community and hospital radio.

I got to intern at BBC Radio 6 Music for a month and loved it so much - I helped with show notes, I got to see Haim play in the Live Room and be in the studio observing some of the absolute best in the business. My cups of tea must have been top tier because when my placement came to an end, I was offered the opportunity to work as a freelance Assistant Producer across the network. Quite soon after that I was on air presenting music news and covering my local BBC Introducing show too. 

What does a typical day in your life look like?

No two days are ever the same, which is honestly one of my favourite things. There’s usually lots of listening to new music, then there’s deep research for upcoming guests on my music interview series The Eras Podcast, curating lineups for my gig night Good Karma Club, calls / meetings, going to gigs, DJ sets and of course, some real life & silliness with friends and family in between. 

BTS photos - Mercury Prize interview - Cat Burns

What’s one lesson you learned early in your career that still shapes how you work today?

I was lucky enough to work with some of my favourite broadcasters as a producer before fully pursuing presenting myself, and they showed me two things that have really stuck - the importance of being a genuinely nice person and to always be authentic.

We’re in an era now where people are constantly looking for shortcuts, quick wins and overnight virality, but as hard as it can be, be patient! You’re learning so much along the way and when that dream opportunity arrives you’ll be more than ready for it and true authenticity always wins out. 

When you’re choosing which new artists to support, what makes you stop and pay attention?

Artistry. I want to feel something - whether that’s vulnerability, escapism or joy. It’s less about polish and way more about personality and intent. If it feels like an artist really knows who they are, I’m listening. A strong song will always cut through, but great artistry, world building and true fan connection is what keeps me invested. 

What inspired you to start Good Karma Club, and what have you learned about spotting potential in new artists?

Experiencing live music is one of the best things ever and I wanted to find a way to further support the new artists I was playing on the radio. When I was breaking into the industry, there were so many nights in London where artists had to pay to play, which is so wrong! I wanted to create opportunities open to everyone. 

Intimate shows are where real artists shine. They’re not hiding on a massive stage with epic production but showing up and riding the feeling that this could be the start of something. Honing their craft, building that confidence and road testing their music. 

The nights where you spot real potential and songs connecting in real time are such a rush, wish you could bottle up that feeling! I remember Olivia Dean playing at Colours in Hoxton for us and performing ‘OK, Love You Bye’ live for the first time and everyone in the crowd just looking at each other like ‘wow’.  

This year we’re celebrating 10 years of Good Karma Club! I’m SO proud of the night and the community that we’ve built & am excited to see where it goes next… 

Tips for anyone who wants to get into your industry… 

Don’t wait for permission, start! If you want to be a presenter, launch your own online radio show or youtube channel and learn as you go. If you want to be an artist, start recording videos of you playing your songs at home. Don’t wait around for someone to give you an opportunity when you can create those first sparks yourself. 

Honestly, shoot your shot babes! Everyone remembers what it’s like to be at the very beginning, and more often than not people are happy to reply to your message, share advice and help where they can. 

The most important one - never be anything other than yourself. Trends change, platforms come and go, the industry is always chasing the next thing, but if you lead with authenticity and integrity, you’ll always win. The moment you try to mould yourself into what you think people want, you lose the thing that makes you unique. 

3 things that you can’t live without in your bag. 

Headphones (obvs)

A notebook - so my ADHD brain never forgets an idea ! 

A lil snack - must keep the hanger at bay… 

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Abbie McCarthy on Instagram

Good Karma Club | LinkedIn

Kallemi: An Ounternational Transcultural Ensemble Rooted in Migration and Musical Exchange

Photo credit: Alessandra Leimer

Kallemi (Arabic for “Speak” in the feminine voice) is a transnational musical project formed by Jasmin Albash, La Nefera, Maysa Daw, and Rasha Nahas — four artists whose individual practices span electronic music, hip hop, rock, and experimental songwriting.

What began as a short-term exchange through Kaserne Basel during Palestine Music Expo quickly became something deeper. Rooted in shared experiences of migration, ancestry, and the search for home, Kallemi’s music is shaped as much by friendship and trust as it is by sound. Since their first performance, the project has grown organically through live shows across Europe, the UK, Canada, and Palestine, long before any official release.

Their debut single ‘One Day’, written during their first residency in Ramallah, marked the project’s first release and was followed by ‘Where Is Your Home’. A new single and their debut EP — produced by Aaron Ahrens and recorded in Berlin — are set for release on January 30, continuing to expand Kallemi’s evolving collective body of work.

How did Kallemi first come together, and what made you realise this wasn’t just a one-off project?

We met through an exchange initiated by Kaserne Basel (Switzerland) during Palestine Music Expo. During the 10 days that we had to work, the songwriting process was flowing very organically and in addition to the music flourished a genuine connection and friendship. After getting off the stage from our  first show in Basel, noticing the energy that we felt between us as band, as well the exchange with the audience we realised that this is bigger than us.

You met during Palestine Music Expo in Ramallah. What do you remember most clearly from that first period of working together?

It was a combination of different experiences: we lived and rehearsed in an almost empty flat and Maysa packed the car with gear from Haifa. Each of us brought their instrument and we just jammed, explored the city, ate amazing food, talked for hours and wrote almost all of  the songs we have during that time.

What’s your favourite part of making music as a collective and what’s the hardest part of sharing creative space?

The hardest part for sure is the physical distance between us. In order to tour, rehearse or write music it requires a lot of organisation and resources, which forces us to be more strategic which is good, but not always simple. 

Plus decision making and distribution of tasks, for example in our individual projects we are used to deciding for our own but making decisions collectively can be hard but also freeing and opening horizons at the same time.

Definitely magic is when we finally all meet in one room and the music is happening between us and  there are these moments where we know that everything is falling into place.

Each of you brings a distinct sound and skillset. What’s one concrete rule or habit you’ve developed to make collaboration work smoothly?

There is no actual rule. When we are making music, we do not force anything to happen, we trust each other’s creativity and skills and we let things happen naturally. when one of us has an idea, we take that idea and explore it to the max. at times we go back to songs and change parts of them, but we keep them flowing.

On the technical\logitsic side, we each have her strength and skills, and we divide the behind the scenes work accordingly.

Before any official releases, you were already touring internationally. What did playing live teach you about the project early on?

From playing live we love each others energies on stage, its a fit! Even though its not the easiest setup as a long distant band, this understanding keeps us committed and resilient to make it work.

Photo credit: Alessandra Leimer

For emerging artists trying to connect with the right people in the industry: what’s one networking tip that actually works for you?

Always trust your gut. If anything feels off, it probably is.

What’s one mistake you made that taught you something useful about building a sustainable music project?

It took us time to distribute the tasks and to do’s between us, but once we figured that out the workflow became much more sustainable.

What are you listening to at the moment?

Ino Casablanca, Maria Basel, Stevie Nicks, Dina El Wedidi

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Follow Kallemi on Instagram

Artist Manager and Newspaces Studio Founder Agnese Ghinassi on Aiming to Build Longevity in Artist Careers

Photo credit: Johanna Kirsch

Agnese Ghinassi is part of a new generation of managers whose work moves fluidly across music, fashion, and contemporary art.  Based in Berlin and originally from Rome, she launched Newspaces Studio in 2025—a management and creative consulting agency shaped by her experience in artist development, creative strategy, PR, and fine arts project management. 

Ghinassi’s professional grounding was formed during her years at Modern Matters, where she progressed from intern to assistant and eventually into a key role as Artist Manager. During this time, she developed a broad operational and strategic skill set spanning artist management, PR and press, project and label management, alongside day-to-day management. Her work included supporting artists such as VTSS and LSDXOXO, handling press for clients ranging from composer Danny Elfman to producer and DJ GiGi FM, and overseeing label management for Klockworks alongside PR for Ben Klock.

Today, Ghinassi manages NYC-based transdisciplinary artist Agnes Questionmark, producer SALOME and Cuban-Spanish DJ TOCCORORO. Ghinassi’s practice also extends into the contemporary art field through her management of Agnes Questionmark — a contemporary artist working across installation, sculpture and performance. In this role she has overseen complex works including the 13-day performance CHM13hTERT & Cyberteratology presented at the 60th Venice Biennale, to name a few. This experience, together with her background in music management, PR and artist development, provided the groundwork for Newspaces Studio, which represents a curated roster of artists whose practices develop across different creative contexts rather than within a single industry lane. 

Your background spans artist management, PR, creative consultancy and large-scale art project management. How did you get your start in music?

I started as an intern at Modern Matters during my studies in Berlin. I was about to finish university, and in order to be able to write my thesis, I had to complete six months of practical work “Pflichtpraktikum”. I was studying Media and Business Psychology at the time, in German, (tough one). I’ve always been passionate about music, and one of my mentors, someone I really respect in the industry, suggested a few different companies for me to consider.

I remember telling her that I didn’t want to “just bring coffees or watch from behind” (very 23-year-old me ready-to-take-on-the-world phrase). The truth is, I wanted to actually do the work. That’s when she suggested I look into Modern Matters. I ended up leaving university without finishing my degree and stayed at Modern Matters for five years. I began as an intern, quickly became an assistant, and gradually worked my way up.

Assisting roles are often underestimated, but they’re where you build an incredibly broad and practical skill set. Working closely with my former boss allowed me to define myself early on as a generalist. I was exposed to many different sides of the industry from PR, press and label management, royalties, record deals to more administrative tasks like invoicing, tax systems, artist statements. That hands-on experience helped lay the foundation for what I’m looking to do at Newspaces Studio. I will always cherish that opportunity. 

Photo credit: Johanna Kirsch

From intern to founder in just over 6 years is a big achievement. Looking back, what skills or instincts proved most transferable as you moved from assisting to leading, and which ones did you have to actively unlearn?

As wild as it sounds, the biggest skill I had to unlearn was multitasking. When you launch your agency and start working independently, you want to do everything at 100% and feel in control of your business, your tasks, and practically everything around you. But multitasking doesn’t necessarily equal control; more often, it means doing many things at once and delivering them at 60, 70, or 80 percent instead of fully.

In assisting roles, multitasking is a powerful skill because the tasks are less decision-heavy. When you go independent, though, learning when to slow down, prioritize, and focus is what ultimately allows you to lead with clarity and intention. That doesn’t mean I don’t multitask at all, I just aim to execute faster and more efficiently. It’s a learning curve.

The most transferable skill, for me, was learning how to read a room and communicate with people coming from various professional backgrounds, from artists to agents, label owners, creative directors, business managers, and editors, etc. It taught me how to adapt fast, translate ideas across different worlds, and move quickly between creative and business spaces.

You’ve spoken about the importance of understanding an artist’s “message.” Practically speaking, how do you intend to help artists articulate what they stand for when that clarity isn’t there yet?

In my approach, I will aim to give artists a safe space where they feel supported enough to explore what they want to express, without pressure to adapt to a standard.

A lot of that can start with conversations, understanding their references, instincts, and characters, and what feels natural to them. I intend to help them through the process of individualising their strengths and how they want to convey who they are to the world around them. Once that starts to take shape, I work with them to find a structure that feels intentional and purposeful. 

I wouldn’t say it has to be a specific “message” , it's more about understanding what differentiates you as an artist from others, what you bring to the table, what you do differently, and leaning into that.

Practical examples of questions I would ask:

– What moves you?

– Why?

– Who inspires you, and who do you see as your peers?

– If you’re thinking big, where would you like to be in five years?

TOCCORORO Birthday During Fred again.. Event

Many artists struggle with brand collaborations for fear of diluting their identity. From a management perspective, how do you evaluate when a brand partnership adds depth to an artist’s profile rather than noise?

From my point of view, a brand collaboration adds depth when it’s genuinely aligned with the artist and develops in an organic way.

One way to ensure this is by building connections with brands the artist is already passionate about, whether that’s clothing brands they already wear or designers they admire, or production tools and platforms they already use in their creative process. The goal is for the collaboration to feel like a natural extension of who the artist already is, what they like, and what they want to represent, rather than something imposed.

Additionally, to make a brand partnership more meaningful and to ensure it feels like a true collaboration rather than just a ‘branded deal’, I always make sure that the teams involved, especially on the brand side, understand that they’re working with a talent who has a clear vision, aesthetic, and personal taste that needs to be respected and conveyed for the collaboration to be successful on both sides.

Newspaces Studio aims to establish itself at the intersection of music, art, and fashion. What do you think sustainable growth looks like in that cross-disciplinary space, especially when visibility can arrive faster than infrastructure?

As I start building my own agency, I’m realizing that sustainable growth often comes from learning, as a manager (together with your artist), when to say “no” to certain opportunities and trusting that the right ones will come back around. There’s so much pressure to move fast and capitalize on momentum, especially when visibility starts picking up and it feels like there’s a clock ticking in the background. But you don’t actually need to do everything at once.

Sometimes it’s more effective to slow things down, be intentional, and focus on what really needs attention at a specific moment in an artist’s journey, especially when working across music, fashion, and art, where opportunities can multiply very quickly.

Something I aim to work toward in my approach is longevity. Doing everything and being everywhere over a short period of time can result in being counterproductive and sometimes, maintaining a sense of exclusivity around an artist’s profile is actually one of the strongest things you can build. The goal I’m aiming for while building artists’ careers alongside them will be to keep things interesting and evolving in the long run.

Agnese & Agnes Questionmark

Mental health is often discussed, but less often operationalised. What does care actually looks like inside a working artist–manager relationship, especially during intense touring or production periods?

During intense touring and production periods, it’s all about streamlining communication and setting designated days off so the artist has time to properly rest. We try to organize the calendar in a way that allows for enough time off between work commitments, and if that isn’t possible, we make sure the artist can take a larger break afterward for example, three weekends of stressful touring followed by one week of no communication/deadlines & weekend off from touring.

In general, I usually avoid communicating with my artists on Mondays after a touring weekend. If something is really urgent, I’ll send an email. If it truly can’t wait and is career-changing or there’s a hard deadline, I might text, but Monday is a day off. We also try to lock in catch-ups once a week and avoid unnecessary WhatsApp communication.

It’s very easy to end up talking 24/7, so it’s important to agree on designated times, days, and channels for communication. Not only for them but also for you. The hows and whens however, is also something that needs to be discussed with each artist individually, as everyone is different and requires different kinds of care.

For managers or artists considering going independent, timing is everything. What signals tell you that it’s the right moment to make a structural move, rather than an emotional one?

When you outgrow things and realise that the places you’re in are no longer aligned with your principles or your view on things, that’s when your vision starts to sharpen and you’re ready to take the lead for yourself.

Agnese at Agnes Questionmark studio

In more practical terms, it’s when you realise you’ve learned and taken everything you could from an experience, and are ready to shape your own. 

What inspires you at the moment?

Industry: the way marketing has evolved over the past few years has been incredibly impactful. Looking at the campaigns behind albums like Charli XCX’s “Brat” or Doechii’s “Alligator Bites Never Heal”, Rosalia with “Lux” (her hair!!!!!) still stands out to me.

It really shows how powerful thoughtful marketing can be, especially when it’s connected to a clear artistic vision. You can feel when someone knows exactly what they’re doing and there’s something magnetic about it. 

Life: the concept of neuroplasticity. I’ve been reading a lot about it, and it’s been particularly relevant for me at this stage of my career. Books like Atomic Habits and podcasts (Huberman Lab) around the topic have genuinely influenced how I think about growth, habits, and long-term development. It has also helped me discover new structures and workflows that I now rely on in my work.

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Agnes Questionmark Exhiled in Domestic Life installation

Connect with Agnese Ghinassi on LinkedIn

Newspaces Studio | Agnes Questionmark

TOCCORORO | SALOME

Selah Sue on Working with the Gallands on the Album Movin’ and Taking the Record on Tour

Belgian soul-pop artist Selah Sue returns with Movin’, a collaborative album created alongside drummer Stéphane Galland and producer/keyboardist Elvin Galland. Released via Because Music, the project marks a shift from solo authorship to a more instinctive, collective process — one rooted in improvisation, trust, and musical dialogue.

What began as an invitation to perform at Jazz Middelheim quickly evolved into something more expansive. Within months, the trio moved from an initial idea to a full-length record, shaped by Stéphane Galland’s polyrhythmic drumming, Elvin’s textured production, and Selah Sue’s spontaneous vocal approach. The result is a body of work that moves fluidly between free jazz and more structured songwriting, balancing looseness with precision.

At its core, Movin’ reflects a personal and creative turning point. Written across a period of emotional transition, the album traces a journey from introspection to release, grounded in the idea of movement — not as escape, but as a way of working through discomfort and change.

How did this collaboration with Stefan come about?

I got a text message from Stéphane Galland (drums, The Gallands) about a year ago, asking if we could get together and listen to some music. He and his son had been working on some songs and wanted to perform a gig at Jazz Middelheim, an annual summer jazz festival in Antwerp, Belgium.

They asked me to feature on a few tracks, and I was blown away by the musicality and the overall sound. I had never been so inspired by a drum beat. The way Stéphane plays is deeply polyrhythmic, and it really sparked something in me. Elvin produced the tracks and chords in a very tasteful way. It all happened very quickly — no overthinking, everything felt natural, just freedom.

Stéphane recorded the instrumentals first — drums and keys — and then I put on headphones and recorded whatever came spontaneously, instantly, without thinking. Sometimes it was just sounds or words that came out unconsciously.

We started with four songs, then decided to turn it into an album, and now, a year later, we’re on tour.

On stage, there’s room for improvisation, but there are also fixed sections where you can improvise for a few bars. It sits somewhere between free jazz and something more structured — closer to the discipline of pop music.

How was it working together as a group?

The music itself came together very easily — there was hardly any discussion. Everyone respected each other’s identity and space.

The mix was the most challenging part, especially since we worked with Russell Elevado, one of the best mixers in the world. That process involved a lot more back and forth, but it always led to the best possible result. It could be difficult at times, but in the end, it was always worth it.

Being part of a band makes things much lighter. You can share the pressure — it’s not all on your shoulders. It feels really good, especially when you have a strong emotional and musical connection.

What does a typical day on tour look for you?

We usually wake up and get off the tour bus — if we’re using one — and grab a coffee. I like to go for a jog or do some exercise, and sometimes we do that together.

Then it’s about looking forward to the day — lunch, dinner, and spending time together. We’ll play games like badminton or frisbee.

I also tend to create quite a lot on the road — I’ll take my computer and work on ideas, building things in my own space.

Touring can be demanding. How do you take care of your energy and mental space?

It’s important to get a good night’s sleep. I don’t drink or do drugs — I’ve been sober for the last three years. I also try to have meaningful conversations with my band members.

We’re a really close band. I always choose to work with people I genuinely like, so we can spend time together and connect — that’s really important.

If I had one tip for artists on tour, it’s this: it doesn’t have to be ‘sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll’. It’s still a job, so it’s important to stay healthy and keep your energy up. Otherwise, it becomes difficult to sustain this kind of work long term.

What’s the best piece of advice for musicians starting out?

Stay true to what you feel is right. Try to enjoy the process because that’s always the best part. The outcome is extra — that’s more about ego. If you enjoy the making of it, the art itself, then you’ve already succeeded.

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Selah Sue and The Gallands - Listen HERE

Selah Sue on Instagram

The Gallands on Instagram

EUROPEAN TOUR 2026
*Support by K.ZIA (selected dates)

May
09.05.26 – Jazz à Liège, Liège, BE
14.05.26 – Bitefartecafé, Belgrade, RS
15.05.26 – Sofia Live Club, Sofia, BG
25.05.26 – Progresja, Warsaw, PL
26.05.26 – Quantic, Bucharest, RO

June
24.06.26 – Niort Jazz Festival, Niort, FR
25.06.26 – TBA
28.06.26 – Tournai Jazz Festival, Tournai, BE

July
03.07.26 – TBA
04.07.26 – Musique Sous Les Étoiles, Bouc-Bel-Air, FR
11.07.26 – North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam, NL
13.07.26 – TBA
17.07.26 – Jazz à Sète, Sète, FR
21.07.26 – TBA
22.07.26 – Les Escales du Cargo, Arles, FR
25.07.26 – TBA

August
06.08.26 – TBA

September
04.09.26 – Jazz à La Villette, Paris, FR

SABRI on Sustainable Growth as an Artist, What I Feel Now and Performing on COLORS

Amsterdam-raised singer-songwriter SABRI grew up in a Moroccan-Algerian household where R&B, soul and hip-hop shaped her earliest musical language. Influenced from a young age by artists such as Lauryn Hill, Aaliyah and Mary J. Blige, she began writing songs as a way of understanding her emotions and building a voice of her own, one that now moves fluently between vulnerability, strength and introspection.

Over the past few years she has explored a broad palette of sounds across collaborations with Full Crate, Yung Bleu and Olamide, while steadily developing a songwriting style rooted in honesty and emotional clarity.

Following her debut EP Actually, I Can and a widely-received COLORS performance of Sold Myself For Love earlier this year, SABRI continues to deepen that narrative with What I Feel Now, a project centred on presence, self-awareness andthe complexity of relationships.

What is the story behind What I Feel Now?

‘What I Feel Now’ is really about owning your emotions and being fully present. The EP is rooted in honesty, feminine strength and clarity. It’s not about over-explaining or justifying anything but it’s about feeling something, naming it and letting it move through the music and lyrics. Each track explores a different part of that journey, from desire and release to anger, clarity and self-worth. It’s me being unapologetically me, in real-time.

Your COLORS performance of Sold Myself For Love placed the song in a stripped-back, highly visible context. How was that experience?

Performing on COLORS was intense in the best way. There’s no room to hide — it’s just you and the song. I loved how raw and exposed it felt because it forced me to really focus on the emotion behind the lyrics. It reminded me why I make music in the first place: to feel and to connect.

For artists trying to build sustainable careers, what is one misconception about growth or visibility you had to unlearn yourself?

I used to think that growth meant constant numbers, constant attention. But I realized real growth happens quietly. Learning your craft, figuring out the business side, protecting your energy. You can’t just show up and hope for it; you have to build it from the inside out.

Networking is often discussed in abstract terms. In practical terms, what has actually helped you build meaningful professional relationships?

For me it’s all about being real and showing up consistently. The best connections happen naturally. In the studio, at shows or even just in conversations. Not from forced “networking moments.” Listening, following through and genuinely caring about people goes way further than trying to impress them.

What part of the music-making process do you find most essential to protect, and which part challenges you the most?

I protect the writing stage the most. That’s where the song’s heart is. The part that challenges me is the business side: timing releases, strategizing, making decisions about what to put out. It’s tricky to stay true to the emotion while juggling all the practical stuff.

When you feel stuck creatively, what do you do first to move forward in a practical way, like changing your environment, switching tasks, voice notes, rewriting, or stepping away?

I usually try to change my environment. Going outside, cooking, walking around. Sometimes I record rough voice notes or switch to a different task. And if nothing works, I step away completely. Giving myself space almost always brings new ideas.

What is one decision you made behind the scenes that had a bigger impact on your career than any release or performance?

Back in 2019, I decided to take control of my music and share it on my own terms. I stopped waiting for someone else to validate me or guide me and started putting out music independently that felt true to me. That approach gave me a lot of confidence and clarity, and it eventually led to getting signed in 2024.

What are you listening to right now?

Recently, I’ve been listening a lot to rock classics like songs from Led Zeppelin and The Cranberries and also a lot of blues. More modern artists I listen to on a daily basis are BLK ODYSSY and Leon Thomas.

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Connect with SABRI on Instagram

What I Feel Now

Artist Manager Emily Hornbuckle on Artist Development and Long-Term Careers in Electronic Music

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.

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Emily Hornbuckle on Instagram | LinkedIn

Isis O’Regan on Music PR, Cultural Strategy and Building The Sugar Factory

Isis O’Regan is the founder of The Sugar Factory, a creative communications and strategy agency working across music, art, film and technology. Over the past five years, the agency has worked with clients including Tate Modern, Somerset House Studios, Warp Records, Erased Tapes, One Little Independent, AD 93, ICA London, London Short Film Festival and Scottish Queer Film Festival.

Founded with a focus on bespoke strategy and culturally engaged storytelling, The Sugar Factory operates across digital, print and broadcast PR, brand development, strategic consultancy, partnerships, crisis communications and cultural advocacy. Embedded within independent and experimental creative scenes, the agency is known for supporting artists, institutions and projects working across contemporary culture.

What is the role of the publicist? What’s a day like working at TSF?  

The role of the publicist in the creative sectors is essentially to be the guardian and amplifier of artistic expression. We are storytellers, and it’s our job to connect our clients' work and ideas with a variety of audiences and with as much exposure as possible. There isn’t really a one-size-fits-all approach as we work with record labels, cultural institutions, film festivals, brands, start-ups, and independent artists. Our idiosyncratic thread is quite simple; we support bold ideas that challenge convention. Pushing for positive change in the arts is a key pillar of The Sugar Factory’s work. Otherwise, what is the point? 

The landscape is ever-changing, so we have a Swiss army knife of skills, which mirrors the type of people we work with, too. We offer traditional media campaigns across digital, print, broadcast and social media.

As well as other essential elements to PR: identity development, crisis communications, partnerships, strategic consultancy, ambassador and influencer collaborations, plus content ideation and creation and editorial direction. We can help bring out key messaging and the visual and ideation that accompany any idea or project. I also host guest lectures and mentoring now and again, and have appeared on panel discussions for my insights.

Every day can be different depending on campaign cycles, but Lily and Jo, my fantastic colleagues, and I will always start the week by dissecting news and trends and forecasting for what we think is around the corner. A big bulk is the actual pitching to the media, and the pipeline for it to be published. It’s a very meeting-heavy and social career in general. A big perk of course is attending as much culture highlights as possible to stay in the know. It’s a dream job for some.

How did you decide when it was time to carve your own path and start The Sugar Factory?

I had been at a couple of great agencies before and carved out a particular niche representing boundary pushing artists, events and venues before I started The Sugar Factory in 2021.

I’m going to shout out Elspeth Merry, who runs The Artists’ Way Agency, for being instrumental in encouraging me to begin my own company. Having someone I looked up to giving me that nudge was needed. I wanted to keep growing in this area of multi-hyphate everything.

While I was on the phone with her, talking about dreams for my next steps, walking through London Fields, I coincidentally bumped into an instrumental player in the arts who I had worked with briefly years before. So, of course, I had to say I’m starting something exciting, and it led to them becoming one of my first clients at The Sugar Factory. It was a huge opportunity that solidified what I do and offer. Serendipity, in my opinion, can’t be ignored. 

There are clients I have been working with since my career in PR began, and they came along for the ride. They include Somerset House Studios (whom I love and are turning 10 this year!) and the iconic Warp Records.

I champion those who are steadfast in their craft and making a difference in the arts, whether in a particular genre or through new technologies. Is it trite to mention the zeitgeist? I don’t care, our clients are really shaping it. It’s special, and we take it seriously.

Our current projects include the Tate Modern’s 2026 Infinities Commission, Jenkin Van Zyl’s new exhibition Enclosure, james K on AD 93, Laura Misch on One Little Independent, a fun art discovery app called gowithYamo, plus some exciting projects to be announced soon. 

The name of the company comes from a beet factory that once stood in my hometown of Tuam, Co. Galway. I always loved the grittiness of something so industrial, making a saccharine product; I love dualities and contradictions. Apparently, when you’re standing near a sugar factory, and you stick your tongue out, you can taste the sugar on your tongue. Mysterious, omnipresent - like PR!

After an intense or difficult day, how do you properly switch off or reset?

I was actually diagnosed with an autoimmune disease recently, so downtime is a non-negotiable. I know I’m meant to say yoga, fresh air and the like, which is true! But a glass of red, a cig and chatting shite with a loved one has its own particular healing properties. Having my own artistic practice is probably the main thing that keeps me sane outside of any work stresses.

I write a bit, and I make soundscapes compositions, a mix of field recordings and synths. I am in love with a synth called the Motor Synth MKII - the inner mechanics are so noisy the wheels scream, creating these odd harmonics. It’s mental.

I’ve been hogging it at Glasgow’s Library of Synths. I’m a proud member! I adore radio as an outlet, and have a homophonic travelling series called Éisteacht Aisteach, which means “weird listen” in Irish. Resident Advisor said it’s sometimes eerie, sometimes sensual, and that’d be spot on. It’s R&D for my own soundscapes; it might be based around a specific theme or a text.

What’s something you wish someone had told you earlier about sustaining a long-term career in music and culture?

Get a good accountant, be financially literate, set your rates and boundaries, and don’t let anyone take the piss.

What are you listening or reading (or both) to at the moment?

Reading: Cronenberg on Cronenberg by Chris Rodley. I’m a big fan. Also constantly dipping in and out of Clarise Lispector's Aqua Viva - one of the most incredible books I’ve been gifted. It’s a sliver of a book, but it’s taking me a while to get through it; it causes me to hardcore daydream. Not in a bad way, it’s just that hypnotising with all its lust and lunacy. Audio book: Revelations: a warts and all mammoth of an autobiographical account of Francis Bacon’s life. Salacious, too. 

Listening:  Streaming on repeat: Magnetism by Drew McDowell and Kali Malone, Lotto by They are Gutting a Body of Water and Neight Riegn by Aroof Aftab 

Physical: have a gorgeous compilation on Somewhere Press titled The Black Hill, The Glass Sky. I love a tape. Here’s my latest show on Clyde Built, the theme’s Savage Bunnies inspired by Sylvia Plath’s Rabbit Catcher.

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Isis O'Regan on Instagram | The Sugar Factory Website

shesaid.so 2025 Recap

In 2025, shesaid.so brought together editorial features, educational sessions, live gatherings and artist-focused opportunities that supported music creators and professionals across different stages of their careers. Much of our work focused on opening up industry knowledge; breaking down music-business topics, highlighting emerging trends and sharing practical tools for artist visibility. This ran alongside our weekly industry roundups and bi-weekly newsletter, which continued to spotlight career resources, funding opportunities, events and wider community news.

Our Ask Me Anything series remained a central part of this work. Across 11 sessions, we hosted guests from UMG, Sony Music Publishing, Splice, the Music Managers Forum, PRS Foundation, terrible* merch, Platform13 and Epidemic Sound, offering direct insight into different areas of the industry and opening selected sessions to wider audiences.

Ballantine’s True Music Fund powered by shesaid.so supported artists and organisers internationally through grants, mentorship and visibility, with this year’s fund distributing £100,000 across eight recipients.

We also delivered two editions of (micro) MEETSSS in Bucharest and London, presented with the Vans Checkerboard Fund at Tides Foundation and supported by AlphaTheta, Native Instruments and local partners. Designed as a cultural exchange between the Romanian and UK music communities, each edition combined live events with studio visits, conversations and creative sessions, creating space for knowledge sharing and cross-scene collaboration.

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shesaid.so Chapters

shesaid.so Amsterdam

The chapter focused on creating space for people working in music to connect, learn and slow down — without pressure, hierarchy or gatekeeping. Across panels, trainings, mentorship moments and informal drinks, the aim stayed consistent: practical support, honest conversations and access.

January:

The year opened by addressing the realities of working in music.

• How to Create Healthier Habits in Nutrition, Sleep, Exercise & Relaxation focused on burnout prevention and sustainable routines.

• At ESNS, Confident and How the FemTech Movement is Shaping the Music Business explored confidence, bias and innovation from lived, professional perspectives rather than theory.

February:

• Borrel & Headshots offered something simple but useful: space to meet, talk and leave with a professional headshot.

• With support from Downtown Music, events stayed free — a deliberate choice to keep access open.

Spring:

• Safety Net (May) created room for honest discussion around safer spaces in music, grounded in real experiences rather than surface-level policy talk.

• Later in the year, Unconscious Bias Training paired participants across genders, shifting the focus from individual intention to shared responsibility.

Summer: Staying Connected

• Summer Solstice Drinks were exactly that — a chance to step out of work mode, reconnect and remind ourselves that community doesn’t always need an agenda.

Autumn: ADE 2025

October centred around Amsterdam Dance Event.

• we.grow at ADE continued the mentorship programme in collaboration with ADE Lab.

• On 22 October, shesaid.so hosted a full day at ADE Lab Village (Mossel & Gin), bringing together:

  • A clear breakdown of music rights with Laura van Dam & VE/RA

  • A practical session on freelance sustainability with The Art of the Hustle

  • A panel on balancing creativity and business without losing yourself

  • A content hub for real-time storytelling

  • Networking drinks that actually felt welcoming

• The day closed with ADE Networking Drinks, connecting local and international members in a relaxed setting.

December:

• End of Year Drinks

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shesaid.so Brighton

In 2025, shesaid.so Brighton focused on a small number of well-paced, in-person moments centred on connection, reflection and practical exchange.

The year began in January with the return of the Vision Board Session at Brighton Beach House. The session offered members time and space to think through goals and intentions for the year ahead, while meeting other local music professionals in a relaxed setting.

In May, the Brighton chapter joined Brighton Music Conference with two key activations. The annual Breakfast Club took place at The Lazy Fin on Brighton seafront, bringing together shesaid.so members, BMC delegates and local industry workers for informal networking. Free professional headshots were available on site, supported by Downtown Music.

The following day, shesaid.so hosted the panel “Beyond the Buzzword: Why Community is Essential in the Music Industry”, focusing on what community actually looks like beyond marketing language, and how meaningful connections are built and sustained in today’s music industry.

Across the year, the Brighton chapter kept things intentional, local and people-led.

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shesaid.so Finland

Panels, conferences & public conversations

• MARS Festival / MARS Conference (Seinäjoki, Finland in February 2025)

shesaid.so Finland hosted a panel titled EpicFail, focusing on making mistakes, learning from failure, vulnerability and growth in music industry careers.

Workshops & community events

• Women Behind the Mics x Sony Music Finland

Held at Sony Music Finland’s offices. A large-scale workshop with approximately 60 participants from across the music industry, focused on women and non-binary professionals.

The event included a big workshop (Vision board: Music industry in 2035), a catering sponsor from Joe & Juice, drinks from Vitamin Well, and career talks from:

– Jannika Nykvist, A&R Manager, Sony Music Finland

– Annika Oksanen, Head of Agency/Promoter, Live Nation Finland 

• Music x Media Conference (Tampere, Finland in September 2025)

Panel titled “Rules of Equality in the Music Industry: Who Gets Access, Who Is Excluded?”, discussing power, power dynamics and allyship in the music industry, and how to actively work towards more equitable structures.

• Music x Media: Industry Awards (Tampere, Finland in September 2025)

Enjoyed drinks and got together with our community Members before the gala.

• shesaid.so Finland x Moninainen Musiikkiala Retreat

A retreat at Villa Vikan (Raasepori) focused on wellbeing, sustainability, peer support and long-term careers in the music industry, bringing together music creators and professionals from diverse backgrounds. We got a grant of 3000€ from MES (Musiikin edistämmisäätiö in the end of Spring 2025 that we used for this for example.)

End-of-year gathering

• shesaid.so Finland Holiday / Christmas Mingle

A relaxed community event with drinks, pizza and gingerbread. Guests were invited to share their wishes for the music industry in 2026, collected symbolically during the evening.

DJ set by Reenz, who was also part of the Flotilla group (Finland, 2025).

International & advocacy work

• Music Ambassadors Tour 2025 – Ukraine

Maiju Talvisto represented shesaid.so Finland in the Music Ambassadors Tour 2025, visiting Kyiv and engaging with Ukrainian music industry professionals, cultural initiatives, radio stations, art and technology spaces, as well as an art school.

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shesaid.so France

January 2025

• 30 Jan — Vision Board Session
  Format: Workshop
  Location: Brighton Beach House (Rock Room), Brighton

February 2025

• 19 Feb, 19:30 — Meet-up shesaid.so France x Rappeuses en liberté
  Format: Meet-up + speed-meeting
  Location: FGO-Barbara
  Partners: Rappeuses en liberté, Fédérap
  Notes:

  • Speed-meeting with rap artists (including artists from the programme)

  • Informal networking

  • In mixité choisie

  • Free, registration required

• February (date TBC) — Masterclass #1 – Gagnons du pouvoir, parlons de légitimité
  Format: Online masterclass
  Location: Online (visio / Discord)

March 2025

• 13 Mar, 12:30–13:30 — Masterclass #2 avec Camille Jamet (@camille.music.coach)
  Format: Online masterclass
  Location: Online (Discord)
  Theme: Accompagnement des artistes et sentiment de légitimité
  Access: Free, members only, mixité choisie

• 31 Mar, 19:00–20:00 — Masterclass #3 avec Sharouh
  Format: Online masterclass
  Location: Online (Discord)

April 2025

• 14 Apr, 19:00–20:00 — Masterclass #4 avec Pauline Le Caignec (@pauline_kcidy)
  Format: Online masterclass
  Location: Online (Discord)

May 2025

• 6 May, 18:30 — Meet-up shesaid.so Lyon
  Format: Meet-up (apéritif)
  Location: Le Périscope, Lyon

• 24 May, from 14:00 — Majeur·e·s fête ses 3 ans
  Format: Celebration / workshops
  Location: Pannonica, Nantes
  Notes:

  • Matri Music Party

  • Participatory workshop on musical matrimony

  • Blind test + karaoke

• 27 May, 17:30 — Session Majeur·e·s IRL
  Format: Networking session
  Location: La Grenze, Strasbourg
  Access: Free (with pass / concert ticket)

• 28 May, 09:30 — Workshop: Générations au travail
  Format: Workshop
  Location: Espace K, Strasbourg

June 2025

• 2 Jun — Table ronde SHINE: Sexisme et Racismes
  Format: Panel discussion
  Location: La Cité Audacieuse, Paris
  Partners: La Petite Égalité, HF Île-de-France

• 17 Jun — Meet-up shesaid.so Angers
  Format: Meet-up
  Location: Angers
  Notes: Organised by the Nantes antenna, mixité choisie

• 19 Jun — Masterclass #5
  Format: Online masterclass
  Location: Online
  Notes: Part of the 2025 masterclass programme

• 20 Jun — Meet-up Saint-Leu
  Format: Meet-up
  Location: Saint-Leu, La Réunion

September 2025

• 6 Sep — La Réunion — Rencontre shesaid.so France
  Format: Meet-up
  Location: La Réunion

• 16 Sep — Congrès du SMA
  Format: Conference participation
  Location: Rouen
  Notes: shesaid.so France presence

• 20 Sep — Plus jamais silencieuses
  Format: Table ronde
  Location: Paris
  Notes: Linked to equality and feminist programming themes

October 2025

• 9 Oct — Masterclass #7 avec Mélanie Gourvès
  Format: Online masterclass
  Location: Online
  Theme: Féminisme et industrie musicale

• 10 Oct — Meet-up shesaid.so Lyon
  Format: Meet-up
  Location: Lyon

• 17 Oct — Speed-meeting: Métiers qui recrutent
  Format: Speed-meeting
  Location: MaMA Music & Convention

November 2025

• 13 Nov, 12:30 — Masterclass avec Chloé Nataf
  Format: Online masterclass
  Location: Online
  Theme: Légitimité

• 18 Nov — Table ronde: Les addictions dans le secteur musical
  Format: Panel discussion
  Location: Pan Piper, Paris
  Partner: Fédéchanson

• 21 Nov, 15:00–23:00 — Artistes, gagnons du pouvoir, parlons de légitimité
  Format: Full-day event
  Location: Canal 93, Bobigny
  Partners: MaAD93, Canal 93

December 2025

• 10 Dec — Meet-up shesaid.so Lyon
  Format: Meet-up
  Location: Lyon

• 17 Dec, 18:30 — Table ronde: Quels outils pour davantage d’égalité sur les plateaux ?
  Format: Panel discussion
  Location: FGO-Barbara, Paris
  Partner: RIF

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shesaid.so Portugal

In 2025, our mission evolved beyond visibility to focus on the sustainable transformation of the music industry. By centering female and gender-dissident voices on global stages and prioritizing the mental well-being of our community, amplifying education opportunities, presence at international festivals, and safe spaces for connection through intentional visibility and structural support.

Key Impact Pillars

• Educational Foundation: Our ongoing scholarship partnership with Arda Academy for the 2025/2026 term continues to bridge the technical gap, ensuring that gender-fluid and female participants have the mastery required to dominate the technical side of the industry.

• Industry Leadership & Thought: highlighting the participation at Boom Festival's Liminal Village, we integrated dedicated panels and workshops focused on mental health and creative processes. By providing tools for resilience and emotional regulation, we moved the conversation from "grind culture" toward a healthier, more sustainable career model for marginalized creators

• Community & Safer Spaces: Our presence at MIL Festival with Axé Festival (CA/BR) focused on the power of the collective. Through the "Affinity Circle," we established a sanctuary for union and strength, proving that professional growth in the music business is linked to emotional support and communal solidarity.

Outcome

The result of these combined efforts is a more interconnected and resilient network of non-conforming professionals (±260 community members). We have successfully moved the needle from simple representation toward a model of sustained empowerment, ensuring that our community is not just present in the industry, but leading it.

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shesaid.so Sweden

• 30 Jan – 23 Feb — Annele-stipendiet 2025: Open Call
  Format: Grant / scholarship application
  Target group: Women creatives aged 18–35 (songwriters, producers, musicians, vocalists)
  Amount: 50,000 SEK
  Website: annelestipendiet.se

• 6–8 Feb — Folk & Kultur
  Format: Conference participation / exhibition stand
  Location: Eskilstuna
  Notes:

  • shesaid.so Sweden present as part of N.O.R.M – Nätverket Organisationer för en Rättvis Musikbransch

  • On site with organisations including Keychange, Musikcentrum Öst, Musikerförbundets Kvinnokommitté

  • Focus on equality, safety and working conditions in the music industry

March 2025

• 1 Mar, 18:00 — Debaser Alternative: Saga Faye & Venus Anon
  Format: Concert recommendation / member guest list
  Location: Bar Brooklyn, Stockholm

• 11 Apr, 10:00–12:00 — Musiksverige Online Seminar: Inkluderande musikbransch
  Format: Online seminar
  Location: Online
  Notes:

  • Presentation of Musiksveriges perspective survey on equality and inclusion

  • Speakers and panellists from IFPI Sweden, SAMI, STIM, Sony Music Publishing, CMDS

  • Moderator: Elisabet Widlund Fornelius (Noi PR)

• 8 May — Spring Mingle & Networking Morning
  Format: Networking workshop + inspiration talk
  Location: STIM Music Room, Stockholm
  Programme:

  • Networking workshop with Undulate Lee (shesaid.so Sweden)

  • Talk on authentic leadership with Cecilia Falk (Falkflow)
    Notes: Morning event, RSVP via bio

Ongoing / Online (2025)

• Webinar recommendation: “How to Produce like Sabrina Carpenter”
  Format: Online beginner production workshop
  Part of: Female Songwriters Day 2025
  Led by: Xylo Aria (Music Production for Women)
  Platform: femalesongwritersday.com

Network & Partnerships (2025)

• shesaid.so Sweden is part of N.O.R.M – För en rättvis musikbransch

• Ongoing collaboration and presence alongside Swedish music-industry organisations working on equality, inclusion and structural change

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shesaid.so Global

January 2025

Editorials

Artist Spotlight: BINA
A cinematic introduction to BINA’s soulful world and creative journey.
Read more

Music Insider: Iona Thomas
Sharing careers and opportunities in electronic music with Doors Open and Resident Advisor.
Read more

Artist Spotlight: Fi McCluskey
Raising awareness around postnatal depression through music.
Read more

Short Video: Suzi Analogue
A visual feature with the artist, songwriter and producer.
Watch here

Music Insider: Lucy Micheal
Breaking into music PR and promotion at Tru Thoughts.
Read more

Music Insider: Nikki Silva
From film to music: NYC multidisciplinary artist and producer Nikki Silva.
Read more

Day in the Life: Chinese American Bear
Inside the world of the American-Chinese Mando-English pop duo.
Watch here

Up Next: TRACE
Entering TRACE’s transgressive pop universe and upcoming album T4TEARS.
Read more

Grants/Mentoring

Ballantine’s True Music Fund ‘25 powered by shesaid.so
8 grants between £5k-30k
Explore here

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February 2025

Editorials

Artist Spotlight (Video): Winny
A visual introduction to the artist’s sonic world.
Watch here

Day in the Life: Jazzie Young
Inside the daily rhythm of artist and songwriter Jazzie Young.
Watch here

Artist Spotlight: Gayance
On her new project and signing to Tru Thoughts.
Read more

Member Spotlight: Lucki Price
Artist and Global Copyright Coordinator at Sony Music Publishing.
Read more

Ballantine’s True Music Fund: Feminine Hi-Fi
Past winners share application and success tips.
Read more

ADE 2024 Throwback: Phiona Okumu
Spotify’s Head of Music for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Watch here

AMA

Ask Me Anything: Music Managers Forum
Learn more

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March 2025

AMA

Ask Me Anything: Epidemic Sound
With the Epidemic Sound team and board members.
Register here

Editorials

International Women’s Day 2025
Featuring Alba Blasi, BISHI, Dalia Ganz, Nada Alhelabi and Yewi Omo.
Read more

Music Insider: Olivia Shalhoup
Building artist visibility through Amethyst Collab.
Read more

Artist Spotlight: Empara Mi
From film scores to new album Monsters & Masochists.
Read more

Day in the Life: Dinna Summer
Artist, singer and promoter at work.
Watch here

Music Insider: Mariesa Stevens & Emma Hoser
Inside Liaison Artists with the Partner & VP and Senior Agent.
Read more

Member Spotlight: Eb Rebel
From law school to independent artist.
Read more

Artist Spotlight: MiDi KwaKwa
Read more

Music Insider: Saskhia Menendez
Founder of The Trans Charter for the Music Industry.
Read more

Queer Capita Pledge
Explore here

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April 2025

AMA

AMA About Sync with Angela Mastronardi (Sony Music Publishing)

Editorials

Artist Spotlight: NYX
London-based vocal electronic collective.
Read more

Artist Spotlight: Ray Lozano
Read more

Artist Spotlight: Nadia Struiwigh
Tresor Berlin resident DJ and producer.
Read more

Trans & Ally Resource Hub
Explore here

Music Insider: Amanda Barker
Day-to-day and tour manager for Becky Hill.
Read more

Up Next: Neva Demure
Read more

Artist Spotlight: KARABA
Read more

Breaking Down the Track: 98 Poly
DIY sound breakdown and Q&A.
Read more

Member Spotlight: Camille Guitteau
Co-founder of Bye Bye Plastic Foundation.
Read more

Artist Spotlight: ILĀ
Read more

Music Insider: Stacey “Hotwaxx” Hale
Read more

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May 2025

Editorials

Artist Spotlight: MYCHELLE
From busking to 25m streams and debut album Good Day.
Read more

Music Insider: Ana Marković
International Marketing Manager at EXIT Festival.
Read more

Up Next: Cydnee With a C
Read more

Music Insider: Ebonie Smith
Producer, engineer and Gender Amplified co-founder.
Read more

Artist Spotlight: Nia Chennai
Read more

Artist Spotlight: Dornika
Iranian-American pop artist turning heads with Baggy Jeans.
Read more

Video Q&A: Dinamiin
Palestinian artist in conversation.
Watch here

Member Spotlight: Lois Hayes
From global campaigns to sustainable creativity.
Read more

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June 2025

AMA

Ask Me Anything: Getting Your First Job at a Major
With Emma Brazeau (Verve Label Group – UMG).

In-Person Events

• (micro) MEETSSS Bucharest 2025
  With Alina Eremia, Linda Ayoola, Yewi Omo and Lisa Young In.
  Explore here

• Anti Social NYC Event/Panel
  

Editorials

Video Q&A: Karma Barghothi
Jerusalem-based artist.
Watch here

Music Insider: Ms Mavy
Founder of Afroplug.
Read more

shesaid.so Pride Guide 2025
Read more

Refugee Week 2025
Spotlighting artists with refugee and migrant roots.
Read more

Music Insider: Neijah Lanae & Arniesha Williams
Read more

Artist Spotlight: Iris Gold
Read more

Member Spotlight: Ruth Daniel
CEO & Artistic Director, In Place of War.
Read more

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July 2025

AMA

• Ask Me Anything: PRS Foundation Grants With Tilly Fletcher.

• Ask Me Anything: Diversifying Artist Revenue with Merch
  With Tersha Willis (terrible*).

Editorials

Artist Spotlight: Gabriella Bongo
Hospital Records artist on Breathe and mentorship.
Read more

Artist Spotlight: Nat Oaks
Read more

Music Insider: Dina LaPolt
Street-smart lessons from the entertainment lawyer.
Read more

Up Next: Girl Group
DIY feminist pop backed by Elton John.
Read more

Music Insider: Leila Fataar
Culture-led brands and business transformation.
Read more

Member Spotlight: Rufy Ghazi
Designing the future of music tech.
Read more

Music Insider: Annie Mac & Jayda G
Motherhood, DJing and club culture.
Read more

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August 2025

Editorials

Artist Spotlight: Leah Cleaver
Feminist alt-pop and taking up space.
Read more

Music Insider: Izzy Parrell
How to pitch music that stands out on DSPs.
Read more

Artist Spotlight: Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
On modular synths and creative listening.
Read more

Day in the Life + Q&A: cami bear
Read more

Sisu Collective
Inclusive DJ culture and community-driven dancefloors.
Read more

Member Spotlight: Acantha Lang
Grammy-nominated soul artist on sustainability.
Read more

Video Q&A: Linda Ayoola
Global Head of Music, Platoon (Apple).
Watch here

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September 2025

AMA

• Ask Me Anything: Creative Consistency & Partnerships
  With Tasya Rifalia (Splice).

Editorials

Artist Spotlight: Nectar Woode
Read more

Music Insider: Julia Afanasieva
Building a fairer digital music store with Volumo.
Read more

Artist Spotlight: Guchi
From viral breakthrough to 400m streams.
Read more

Video Q&A: Yewi Omo
Watch here

Music Insider: Kerry O’Brien
Founder of the Young Urban Arts Foundation.
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Artist Spotlight: Kelli-Leigh
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Member Spotlight: Johanna Pustoc’h
Senior Manager, Streaming International at BMG.
Read more

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October 2025

AMA

• Ask Me Anything: The Business of Brand Partnerships
  With Leila Fataar.

In-Person Event

• (micro) MEETSSS London 2025
  With DJ MĂ-TA, Admina & Evelina.
  Explore Here

Editorials

Artist Spotlight: MEGA
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Artist Spotlight: Hatis Noit
Read more

Music Insider: RuthAnne
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Artist Spotlight: Perera Elsewhere
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Day in the Life + Q&A: Marieme
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Member Spotlight: A Vibe Called B
Read more

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November 2025

AMA

• Ask Me Anything: The MENA Music Evolution
  With Nada Alhelabi (MDLBEAST Foundation).

Editorials

Video Q&A: Lisa Young In
Watch here

Music Insider: The BLK LT$
Read more

Artist Spotlight: Kah-Lo
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Music Insider: Doe Paoro
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Artist Spotlight: Sophia Thakur
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Member Spotlight: Jenn Barker
Read more

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December 2025

Online Workshop

• Intro to Orchestral Instruments for Electronic Artists
  With composer and producer Helen Noir.

Editorials

Music Insider: Danielle Udogaranya
Founder & CEO of EBONIX.
Read more

Music Insider: Daphne Oram’s Centenary with Oram Trust, Nwando Ebizie, Lola de la Mata & afromerm
Read more

Artist Spotlight: BODUR
Read more

Music Insider: Mahnoor Hussain
On culture-led brand partnerships and SUP SUPPER CLUB.
Read more

Artist Spotlight: Stacey Ryan

500M-Stream Breakthrough, Debut Album ‘Blessing in Disguise’ and Her Advice for Emerging Artists

Read more

Up Next: FACTORY

The Brooklyn Collective Built on Friendship and a DIY Ethos

Read more

39 Alpha, 39 Bravo: The Sound of Detention’s Economies

Interview with Anna De Mutiis and Pilo Moreno

Trigger warning: This interview discusses immigration detention, mental health distress, psychological abuse, and systemic violence.

39 Alpha, 39 Bravo – The Sound of Detention’s Economies is an audio work by Earrational Measures, co-created by artist-researcher Anna De Mutiis and musician and expert-by-experience Pilo Moreno. The piece uses data sonification to trace the economies of profit and exploitation inside Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre across a single 24-hour cycle in 2016, the year Moreno was detained there for over five months.

Built from financial data, first-person narration, and sound design, the work renders audible the daily income of three actors within the detention system: a company director, a custody officer, and a detained worker. By compressing one day into a four-minute loop, the track exposes extreme income disparities while reflecting the monotony, disorientation, and loss of agency that define life in indefinite immigration detention. Sound choices are led by lived experience, transforming statistics into rhythm, texture, and repetition.

The project emerges from a long-term collaboration between De Mutiis and Moreno, rooted in music workshops, research, and prior audio work addressing detention, mental health, and migration. It also responds to the opacity surrounding the financial structures of privately run immigration removal centres, where commercial confidentiality often shields profit from scrutiny. 39 Alpha, 39 Bravo proposes sound as a political and analytical tool: one that centres experts by experience and invites listeners to engage emotionally and critically with data that is usually abstracted or obscured.

Following a £70 million refurbishment, Campsfield House reopened on 3 December 2025 under a new six-year contract awarded to MITIE Care & Custody, the same company that managed the centre prior to its closure. The interview below accompanies the release of 39 Alpha, 39 Bravo and appears exactly as provided by the artists, without edits or paraphrasing.

How did your respective backgrounds and lived experiences shape the conception of 39 Alpha, 39 Bravo?

Pilo and I met inside an Immigration Removal Centre (IRC), in Campsfield House in 2016. I was delivering a music workshop and he was in the workshop, steady hands moving on the frets of a bass guitar I just brought in the room a few minutes earlier.

Pilo has always been playing different instruments since childhood and he moved across continents thanks to music and music projects; I have always been interested in how music shapes identities and understanding of the world and, after dedicating a few years of my studies to anthropology of music, I went back to playing live and I started working as a music workshop facilitator.

Anna De Mutiis

We can then say that music, migration and social justice issues have been constants in our friendship and artistic collaboration, as well as part of our life trajectories. Once released from Campsfield House, Pilo and I explored different ways of addressing the topic of detention through music and sound (resulting in a live music band, and the creation of a podcast about life in detention with its lasting mental health impacts on post-detention life).

Over the years, we kept returning to an overlooked topic: the financial gains that private corporations extract from people's detention.

This is why we embarked on this new project based on data-sonification.

Having spent five months detained, Pilo witnessed firsthand the economies governing these centres, but getting a clear picture with evidence proved difficult. He wanted to expose both the complexities of life inside and the inhumane treatment enabled by profit-driven companies with state complicity.

For Pilo, talking about his detention has always been difficult yet necessary—a way to make sense of such a traumatic experience. This new project offered him a way to engage people in this conversation while also transforming his experience into something meaningful and creative through an artform he masters: music.

My background in Migration and Diaspora Studies made me aware of how academic and journalistic language often fails to centre the perspectives of experts by experience when addressing social justice issues. My time leading music workshops in detention centres left me equally frustrated with mainstream media's decades-old habit of framing migrants as either criminals or objects of pity. We experimented with sound as a way to transform sterile statistics and technical jargon into something engaging and accessible. This approach allows people with lived experience to become the data analysts and commentators themselves—a powerful shift from mainstream media's reliance on external experts.

The piece follows a single day inside Campsfield House IRC. Why was it important to focus on a 24-hour cycle, and what does that repetition say about daily life in detention?

Photo credit: “Campsfield house seen through the fence” by Pierre Marshall, CC BY 2.0.

Once we selected our data—comparing the income of three different actors within the centre—and settled on a four-minute track for focused listening, we faced a challenge. The director's income was so much higher than the others that we needed to find the right timeframe (a day, a month, a year?) to make the disparity audible and comprehensible. One day condensed in four minutes was the best choice for us to be able to hear this disparity, with £1 earned by the director occurring every 0.3 seconds. Ultimately, in the first step of the composition, we let the data drive the music rather than imposing our own artistic preferences.

However, the choice of a 24-hour cycle served multiple purposes beyond the practical. It allowed us to capture the repetitiveness and lack of agency that defines life in detention—a monotony that takes an extreme toll on mental health and contributes to the wider process of dehumanisation that’s intrinsic in this place. The four-minute piece can be played in an infinite loop, with listeners able to enter at any point, mirroring how each day in detention bleeds into the next. This reflects the warped sense of time generated by dull repetition, which can lead to profound disorientation and hopelessness, making it nearly impossible to maintain a sense of self or envision a future beyond those walls.

The UK is the only country in Europe, and one of the few worldwide, that permits indefinite immigration detention. Waiting becomes a form of control designed to break down people's capacity and willingness to fight their cases. Detainees often feel powerless—stuck in limbo—not knowing when their lawyer will respond, whether they'll get a bail hearing, or if a deportation order will arrive first. Daily activities repeat at identical times, marking an endless loop where, as the track's ending lyrics state, “you don't know if it's the same day or a different day.”

You use the daily income of people working and detained at Campsfield House as a sonic element in the piece. How did you choose those figures, and how did they become sound?

Why these figures:

Given the extensive data we had collected in our research, we wanted to shed some light on the different layers of exploitation at stake in IRCs and the narratives and processes that enable this exploitation to happen, both at a macro and micro level. We noticed that, in the year Pilo was detained—2016—the income of the highest paid director of the company managing the IRC was extremely high. We thought that the best way to show how this profit is generated was to compare the income of three different roles within the detention centre's hierarchy, revealing how a process of accumulation by dispossession occurs on a systemic level.

Hearing the inequalities of income between the company’s director and a working detainee (roughly £700 vs £7 in one day) serves as a background for stories of profit generated through inadequate basic provisions (the 5 cm mattress, the iron bed, the unhealthy blue juice), as well as stories of detainees paid better rates while exploited by illegal syndicates operating outside detention.

Moreover, we wanted to also include custody officers in this exploitative system. Custody officers employed by private corporations are often paid very low wages and operate with insufficient training to deal with the diverse population and the acute mental health distress episodes that can occur inside IRCs. They are thus caught in between this system of exploitation, on one hand serving it, while on the other being underpaid and thus exploited by the same system they are serving.

We hoped that these stark numerical contrasts would speak for themselves through the sound chosen.

How they became specific sounds:

Given his personal experience and relation with the context of detention, Pilo took on the task of choosing which sounds he would consider more appropriate to associate with certain data. The sound associated with the custody officer making £1 is a sound that evokes the sound of videogame’s character Mario Bros when collecting a coin. This is a reference to the custody officer being part of a system for which you must work hard to get just one coin (a low wage), while at the same time having to comply with the rules of the game.

The sound associated with a detainee earning £1 (corresponding to 1 hour of work) is the sound of chains moving on the floor. Pilo chose this sound because this sound can be very similar to the sound of a bunch of coins falling on the ground. He argues that, in his experience, as you don’t know your release or deportation date, you might try to get a job to make some money inside the centre, but in this way the work chains you to that place, to that whole system. This choice of sound is for him a way to ask the question: when you earn £1 inside an IRC after one hour of menial duties work, is it money or is it chains?

Finally, given that the sound of the earning of the company director occurs too often to keep track of it (becoming the hammering kick drum sound persistent throughout the whole track), we decided to add a reminder every time the director would make £100. Pilo chose the sound of a whip with a long reverb tail. Hinting at the idea of a recurring and ever-evolving form of modern-day slavery, this clearly addresses issues of racial capitalism and accumulation by dispossession that informs the border control industry.

Pilo Moreno

What do you hope listeners take away from hearing exploitation rendered this way, rather than explained through words or statistics?

Statistics can be pretty dry, and words often come loaded with complicated baggage. Using sound and music to address this issue engages the more emotional, visceral side of the listener.

Music and sound design allowed us to convey emotions from our conversations about life inside detention that would be impossible to express in words. We used specific effects such as noises, delays, and echoes to evoke these haunting emotions.

Borrowing from sociologist Avery Gordon’s concept of haunting as “the screaming presence of that which appears not to be present”, these effects aim to sonically include all those presences that cannot be grasped, fully understood, or explained, yet linger and influence our past, present, and futures—both individually and collectively.

The tail of a scattered echo of a pigeon’s flapping wings on a roof, inhabiting unfamiliar frequencies, can sonically testify to all those ‘leftovers’ never accounted for in reports, statistics, or narrative stories. In a way, our experiment was to allow the audience to listen to these ghosts and include them in the conversation.

In a recent listening session, someone mentioned they had read many reports on exploitation inside detention, but it was only when hearing the stark income disparity juxtaposed with stories of detainees paid better by illegal syndicates outside detention than by the system inside, that it truly hit them. The music spoke to their gut in a way the reports never had—bypassing rational analysis to land somewhere deeper.

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After a £70 million refurbishment, Campsfield House has been reopened on the 3rd of December 2025 by the current government, who awarded a six-year contract to the same company that was managing the centre when it closed, MITIE Care & Custody.

For more info and to support its closure visit the Coalition to close Campsfield website HERE.

To support people detained in IRCs please consider endorsing the work of Bail for Immigration

Detainees.

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The 10 minutes track, released under the collective name ‘Earrational Measures’ and available to listen HERE, is accompanied by a short introduction explaining the data-sonification process, as well as the rationale behind the sound design.

For further discussion or to enquire about possible collaborations, please get in touch at earrationalmeasures@protonmail.com.

Credits

- Pilo Moreno: voice, bass, data sound assignment, additional synths

- Arturo Moreno: synths

- Anna De Mutiis: data-sonification, production, arrangements, sound design, initial narration

- Mixed by Anna De Mutiis

- Mastered by Ahmed Rezaie

- Cover art: Anna De Mutiis

- Visual Identity: Benedeserap

Pilo Moreno on Instagram & Earrational Measures

FACTORY: The Brooklyn Collective Built on Friendship and a DIY Ethos

FACTORY is a self-produced, self-written, self-engineered collective formed by Halima, Von, Murielle, and Sophie Hintze; four artists who met at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute and turned nearly a decade of friendship into a creative engine. What began as weekly DIY workshops in their Brooklyn apartments evolved into a shared practice rooted in autonomy, experimentation, and community.

Their first songs emerged organically from those sessions, revealing a chemistry that cuts across their distinct solo careers.

Today, FACTORY operates as a boundary-pushing unit making club-ready music shaped by personal storytelling, collaboration, and a refusal to follow industry rules.

FACTORY is self-produced, self-managed, self-engineered. What made you want to form FACTORY together?

Years ago we would meet every Monday for a self run workshop where we acted as interchangeable parts of each other’s teams for our solo artist projects. Whether it was mixing notes, PR outreach or photo edits, we would show up to help each other, and called those sessions FACTORY.

As four completely different artists with really different sonic identities, we hadn’t considered making music as one unit. But after writing together on a whim it was too undeniable for us not to lean in. That was 3 years ago. Now FACTORY has really become its own name as one collective. 

What tools, platforms, or systems have been game-changers for you in keeping FACTORY running smoothly?

Good comms!!! Being able to communicate directly or attune to different types communication has been so key for us since we're all just really different people with different processes. We have so many group chats to keep all of our conversations and assets organized and use a lot of different organizational/file management tools, but really without good communication none of that solves anything anyways. 

 
Each of your first three releases shows a different side of FACTORY. Which track do you think best introduces who you are as a collective?

Honestly they all kind of encompass our collective breadth, which is important to us. BLOODLINE is a more chill, driving with the windows down kind of song. STICKY TONGUE is more of a charged anthem and BBH is a deep, sexy club track. They all introduce us as what we are: 4 multi hyphenates navigating friendship, career, love and the future. 

What’s one mistake you see new artists make again and again, and how would you avoid it?

Not trusting yourself. Right now especially the comparison game is so tempting. It’s easy to judge yourself or judge whatever’s happening next to you but that’s not actually ever productive. It sounds so simple but it’s so important to really just trust yourself and trust your own timing. Everyone’s lane is their own, everyone’s journey is their own. There’s actually a lot of peace and stability in that. 

What’s one overlooked skill that every artist should learn early on?

How to self regulate. Taking care of yourself, physically & mentally, isn’t overrated. It’s actually vital to having any type of sustainable career in this industry. Drink water, lean on your friends, go dancing, journal, take time for yourself. Learning how to regulate and care for yourself is never a waste of time, it’s a necessity. 

What are you listening to at the moment?

New releases by Halima & Sophie Hintze.

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Follow FACTORY Spotify | YouTube | Instagram 

Stacey Ryan’s 500M-Stream Breakthrough, Debut Album 'Blessing in Disguise' and Her Advice for Emerging Artists

Stacey Ryan has spent the past few years reshaping the edges of pop-soul, weaving her jazz training into a catalogue that first took shape online and has since grown far beyond it. She broke through in 2022 with “Don’t Text Me When You’re Drunk,” the collaboration with Zai1k that became one of TikTok’s biggest trends of the year. “Fall in Love Alone” followed, turning into a major hit across Southeast Asia (reaching No.1 in Indonesia, charting in the Top 5 across the region, and crossing half a billion global streams) while Ryan built an audience that now spans more than two million combined followers and over 1.8 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

A classically trained jazz pianist who also plays guitar, bass, ukulele, and trumpet, Ryan has leaned into that musical grounding as her work has evolved. Her debut EP, I Don’t Know What Love Is (2023), signalled a shift toward more nuanced songwriting, drawing attention for its melodic unpredictability and understated emotional clarity. Live, she spent 2023 and 2024 on the road across the US, Europe, and Asia, performing at festivals including Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Jakarta Jazz Festival, and MAD Cool.

Ryan released her debut album, Blessing in Disguise, in August 2025, an unguarded collection of songs shaped around the “painful lessons” that ultimately defined her early twenties. The album marked a period where she also began foregrounding her French-Canadian identity, experimenting more openly with bilingual writing and performance. She followed the release with her first North American headline tour in September and October 2025, closing out the year with a clearer sense of artistic direction and a growing international fanbase.

What’s the story behind Blessing In Disguise? If you want to introduce someone to listen to one track from Blessing In Disguise which should it be and why?

The story behind blessing in disguise was kind of built as we were completing the album. I went in just writing music that felt super honest to me and when I sat back and looked at all the songs, there was this common thread that tied them all together. They were all painful lessons I had to learn to grow as a person. And now, I know they were blessings in disguise because I came out stronger on the other side!

How do you keep consistency on socials without feeling like you’re performing for the algorithm?

The most important thing is loving and relating to every piece of content you make. As soon as that passion and creativity starts to get replaced with “I need to post this to go viral” it’s really hard to leave that mindset. But there also needs to be a balance.

What’s your go-to way of connecting with people in the industry without it feeling transactional?

I really have found myself in a group of people, who I met through industry or network events, that have become really important friends of mine and that almost takes the “work” element right out of it. Music is such a personal business that human connection goes hand in hand with it and that makes it feel less transactional for sure.

What’s your favourite/least favourite thing about making music?

My favourite thing is how much smaller it seems to make the world. You know people through social media and word of mouth and then meet them out at an event or show and connect and become friends and collaborators. My least favourite part is probably that it is so competitive and, especially with social media, everyone now gets a shot to get seen and discovered, which in itself is a good thing. Just so many of us out here.

What’s a mistake you wish more emerging artists would avoid early on?

Thinking your initial viral moment or success will carry you through your whole career.

It is the best jumping point and will give you so many amazing connections but the hard work and consistency has to stay to be able to continue it and become a true artist.

What are you listening to right now?

I’m obsessed with Olivia Dean’s album The Art of Loving. It captures so perfectly what it’s like to live and love in your twenties and she just words feelings so perfectly.

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Stacey Ryan on Instagram | YouTube | TikTok

Apple Music / Website 

Dialled In’s Mahnoor on Building Lasting Culture Led Brand Partnerships Through Authentic Connections

Mahnoor Hussain is a culture marketing strategist, DJ and the founder of SUP SUPPER CLUB, a non-profit platform using food and music to support displaced communities through storytelling, solidarity and cultural exchange.

Mahnoor’s cross-functional career spans music, social impact, travel, live events, lifestyle and night-time hospitality. She has held roles across major cultural institutions including Ministry of Sound, where she worked on global club culture campaigns, and most recently on the 2025 edition of Red Bull Culture Clash at London’s Drumsheds.

She is currently Head of Marketing at Dialled In, where she leads culturally rooted experiences centred on South Asian identity while developing brand partnerships that prioritise authenticity, community and long-term cultural value. Alongside her commercial work, she is increasingly focused on advocacy around ADHD, particularly for women working in dance music.

How did you first find your way into music and culture marketing?

I was always doing music bits on the side while working full-time in travel marketing. I loved being able to tell fun stories about exploring new worlds through a global lens. It felt really fresh at the time. But then Covid hit just as I became more senior in that career, which tanked things a bit.

When I pivoted into corporate marketing, I just wasn’t enthused by it. I struggled to stay motivated because the creative alignment wasn’t there. After being diagnosed with ADHD, I realised this made sense. People with ADHD are usually highly motivated when they’re genuinely passionate about something. So I decided to redirect my skills into something that felt purposeful to me: cultural marketing.

I self-funded my Marketing Week Mini MBA in Brand Management, applied for a couple of jobs, and landed my first brand manager role at one of London’s most iconic venues. That’s where I combined my traditional experience with my “creative lens” to help rebuild the venue’s cultural resonance. I didn’t initially think of it as culture marketing specifically - for me, it was about making campaigns as effective as possible by applying solid marketing and branding principles in ways that resonated culturally, made people care about our stories, and built a real connection with the brand.

What experiences shaped the way you now approach brand partnerships and creative strategy?

A lot of my foundational knowledge around partnerships comes from my time in a very corporate role at American Express, working on multi-million-pound airline partnerships. It taught me the value of strong relationships and having proper data and proof of concept behind proposals. It sounds elementary, but since crossing into the creative industries, I’ve realised we often prioritise “vibes-based” proposals over data.

My time working on airline and travel partnerships showed me how important data actually is. It helps brand partners sell the proposition internally, and with brand budgets becoming more competitive, that’s essential. You can then use that data alongside other audience research to build a creative strategy that genuinely responds to your audience’s or your partner’s needs.

My broader approach to creative strategy stems from a kind of cultural symbiosis: my experiences, my perspective, and my desire to try new things, hoping they will inspire me in return.

You’ve worked across everything from global club culture to social impact projects. How do you connect those worlds in your work?

At first glance, those worlds might seem completely different, but for me, they share a common foundation: Building authentic cultural connections and communities

My social impact work actually came first. That’s where I realised I could draw on my cultural fluency and people skills - being in different spaces and around diverse communities - to connect with asylum seekers, grassroots chefs, and aspiring entrepreneurs, and make them comfortable sharing their stories. Bringing people in through storytelling is something I’ve naturally carried into club culture spaces, too.

Global club culture is also deeply intersectional. It brings together people from different backgrounds, genres, and countries — sometimes experimentally — and a lot of the magic comes from uniting things that seem disparate. Whether that’s building line-ups across genres, working with diaspora artists at Red Bull, or merging chefs from displaced communities with artists of similar heritage at SUP?, I’ve learned that creativity thrives where worlds collide.

Diversity of background - in taste, culture, worldview - is a strength. It sparks creativity, empathy, and new forms of social engagement. Creativity comes from the margins, from intersectionality, lived experience, and the influence of multiple identities blending into something new.

What do you think makes a brand activation or partnership truly authentic to a music community?

Authenticity usually comes when a brand already has some organic visibility or cultural exchange within a music community, before trying to capitalise on it. Audiences are much smarter now. When a brand doesn’t have that connection, or doesn’t involve the right cultural creators, it shows immediately.

The most forward-thinking brands bring key cultural voices in-house, as advisors, collaborators, or sometimes colleagues. These are the people who can spot nuances others miss, understand the cultural codes, and translate meaningful insights into compelling creative work.

What inspired you to create SUP SUPPER CLUB, and what have you learned about using food and music to build solidarity?

SUP? was inspired by my time living in France, where I worked as a school teacher and used my English and Arabic skills to support young asylum seekers learning French. Hearing their stories and seeing immigration from a French perspective made me realise how little awareness there was in the UK, and when there was awareness, it wasn’t coming from the voices of displaced people themselves.

SUP? became a space where people could gather, hear stories directly from displaced communities, and break bread in a welcoming environment. We’ve worked with partners like Ben & Jerry’s and Refugee Week UK, which has helped us support displaced chefs while fundraising for charities I used to work with in France and London. My favourite thing is inviting people from the asylum seeker community to join us; the intimacy of supper clubs creates space for meaningful connection.

Music has always been part of SUP?, from darbuka performances at our Yemeni supper club to Syrian folk singing. I’m constantly thinking about new ways to help people connect with immigration experiences creatively, so I launched Paired by SUP? — pairing refugee chefs with musicians of shared heritage to create one-off menus together. Our first one, with Chef Majeda and Big Zuu, celebrated their Levantine roots and really resonated.

Food and music are incredibly powerful cultural connectors, and I’m excited to keep building on that. The next one is going to be very special, with an artist from South London and a community close to my heart.

You’ve worked on large-scale productions like Red Bull Culture Clash and grassroots events like Dialled In. What’s your approach to creating experiences that feel both high-impact and culturally grounded?

It can be challenging to balance scale and cultural grounding, especially if you don’t have the right people in the room. The first step is defining what “impact” actually means. It’s not just big crowds or flashy production; it’s resonance. It’s cultural integrity.

Scale and cultural nuance aren’t opposites; they’re complementary. You can do both if you’re telling the right stories and working with people who understand the culture you’re representing.

With Red Bull Culture Clash, we had a massive advantage because the entire marketing team was made up of people of colour, many with Caribbean heritage, who’d grown up with soundsystem culture. We understood the cultural playground we were curating. You’d be surprised how many cultural campaigns are built without consulting the communities they centre.

When that knowledge isn’t already in the room, you have to actively seek it out: research, speak to the community, listen, and curate for them rather than creating a simple spectacle. It sometimes means pushing back on global teams — for example, explaining why the “biggest” artist isn’t always the right fit if they don’t resonate with people on the ground.

Spotlighting bigger names alongside emerging talent helps keep things authentic and gives younger artists the amplification they deserve. It’s about crafting the right story, not the loudest one. Long-term cultural impact matters more than a one-off spectacle.

What advice would you give to emerging curators or marketers trying to create inclusive, community-led events?

Come with a collaborative mindset. Learn to navigate differences in opinion respectfully. If you want to create inclusive, community-led events, you need to listen to the community and understand what they genuinely want from a space.

Spaces like DAYTIMERS and Dialled In have allowed me to work with incredible people and build a shared vision — none of it would’ve been possible alone. Collaboration and mutual respect are essential.

When you’re creating inclusive events, you also need to consider people who don’t drink. If an event only works when people are intoxicated, it’s not actually an inclusive experience. The real litmus test is whether the space is fun, connected, and culturally vibrant without alcohol.

Keep your ears to the ground. The cultural landscape shifts quickly. What communities wanted five years ago isn’t necessarily what they need now. For example, when I first started SUP?, people wanted to share their stories and heritage. Now, in a much more hostile climate, many simply want a space where they aren’t othered. You don’t know until you listen.

And finally, community work is rewarding, but it is labour. When you care deeply, it’s easy to burn out. Set clear boundaries from day one. Many community-led projects happen outside your day job, so know your capacity and protect it.

You’ve been vocal about ADHD and women’s experiences in the dance music space. How has that shaped the way you work or lead teams?

I was diagnosed with ADHD at 25, so it’s only in the last few years I’ve properly understood how it affects my work. I’ve become more aware of how my hormonal cycle impacts ADHD symptoms — especially foggy days — and I now plan around that.

When leading teams, empathy is key. One of the women on my team also has ADHD, which makes open communication important. I try to understand people’s working styles so I can manage expectations fairly. In corporate spaces, I used to hide my ADHD, but now I’m upfront about how my brain works. It gives colleagues context.

I also get overstimulated easily, so I often wear headphones or work in a quiet corner. Letting people know why helps, although women with ADHD are still judged harshly, which speaks to how unforgiving society can be toward our symptoms.

I’m still learning, and I wish there were more accessible spaces to learn about ADHD - especially in the dance music world. I want to help create something more approachable than a 50-minute podcast: real-life, interactive sessions where people can take away tangible tools to navigate ADHD in this industry.

What are you listening to at the moment?

I’m loving everything by Amil Raja, especially his new track swings n roundabouts. His sound takes me back to my adolescence but still feels really fresh — very inspired by Mssngno.

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Mahnoor on Instagram & LinkedIn | Built By Sound