The Business Keeps on Dancing Podcast Business Keeps on Dancing

Sarah McBriar is founder and creative director of AVA Festival, the Audio Visual Arts festival which began in Belfast back in 2015.

AVA has since evolved into a Conference, Exhibition, Event Series, Industry Network, and Broadcast,and is now established across London, mainland UK & Ireland, with Sarah leading the way.

This conversation explores how she did it.
How she created AVA back in 2015
How she followed her passion and pivoted from sport into the world of music festivals
How the AVA brand evolved and how the festival grew from a 1 day event with 2 stages to taking over the largest B&Q in Europe!
The key things that you need to nail before you start a festival
The importance of building a community- not only with your fans, but with your staff and artists too.
Why you shouldn’t be aiming for big ticket sales in Y1
Why being comfortable with change is essential in this industry
The positive changes we’ve seen in the industry, in terms of gender, and the long way we still have to go in achieving equality.

Sarah has built an incredible festival and brand and she generously shares her insights and experiences with us.
So sit back and enjoy- there’s a lot to learn in this one!

Miles Shackleton is the Co-Founder, Director at Toolroom Academy and Marketing Director at Toolroom. If you work in marketing in the music industry- then this episode is a must listen. It’s a masterclass in marketing, branding, and community building. We found out the inside info on how he directs the marketing for Toolroom, how he co-founded Toolroom Academy and the biggest lessons he's learned from his career so far:
The process behind Toolroom’s rebrand 
What makes a good record launch (and a bad one)
How to grow an artist’s socials from 0-30k 
Building a relationship with Toolroom superfans 
How taking a course with Google led to the inception of Toolroom Academy
Being an introvert in a leadership role 
Speaking to your audience is a powerful tool

This is a jam packed episode with tangible takeaways and actionable insights, a real-must listen for music marketers.

We had the honour of sitting down with Mikey Dread and Ras Kayleb, from Channel One Sound system.
Channel One Sound System is one of the best known and most loved reggae sound system in the world. And Their mission is “to break down barriers via reggae music”. they have achieved this by traveling and playing to new audiences and venues all over the world.

Our conversation with Mikey and Ras was fascinating, we delve into how it all started for them and how they have continued to build and evolve the strong vibe and community which is so unique to a sound system event.
It’s such a wonderful episode, it will give you a real glimpse inside this untouched and special scene.

We sat down with the legend that is Graeme Park at the Night Time Economy Summit in Bristol earlier this year.
We are incredibly excited to bring you this conversation, not only is Graeme an iconic DJ, he’s also such a fantastic story- teller. This episode is full of stories, anecdotes and fascinating tales that will have you roaring with laughter.

Graeme Park is often referred to as a legend. We feel like this word is over used, but it couldn’t be more fitting in this occasion. Graeme is the legend who has done it all in the music industry, with over 30 years of Djing, with a career that has mirrored the evolution of dance music and club culture. From a residency at the Hacienda to an international touring, live and radio career and most recently, The Hacienda Classical show.

We hear all about it from the man himself, so sit back and enjoy!

David Pichilingi is the founder and CEO of Liverpool Sound City and has a lifetime of experience in the music industry.
From being an artist, managing bands, running events, labels and  launching  music festivals to his current focus as the founder and director of Liverpool Sound City.  The international music,  business and emerging talent festival which has been going for 16 years.  
The festival has become the biggest and most important metropolitan festival of its kind in the UK, and has evolved into a global brand with events now in New York, Dubai, Norway, Australia, South Korea and China. Dave really has done it all in the industry, from being in a band, managing bands, running festivals and discovering new talent. We discuss everything from..
🕺How he famously booked Ed Sheeran for just £50
🏢How he created the wrist-band in the city centre format
🎵 Tony Wilson, and their relationship and influence he had on Dave and the music scene in Liverpool
💰NFT's and his thoughts on navigating the changes in this space
📈Using gut feeling v's data when it comes to signing new artists
🇨🇳 Navigating an international partnership with the sale of Liverpool Sound City to Modern Sky in China
🏆 His belief that success isn't about money.
He’s a man of many talents and tales, so sit back and enjoy the episode.

Gok Wan is a TV Presenter, Stylist, DJ, chef and the very worthy owner of an MBE. 
We had the pleasure of sitting down with him to discuss how he has carved out such a varied career, yet always stayed true to himself and created a life which revolves around his passions, music and fashion. He is truly a pioneer in the space, and has a unique ability to curate styles as well as playlists, because of his laser focus on the person at the other end, his client or his audience on the dance-floor. We learn that instead of being focused just on his performance, Gok truly only really cares about the people he is ‘serving’ and how he makes them feel. 
Gok is a shining example that you can achieve anything you put your mind to, and we learn his secrets to his success. 
This episode is a real insight into the man behind the fame. Gok was open and honest about what drives him, and he opens up about imposter syndrome and how this affects him even to this day. 
We learn all about his incredible creation during lockdown : Isolation nation, and how almost by accident he created a globally recognised online event which at its peak attracted 1.2million viewers.
This interview is one that we’re sure will surprise you, Gok is an incredibly driven and passionate person who has achieved so much success in so many different areas of life. We know you’ll learn a lot from this one.