Ahead of his appearance at this week’s Electronic Music Conference (EMC) in Sydney, Brett Robinson, the director of Future Music kindly took some time out to talk to us about the festival, their new relationship with the Mushroom Group, expanding into Asia, what we can expect from the event in 2014 and beyond – and, of course, some hints as to what we may hear from him at the EMC event this week.
Teaming up FMF with Mushroom was a surprising move, particularly because in the past Mushroom, rather vocally, have shied away from wanting to get involved with festivals. What do you think changed Gudinski’s mind in this instance?
We have always shared a very strong relationship with Mushroom; I in fact started my career at Mushroom in the late nineties. Future Music Festival & the Good Life Festivals are established and proven events in the Australian festival market. By joining forces with Mushroom, these festivals can greatly benefit from having access to the companies extensive resources and global contacts, which will further develop the festivals popularity.
From a media point of view, working with the Mushroom team for the festival has been a smooth transition, but I imagine the behind the scenes wasn’t quite as smooth – or was it? How has it been working with mushroom for the 2014 FMF?
The transition has been surprisingly smooth. The Mushroom Group have been very supportive of Futures organization and have really been there to support us and offer us assistance where required.
They as a company have great faith in the festivals, our personnel and our ability to produce and run the events. By being able to share the workload amongst the vast resources of the Mushroom Group, we have been able to spend a lot more time concentrating on improving all aspects of the festival. We are confident that all of our fans will see the results of our partnership in 2014.
Who are you most excited to show off at the 2014 event, artist wise?
Deadmau5 – his all-mighty live headline show – it will blow peoples minds.
The energy of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis who are the hottest property in hip hop right now.
Phoenix – these French indie rockers were outstanding at Coachella & Glastonbury and it is an honour to have them as a headliner at Future Music Festival.
Hardwell – having the worlds’ number one DJ on your lineup is one massive statement.
In addition to the behind the scenes changes, what on site changes do you expect to be well received?
The new and improved VIP & First class facilities for those looking for a premium festival experience
New venues in Brisbane and Adelaide, which will deliver a completely new experience for the fans in those cities
A brand new Main Stage design that is truly world-class featuring state of the art technology on a scale not seen before in Australia.
Over the years FMF has featured artists which no doubt were on your teams “Bucket Lists” of bands and artists you always wanted to see perform not only on your festival but just in Australia full stop! Who have been some of your favourite grabs over the years and who is there left on that list that you hope to one day get….
Bucket List artists we have grabbed would be The Stone Roses, Swedish House Mafia, Skrillex, Die Antwoord, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, PSY, Prodigy, New Order, Chemical Brothers, Eric Prydz, N*E*R*D, Bloc Party & Armin van Buuren. Essentially every big name that makes you DANCE.
Those artists still out there that we would love to tour would have to be – Depeche Mode, Rihanna, Jay-Z, & Daft Punk
Your expansion into Asia has been seen as a largely successful one, though it no doubt comes with its challenges. What was the hardest part of getting the brand up and running in the Asian market?
Being able to understand the cultural, musical and economic differences that ultimately determine your success or failure in the market. The challenge is to intimately understand the marketplace and deliver a festival that the masses want.
In our inaugural year one of the biggest challenges was delivering a lineup much bigger than anything that the market had seen before and proving that it could be delivered successfully – there were a lot of skeptics however we delivered and have never looked back.
How come you ended up in Malaysia specifically?
Kuala Lumpur is centrally located within South East Asia, and sits in the heart of the region making it easily accessible to major cities such as Singapore, Jakarta, Manila & Bangkok whilst also having a strong population base locally.
We were also very fortunate that Tourism Malaysia were looking for initiatives to encourage travel to Malaysia in March to coincide with the Malaysia Formula One GP. Our festival provided a great secondary event to support the Grand Prix & encourage tourism in the region. The government via Tourism Malaysia provided financial & practical support, which was vital in establishing the festival with credibility.
Expanding the brand into Asia could potentially work quite well for any Australian artists who make the trip over – are there any success stories from last year?
Over the past two years we have featured, Temper Trap, Tenzin, Pendulum, Sneaky Sound System, Stafford Brothers, Ruby Rose, Andy Murphy & Marlo on the Future Music Festival Asia lineups. All have had successful and strong careers in Asia and we look forward to continuing to build the profiles of these artists in Asia.
Are there any plans to expand into that market further in the future?
Yes there is – Now that we have an established a reputation for delivering events of a high calibre in this region & built strong relationships with media, sponsors and audiences a like we look forward to developing both our festivals and headline artist tours in South East Asia.
What can we expect from you in your chat(s) at EMC?
General insight into market conditions in the Australian and South East Asia festival industry
Did you head along to EMC last year? What did you think of the event if so?
Yes I spoke last year. It was a brilliant event and something we look forward to seeing grow. It is an important part of the Australian Music Industry
After Future Music Festival 2014, what is next for Future Music Group?
We are excited to be producing the big I Am Hardwell arenas for the world’s number one DJ later in 2014 as well as some other big pipeline activity, which we look forward to announcing. Stay tuned.
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Brett will be speaking at the Electronic Music Conference this week in Sydney, The event kicks off with an opening night party ahead of two days of panels. For more details and tickets, head here: http://www.electronicmusicconference.com/
