The Groove Guide - Interview

I recently gave an interview to Groove Guide about the up coming festival season. Here are my responses. 

Going back to day one, you had a big dream at a time where there was nothing like R&V around. What was the initial concept for R&V? Was there a sort of, initial brief or idea between the three of you as to what you wanted from your event?

Yes we had a mission statement for the festival business which is still relevant today. We wanted to run a safe and secure event. We wanted to be a platform for up and coming NZ musicians. We wanted to do justice to being the first place in the world to bringing in the new year. And we wanted to run a sustainable and profitable business. I think having and documenting an intial vision and working from this has been a big part of our success.

 Did you imagine R&V would grow into the huge NY icon that it has become? Did you see it having a future?

Not intially we were more about having a fun summer job to avoid becoming a labourer, learning how to set up a business, and run a kick ass NYE part while enjoying a summer by the beach in Gisborne. I was also passionate about learning more about the music industry as was keen to pursue that direction after university.

It became clear after the first event that we had stumbled upon a unique recipe and with key learnings we began planning the second event which drew 5000 people. The next year 10,000 to 15,000 and so on.
The last 5 years of a three day international model have been very stratgic and focused. There has been a lot of commitment and sacrifice to achieve our goals. No success happens by accident and it has taken lots of hard work on the back of calculated risks to build the festival to the current model. Its time to set some new goals!

1800 people for your first event is a pretty big crowd! Was it just friends of friends? How did getting The Black Seeds on board come about?

Between us at Otago University we had a large network of friends from all around NZ. An early marketing initative was to get a wide spread of friend at Gardies, buy a few crates and encourage them to spread the word about our concert around campus to different pockets of mates. This followed through to long email chains being sent around the country encouraging people to join us in Gisborne. These were the days before social media remember so we had to use our ingenuity!
I guess with the initial turnout being so strong it showed there was a gap in the market for a viable NYE offering, people were sick of the same old pub bands and troubled hot spots.
I had heard the Black Seeds play in Dunedin and thought there sun soaked reggae would be perfect accompaniment to our summer party in the vines.  After gauging their initial interest we flew the manager to join us at the Gisborne Wine and Food festival that spring and plied him with wine until he commited! 

    You’ve had some massive acts over the years, who as been your biggest “get”? How did you manage to get this artist on board?

Looking back I think Calvin Harris was a great booking. He had a reasonably profile but we had the heads up from our booking partners and the label that his next album was set to do big things. We put a sizeable offer and waited. Sure enough the album blew up right around his performance at Rhythm and Vines in 2011. I think it delivered 8 US Top 10 hits. Now he is the worlds most in demand and well paid DJ, with residencies in Vegas and Ibiza. We hope to have him back in future - if we can afford him

No doubt there are also some pretty good backstage secrets, what’s the one incident or drunken moment that you’ve always remembered?

There was a lot of pressure on Moby arriving as he was known for his fussy vegan rock star behaviour.  I was late for the pick up so met him directly at his hotel. He appeared slightly frazzled from a long flight so we took him up to the penthouse to try and settle him in with no drama. All the rider including humus and raw foods were in place. He took a look around the penthouse as soon enough popped his head out from the ensuite:
'What is an indian man doing in my bathroom?' I poked my head in and sure enough a man of indian decent was hiding in the shower. Turns out it had been the hotel plumber who had been fixing a leak when we turned up to survey the room.
Luckily Moby saw the funny side of it and went on to have one of the most memorable performaces the festival has ever seen.
Often it is not the artist who is pressure but rather his team around him who don't want any issues for their client.

Over there years, what is the biggest thing you have learnt about running this festival?

Don't be scared to say no. Thats goes for booking bands outside of budget, trying fit in people outside of your consent or promising to every local vendor space to sell their wares.

And as Winston Churchill said 'never, ever, ever give up'.

What is it that makes thousands upon thousands of people keep coming back to R&V when the market has become more and more competitive with NYE festivals over the years? 

I think we have a great recipe at R&V. The venue is world class, with amphitheaters nestles amongst the rolling hills and vines it really is a magic place. The crowd is reknown the world over, they are passionate and responsive music lovers. But most of all R&V has a sense of occasion. Purpose. It is the first place in the world to celebrate NYE. You can't beat that.

What's the biggest crowd to date? (Just confirming it is around 30,000?) 

Last years 30,000 people for the 10th year anniversary. Arguably all of them were in the main stage arena to watch the fireworks and be the first in the world to bring in midnight.

How far in advance do you start planning the next year’s event? 

We try to keep things rolling in January. It actually is a busy time not just for our site team but also debriefing with staff and contractors, thanking sponsors, artists etc. It is nice to have some down time in Feb to enjoy the kiwi summer along with other people's events! But from March onwards it is all go again. A lot of planning then goes in over the winter, it is the busiest time for a lot of the team implementing marketing plans, securing talent, refining our internal systems. And come spring time its time to get the delivery and on site ready. So very seasonal but like any working business there is always something to attend to.

What’s a typical planning session for R&V like? Do you just dream up your perfect festival and go from there?

Ha not at all.  We go away as a business together in Feb and plan what we want to achieve for the coming year. Then weekly meetings are broken up into, marketing, program, sponsorship etc.
We have a passionate and committed team and we do try and get around the world experiencing other festivals. Its great to bring new ideas and contacts home to New Zealand.

Looking ahead, who is an artist you would love to get for R&V in the next few years to come?

I think a legendary dance act like the Prodigy or Daft Punk. It may be ambitious both acts are hugely popular around the world. Daft Punk for one have not toured in 7 years. But i think both suit the occasion. It is a party after all!

 What does the future hold for R&V?  

We want to keep the festival sustainable and stay in business which is paramount.  We don't have huge expansion plans for Gisborne and are happy with the current model. We may add like Glamping and possibly increased on site accomodation options. Focus needs to be on refining systems like RFID technology and. It would be great to see Rhythm and Alps on par with the Gisborne event. I'd like to see R&V be a catalyst for NZ tourism, just like Tomorrowland brings 1000's of visitors to Belgium each summer.
I think an exciting dream would be to the opportunity to export the R&V model to other markets.  We think we have a unique offering that would work well in other vineyards regions around the world.