The Listener - Interview

I recently gave an interview with the Listener for the up coming festival season. These were my reponses to the questions.

What do people want in a music festival these days? Or does it fragment into age groups, artist genre selection and one-day vs multiple day events?

Of course most festivals are tailored to a certain crowd and demographic.  You can’t be something to everyone or you begin to alienate the core market. R&V is tailored to those who can take time off during the festive season to travel to Gisborne for one memorable kiwi summer music experience. We are about a journey and a celebration. R&V is about unbridled escapism and joy with your friends at a time of year when the last thing you want to think about is reality. Its about sharing this euphoria with friends and like-minded people in a world class setting.

It takes a culmination of things to achieve the ultimate festival experience. At R&V we pride ourselves on having a world class venue to start with. We have a history, a sense of occasion, and a purpose.  We have an experienced and passionate festival delivery team – all 2000 of them. We book acts which suit the occasion. Gisborne as a destination is a fantastic host city with its sunshine and beaches. Punters are there to enjoy themselves, there is never any trouble. Every one is there for a good time. Its tough to get the recipe right year in year out but when you do, it magic.

You started R&V when you were 21 and its been going for a decade now and employs a dozen full time staff. What else has changed about running a festival in that time?

When we began there were a lot of industry nay-sayers saying that music festivals in this country were a poisoned chalice, and were doomed to fail.  This was early 2000’s - hot on the heels of The Gathering’s demise, the Sweetwaters debacle - even the millennium celebrations in Gisborne which capitulated before peoples eyes.  We went in to our festival dream with blind ignorance, confidence and belief in our concept  Somehow we swept everyone up with us along the way. We wanted to run a professional venture and our mentors helped us establish a solid business structure from the outset which remains today and has been a big part of us achieving our goals with the project.

The advent of kiwi music has played a big part in our early success. From an initial cultural cringe came a proud following of homegrown talent, particulary in the roots reggae genre. This sounds suited the kiwi summer environment we were trying to create at R&V. On the back of this initial interest soon came complacency - many of these acts became tired and overplayed so we began to look at off shore acts. We have established touring networks to help attract fresh talent which continues today.

The growth of the internet has been a huge part of our growth, punters now have access to trends and concepts popular off shore. They watch festivals online like Coachella and Tomorrowland and want a similar experience here in NZ with large production and cutting edge talent. At no point can we compete with these festivals but we do our best to align our vision with international reference points.

Social media is a huge part of marketing. It means we can have constant communications with our market through out the year. In the early years we used to get our friends down to Gardies to spread the word about our party, or send on group emails encouraging people to forward them on. Now we do a post on facebook and have access up to active 80l

We have had four arrests in 10 years.  We have shown it is possible to gather large groups of youth, entertainmen them and they behave.  This was a vision for the festival from the start and it still remains. We have relatively realistic controls on alcohol consumption and crowd control.  We let people enjoy themselves. It’s a party after all!

Its not easy running successful music festivals. What did you learn?

Surround yourself with experts. We bought in some in areas such as production, event management and artist liaison. You only know what you know. Also to never, ever, ver give up.

We have learnt the hard way to stick to budget and work within your means. It can be a risky game when the numbers aren’t stacking up.

Why did you go from one day to three days in 2008?

After 5 years of the one-day concept we felt we had reached a ceiling.  We had had most of the top kiwi acts through the event.  We couldn’t secure international talent on a new years eve as they were price. 

We noticed people were coming to Gisborne for the week anyway, only to almost wait around for NYE.

Also we had all the site dressed up ready for one night, security on town etc. It made economic sense to spread these costs over three days.

You have to keep evolving and keep things fresh. Not just for the punters but staff as well.

You are now getting 25,000 attendees What do they tell you sets Rhythm and Vines apart for them?

The venue is one point of different. We always say our site at Waiohika Estate is our headliner. The rolling Tarawhiti hills nestled within the vines, with distant views to Young Nicks Head are reknown the world over from punters and artists alike. It really is a special place to hold a festival. A good setting whether its somewhere to lie on the grass, through to access to getting a beer or into a stage are in my eyes paramount to a successful and popular festival.

The sense of occasion is an original part of Rhythm and Vines. It was after founded as a new years eve celebration. A chance to let your hair down with friend with some top entertainement in a safe and secure world class settting.  This still rings true today. It was by conincidence that Gisborne is also the first city in the world to bring in the new year. The atmosphere and anticipation as the hours count down to midnight is. Then over 25,000 in unision experiencing the sky light up with fireworks. It really is magic.

The crowd also sets us apart. People travel from near and far. There is no riff raff. We have had 4 arrests in 10 years – no one is there to cause trouble.  Kiwi’s are great crowd. Artists love playing because everyone is so engaged. The stages are built for close crowd interaction. The vibe at R&V is electric and really is something unique to anywhere I have been in the world.

Is it hard to persuade artists and bands to come to Gisborne?

Intially yes. We had to convince kiwi bands to make the trip to Gisborne on the back of our wild idea. But we were providing fees and crowds they couldn’t dream of. Then we had to establish an international reputation. I guess we paid artists over and above initially to get in the market. I remember knocking on doors of agencies in London and trying to convince agents to send their acts on a plane. They wouldn’t do it for just one gig.

Now we have an established reputation.  We are friends with lots of the agents and musicians who support our event.  Our artist liaison team is world class and most have a memorable experience. This coupled with a passionate crowd who are engaged in every song.  What’s not to love?

There are some challenges with our kiwi peso and the production specs we can deliver in Gisborne. Its not like we can land a jumbo jet full of staging and production. But we work within our means.

Who are your must sees this year?

I’m looking forward to Rhythm and Alps! After 10 years in Gisborne I am heading down south to help spearhead our South Island festival.  With our new look site in the Cadrona Valley I really think it is going to develop into something that will give the Gisborne event a run for its money.

But both festivals have some great acts this year.  It’s exciting to have Shapeshifter back at the festival. They last played at the one day instalment 6 years ago. They are fanastic live band on the back of a killer new album going to be perfect to lead us into the first place in the world to bring in midnight.

We are also bringing out to Gisborne some of the hottest your producers from the UK including Dusky and Rustie.  These will be surely be names spoken about in years to come just as likes of Disclosure and Major Lazer all developed profiles on the back of memorable R&V performances.

Empire of the Sun, who’s performance back in 2009 was arguably one of the hottest show we have, are back on the back of popular festival run overseas. Hip hop has always gone down well with our crowd and Wiz Kahlifa is the biggest name in the genre. Plus chart toppers Rudimental taking us into 2014 – it’s going to be one to remember!

You have just won the 2013 PATA young Tourism Entreprenuer.  What does it take to be an entrepreneur in NZ?

I guess being an entreprenuer takes focus and commitment.  You really have to be clear what you want to achieve and stick with it.  Maybe not so much how you intend to do it, as this often changes along the way! I know I had to pass up the chance to use my degree and build a legal career, or stay in NZ when all my friends were heading off shore on their OE’s.  It seems like an easy decision looking back but these were all tests to my stickability and focus on following my path with R&V.  To have 11 years trading history and success is a testament to this commitment. We have definitely been through some ups and down’s at times holding on for dear life but we have never given up on our vision.

I think our generation in NZ have a great opportunity to become entreprenuers. One dimensional careers in the traditional sense are not as common place, people can multi task and transfer between industries with relative ease now days.  International trends and are now presenting themselves via internet, many great ideas are one mouse click away. Also the local environment is in place to launch an idea.  I understand NZ was recently voted one of the top places to start a business. There is relatively low barriers to entry. There is a great support network from the mentorships of Icehouse to government department’s NZTE with scholarships and grants.  It really is an exciting time to take a risk and follow your dream.