Executive Interview Booking Agency Director Booking
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EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW BOOKING AGENCY DIRECTORY ties, Marquee, Hard Rock, Fast forward from ‘98 to around Daylight, and Drai’s – booking 2005, I now had 75 artists on my 250-plus club nights through- roster – almost all of them were out the year. from the UK and overseas. And they all specialized in this drum Let’s hear more about the and bass section of electronic formation of Circle Talent. music. And I was the drum and bass tour guy for North America. Kevin The agency started in ‘98, it was almost by accident. There was a DJ that’s still on the So how did Steve get involved? roster now called Dieselboy. He Kevin At the time Steve was a was on a competing agency. He promoter and was booking a lot was domestic and wanted to do of my guys in the Baltimore area. a tour of North America with two Dieselboy and I were still friends other acts from England that and he was still on a competing didn’t have representation and agency. He said, “Hey Kev, you weren’t on his current roster. know that promoter Steve Gordon He and I were working to- you book a lot of shows with? He’s gether; I was a promoter first for a good friend of mine, he hit me years. We were throwing a weekly up saying he wants to be an agent. ircle Talent Agency, while the “whisperer,” who may have drum and bass event, which was We have this tour concept, maybe Cindependent, is anything to cool things down at times. a very niche kind of electronic you should give him a call.” but small with some 40 staff and Circle Talent has amassed music. It’s very fast, it’s not your I knew Steve, I liked Steve. more than 200 artists on its ros- a cutting-edge roster that in- average electronica / EDM world. We weren’t partners or anything ter, and has the kind of agility and cludes major names in the elec- And the short story is his but he was a good promoter. I hands-on approach that is hard tronic space like Marshmello, agent didn’t want to book the tour gave him a call. He came out, for the major agencies to match. Carnage, and Excision, with because the other two acts from he was in Baltimore, I was in “I’ve made the promise to my roughly 30 national tours roll- England weren’t on the roster and Philly. He came up and was like, artists that ‘I will advance you ing out in 2018. he didn’t feel like messing around “Look, I want to be an agent, money out of my own pocket’ Also on the roster is the with visas for the guys. So he told I have some great ideas.” I said, if needed, because we don’t recently signed Kaskade, who Dieselboy he was free to book this “Well, I don’t have any money have the red tape of a bureau- headlines large theatres and thing on his own. to pay you, but feel free. Here’s cratic system saying ‘no,’” even arenas. The company has And Dieselboy, who knew some clients to book.” He asked Circle Talent Agency partner also grown with acquisitions I had a lot of contacts just from if he was free to sign his own Steve Gordon told Pollstar. including Kenmore and Ten In being a promoter in this indus- talent, and I said of course. In the ’90s, Circle Talent One agencies. Gordon stresses try and in that particular style And there you go. I had founder Kevin Gimble was that the company is always hir- of electronic music, asked me, my first employee. And it was throwing weekly drum and bass ing agents and signing artists. ‘Hey, Kev, you want to try to very Wild West and it was very parties in Philly, when a DJ Some Circle Talent Agency book a tour?’ I’d never done loose. But that’s how we had it. called Dieselboy approached highlights: 12,000 contracts anything like this before, I Steve went on to basically him for help in booking a tour. in 2016, 15,000 contracts in didn’t have an agency, like I was start booking the first-ever “I said sure I’ll give it a shot,” 2017, and 78 acts on the Elec- saying. I was just a promoter dubstep tours. He specialized Gimble told Pollstar. After a suc- tric Daisy Carnival Vegas in for nearly six years at the time. in the growth of dubstep while cessful three-week tour, Dieselboy 2016, which is 35 percent of all I said sure, I’ll give it a shot. I kept on with my drum and told some friends about the acts booked for the fest – the And I ended up booking the bass thing. And after a few years promoter-turned-agent. Soon largest of any agency. In 2017, tour for these guys. We did a of that, with Steve absolutely enough Gimble had 75 artists all the EDC Vegas total was 67 three-week run and did 13 dates crushing and killing it, and liter- to himself doing every step of the Circle artists, good for 33 per- and the tour was a success. And ally doing more business than I booking process on his own. cent of all acts booked and those two guys from England, was, we had a conversation and Dieselboy was also the link again largest of any agency. they went back, told a couple the short of it is we partnered up. that brought together Gimble The agency also co-founded other guys in the drum and bass and Gordon, who was promoting Global Dub Festival at Red world, “Hey there’s this guy Let’s talk about growth, be it dance shows in Baltimore where Rocks in Denver in 2012, which named Kevin who booked a great through new hires, mergers or he gained valuable knowledge has sold out every year since. tour for us. If you want to tour in about the hard-ticket business. Circle has an in-house media America you should hit him up.” acquisitions. Together they’re self- and digital marketing company Then a couple more guys Steve It started with JJ described as a yin-and-yang and in 2017 Circle clients hold hit me up, a few more guys hit (Cassiere). We brought JJ over type duo with Gordon the residencies throughout Vegas me up and almost by accident from The Agency Group and he scrappy bulldog and Gimble at Hakkasan and Wynn proper- I was an agent. kind of launched our live division. 4 2018 Edition BOOKING AGENCY DIRECTORY EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW gone out and gotten our artists ticket touring. So I kind of intro- on nationally televised awards duced that into the TLA in Phila- shows because we had the con- delphia and Best Buy Theatre in nection. That’s not in the typical NYC. Those were kind of the first agency’s wheelhouse, but we go big hard-ticket dubstep events out and get it done. to happen in these bigger rooms. We have the ability to go People said I was insane for trying above and beyond for our clients to do Excision at Best Buy Theater because we have no red tape. in NYC but it sold out in advance Whether that’s advancing money and we were off to the races. for a tour that they need, out of Kevin When Steve was talking our own personal pockets. Not about, in 2008 or ’09, with him the agency money, but Kevin and specializing in dubstep, it was a I saying, “Hey this band needs younger crowd, a younger demo, $130,000. Let’s like write them a the nightclubs, the bottle service check for 60 grand and get them clubs, the Vegas clubs, they moving.” Or it’s this act needs weren’t really servicing this kind THE INAUGURAL LOST LANDS FESTIVAL was presented by Excision and curated better visuals. Let’s use our by Circle Talent Agency, with a lineup that also included Zeds Dead, 12th Planet, of music. It was very similar to Cookie Monsta, Destroid, Ephwurd and many others Sept. 29 to Oct. 1. visual guy, and we have these drum and bass, it was very niche, connections and can have your very young, and wasn’t very website handled, and your social mainstream. So almost by default, And we brought over this guy, time and a two-floor, 6,000- media, and can handle your tour Steve had to use his hard-ticket Leo Corson, and we brought over square-foot space. marketing, and we can do all knowledge and back-end deal his artists. He specialized in hard these things – some of which are knowledge and create hard-ticket style, the harder-edged dance What makes Circle so attractive? in the wheelhouse of an agency touring for electronic music. and some of which are not. music. And then we brought Steve One of the reasons we He was really one of the first We made a promise to ourselves over Dan Rozenblum, who are very successful is because ones to do it at the time. And it’s that as we grow, even if we have brought about 40 bands. Then we have a strong partnership. why acts like Excision, Datsik 100 employees, we’re still going we brought Matt (Pike) over, who When you meet us, I wouldn’t and Flux Pavilion are major, true to make those same promises brought another 30 acts or so.