I have been involved in promotion for most of my musical career, it’s not a job that I take to naturally (or even enjoy the process of), but I definitely *do* enjoy the results. As with running labels, promotion is usually about getting exposure for artists that I feel are woefully under-represented elsewhere…and this usually means putting on bands that I really want to see myself, which is lucky.

As well as helping to promote various gigs for my own bands in Brum (including a weekly residency at The Rainbow in Digbeth, back in the dim and distant past), early on I was one of several people (alongside DJ Sherwen, Mad Jack, and Stevo) responsible for the ‘Spunky Town‘ and ‘Contact‘ parties in Birmingham. These focussed on funk and party tunes of all kinds, but specialised in electro & breaks. We had lots of great nights, including a couple of ace boat parties, and were proud to bring some class acts to the Midlands, often for the first time – including Cursor Miner, Osymyso, Tim Wright, Michael Forshaw, Electrosluts, Jerome Hill, DMX Krew, Shelley Parker, DJ Scissorkicks, Scape One and more. You can check out some of the flyers and posters for these parties here…

For the last five years I have been running Unorthodox Paradox, a 3-day musical event with no specific musical focus, but rather an ethos of putting on artists and bands that are likely to surprise in some way. Always in beautiful and unusual settings, these events are (as they say) small but perfectly formed, and without a doubt have been (and continue to be) the most fun with the nicest people. Lots more info and pictures here…