Episode Transcript
[00:00:25] Speaker A: Well, hello there, and welcome to episode 56 of the rock podcast for those mad Pod. We salute you.
This is one of those episodes where we interview someone, and this time it's Chris someby. The man, the myth, the legend, the director of show production, and all importantly, band bookings at the Mighty Stone Dead festival.
Without further ado, here he is. It's Chris Zombie, everyone.
[00:00:53] Speaker B: Hello.
[00:00:54] Speaker A: How you doing, Chris?
[00:00:56] Speaker B: Mighty fine.
[00:00:57] Speaker A: Welcome. Welcome to a. Well, we're good. Welcome to our humble podcast.
[00:01:03] Speaker B: Thank you for having me.
[00:01:03] Speaker A: Very pleased to have you.
[00:01:05] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:01:05] Speaker A: You're very welcome. But you're very welcome. Meet Brian. You met Brian.
[00:01:09] Speaker C: Hi, Chris.
[00:01:10] Speaker A: My name's Matt. We are veterans. And dare I say, chris, you created a monster. Not just you. I know you've got the rest of your team, but Stone dead has become a phenomenon in a relatively short space of time. Where did it all start?
[00:01:27] Speaker B: It was a conversation. Well, to be honest, it could have started quite a few years before it actually did. There was conversations on Facebook on the Monsters of rock veterans group about sort of, you know, we could do our own festival in all this. And I'd actually done a very small indoor event in Sunderland for six, seven years. So I said, I've got a little bit of experience in this, and also book bands for Sunland University. So I threw my hat into the ring and, you know, those conversations happened and then it was a case of interest died down. And then in 2017, the conversation flared up and I think the right people sort of, like, said, oh, I'd be interested in that. I'd be interested in that. And it all kind of came together. I think we started off with, I think there was ten people initially in that first group, and then it slowly, slowly, slowly dwindled down.
Five before we sort of got 2018 off the ground properly and into the swing of things.
So, yeah, it's, as I said, all started from Facebook. Just a general sort of like, oh, we could do this. And basically the stars aligned and it all kind of came together. And I was given initially the job of putting the bill together, which that first year, as you can imagine, for a new event, after other events had kind of appeared and then crashed and burned, a lot of agents and management were quite sort of skeptical about, like, some fans come along, and we had to kind of work really hard that first year to get that lineup together. But, you know, we got the August of 2018, we did 1800 people.
We went in the red. We didn't lose any money, we didn't lose our houses, which was the big. The big fear of having to sort of tell our other halfs that we weren't going to be able to go on holiday for six years and we're going to eat rice and peas forever.
So all in all, that was a success, you know, from sort of just a chat on Facebook, really.
[00:03:33] Speaker A: So what were those first? You're right, you started from scratch.
What were those first conversations like with the bands that you had back in 20 1718, obviously, as you said, the first, and you had fallen Mafia, hand of dimes, Greg Bonnet and so on.
But, you know, skid row, how did you. How did you broach the subject with their management, for example?
[00:03:58] Speaker B: Well, obviously when we were putting the lineup together, the way we did it the first year is because we only had a small amount of cash available initially. So we put Graham Bonnet, massive wagons and Chrome ollie on the poster first, got that launched and then started selling tickets that gave us a bit of collateral behind us to then put the deposits down for the next band and so on. And with Skid Row, it was a case of, I spoke to the european agent and I just asked if they were available, explained what we were doing and he basically came back and says, yeah, they're available. What's your best offer? So we went in with an offer and he kind of hummed an odd and said they might need a little bit more. So we went back again and they came back and said, yeah, but the only thing is, obviously with you being a new event, we want all the money up front. You can't be sort of doing us like 50% up, like beforehand and 50% after, which is fair dues, because, you know, they did know us from Adam. And as a new event, the trust's going to be quite minimal. So, yeah, we got them. To be honest, thinking back for a first event, it was quite straightforward. It wasn't that difficult, but, yeah, and they came and they conquered. They were absolutely fantastic. First year headliner.
[00:05:16] Speaker C: How do you switch from being the fan of a band? Skid Row were, you know, Skid Row, one of those bands that were, you know, they were at Monsters of rock, you know, they were. They were in the 1992 bill. So is it, is it much easier to deal with the agents about trying to book a band? You're not having to deal with the band themselves and sort of switch from being a fan to being, I've got a job here to do the best deal that I can for the festival and make sure that we cover our costs.
How do you feel about wearing different hats?
[00:05:56] Speaker B: It was quite difficult the first year, I mean, schedule one of my favorite bands as a youth. In fact, there's a photograph on my facebook where I'm stood up. Monsters of rock in 1992, which was the first one I'd ever attended. And behind, obviously, you're at the back, just sort of behind, front of house, and it's before skid row on stage. So I'm stood there waiting for skid row in this photograph when I'm 14 year old and then sort of to be able to book them for our first event. And then when going up and introduced myself to the band and asking if everything was okay and said, oh, by the way, lads, here's a photograph of what I'd like to show you. And Scotty Hill and snakes, Dave Sabo, snake and Rachel bowling were like an absolute. Oh, you know, it was like sort of.
It was almost if it was a fan woman themselves, seeing a photograph of the crowd from that side on, waiting for them to come on. And they were just like, sort of, you know, because obviously they've played some massive gigs in their career. I mean, they did the Moscow Peace Festival and loads of other huge stadiums and stuff. But I think to see it from fans perspective that side on and then to be talking to a fan who's then booked them a couple of years, well, quite a few years later, I mean, it blew my mind. So I'm guessing the sort of blew theirs a little bit.
But, I mean, going back to your question, Brian, you've got to do what's right for the festival. I've got a certain budget. I know how much money we can spend. I know how much everything is going to cost.
You know, I speak to Neil and Louise, the other directors, daily about everything, what's going on with the festival. We're all in it sort of pretty much every day. So it's a case of, this is the budget. And every now and again there'll be like a slight temptation to sort of overpay and try to get the next level of band. But then you kind of look and think, this could effectively sink the festival. And we do this, we're like sort of chasing a bit of glory and then there's no more. So you've just got to, like, use that little bit of, like, sort of maturity which over the last six years, it's a lot easier not to get carried away because it's a case in your mind, you know, how much you've got, how much you can pay, and that's your budget. And agents will say, well, when this is like, that is how much I've got. I'm sorry. You know, over a 5000 cap festival, the production we put on is huge. So there's only a certain amount of money available for the artists and that's it. And sometimes they'll sort of like, well, thank you, but we can't do it. Other times there's a little bit more negotiation and we can work it out and we'll get them. And it's in the, in the common play and have the best time ever.
[00:08:41] Speaker C: I think that's, that's, it's very prudent of you and to be taking that type of approach. And as you say, you know, you've been going six years. Obviously, there was the year that we all missed out because of, because of the pandemic, but, and the whole time that Matt and I have been doing the podcast, there has been, you know, there has been people trying to put festivals on. There's been, there's been a few events that have just gone to the wall over the years and people have really struggled to put. So you have to be prudent and you have to look at everything in the whole and say, look, we just can't push too far for some of, some of the, let's just say, major league acts that the fans on your Facebook page will ask you, ask you to put on. But you, you know, you work within your means, which is, which is fantastic. Still great bells, though.
[00:09:39] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a lot, a lot of, the way I sort of work it is. It's from reading Niall Quinn's biography, which is a fantastic read and there's a lot of stuff in there. Follow any, anybody who's looking at promoting a gig, read Niall Quinn's biography, because there's a lot of stuff you can relate to in terms of, like the music industry and it makes a lot of sense.
[00:09:58] Speaker A: He was a very sensible chap, wasn't he? Niall Quinn? Yes, very sensible.
[00:10:03] Speaker B: Very good. Head on the shoulders.
[00:10:05] Speaker A: Absolutely. I was going to ask you, Chris, you mentioned you were a fan of skid row and you had them as the headliner on the first festival.
And I'm sure you're all rock fans.
It must be quite fun just kind of listening down. Right, who do we think for 20, 25, 26 even? Is it that sort of process? Is it a fantasy league type thing that you just kind of think, oh, I'd love to have diamond head, my favorite band, or Brian's favorite band, King's ex, for example. How tempting is it just to sort of make it a fantasy league thing.
[00:10:43] Speaker B: The, probably the first two years quite easy. But there's a lot of theory work I put into sort of getting the bill. And I did an interview actually on the day. And I used Monsters of rock 1985 as a prime example with ZZ Top, Marillion, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Magnum and who else played 1985?
ZZ Topmurlian, Bon Jovi. Oh, Bon Jovi, yeah, metallica, um, magnum and rats. That was it. Rat. So basically that line up there was. It's, it's quite eclectic, isn't it, really? Because you've got meridians, top Metallica, you've got sleeves, you've got prog, you've got blues, you've got, um, the glam stuff. And it was basically, I think, what Morris Jones and his team tried to do that year was sort of like say, right, okay, and we'll get the headbangers in, but we'll also get the people who like the pope rock and everything like that. And for me, that's what I try to do every year when I come up with a list of bands is sort of say, right, okay, we've got a classic metal band. We've got something bluesy. We've got something sort of a bit hard edged. We've got something a bit sleazy. We've got some new british heavy metal in there. And it's just trying to do it. Sometimes it's not as easy as that. And sometimes we'll get an abundance where you can pick and choose, like which band you have for which variation. So in terms of like a fantasy lineup, I mean, I'll tell you now, out of every festival in the world ever, I would say monsters of rock 1988 would buy would be my ultimate fantasy lineup. It's just that maiden kiss, Dave Lee Roth, Guns n Roses, Megadeth, Helloween. That's when you look at sort of that on one line up to where the level of the bands they are all now. I mean, that's absolutely unbelievable. And you know, for me to sort of like, say like, that's a fantasy lineup and then look at Stone den go, ain't gonna happen. You know, it's like that would bankrupt the festival and possibly like everybody else who walks through the gates.
[00:12:53] Speaker A: Talking of eclectic, the bill for 2024 has just been released.
And you're right. And you got the bites who are excellent tail gunner. And I think, talk about Nwobam, you know, like the new bonafide eclipse, Doro. There's certainly a lot going on. We won't ask you about the headliner, Chris, by the way, I'm sure that's a very well kept secret, so we won't touch upon that unless you want to tell us behind closed doors. We're very happy, but we won't divulge, of course, we've got who we'd love to see, but. And that brings me on to sort of, I suppose, how far out do you book everything we're talking now that you've announced most of the bill for next year, how far out are you planning? Let's say 25, maybe even 26?
[00:13:43] Speaker B: There's conversations already happened for 25 and 26.
[00:13:47] Speaker A: Wow.
Are they going well, Chris?
[00:13:52] Speaker B: Yeah, we've got a couple of things penciled in for 25, which, which I'm very pleased with, and then which there'll be conversations between myself and the other directors just to sort of, like, firm that up once we've got a bit further down the road. But, yeah, it's. I mean, I tried to keep it at 18 months, but once you. This is one of the beauties of a nine band bill, is you've got limited slots, so you fill up quite quickly. And then when some of the agents are coming at you saying, we've got this available, this available, this available. And so, I'm sorry, I've already got my headline, already got me special guest, and then they'll say, what about 2025?
And then it just naturally jump from there. I mean, the answer, one band we tried for 2019, 2020, and we basically got told 2023 will be the year. So without them, without them penciled in since I think 2019 2020, and obviously through COVID. So we had an England that would be getting the answer this year. Well, 2023 or 2024. So, yeah, some of the stuff we're looking at quite, quite a distance, but you've also got to think that there's bands who aren't even on the scene yet who will polish beyond in 2026.
You know, there'll be someone who we've never heard of who were just kind of, like, in the throes of being a band at the minute, and then they'll get a bit of momentum in the next 18 months and that'll be it. It's a bit like south of Salem, really, you know, and then the wraps and the obviously likes of dead man's whiskey and all the bands we've had early dose, you know, so I try to keep as many slots available, early doors for these new hot bands, just really because I think there's a lot of them need a bigger stage and they need the opportunities, and the opportunities are quite few and far between, really, sadly.
[00:15:57] Speaker C: So the one thing I was just. There's a couple of things. Chris, you're absolutely right about how eclectic and covering good genres within your bill. For me, I'm your classic AOr guy.
You know, the fact that you have eclipse. You've had eclipse on the bill. I absolutely love eclipse.
And in previous years, heat. You've had. You've had heat at your festival. So I'm your Aor guy. So you've got me.
[00:16:33] Speaker B: We should have had Tyketto in 2020.
[00:16:35] Speaker C: Yeah. You know. Yeah, exactly. So you've got me in. But the one thing I was really, really intrigued and wanted to ask you was one of the highlights for this year's festival. And I know they were on early, early doors on the day was deraps, the canadian band, and they just. They were phenomenal. I loved them, you know, the whole Van Halen vibe. And where. And how did you find them? Because that was, if you can correct me if I'm wrong, but that was their first ever show in the UK, wasn't it?
[00:17:12] Speaker B: First ever show in Europe.
[00:17:14] Speaker C: Wow. So was that.
How do you. What homework do you put in? Because there was a lot of, you know, on the Stone Dead Facebook page, you know, as everybody talks about how great it was this year, there was a lot of love and feedback for diraps and probably a lot of interest from them to come back into the UK because it was such a great show.
[00:17:40] Speaker B: Yeah. With the wraps they were.
I looked up book and them in, and it was June 2022, so it was before we'd actually done the 2022 Shul.
And I've just been reading classic rock and there was a small article on them about sort of canadian bandarapse release.
It doesn't. Doesn't hurt to have a look. So had a look at them on YouTube and Spotify, and I thought, these have got something. These are really good. I get some live footage up because you can. Bands can have the best, best promotional video, like, and whether, like, in a studio with like a million takes and everything like that. So they look dynamic and energetic and then you see the live videos and the kind of, like, George form, but, you know, just sort of, like, strumming and.
And there's just no dynamics. So I had a look at some videos and they've been playing some big gigs in Canada.
So I just got in touch with the management and said, listen, we do this show in the UK called Stone Dead I'd love to have the wraps over. Obviously, they've never played the UK or Europe before, so the budget isn't going to be huge because they're not going to be a huge sort of, like, appeal, but I guarantee when the band come over, they're going to appeal to a lot of people and it's going to be very much worth the while. So we discussed it, got everything agreed straight away, spoke to Jacob deraps, like, quite a lot about plans we had for the show and what we wanted to do to make it look spectacular with, like, the dancers coming on for ballroom blitz and just loads of other stuff just to add to the show.
And, yeah, they came and they were. They were totally humbled by it all. You know, they came, the girlfriends were there and they were, like, sort of amazed at the reaction they got for the first time in the UK and they were like, sort of like, we don't want to go home. We want to keep on doing this. And it's like. So I'm hoping now that people have seen them, they're going to get opportunities to come back, maybe use as a support band or bring a package over, because I think they would be really popular. And then they did other gigs in Europe and they went down really well as. As well, you know. So stuff like that is what we're trying to do every year, which try to get, like, someone who's maybe one or two people turned up, but not everybody. We did this with Massive in 2019, and when we announced Massive, they were one of the first bands we announced in 2019, along with the Amorettes, Diamond Head and Glenn Hughes. And people like, oh, I've never heard of Massive.
And I remember on the Facebook one, I guarantee they will be one of your new favorite bands this time next year, once you've seen them. And the key, when there was second on and from the off, they had, everybody was watching in the palm of the hand and then they did dance floor and that just became like a stone deaf and my stone deaf anthem at the time. Now stone dead. And every year would just try to sort of like, pick, pick a band out who people haven't heard of and seen, like, the bytes would have them kind of in the pipeline. Long before that they started appearing on other gigs. I was a bit kind of like, ah, everyone else is going to say them before we've announced them, but, like, we've been talking about having them fight the last 18 months with Eric records and it's the same with the likes of Eclipse and Bonafide there's people who've never seen them before because they don't tend to play the UK a great deal. And they've like, when the first saw the post, when we did the big announcement, it was like, I've never heard of Eclipse and never heard of Bonafide. I'm like, take the next 30 seconds. Spotify them, YouTube them. It's that easy. It's actually quicker to google them than it is to come. And they've never heard of them.
[00:21:24] Speaker C: But you know what's really good, Chris, is Matt and I.
I'm a late comer to festivals in my life. You know, my first festival was in 2010.
I did the high voltage festival. Matt and I did it the two years, and that was hooked. And we did rambling man, and we've made loads and loads of great friends, and we try and make sure that we go to as many festivals. You know, Stone dead for us is in our die. We've all got our tickets for next year, but what's really interesting is we've got our own, we have our own WhatsApp group. So we've got our stone dead, what's up, WhatsApp group with all of our friends. And it's really interesting when you announce the bill, you know, Matt's our Nawabam historian, so of course you've got KK priest.
You know, the guys will, you know, the guys will come on doro. We know Warlock from the eighties. And then there'll be a few that will be in the bill where the guys, you know, a few people in our WhatsApp group will go, eclipse. Who are they? And then I come storming in with, oh, no, eclipse are brilliant. You know, think about this and, and, you know, and what it does. Is it your bill that you put together makes us all have a conversation, because some of us will know, some of them, and some of us won't. And then we kind of go, all right, great. Well, there'll be some that were like, I'm massively up for eclipse, but I'm kind of going, and I know tail gunner reasonably well. I haven't seen ugly. I haven't seen ugly kid Joe since we saw him at rambling man a few years ago. But they always put a good show on.
[00:23:18] Speaker A: Your headline is probably a one word bad, isn't it, Chris?
Maybe five letters.
[00:23:24] Speaker B: I don't know.
[00:23:24] Speaker A: I'm just wondering.
[00:23:26] Speaker B: I don't know.
Let's just count.
[00:23:35] Speaker A: There was a few more.
[00:23:36] Speaker B: Maybe there's a couple of lines we might have to sort of like. Sort of like arc the name or something. I don't know. You read.
[00:23:43] Speaker A: You read the. You know, you've either got a very good poker face, because everyone had been thinking, oh, we thought Saxon. And now he said, it's more than five letters. Oh, who could it be?
I'm sure you're not going to divulge either.
I want to talk to you about social media. You've touched upon Facebook.
I mean, we're on the Facebook, stone deaf Facebook page.
I mean, there's always a lot of speculation. And also people say, how about this for a bet, for a bill? I mean, firstly, how much notice do you take?
And also, is there any kind of.
Do you get any pressure, do you feel the pressure from fans in those situations?
[00:24:30] Speaker B: Obviously, we'll keep an eye on what they want, because at the end of the day, we're doing it for them. And if they decided they no longer want it and they don't want to buy tickets, then there's no stone dead. So we have to pay attention and we've got to make sure that what we do is the best of our abilities to put on the show that people want.
We say every year, thank you for letting us do your festival. You know, we're not doing it for us. We're doing it for people like us. Um, so we do pay attention. Uh, I mean, some of the. Some of the things I've come up with are a bit like. Sort of like, whoa way. Um, like some of the band suggestions and some of the requests on just the general things for the site, like, have you thought about this? Have you thought about. That would cost a lot of money, which would have to take from certain other pots and other things wouldn't be as good. So we do pay attention. Um, personally, I like to know what we're not doing really well so we can get better, rather than sort of pay attention to sort of. All the toilets were brilliant this year. A good slate. The bar was really quick. Yada, yada, yada. I like to know the sort of things which people had problems with so we can make it better and get everything ironed out. I've said for the last few years, we don't want to be the biggest. We just want to be one of the best, not the best, because that's going to be impossible. Just one of the best.
[00:25:54] Speaker A: And toilets are very important, Chris. Of course.
[00:25:56] Speaker B: Yes. Yes, they are. We spend a lot of money on the toilets. I think. Let's think after, outside of the headliner and special guest it's probably the fourth biggest outlay financially for toilets. Yep.
[00:26:15] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:26:16] Speaker B: There's a lot of money in portable toilets. You can't call them portaloos because that's trademarked.
[00:26:25] Speaker C: What's the one thing, Chris, in the five, six years that you've, you know, whatever you've done in your previous life, what is the one thing now in the last six years that you've now become an expert in, that you never thought in your puff that you would be an expert in lots of things?
[00:26:46] Speaker B: I mean, like portaloos, you just. We actually, we had. The reason I know this is because we had portaloos on our website and they must have sort of some kind of IPO researcher who just types in sort of portaloo into Google, and then it pings up on every website, like, what's using the term portaloo? So the, this lady had emailed and said, oh, just to let you know that, um, portaloo is a trademarked name, yadda, yadda, yadda. You can't use it unless you officially using portaloos and everything. So I was like, okay, thanks for this information. I will now change it to Porter Crapper.
That was the response I used and she never emailed back.
[00:27:26] Speaker A: Oh, brilliant.
[00:27:28] Speaker B: So, yeah, I mean, things like just understanding some of the legalities of it. Fortunately, we've got a fantastic lady called Fiona who helps us with all of our legal stuff now. And, you know, anything we need help with, just drop her an email and she'll sort of come back with a sensible solution, rather than my sort of off the cuff antics and sort of like, no, Chris, you can't do that. It's like, all right, okay, then.
So, yeah, we've gained a lot of experienced people on the periphery of the team who we can go to for advice and guidance, and it just sort of sets us up well for making sure that we do everything right.
[00:28:10] Speaker C: And one of the things I was going to ask, because there's, and this is good for consumers like Matt and I, you know, we, we go to stone dead, we do steelhouse.
I'm obviously up in the north, I'm up in Edinburgh and Scotland, but we've now got made of stone. Matt goes to a few other festivals.
Is there a sense of community amongst all of the festival bookers? Do you all talk to each other in the sense of whenever you're looking at bills or looking at, do you sort of go, well, this guy, this, this band or this artist is coming over to the UK, rather than you all try and book the same sort of bands do you have, you know, do you work in collaboration with. With other festivals?
[00:29:05] Speaker B: Yeah, there's a few which I talk to. Sorry, on a daily basis or weekly basis. I was just talking to Raz White at Call of the Wild earlier on. Just about a few things because he also represents sheep burns red. He manages them over COVID. I was talking to the guys from Steelhouse quite a bit. Just when things were looking like they were going to open back up. But we knew that bands from the.
From outside the UK wouldn't be able to get in. So I was speaking to Mikey and Max about what they were looking at. So we didn't build the same bands, like, because we went for massive wagons, they had stone broken and we pretty much had the same lists. And I just said, listen, this is who we're interested in. Have you got them? And they said, yeah. I said, right, okay, I'll avoid them and we'll try other avenues. And it's just a little bit of mutual respect like that, where we'll try and help each other. Sometimes it's not as easy because the agents won't divulge where they're playing and stuff like that. So you've got to take pot. Look. Or if you're friendly with the other promoters, you can say, these are who I'm interested in. What's your thoughts? And they'll go, yeah, we're Kagan as well. And then they'll say, all right, okay, we'll leave you. Leave you to it and. And stuff like that. So there is. There is quite a few of us who do talk and help each other out as best we can. But at the end of the day, everybody's interest lies with their own festival. And they want to make it as good and as best as they can, which is only natural.
[00:30:37] Speaker A: Let's talk about the event itself, Chris, which is an amazing event, as you say. It's for the people, by the people. And the vibe is great. They're fantastic. They're always very friendly, they're very jovial. But what about the bands? Tell us about the bands. We're interested in the backstage stories.
But firstly, what do you do when someone drops out? I've always wondered that because last year. No, this year. Where are we? Mason Hill sadly had to drop out. And you brought in the excellent Florence black.
Short notice. Do you have a bench? Not literally, obviously. Do you have a kind of like a set of reserves or someone you can call upon? I know that those damn crows have stepped in a few times at festivals over the years, as you said, COVID affects a lot of people, but do you, do you kind of allow for it? Do you have a contingency plan?
[00:31:27] Speaker B: One of the joys of the way we work is we've always got conversations going with the agents, regardless of what we've got on the lineup, there's always conversations going backwards and forwards.
I mean, going back to 2021, when we had. I'm trying to think. We had thai kettle for 2020, they couldn't get over. So we thought, right, we'll try european bands. We went with heat and then into 2021, because we had VA rocks massive for the Friday night, and then we had massive wagon. Sorry, we had heat for the main day on a Saturday. We knew that they were going to get over in July. That was like, there was just no flights coming over.
Well, there was flights, but they would have had to come in for two weeks to do a one off gig. And so we kind of said, we'll put you on the back burner for this year, and then obviously we'll have wagon and stepping and the treatments coming in. But we'd already had the treatment booked for 2022. So I just spoke to their agent and said, listen, can we move you forward here? And I said, yeah, the lads will bite your hand off for that. So it was great until 11:00 on the Friday night of 2022, when. No, sorry, 2021. I got a phone call to say the treatment can't play tomorrow. This thing has got COVID.
But fortunately, we had players doing it with absolver, so absolver stepped in.
So sometimes it's good luck rather than good management, but we do sort of now have, like, options. It's like in a football analogy, we'll keep the bench full and we'll make sure we've got a good bench.
[00:33:05] Speaker A: My wife asked me to ask you a question, Chris. She said, what are the highs and lows of a festival? You've been doing it for a few years now, but the high points and the low points.
[00:33:19] Speaker B: I think the low points were posted, obviously, during COVID That was really difficult because it was kind of like unprecedented times, but the whole world was going through it. So it was a case of, like, you can't feel sorry for yourself because there's people going through a lot worse than you worrying about your festival. But every other festival was going through. And as I said, we're building a good little rapport with other events and sort of like what you're doing. And like, we did our web fest, people doing webcasts.
So as much as that was a bit rough, we managed to get through it and we came up the other end quite well. I think, to be honest.
The lowest point of all of this was maybe it was early 2018, when there was a little bit of turbulence, I would say, with the way stone deaf at the time was running, and there was a little bit of an experience in the team, and just. There was, like, little rumblings and we had a few people drop off going, I just can't do it. This is just not for me. And it left us with five people, which eventually was just me, Louise and Neil left running it as directors.
So it was a case of literally grabbing it by the scruff of the neck, putting your big boy's pants on, and you're saying, well, we've committed to this now. We've got nearly a thousand people already who bought tickets, and you're going to let them down if we don't do it. So it was a case of just get on with it and. Yeah, and it was. That was quite tough and hard, because it was. You were trying to convince people that we were going ahead and to buy a ticket early doors, just because the way we pay the bills. But fortunately, it kicked in and we did all right. As I said, you know, we had 1800 people in. We didn't went in the red. We've never been in the red touch board.
So that was probably the roughest point. Like, maybe Zaloo highlights far too many dimension. I think every year has got a dozen.
But I think, personally, that first year when we opened the gates and we had, like, thousands of people coming straight, about 1800 people streaming in, and just the faces was just absolutely, like, beaming because they had been with us from the start. And I could see, obviously, all the tears and the blood and stuff would put in.
And I would also say, maybe when we opened the gates in 21, because we'd gone through so much with COVID and we've got to the gig on the Monday, there was no stage. The stage was delayed. We didn't actually get the stage being constructed till the Thursday. They were still actually putting the pee up as people were queuing again on the Friday night. But on that Saturday, when once people came in and could see the arena, and for a lot of them, it was the first gig they've done in two years. And just to see that the beam and faces was. That was like, I suppose, imagine being in working in Disney world, seeing small kids coming through and seeing the castle and Mickey Mouse for the first time, that's what it was like for us to see them people. And then 22, when would went big with the production and the biggest stage and everything, and the people who've been there from the first year, coming in to see the arena with the big screens and the big stage and just the jaws dropping as if to say, we've all been part of this, and look, look at what we've done. So, as I said, there's dozens of highlights every year, but I would say those three moments over the six probably speak the ones I would, if we ever did our memoirs, that would be like the highlights in the memoirs.
[00:36:54] Speaker C: And it's an idea.
[00:36:56] Speaker A: Chris, the Stone dead story. How about that?
[00:37:01] Speaker B: Well, it would be a good one. I mean, there's some of the stories which will be included with that. And we've already said, jokingly, if we went to Netflix, you know, we'd have Winsor Davies for Neil, Lee Evans for me, Sandra Bullock full of wigs, you know, I mean, I can just imagine lieven sort of running around going, I can't believe what's happening. We've got no stage sweating and sort of like, with his towel and stuff like that. I think it'll be hilarious.
[00:37:28] Speaker C: Who's going to play Crusher, though? Who would play Crusher?
[00:37:32] Speaker B: Crusher would have to play himself.
[00:37:34] Speaker C: He would. He would. He would that. You know, that's a lovely touch. You know, for those of us who are, you know, you've got your monsters of rock veterans, but then you've got your Karang veterans, you know, and just seeing Crusher, crusher on stage and doing what he does in his own inimitable way, it's just, it's. It's amazing. But I have to say, one of the things, one of the questions I have. So over the years, you have listened to your fans. The one thing I will say is, from 22 to 23, the way in which you. Whether. Whether it's a subtle change, the way in which you changed the whole taxi that ran a dream this year, Chris, that was excellent.
What's been your biggest cause? 23 was a great, great bill. The weather was kind.
For those that were traveling down from Scotland, we were kind of going, this could be a real rain fest, and we weren't too bad.
What's been the biggest learning from 2023, from the feedback that you've got that you, you take into 2024.
[00:38:48] Speaker B: I mean, there's always bits from each year when we're talking to the fans, me, Louise, and they'll go out every year on the Sunday morning and we'll walk through the campsite, ask everyone if they've had a good time. Sort of like, how's it been for you? And we have a good chinwag. And the majority of people are always sort of, you know, ecstatic and really kind and stuff. And then you'll get like a little sort of like a grumble about and some of the stuff I'm thinking, there's not a great deal we can do about that. Like, you know, sort of the bumpy ground in the campsite or the potholes in the car park. There's, there's not a great deal I can do about that. Just maybe sort of drive slowly on your way home.
But I think from 23, obviously the, the differences is from 20.
Sorry, 1921 22. 23 is. We've increased capacity as well each year. So we've done it too quick. We made sure that we're comfortable with what we're doing and then we're going. Right, okay, let's take a step up and go with another thousand. And then another thousand and then get to a point where you kind of know you're touching your limits with like, the car park and then the campsite and in the arena. And what we don't want to do is get it. Everyone's like shoulder to shoulder and the stepping over people to get around the arena if they're at the back.
We want to make sure it remains comfortable and spacious, but in the same means, have a good atmosphere and have enough people there to pay the bills.
[00:40:18] Speaker C: One of the things I was going to, and you must. This is really, it's the, I don't want to use the word conspiracy theories, but, but what was fantastic this year is we saw Brian Tatler. So Brian Tatler was in amongst watching the gig. And also, I think Blaze was in the audience as well, too.
[00:40:39] Speaker B: Yeah, Blaze and Brian Tatler came together.
[00:40:42] Speaker C: They did. And you've no idea where. You know, Matt's a massive diamond head fan and they're there. You know, they're sitting watching the festival and you can just imagine you're sitting there going, sorry, this is the, this is the fanboy and me, I'm kind of going, right, right. So, so blaze. So Blaze is here. He's checking out for next year and he's been invited down, so. Right, Wolfsbane. Oh, but Wolfsbane have been on before. Oh, and Brian Tatler's here. Right, but Brian Tatler. So Diamond head have played before. But Diane, Brian Tatler's a touring guitarist in Saxon at the moment, right, that's. That's Saxon, Neil dawn. So you can just imagine anybody that comes as a punter or, you know, comes to watch, because a festival, if they're in a band, if anybody sees them there, it's.
[00:41:31] Speaker B: You just.
[00:41:32] Speaker C: It's. It is. I have to say, the Facebook page is amazing how people will sort of put one or two things together and then it's like, oh, we know who's on the bill for next year because we've seen such and such. Honestly, it's. It's brilliant. But the good thing is it just gets everybody talking. And here you are, Chris, before Christmas, pretty much with a sellout festival for 2024. You know, I'm sure a lot of the packages for camping, it's all pretty much gone. And you haven't even announced your headliner, so people are, people trust you with the bill, but actually enjoy the festival for what it is in that one. You know, that, as you say, you know, one day, one stage, albeit the Friday night, we've got the Friday night, which is, and I have to say the Friday night this year with, with Mikey Gray, karma effect and Kira Mack was fabulous, you know? So, yeah.
[00:42:36] Speaker B: Matt, can I just ask, did you come to stone deaf in 2019?
[00:42:41] Speaker A: I did not, no.
[00:42:42] Speaker B: I'd. Cancer, Chris.
[00:42:44] Speaker A: I was recovering from cancer, so I missed a couple of years and this year I moved house. Why do you ask, my friend?
[00:42:51] Speaker B: Well, if you go on YouTube and Stone Deaf 2019, diamond head, am I evil? And this was like possibly one of the most amazing things ever. Speaking of highlights, this was like absolutely mind blown for our second year. I mean, we had Glenn Hughes, inglourious Phil Campbell, Wayward sons, Jeff Tate, Diamond Head, the amourets must have on the Saturday with summer kinders, the opening, and we had a decorah doing a flyover in the woman. They were meant to do the flyover just as the amoretta were coming off stage and it got delayed slightly. I mean, and we, I mean, you get live music delays, but this was a decoder doing like, it got delayed. So we got word that they were going to come over and it was like, in looking at the time, was going to be mid diamond. And I was like, oh, shit, just what you want is like sort of there on stage and there's a bloody plane, um, flying over. Um, so anyway, just as, uh, diamond head, we're doing am I evil? And it builds up and builds up and all of a sudden the guitar solo kicks in. This decor just like, come over the crowd and it was just like you couldn't. You couldn't time it any better. It was just like the most amazing timing ever. And as the. The. The song finished, and it was like, thank you, stone death, blah, blah, blah. And as the came off, the last flyer literally just right over the stage and on the video, it's. It's. It's as if we'd choreographed it. It was just amazing. So watch that.
[00:44:22] Speaker A: Um, I will.
[00:44:23] Speaker B: Brian. Brian Tatter was just like, I've never competed with a Dakota doing a guitar sweller before.
[00:44:29] Speaker A: I must say, I love the plane. I was there last year. I don't know it was a Dakota or a Lancaster or whatever, but I don't know whether it was the hangover from the night before or the booze on the day, but I'm standing there, it's a lovely day, and I'm in tears because there's this beautiful plane and an amazing festival. And I'm not afraid to say, but I just had a few tears because it's awe inspiring.
When you see the plane come over, it's just amazing.
[00:44:57] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's ministry. It went over during the wraps just as they were coming to the end of the set, and I thought that was quite fitting as well because it was their first european gig.
I just hope they don't expect that every time they do play a european gig outside, because they might be a little bit disappointed.
[00:45:16] Speaker C: But one of the nice things about festival as well, too, Chris, is there's quite a lot of charity support amongst. Whenever you come in with the vendors.
I certainly remember when we came in this year, there was mental health support.
[00:45:39] Speaker B: And his men club.
[00:45:40] Speaker C: Yeah. Which I thought was really good. So in terms of some of the charity work and in terms of the selection of the vendors, etcetera, which make up the vibe, or just the whole setup for the festival, as well as booking the bands, do you get involved around helping the layout and the choice of the. The charities that you guys support on a. On a year to year basis?
[00:46:10] Speaker B: The layouts kind of evolved naturally from the first year. The first year we actually had the stage where the marquee of metal is, where the small traders tent is, the big white tent. The stage was actually there, and we've rotated around just because that first year, the sun was coming down in people's eyes during Wolfsbane and the choir boys, and you just got everybody, like, doing that, like, looking at the stage in the vendors. The most who did the first year have been with us ever since. And then it's just a case of listening to the fans. And it's, what food would you like to see? And it's a lot of them will say, well, I went here and the food was great, but it would be nice if we had this choice. So then you go out and you look and you just try and fill the gaps. I mean, we have a lot of vegan and vegetarian people come and people who've got like nut allergies and, you know, the, uh, lactose intolerant and stuff. So on the application form now, it's a case of, do you offer vegan or vegetarian? Do you need nut allergies? Uh, just sort of like gluten free lactose intolerant. Are you cash card? Cash only. And then we'll put this little sheet out every year to sort of say, these are the food vendors we've got, these are the different choices, but we also let you bring your own food in and you can bring four of your own cans of beer in.
[00:47:26] Speaker A: That's really, that is unique. I think we all applaud that, Chris.
The four cans of beer or whatever, I mean, it's a lovely gesture, and it does stand you out from the crowd, doesn't it? Of course.
[00:47:40] Speaker B: I mean, with that as well.
That's one of the things where harks back to the days of monsters of rock, where you could bring your square container in full of beer before you launched it up the stage, or someone suspecting person. Yeah. And they put you on the back of the head or side of the face, or if you're really unlucky in the front. Um, but yeah, I mean, with that, it's a case of, you know, it's an adult festival. Everyone's mature enough not to sort of do anything daft. Um, we know that once you've had your cans, you're going, you're going to prefer a cold pint and stuff. But obviously, if you're bringing your own favorite drinks in, it saves having to have like sort of 50 choices at the bar to try and cater for everyone's tastes.
And it's just as you say, it's a nice touch and it just makes everybody feel like they're being chat like a responsible adult bringing your own food in, because, you know, you might have some kind of allergies where you need to have your own own food, or you just want to have, you know, your fish paste sandwiches or whatever you want to have.
But on the flip side, we speak to the traders every year and say, this is what we'd like you to do this is, can you keep your prices down? What are you going to charge?
And we'll monitor them and if any of them do sort of try and sneak the prices up, we have a word and if they do it again, they don't get invited back because we want people to come and enjoy themselves. We don't want to spend a fortune, we don't want to be getting ripped off. But in the same means, they want the traders to, to make money. So we'll limit the amount of traders we'll have. And if we've got some guy who's doing burgers, he's the only person doing burgers. If there's a guy doing chinese food, he's the only person doing chinese food, curries and everything else like that. So it's basically they've got like kind of the, the market, so to speak. So try to be as fair as we can with it, with the traders and make sure that they get enough footfall. But also the main responsibility is to make sure without the fans come, they're not getting ripped off with the food. They've got a good selection of food and it's good quality.
[00:49:45] Speaker C: Do you know, one of the things, Chris, that's actually really, really good is the self, or the self monitoring that the fans do themselves. You know, it's probably. I don't know if it's a post that you put up or Neil puts up. It's, you know, after we've all gone away, it's really, really nice that you see after, say, 24 hours and you actually look at the site and the amount of self policing that people do, you know, you can see if, you know, if somebody has a can of beer or they have their food wrappings or their packaging lying about, people will actually get off the backsides and go and put their own stuff in the bins and it's really. It's nice when you see, you know, it's probably one of the great learnings from monsters of Rock and Donington to what you're doing in stone dead, is you look at how it was decimated in the eighties, you know, you look at how, you know it probably, or Glastonbury, all these big festivals where it's like, takes weeks and hundreds of people to tidy it up. I know you've very much got your, you know, 150 plus volunteers, but within x amount of hours, you know, a couple of days, that site looks as if there hasn't been a festival on it. Because people are self policing. People are even saying, excuse me, mate, you dropped your rubbish. Can you put it in the bin? And that's, that's, that's one of the lovely things about how it works. And people will call people out on social media, you know, just remind, not call them out, but remind people, hey, when you come to the festival, put your own rubbish in the bin.
[00:51:22] Speaker B: Yeah, normally the rubbish, what Neil does with the photograph, that's normally within 24 hours. Yeah. So it's like mid afternoon on the Sunday. Once the campsites being cleared, it's a case of this is, this is what it's like. A lot of the time. The site's actually tidier than it is when we first take it over.
There's been times where we've took over the site from a previous event and there's just like crap all over the place and say, hang on a minute, like, what's going on? Yeah, he's not tidying up after yourselves and, yeah, so it's, it's. The site's tidier than it is when we're taking over in the show ground are ecstatic. You know, they know that we'll look after. We're responsible. And again, it goes back to sort of that we're all responsible adults who are put it on and 99.99% of the people who attend. I like that, you know, the care and they know that sort of like that the time we're spending tidying up and cleaning up is less time we can spend making sure that everything else is running properly and we're doing and we're making sure that the good things are brilliant, you know, so it's, it's all part of the, the family ethos we've got. Really.
[00:52:35] Speaker A: That's excellent. No, it's, it's, it's. The vibe is amazing at stone dead and long may it continue. Chris, we're running out of time. We're conscious of letting you have your chili.
[00:52:45] Speaker B: You should be having your tea.
[00:52:50] Speaker A: So, Chris, it's currently 5000 people. You mentioned you've been kind of edging the capacity up over the years. What's the plan? What's the dream? Are you going to keep it at 5000 or do you want to change science or what? Can you let us into the long term plan? Is there one?
[00:53:08] Speaker B: The plan is just to keep on doing what we're doing and get better at it.
We do, as I said earlier on, we don't want to be the biggest. We just want to be one of the best. I think 5000 is a nice number.
Whether or not we'll go beyond that, I don't know. We're just trying to perfect what we're doing.
The dream for me personally is to make sure that we sell out well in advance. Selling out by Christmas is a phenomenal dream, which I thought it pie in the sky. But the way things are going, it's looking very likely this year. And we've only got, I think, just over 500 tickets left over since two months of having them on sale. So just selling out every year I'm happy with. And I think everybody in the team's happy. Neil and Louise are ecstatic every year when we sell out. It's like we're like kids at Christmas when that sold out poster goes up. So in terms of the long term plan is just to keep on getting better at what we're doing and just keeping everybody happy. As long as the fans and the bands are happy, everything else should just work.
[00:54:20] Speaker A: So, Chris, you mentioned at the outset skid row, one of your favorite bands. They were first headliner on the bill.
Fantasy festival, Fantasy Stone dead. If money was no object, who would you have on the bill? Who would be your headliner?
[00:54:40] Speaker B: I mean, realistically, obviously, you're at 5000 capacitor memories a smidgen more.
You're not going to get your maidens and, you know. But I think for something which we could possibly do long term, I would love Nightwish. Nightwish is one of my favorite bands. Personal, I think the bombastic. And what they do, the stage show is fantastic. They're a little bit different. But in terms of the songs to do, the catchy, the sing along special guests, I think airborne, that would be a good sort of access where you've got like proper pub rock and roll. Then you're going off to something symphonic and a bit more technical with. With Nightwish and then going as we'll go further down, I would love to have something like testament or overkill, like a really hard edge thrash band, old school thrashband. And then look at something like. I don't know. We've already had massive wagons, but I think wagons would be good there for a mid afternoon bill.
And then just going further down.
It's bands we've already had, I think, you know, the likes of Wayward Suns, kicking Valentina. Kicking Valentina were one of the best sets, I think, for a lot of people. Out of them. Back in a heartbeat.
[00:55:55] Speaker A: Amazing.
[00:55:56] Speaker B: South of Salem. I would love to see south of Salem come back one day in headline. I think if they were like. If they were doing their full stage show in the dark with the pyro and the dancers and everything else that would be like, on par with, I don't know, like maybe his kiss back in the day. It would just be like. Just be amazing. But, yeah, going back to the dream, I think nightwish and airborne as a top two would be absolutely dreamy.
[00:56:25] Speaker A: Fantastic. Sounds good. Can't wait.
[00:56:29] Speaker B: No pressure.
[00:56:31] Speaker A: Right? Any, any last comments for you before I close?
[00:56:33] Speaker C: No, no, I've got. Well, apart, apart from the fact that Chris. Chris needs. He needs to, you know, somewhere down the line, if Kings x ever come back to the UK, you know, they're special mention for Kings X there.
[00:56:47] Speaker B: Well, here's the one for you. Kings X have got the same agent as the raps.
[00:56:53] Speaker A: Wow. Oh, don't you hear it here first?
[00:56:57] Speaker B: So this comes. There's already been conversations mentioning those words.
[00:57:03] Speaker C: Well, I'm sold.
If you're going to say it's 25 or 26, I'll buy both years in advance, pre order.
[00:57:14] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I looked at trying to get Kings X for.
Well, yeah, over the last few years and it's just one of those things where they're not available to do one offs in Europe and that's the big thing. Trying to get a band over from America to do a one off in Europe or trying to get a run of dates to make it financially viable because they're not going to come over and want to lose money. It's. I mean, you wouldn't do that. You know, you wouldn't go to. You wouldn't go to work and sort of like, not be able to afford a live by doing it, you know.
And it's the same with bands. So hopefully one day will happen. But King's X are definitely on. On the list of many.
[00:57:57] Speaker A: Wow. He made his knights.
[00:57:59] Speaker C: You've made my knights. The fact that. Yeah, anybody that knows King's Ex is a friend of mine.
[00:58:06] Speaker B: Great band.
[00:58:09] Speaker C: I saw them for the first time in 1991 at the Riverside in Newcastle.
[00:58:17] Speaker B: Right.
[00:58:18] Speaker C: Seldom in Newcastle. They had a night. They were. They were turned with AC DC and AC DC. I don't think AC DC didn't have a show at the.
[00:58:30] Speaker B: They weren't playing Newcastle.
[00:58:32] Speaker C: They weren't playing Newcastle.
[00:58:33] Speaker B: No, they didn't.
[00:58:34] Speaker C: They didn't play Newcastle. So I think they played in Berkeley. They would have played the NEC in Wembley and probably somewhere up, maybe Edinburgh. They were down at Edinburgh, Glasgow gig and they came down and the Newcastle audience just. Absolutely, we just lapped them up, you know, Kings X were our. Were our band and they played the Riverside and they blew the place apart.
[00:58:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
The support of maiden on the european leg of no prow on the road.
Like the dip, the european dates.
[00:59:07] Speaker C: Ah, because Wolfsbane did the. Wolfsbane did the. They did.
[00:59:11] Speaker B: Wolfsbane did the inner city Express. And then they came back and did the arena shows with anthrax and put the european dates. It was Kings X. So I remember having a boot like video and Bruce Dickinson saying sort of like in a big thanks to Kings X for supporting us on this tour. And so there was a couple of grumbles from the audience and Bruce is, ah, come on, man. They're a brilliant band.
[00:59:33] Speaker C: But you know what's nice? What's nice, Chris, for those people that are invested in your fest and in the festival, because they enjoy it for the, just for all of it.
It's really interesting because obviously I like my prog. I like my prog metal.
I love the lineup of dream theater with.
And now that Mike Portenoy is back in the band, you can't help it but go as a fan, you're going, oh, man, wouldn't it be brilliant to have dream theater with Mike Portenoy headlining Stone dead? So I'm as everybody, everybody will be looking at who's going in and recording an album, who's. And we all have who we would like to have as a, have as a headliner. And that's what, that's the beauty of what you do. Blue Oyster cult this year, you know, pretty much didn't see that coming at all. And they come across and yes, we know a couple of their big songs. The big song, but a lot of, they gained a lot of fans from the set that they did on the Saturday night. So it was great. It's great.
[01:00:52] Speaker B: I mean, I was stood with the manager for this, for most of the sets, and he was over the moon with the reaction they got, the production and he was full of praise afterwards, you know, he was over the moon with how the band would tread, how they were looked after, how they were sort of presented on stage. And I spoke to the band after the gig and they were over the moon, you know, because the, they're now sort of towards the twilight of their career and sort of like, the big shows like that in Europe probably sort of aren't going to be as many, they're not going to do as many shows in Europe anyway. But blue Oyster cult, a lot of people thought, would have them on the lineup long before we did because of the way the artwork was with the great band over the five graves.
[01:01:40] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[01:01:41] Speaker B: But that artwork, it was with it being the fifth anniversary, and I spoke to Mick, the designer, like, I think it was in May before we actually did 2022. And I said, look, for next year, I'd like to have the five graves with the fire, with the lineups on then, like, sort of like, I will mascot Jeff over the top. Like, kind of like, sort of like the tales from the crypt kind of crypt came. They said, oh, why don't I like the Grim Reaper? Because when we had black Star riders in 2020, we had an artwork done where Jeff was like, a grim reaper on a horse. It's like, for, like, black star riders, but we couldn't fit the artwork on the poster and all the bands where without a look enough, so we kept the grim rate back, and everyone was like, oh, I bet it's blue oyster cult with that. And it's like, ah, it's not. It's not. It's like. And then we ended up getting blue oyster cult.
But because of that, people now think that there's hints on every artwork and the scrutinizers, and it's like, you have it upside down. Absolutely.
[01:02:43] Speaker A: I read someone the other day saying, yeah, I'm looking at now for next year. Yeah, the wings. That must mean. I don't know where it might be. You know, this. This conspiracy theories to the cows. Come home. If you announce it, of course, then that'll be it.
I'm going to close now, Chris, and I'm glad you get on with your chili.
So Chris someby, director of show promotion and bad book is the magnificent stone dead festival. Thank you so much for being on. For those about to pub, we salute you, and as they say, we shall see you at the bar.
[01:03:18] Speaker B: Yes, in August.
[01:03:20] Speaker A: Indeed. Look forward to it. Take care of yourself, Chris. Thanks again.
[01:03:24] Speaker B: All the best. Thank you very much.
[01:03:25] Speaker C: Thank you for all your time, Chris. Brilliant. Thanks for your time. Take care. See you later.
[01:03:35] Speaker A: Those bad pod, we salute you is a Mailee Rogers production.
