Music Conference and Festival
Click through the gallery above. Photos from SMILEfest 2010 featuring author/journalist Gary Mulholland (“This is Uncool”, The Guardian, BBC, Uncut), Foreign Beggars, Rob da Bank, Rodney Branigan, and Ian Easton and the Widowmakers.
Tom Taaffe is an artist agent at International Talent Bookers. Tom began his music industry career as an agent with Trading Post Agency in Australia, where he represented acts including Frenzal Rhomb, The Butterfly Effect, Karnivool and Gyroscope. In 2004, Tom started his own touring company in Australia, Hill 16 Entertainment, touring U.S. acts including From Autumn To Ashes and Eighteen Visions & Rufio.
As of 2010, Tom works at The Agency Group and represents alternative and heavy rock talent including August Burns Red, Every Time I Die, Chiodos, Asking Alexandria, Bless The Fall, Whitechapel and A Skylit Drive, among several others.
Dave Spoon is the alias of DJ and producer Simon Neale. He currently hosts Radio 1’s ‘In New DJs We Trust’.
Signing ’21st Century’ to Toolroom Records in 2004 was a key point for Spoon, an instant success supported by the likes of Pete Tong and Roger Sanchez. The piano led ‘Sunrise EP’ followed and was instantly signed to Seamus Haji’s Big Love imprint. With a lot of buzz surrounding his releases, the remixes poured in with re-works for the hottest underground labels including Stealth, Cyber, Toolroom & Cr2.
In 2006, keen to push musical boundaries and break new sounds, Spoon released ‘At Night’ – a dance floor killer. Championed by everyone from Deep Dish to Tiesto, the track caused a stir on dancefloors. With an added vocal in 2007 from Lisa Maffia the track crossed over as ‘Bad Girl (At Night)’ on Universal, it was one of the biggest records last summer, earning Spoon his first top 40 hit.
With a Ministry Of Sound “Summer Sessions” compilation under his belt, remixes of artists like Dizzee Rascal, Pet Shop Boys plus updates of classics such as Gat Décor’s ‘Passion’, 2007 has moved Spoon further into the limelight. Having landed himself a show on Radio 1’s ‘In New DJs We Trust’, writing his artist album and writing with the likes of Pete Tong, it seems a string of new material is soon to be heard on a sound system near you.
Phil Nicholas is the programmer for Stock Aitken Waterman, an English songwriting and record producing trio. SAW is considered to be one of the most successful songwriting and producing partnerships of all time, scoring more than 100 UK top 40 hits, selling 40 million records and earning an estimated £60 million (about $104 million). SAW have worked with Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley, Bananarama and others.
Foreign Beggars are a multi-genre UK trio whose unique trajectory has seen them evolve from underground hip hop heroes to trailblazing electronic crossover act without ever forsaking an ounce their inimitable energy from studio recordings to a second to none live show.
Always keen collaborators the Beggars have worked with a plethora of worldwide artists from across the electronic spectrum. Highlights include, Noisia, Dj Vadim, Knife Party, Skrillex, Birdy Nam Nam and Alix Perez & Flux Pavilion. 2013 has seen Foreign Beggars elevate their modus operandi to further heights by forming the rap electronic supergroup I AM LEGION alongside co-conspirators Noisia. The group has released a full length album and put together an awe inspiring five man live show with custom visuals as standard. I am legion has already toured the album extensively across Europe to sold out shows resulting in rapturous audience reaction.
The self-titled debut was the first release on their new label Par Excellence and as a co release with Owsla and Division. Foreign Beggars have also collaborated on releases with major and independent labels such Sony, MOS, Black Butter, Owsla, & Mau5trap With a top ten hit, over 40 million YouTube plays and a string
Texas-raised Londoner Rodney Branigan learned to play in Austin, perform in Los Angeles, craft songs in Nashville, and put it all together in London. Artists are often described as having “a unique talent”; few epitomise this more than multi instrumentalist Rodney Branigan. In fact, Texan-born Rodney’s talents as a musician are as plentiful as the many instruments he expertly plays side by side.
He masterfully combines extraordinary multi instrumentalist skills with heartfelt lyrics and a rich soulful voice;(often compared to Jeff Buckley).
Alabama 3 is a band from Brixton, London who wrote the Soprano’s theme song. They describe themselves as a punk rock, blues and country techno situationist crypto- Marxist-Leninist electro pop band.