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BRETT ROBINSON With over 10 years’ experience, Brett Robinson is one of the most influential electronic music agents in the country. As a partner in Future Entertainment, he has developed some of the most iconic music festivals Australia has seen. Prior to joining Future Entertainment, Brett worked at Seven and Saratoga, both highly regarded Melbourne institutions. Following this, he presented an event featuring Roger Sanchez, Dimitri from Paris and Derrick Carter named “Respect Is Burning” on the eve of the millennium, NYE 2000, which attracted 7,000 people at the historically listed Royal Exhibition Buildings in Melbourne. The success of this event led him to a position as the key electronic music agent within Michael Gudinski’s Mushroom group of companies for the next three years. The development of Future Tours with Mark James and Jason Ayoubi soon followed and was a product of this varied experience and passion for music. Today Brett commands a diverse and ever-changing roster of some of the world’s biggest and most prominent artists ranging from The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Underworld, Basement Jaxx, Kraftwerk, Mark Ronson & The Version Players, David Guetta, Erick Morillo, De La Soul, Grandmaster Flash, N*E*R*D and many more. Q&As 1. Who (or what) would you say has influenced you/your career more than anyone? I can’t really say there has been one specific person or moment in time. I think it has been a very gradual build of numerous things, from working in clubs as a bus boy, then manager, then owner, to working as a touring agent for one of the biggest rock promoters in Australia (Michael Gudinski/Mushroom Group), to then becoming a partner in Future which has become the biggest dance/festival promoter in the country. All of these turning points have influenced me in many ways. I suppose you can say that experience has been the best influence. 2. What was the best piece of advice you were ever given? Things happen for a reason. I think you are the master of your own destiny and if you want something you have to work for it. 3. What would be your defining career moment? Confirming headline festival tours for bands such as The Prodigy, Kraftwerk, The Chemical Brothers, Basement Jaxx, etc. They are pretty much the pinnacle of electronic music and the most influential artists of our times for our types of events. I definitely had a great sense of achievement confirming tours for them and this most definitely inspires you to keep going bigger and bigger in terms of your goals. 4. What does your typical working day involve? Budgets, advertising and marketing plans, press releases, production discussions, and generally worrying about how the hell to sell more tickets!!!! 5. What’s the most common mistake you notice in new promoters? Being too confident and believing the hype. Nothing is ever easy! It takes a lot of dedication and hard work to achieve the results you think you can. It’s not really the type of business where you can be complacent about how things will eventuate. 6. What is the one piece of advice you would give to aspiring promoters today? Don’t try to go too big too fast. Try to make sure that what you are doing is achievable, within your reach and something that you can really nail so you feel confident about moving on. As soon as you take on more than you can handle and things don’t work out, you set yourself back a mile. Be realistic about what you can achieve and you will always be happy with the results. 7. If you weren't doing this for a living, what might you have been? I studied Economics/Law at University so possibly a lawyer, an accountant or something quite professional and boring. I’m very happy about the ways things worked out. I do feel I use those skills daily in what I do so all those years of study wasn’t a complete waste of time.
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