Feast Music Blog

Interview – Artist management in the 21st Century (part 2)

With the music business changing at an incredible speed, Feast invited Biffy Clyro manager Dee Bahl and Idlewild manager Bruce Craigie to discuss the ever-expanding role of the artist manager in the 21^st Century. In the second of our four instalments Dee and Bruce talk about the day in the life of a manager, how the role has changed and what a manager should look for in a band.

Q: What is a day in the life of a music manager like? What aspects of your bands’ careers do you look after?

B.C. It’s an interesting one that, particularly now, as it really depends on the role that you take on with the band and what part of their career you get associated with as I guess what the artists needs and what the artist wants to do is what basically changed my role. Basically looking at the areas where they need assistance whether it is help with the show or help with the crew and building a team around the band if you don’t have a traditional record company.

D.B. Pretty much on a day to day basis I’d be dealing with the bands lawyer, dealing with the accountant , their agent. The international department of the label or the press department or it could be the TV department. Really depends on where you are in the lifecycle of an album or a release which dictates what your day is going to be like. With Biffy Clyro they’re a heavy touring band so a lot of time is dealing with aspects of that such as putting a crew together, appointing a tour manager and so I have to think months ahead of what the band might be doing. I spend a lot of time with the bands accountant working on budgets with the record label. If you’re going into record an album I’ll deal with liaisng with the record label, with the producer, with the producer’s management. It’s never dull.

Q: What should other aspiring managers look for in a band? What important contractual issues should a manager look out for, or what red flags should they be wary about when considering getting involved with managing an artist?

B.C. When you’re looking for a band you’re looking for somebody that’s going to entertain you, that can write good songs, somebody that has an idea of their direction, somebody that has the drive and knows what they want to do and why they want to take on a manager. What’s the right time to take on a manager? What role do you want to take on as a manager and what are you able to facilitate? I particularly go back to the artist having drive if they want to have a career out of the business. Pretty much every band I’ve worked with from within record companies, publishing companies, right through to managing bands has had a very strong idea of what they wanted to do and what they wanted to achieve out of music.

D.B. They’ve got to love the music that a band are making because if you don’t you won’t love the people making the music and it’ll be difficult to sell the band to the world. It was really hard in the early days to get people to believe in Biffy Clyro. If I didn’t love their music I couldn’t have done that job. Obviously you want people who can write good songs, who really want to succeed and are attentive to what you’re saying. A manager can bring opportunity and a band have to be ready and willing to take these opportunities. In terms of contractual issues, the term of the contract, your commission, your expenses – make sure you’re not saddled with a lot of the cost. Also if the term of the contract is up or the relationship breaks down you need to know what you’re entitled to given the amount of work you’ve put in.

Q: Since you started being an artist manager do you find that the role is changing? Are you becoming more central to the whole industry?

B.C. Definately changed. The traditional way for a manager of earning any money has changed. It used to be that you’d find an artist and you’d take them to a record company or publishing company and they’d offer you an advance and then you’d take a commission on the advance from the artist. There are a only a few of these deals done now as the industry has shrunk and the amount of money available has shrunk. That has made the role change a lot really. The role used to be to motivate your artist and motivate the label and that was an important thing and now you have to do what the labels used to do and you have to be an all-encompassing person so instead of going to the label and saying what do you think on the marketing campaign you’re now involved in that sort of thing.

D.B. Looking after the band, the tours, the releases are the same. However as technology develops the change has been in online activity, social networks and how music is accessed and consumed. There has been changes in how much labels have become involved in all aspects of a bands career. They will only get involved if a band signs a 360 deal. They are much more cautious now about signing and working with bands.

Q: Is now a good time to be a manager?

B.C. Sort of. It’s exciting but it’s difficult to make any money and that’s the big issue. Unless you’re bankrolled by a big company or you have a huge act that can let you take on a few other things and develop them at the same time then it’s becoming increasingly more difficult. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to get involved on the El Jam project as I thought there are good bands out there that don’t have the access to the knowledge and the wherewithal about developing as a band. For example, it’s surprising how many bands playing gigs don’t have a website or don’t have a logo and are giving away music at venues and not thinking about the future and it seems fundamental advise that needs to be given and that can set bands back. If they get an opportunity and they’re not ready it can set them back and that is really damaging for bands.

D.B. It’s always a good time to be a manager. It’s always going to be a tough job and a thankless job. There are a lot of opportunities out there it just depends about how you want to make a difference in relation to the band you want to work with.

Interview – Artist management in the 21st Century (part 1)

With the music business changing at an incredible speed, HND Music Business invited former Biffy Clyro manager Dee Bahl and Fatherson/Idlewild manager Bruce Craigie to discuss the ever-expanding role of the artist manager in the 21st Century. In the first of two instalments Dee and Bruce talk about the music industry in 2019 and their introduction to the role of artist manager.

Q: What are your predictions for the music industry in 2019?

Bruce Craigie: Hard to say unless the economy settles and the industry takes some better shape. In regards to the record labels they are either very big or very small with nothing in between and this has been lacking in the last few years which has made things very difficult for the development of rock bands or anybody who needs to tour because there hasn’t been the support network that there used to be when you were lucky enough to have a record deal that could help you with those things. A tricky time which I don’t see being any easier this year unless the economy settles.

Dee Bahl: Difficult to make predictions in this volatile climate but I’m hoping there is a sort of rise for the independents and they become a lot stronger and I’m hoping venture capitalists take a chance on emerging talent because it’s really hard to get funding and it’s really hard to get finance. There are some people out there with a little bit of money that can make a huge bit of difference. You’ve only got the three major record companies and there is not a hell of a lot of signing going on there, it’s very guarded considering the usual things I see getting picked up. I’m really hoping that the independent sector becomes a lot stronger and I think with the lack of money there will be opportunities for independent labels.

Q: What are you excited about in the music industry for 2019?

B.C. I think at the current time for better or worse in the digital era it’s never been easier to record music and get your music out there so that’s one of the things that’s really exciting but on the downside it’s never been harder to make a living out of the music business so it’s very difficult to quantify where you can collect any money from since it’s just such a broad scope of things that go on but what I like about it is that it feels like it’s back to being a cottage industry again in many ways.

D.B. I’m becoming more aware of different business models of people who are trying to do things differently and almost go out on their own and give it a go and that’s exciting. There are a lot of bands out there who are doing their own albums and a whole range of people being creative and that can only be a good thing.

Q: What led you to get involved in management?

B.C. I’ve been managing bands for about thirteen or fourteen years now and before that I worked in record companies. I worked at Go Discs and I worked at Chrysalis and I started of at Stiff Records and I ended up at a little label called Deceptive Records which I did some consultancy work for and that’s how I became involved in the management side of things by one of the bands that came through which is a band called Idlewild and I basically managed them from day one really and continue to do so. I came across Idlewild when I was working at Deceptive and we signed their publishing and we had a publishing deal through EMI music and that gave me the chance to quit the day job for a few months. They wanted to make some records with Deceptive so we put some records out and in the meantime we were negotiating a record deal for them and one of the labels that was interested in signing them said to the band why don’t you get Bruce to manage you and they said what a great idea and it just fell into that way and I’d been asked a number of times to manage bands but never actually taken the plunge as it were and that’s how I sort of fell into the management side of things really.

D.B. It happened by complete accident if I’m being honest. I’ve always been a bass player in various bands over the years and I came off tour once and my next gig wasn’t for a while and I always had this ambition to set up a small record label and so that’s what I did with a couple of mates. We didn’t have much money and we had to borrow money. Once we got things moving the two bands that we got for the label was a band called Aerogramme and a band called Biffy Clyro and we put out their first releases and one thing lead to another and basically by default I ended up doing a lot more for these bands and before I knew it I was their Manager. From my days of being in bands, any management company that had managed me or the band I was in basically had to come through me and I just had an aptitude towards management and I just knew how it worked. I also had a degree in Marketing and Management and I’m not saying that’s what cuts you out to become a Manager, you either have it or you don’t. I don’t see why anybody who is young and is aspiring to become a Manager can’t become one because as you go further into your career you learn a lot more. It’s not for the feint hearted. It’s not a dull job, it’s a very demanding job and it’s twenty-four/seven and I mean twenty-four/seven. However, the rewards are there to be had and it’s a very fulfilling job.

Q: What is a day in the life of a music manager like? What aspects of your bands’ careers do you look after?

B.C. It’s an interesting one that, particularly now, as it really depends on the role that you take on with the band and what part of their career you get associated with as I guess what the artists needs and what the artist wants to do is what basically changed my role. Basically looking at the areas where they need assistance whether it is help with the show or help with the crew and building a team around the band if you don’t have a traditional record company.

D.B. Pretty much on a day to day basis I’d be dealing with the bands lawyer, dealing with the accountant , their agent. The international department of the label or the press department or it could be the TV department. Really depends on where you are in the lifecycle of an album or a release which dictates what your day is going to be like. With Biffy Clyro they’re a heavy touring band so a lot of time is dealing with aspects of that such as putting a crew together, appointing a tour manager and so I have to think months ahead of what the band might be doing. I spend a lot of time with the bands accountant working on budgets with the record label. If you’re going into record an album I’ll deal with liaisng with the record label, with the producer, with the producer’s management. It’s never dull.

Q: What should other aspiring managers look for in a band? What important contractual issues should a manager look out for, or what red flags should they be wary about when considering getting involved with managing an artist?

B.C. When you’re looking for a band you’re looking for somebody that’s going to entertain you, that can write good songs, somebody that has an idea of their direction, somebody that has the drive and knows what they want to do and why they want to take on a manager. What’s the right time to take on a manager? What role do you want to take on as a manager and what are you able to facilitate? I particularly go back to the artist having drive if they want to have a career out of the business. Pretty much every band I’ve worked with from within record companies, publishing companies, right through to managing bands has had a very strong idea of what they wanted to do and what they wanted to achieve out of music.

D.B. They’ve got to love the music that a band are making because if you don’t you won’t love the people making the music and it’ll be difficult to sell the band to the world. It was really hard in the early days to get people to believe in Biffy Clyro. If I didn’t love their music I couldn’t have done that job. Obviously you want people who can write good songs, who really want to succeed and are attentive to what you’re saying. A manager can bring opportunity and a band have to be ready and willing to take these opportunities. In terms of contractual issues, the term of the contract, your commission, your expenses – make sure you’re not saddled with a lot of the cost. Also if the term of the contract is up or the relationship breaks down you need to know what you’re entitled to given the amount of work you’ve put in.

Q: Since you started being an artist manager do you find that the role is changing? Are you becoming more central to the whole industry?

B.C. Definitely changed. The traditional way for a manager of earning any money has changed. It used to be that you’d find an artist and you’d take them to a record company or publishing company and they’d offer you an advance and then you’d take a commission on the advance from the artist. There are a only a few of these deals done now as the industry has shrunk and the amount of money available has shrunk. That has made the role change a lot really. The role used to be to motivate your artist and motivate the label and that was an important thing and now you have to do what the labels used to do and you have to be an all-encompassing person so instead of going to the label and saying what do you think on the marketing campaign you’re now involved in that sort of thing.

D.B. Looking after the band, the tours, the releases are the same. However as technology develops the change has been in online activity, social networks and how music is accessed and consumed. There has been changes in how much labels have become involved in all aspects of a bands career. They will only get involved if a band signs a 360 deal. They are much more cautious now about signing and working with bands.

Q: Is now a good time to be a manager?

B.C. Sort of. It’s exciting but it’s difficult to make any money and that’s the big issue. Unless you’re bankrolled by a big company or you have a huge act that can let you take on a few other things and develop them at the same time then it’s becoming increasingly more difficult. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to get involved on the El Jam project as I thought there are good bands out there that don’t have the access to the knowledge and the wherewithal about developing as a band. For example, it’s surprising how many bands playing gigs don’t have a website or don’t have a logo and are giving away music at venues and not thinking about the future and it seems fundamental advise that needs to be given and that can set bands back. If they get an opportunity and they’re not ready it can set them back and that is really damaging for bands.

D.B. It’s always a good time to be a manager. It’s always going to be a tough job and a thankless job. There are a lot of opportunities out there it just depends about how you want to make a difference in relation to the band you want to work with.

Posted by JD, 11th March, 2019

T in The Park 2014 review – Bye Bye Balado…

Feast headed up to T in the Paaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrk, on the Sunday for what was to be the last bow out as Balado bathed in scorching sunshine.
As Feast got, to T, the sun and copious volumes of alcohol hadn’t seemed to wane of the festival’s faithful punters and it was clear that everyone was going to send Balado off in style, and there was a definite air of poignancy as the ‘end of an era’ sunk in, on the final day of the weekend.
An early start Tijuana Bibles are the perfect antidote to start the party. The Glasgow cheeky chappies, deliver a sleazy snarling set full of immediate guitar stomps weaved with bass rhythms, and bounding energy.
Dundee’s Scary People gave an impressive early set full of brooding pop punk, with ‘I don’t see the lights’ is all infectious riffs and pounding bass lines. A definite one to watch on the Scottish scene.
Catfish & The Bottlemen played to a packed out tent and are going guns blazing just now, having watched them play tiny sets at Haddowfest, years ago, the band have blossomed in stature and risen the old fashioned way. The Welsh rockers received rapturous applause from the crowd with tracks such as ‘Kathleen’ and ‘Homesick’ met with massive sing-alongs. Whilst the band are not particularly original, they deliver set of proper rock sing-alongs sung with such intensity and conviction, that Van and co instantly win everyone in the tent.
Tame Impala played to a quiet tent, as the whole of the festival appeared to be at the main stage. The band delivered slabs of Aussie soaked psychedelic which the crowd lapped up. Highlights included the soaring pop ‘Feels like We Only Go Backwards’, ‘Be above it’ which builds into a raving monster, and ‘Elephant’ which sent the crowd mental.
Chvrches were roped in to cover London Grammar’s set and the trio are becoming firm festival favourites with their brand of accessible electro-pop, which entices everyone to dance, and are still on their way to becoming Scotland’s new electro-pop exports.
Meanwhile, on the main stage Paul Weller and then Jake Bugg looked like they wanted to be anywhere else. Whilst, Weller brought out the hits, his performance was muted and nothing like previous sets over the years. Whilst Jake Bugg sang his heart out, he just looked like he wanted the set to hurry up.
Radio One headliners Disclosure’s crowd grew and grew throughout their set as punters became increasingly bored of Alex Turner and co.’s preening and unoriginal headline set.
Disclosure have had a simply outstanding year, as the boys have grown exponentially as their popularity and influence soars. They deliver a sleek set of deep house pop. Guy Lawrence drums precisely throughout the set and Howard sends the giddy crowd into fevered dancing as soon as ‘F for You’ drops. ‘When a Fire Starts to Burn’ sounds colossal. Whilst ‘White Noise’ sends the punters into heaving, jumping sing-along.
The Lawrence brothers delivered a storming, and as the crowd demanded ‘one more tune’ the boys ushered Sam Smith on stage for a rousing climatic version of ‘Latch’ as the sun set and fireworks drew the curtain on the Scottish behemoth and two decades of Balado, with the crowd saying ‘Bye Bye Balado’. There is much talk of a new improved T in the Park, a boutique festival, and a brand new site at Strathallan. Will it have that unmistakeable T feel, will it drew the same punters, does it want to? Who knows, but let’s lift a Tennent’s to the next chapter. Balado is been a blast!

Posted by Stacy

BEECHES Q&A

Following the recent release of their debut single ‘Young Souls’ and on the eve of their show with F**k Art, Let’s Dance and Penny Black at Cabaret Voltaire, FEAST met with Beeches for a chat.

How long have you been making music together?
A long time! Me (Oscar), Robert and Walter have known each other since before school and only began writing p in 2010. We met Amadeus in 2012 and asked him to play Bass while we were under the name ‘Chordless Beaches’. It all started from there really. It was around December 2013 when we changed to Beeches.

Is there a story behind the name?
We thought of Chordless Beaches at the very beginning of our band with a slightly different sound and line up, so by late 2013, we felt that it was right for us to change to Beeches. There were quite a few names in the running but Beeches just seemed to fit best I guess.

Who are your musical influences?
Hmmmm… always hard one. We have a pretty large variety of Influences. Bombay Bicycle Club, Dry the River, Jeff Buckley, the Maccabees and that kind of stuff influences our style directly. I would also say that the other genres of Music we’re into (classical, RnB, Jazz, prog. rock) affect the overall outcome of our music quite a lot too.

What process goes into the way you write songs?
Usually Oscar will write something on just one guitar, and then bring it to the others to ‘Beech’ it up. The finished product sounds pretty different from the original ideas quite a lot after this. Sometimes we do just sit down as a band and write a song together if we’re in the mood.

What can people expect from your live shows?
We like to think that we have a pretty dynamic live show. Loud, soft, ambient, upbeat, mental… We try to vary the moods and atmospheres in our songs to suit a live crowd and (hopefully) convey something to the listener.

The crowd usually goes mental too.

Funniest thing that’s ever happened at a gig?
Hahaha, I’d love to be able to say we destroyed cab vol one time, or that I broke my ribs stage diving off a humongous PA… but in reality our gigs seem to run pretty smoothly. At our last gig we covered 7 days by Craig David and that was pretty funny.

What can we expect to see/hear from you in the future?
We had our single launch for our first official release under ‘Beeches’ at the Liquid Room on the 15th of March. We hope to record some more in summer too, and hopefully this will be released before autumn 2014.

In general though, Beeches will be gigging and music..ing as much as we can 2014.

Beeches play Cabaret Voltaire tonight (Friday 27th June). Doors 7pm. Tickets available

Becky & The Lunar Orchestra – E.P. Review

I first heard about Becky and the Lunar Orchestra from Thisis Feast’s media bezzies, Edinburgh Undersound, who are very enthusiastic fans.

There are a really wide range of styles demonstrated in this strong E.P and with six members Becky and the Lunar Orchestra has the ability to produce a range of tracks that go to some really nice sounding places. For me, Questioning and Madrigal stand out as the best tracks. I have been listening to Questioning on loop for a fair wee while, with shades of Otis Redding, and Lianne La Havas mixed with Amy Winehouse, this is a lovely track with beautiful vocals that sound familiar but are original enough to have their own distinct and rather pleasant sound. Tune!

Madrigal is the other stand out track which again has really strong personality and sound. This is a pretty moody track but Becky Sikasa’s vocals lend it a really sweet feel, this is a very different sound to Questioning and its shows the band are versatile writers and performers because its another great tune.

Plastic Toys and Cabaret don’t come across on record as much as they could, and these two tracks they don’t quite reach the same level of production with superficial inconsistencies with the final mix that could be ironed out quite easily, making the record more cohesive. Live and I am sure gigs with Becky and the Lunar Orchestra could have moments in them where the hairs on the back of your neck would stand on end, because they have got some songs that have the beginning of something that could be really, really good. The are away in July on a German tour but look out for them playing in Scotland soon and go and see them if you can.

Jamie & Shoony – Why Do I

Check out the great new video from Edinburgh’s Jamie & Shoony. One of the most energetic and lively band playing at the moment. I caught them last year at Linkylea and it was a riot. Catch them when you can.

Fatherson’s new video

Hot on the heals of their live session for Feast/ SAMA, Fatherson have just released their new video ‘I like not knowing’.

Outfit Q&A

Liverpool has no shortage of great artists and another one to add to the list is Outfit. They released their debut album ‘Performance’ and are due to release the next single via Double Denim Records. We caught up with the five piece ahead of their set at the 6 Music Festival.

What gave you the idea to form a band? We’ve all played a wide range of music in other bands before, from noise to techno and with a fair bit of off-kilter pop music in between. We formed this one in the hope of generating a kind of emotional resonance that we weren’t getting from our projects at the time, but ultimately people form bands because of other bands – the desire to make something a listener can inhabit in the same way you do those first big albums you grow up with.

Is there a story behind the name? It’s a purposely open-sounding name, linking in to ideas about identity and self-presentation that we explore on the album and in our music in general. On the one hand it suggests artifice, while on the other it’s a broad and generic name for a group – basically both the big perils of naming your band.

How long have you been making music together?
With Outfit, three years but there are some long musical relationships from past collaborations, and me and Andy are brothers so we had a head start. Chris was the latest to the party, but there was around four years where the rest of us lived and worked together on a lot of different things, so we’ve built up a clear sense of how we gel together musically. We know each other so well that sometimes I get annoyed by the way Tom breathes.

What’s the funniest thing that’s happened at a gig/on tour? Leeds festival wouldn’t let us in, so Andy had to log on to our facebook to prove our identity. Then we played at the same time as The Cure, and they played The Cure before we went on. Thinking about it, I’m confusing “funny” with “humiliating”. Happens.

What’s your favourite track to play out live? The live version of Elephant Days is a bit more foot-on-the-monitor rock-out than might be expected from an Outfit set, as a closet metalhead I find that gratifying.

Can you tell us a bit about the music video for ‘I want What’s Best’?Andy sought the golden cowboy in the depths of Liverpool, once found his story was too good to miss – redemption through spraypaint and robot dancing, with a particularly cinematic pigeon. Check it out.

What are you up to in 2014? After this tour we’re going to hole up indefinitely and write a perfect album. The airwaves are clogged with enough mediocrity as it is – people should make less music, and listen more selectively.

Originally posted by Kyle Wilson in Through The Wire

ShowNProve Q&A

Hi Show firstly thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to share your experiences with FEAST in an industry that we know is constantly in a state of flux.

So 2013 has been huge for you, how busy are you and how much work did you have to put in to achieve the success, its not as easy as people think is it???
Thanks man, it’s not been easy at all, ive been working on music since i was like 14 and djing since 11. It’s been ups and down but you’ve got to stick at it.
It’s all about staying busy with me though, trying to stay in the zone. It has a lot to do with timing I’m noticing too.

How do you prepare for the changes in the industry and how do you keep on top of the changes?I wouldn’t say I prepare for them or that I’m even that aware of them, I stay in my own bubble. I try to listen to as much stuff as I can to stay up to date but that’s about it really.

What’s in store for Show n Prove in the new year??
Lots! New single, new video, new gigs, new collabs. Maybe an instrumental release.

You’ve have worked with some great artists in the past who was the easiest to work with, the most fun to work, and are there any artist you worked with you just couldn’t believe you would ever have the chance to work with??

ermmm, Skinnyman is a lot of fun to work with, Rizzle Kicks too. Edinburgh rapper DeeZy was definitely the most difficult to work with. dally is really easy to work with, very professional. i was pure gassed when i worked with Big Narstie too, star struck even! he’s a legend.

Might have to drop the bombshell now but you use to study at what is now Edinburgh College Milton Road Campus how was college for you and did it help you become what you are today?
Yeah it probably did, I already knew a lot of what they were teaching us but for me at the time it was amazing to just have a place with an up to date computer I could go to and make beats. Plus a nice wee bursary bonus.

Are there any words of wisdom you can give to the would-be producers/artists studying at the campuses up and down the country??
Take advantage of free studio time and spend your bursary on travelling about I guess. That’s what I did.

Show N Prove’s new tunes ‘My People’ and ‘Zimma Frame’ are out now via iTunes & Amazon.
Posted by Duane

Lyndsey Craig Q&A

With the imminent release of her debut ep ‘Blue Jays’ and a forthcoming launch night at The Counting House in Edinburgh, Feast caught up with Lyndsey Craig for a chat.

How long have you been making music?I’ve been making music since the age of 8. My dad taught me ‘Twist And Shout’ on guitar and ever since I was hooked. I started writing much more serious songs at 12 and that’s when the YouTube channel was set up.

Who are your musical influences?
My Dad’s music taste really rubbed off on me as a kid. I grew up listening to rock n roll- Hendrix, Clapton (the lads.) But like any other musician I’m sure, my music taste changes daily. For example, I am absolutely loving Lorde and Disclosure right now.

What process goes into the way you write songs?I wish I could say I had some sort of recipe for writing a song but it’s all very random. I go through periods where I can’t write anything at all and then all of a sudden I’m writing a song in 10 minutes. Those creative times are when I abuse my guitar and songbook the most!

What can people expect from your live shows?
I adore playing live! My gigs are usually pretty intimate and end in me chatting and getting to know almost everyone there which i think is really important.

Funniest thing that’s ever happened at a gig?
My big sister crying. Literally every gig of mine she comes to she has tears in her eyes because she’s the only person who really knows what the songs are about. It’s quite adorable but I find it hilarious!

What can we expect to see/hear from you in the future?
2014 is a busy year for me. I have the launch of my debut EP, ‘BLUE JAYS’ 7.2.14 with the launch at the Counting House at 8pm. I’m playing numerous gigs around Edinburgh during February, March and April including playing alongside Natalie Reid at Sneaky Pete’s on the 28th of February. I also have a potential studio recording with an amazing artist who I won’t name just yet! She’s a big influence of mine and has a massive online following though- hint hint! Then just gig gig gig till summer and that’s when all the excitement really begins!