Nick Yates

Name: Nick Yates
Business/Position: UNFD | Artist Manager

How did you first become involved in the music business?

I started out studying Music Business at a few institutions in Melbourne which led to me doing work placement for a boutique management company called Melodic Music.

What do you perceive to be your area of expertise, and how did you gain experience in this field?

I would say my strengths lie in project management and communication. I've found the majority of issues that arise day to day are through lack of communication so this has always been an important point for me. I don't think this is something that can be taught, more a skill that you naturally develop over time.

What will you be primarily discussing during your appearance at the BIGSOUND conference?

I believe our panel is discussing the Future Of Heavy Music so I will be addressing this issue and how it relates to our management roster, given that a lot of our acts fall under that category. I will also be making fun of fellow panellist Stu Harvey and shamelessly plugging our BIGSOUND related blog; Ultimate Bigsound (ultimatebigsound.tumblr.com).

What are you hoping that people will be able to learn from your panel/interview?

I hope people will gain a bit of an insight into what goes into working with bands in this genre day to day as well as seeing the vast amount of opportunities available to acts in the alternative (for lack of a better term) genre both here and on a worldwide scale.

What are you expecting to take away yourself from your visit to BIGSOUND?

I'm just looking forward to checking out some of the rad bands showcasing in particular Violent Soho, Flume, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Drunk Mums and The Delta Riggs... to name a few #ultimatebigsound.