WAM Festival Speaker Profile: Lance Robinson

Organisation and Position: Artist Liaison at The A&R Department/Pavement Records

How did you first become involved in the music business? I played in my first band during high school and started self-managing and promoting us. I was pretty green then, not many of us had the internet so I would call up promoters for gigs on my landline and put posters up at 78 Records.

What's your area of expertise and what experience do you have? Over the years I've been writing and performing in bands, audio engineering, record producing, managing artists, booking and promoting shows, working as a live guitar technician for national/international touring bands… and everything in between. These days I am focusing on my work as an A&R Representative for The A&R Department/Pavement Records and Producer/Engineer for Pavement Studios WA.

What topics will you be mostly talking about at WAM? The topic I will be speaking on is “Are we cool yet? Define what makes an artist exciting.”

What do you hope to personally take away from the WA Music Conference and WAM Festival events? I’m hoping to get the chance to meet some new industry crew, catch up with a few familiar faces and meet some fresh talent. Of course I am hanging out to see some of WA’s best acts perform.

What's one question about the music industry you'd love to have the answer to? With the industry constantly adapting and changing there’s always questions…where do I start? What really happened to Tupac, Marley and Lennon?

One piece of advice to make it in the music biz? Don't stop!!! It's a networking industry so become as active as you can by attending gigs and supporting others in the scene. Be realistic and flexible with your short- and long-term goals, stick to your guns and always enjoy what you’re doing!