Sydney-based artist management and touring company Astral People are finally celebrating their fifth birthday at Movement Sydney this year, having fostered the careers of a slew of electronic acts such as Wave Racer, Basenji, Cosmo's Midnight and GL in their half-decade.
Founders Tom Huggett and Vichara Edirisinghe looked back on the trials and tribulations of starting a company exclusively with theMusic.com.au, remembering the "sink or swim" moments in getting Astral People off the ground and finally seeing their acts come full circle.
"Questions like if we were good managers, if we were good touring agents, if we could employ people and understand how to run a business in a cohesive manner - these doubts at times were crippling for us both on our personal and work lives to a point where we wondered if it was worth all the hard work and hours.
"Was this all worth missing your best friend's wedding because you had a show on or was it worth missing out on a holiday you had planned for ages because you've come to the realisation that you didn't make enough from the business to allow yourself to do so?"
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Having toured artists such as Action Bronson, Snakehips, Freddie Gibbs and Stormzy in their five years, the company say, "We still have our doubts, but we're not those anxious kids anymore."
Astral People will be celebrating their fifth birthday on 22 October at Oxford Art Factory, with sets from Wave Racer, Baro with a full live band, Polographia and heaps more.
Check out the full statement below.
5 years ago we dropped everything, went on out on a whim and started Astral People. We were living at our parents, working out of a rundown office in Rozelle, reading business manuals downloaded from the internet but we had huge dreams for the company. Those dreams seemed so far away but sometimes it's the only thing that keeps you going. When we started this thing we always had the question in the back of our minds 'I wonder where we'll be in 5 years from now?'.
It's crazy to think that day is now approaching and we couldn't be happier to share this special moment surrounded by our friends and family. When you start any small business, making it to the 5 year mark seems like such an eternity away. It's the most testing period for anyone as it's the one filled with the most uncertainty, almost a sink or swim scenario and throughout that time we had so many doubts if we could actually pull this off.
Questions like if we were good managers, if we were good touring agents, if we could employ people and understand how to run a business in a cohesive manner - these doubts at times were crippling for us both on our personal and work lives to a point where we wondered if it was worth all the hard work and hours. Was this all worth missing your best friend's wedding because you had a show on or was it worth missing out on a holiday you had planned for ages because you've come to the realisation that you didn't make enough from the business to allow yourself to do so?
Throughout all this doubt however blossomed something so beautiful that we could have never predicted 5 years ago when we started - a love for our local artists so deep that saw us go through a journey of a lifetime side by side with them. We watched on as they released their first single, played their first shows, signed their first record deal and left us to take on the international market. We watched them battle their own personal struggles (like we all do), helped them overcome self-doubt and watched them develop not only artistically but as human beings. This has been the most rewarding part from the last 5 years.
Now we look into the future with the brightest eyes. We're so proud to say that not only is our management roster flourishing more than it ever has been but also our amazing team is expanding, our office isn't as scrappy as it once was, the international touring arm has developed extensively especially since joining our amazing partners at Handsome Tours and will only continue to grow. We still have our doubts, but we're not those anxious kids anymore.
We have a vision, we have bonds with our peers and forever lasting friendships that have formed all stemmed from this beautiful thing we call music. The support the Australian community has given us over the last half decade has only inspired us to give back and continue to build on the strong foundations that have now been laid.
