The New Bosses 2024: Cerys Vaughan, ATC Live
The 17th edition of IQ Magazine’s New Bosses, in association with Futures Forum, was revealed in IQ 129, recognising 20 of the most promising 30-and-unders in the international live music business.
To get to know this year’s class a little better, IQ conducted interviews with each one of 2024’s New Bosses, discovering their greatest inspirations and pinpointing the reasons for their success.
Cerys Vaughan began her career as a show rep in Leicester, as a teenager, running the shows at small venue, Firebug, while also stage managing at Handmade Festival in Leicester. While at the University of West London studying for a foundation degree in Events Management, she interned at the Association of Independent Festivals, helping to organise and run their Festival Congress event in Cardiff in 2014.
Post degree, she returned to Leicester, show repping once again, before landing a job as a promoter assistant at DHP Family, assisting Dan Ealam in London and working across acts like Ed Sheeran, Mystery Jets, The Growlers, and Calum Scott.
She moved to ATC Live six years ago, initially as agent assistant to Chris Meredith, but has since moved across lots of rosters to her current role as Will Church’s assistant working on a roster that includes Big Thief, Japanese Breakfast, Julia Holter, Snail Mail, Whitney and more. She also assists Alex Bruford on Fontaines D.C.
You’ve been involved in live music since you were a teenager – was someone else in your family involved in the business, or was there something or someone else who prompted your interest?
I grew up in a family that loved music, but no one in our family or life worked in the arts, so I had no connections to that world at all (and hadn’t even considered the potential of a career in it). I finished school and was trying to decide what I wanted to do with my life, deferred university for a year (Events Management at UWL), and was working in a bar in Leicester that had a venue attached. The venue booker, John Helps, asked one day if I’d like to try out show repping to get some events experience before going to university. It turned out that I loved it and ended up repping all the gigs and running the door before, during, and after university.
You were very successful at getting your foot in the door at the start of your career. What advice would you have for others who are looking to forge a career in the music industry?
Approach your local music venue and ask if they need anyone to run the door or if you could assist a show rep some nights – working on the ground at gigs is such valuable experience. You’ll learn so much about what it actually means to run a show, and it’s a great way to meet people in the industry and start to build a network.
You were on the promoting end of the business to start off with. What prompted you to move to the agency side?
I was still trying to work out what I wanted to do with my career, and a job coming up at ATC felt like a good opportunity to try something different. The idea of getting to work on shows taking place all across the world was really exciting, so I made the leap haven’t looked back since.
IFF, The Great Escape, and Futures Forum are great events to attend early in your career
In terms of expanding your network of contacts, are there any events, platforms or forums you attend that you would recommend to others?
IFF, The Great Escape, and Futures Forum (the young person’s day at ILMC) are great events to attend early in your career. Many of the international industry professionals travel to these, giving you the opportunity to put some faces to your ever-growing network of email addresses.
You work across quite a number of clients. What has been one of the biggest highlights of your career, so far?
I’ve worked with Fontaines D.C. for five years, and watching their growth has been incredible. A standout moment was at the end of their Hammersmith Apollo shows when they played ‘I Love You.’ Everyone was singing along, and red confetti with ‘I Love You’ written on it fell through the air. That moment was pretty magic, and I’ve kept a piece of that confetti on my dressing table ever since.
Is there anyone in your life that you see as a mentor, or who helped you learn the ropes?
Alex Bruford – he’s the busiest man I’ve ever known but he’ll always find the time to answer your questions, to guide you through a tricky problem or to give you a shout-out for doing a great job on something.
“It’s our duty to make sure every person along the way feels safe, comfortable and fully able to enjoy themselves”
As a new boss, what one thing would you change to try to improve the live music business?
We still need further diversity in the workforce across race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability and socio-economic backgrounds. Not only for the artists we are representing but also for the fans we are putting the shows on for. It’s our duty to make sure every person along the way feels safe, comfortable and fully able to enjoy themselves, and that’ll only be possible when all corners of society are represented in the planning.
Further understanding and care of mental health in the industry. It can be a highly stressful career, and even small improvements in employee care can prevent burnout and keep people feeling supported and valued. ATC Live provide an EAP (employee assistance program) that offers a 24/7 helpline, counselling sessions, and access to expert advice. Knowing that your employer is committed to providing this support feels incredibly reassuring.
What would you like to be doing in five years’ time?
Continuing to work alongside amazing artists and their teams, being a part of their journey as their careers grow feels very special. You never stop learning in this career so hopefully I’ll be wiser too.
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