The New Bosses 2024: Filip Košťálek, Colours of Ostrava

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.

As a teenager, Filip started organising concerts for student bands, film screenings, and other cultural events in his hometown of Ostrava, and his efforts were rewarded when Colours of Ostrava offered him a temporary role at the festival. After two years, he was invited to become a full-time member of the festival booking team, starting with Czech and Slovak bands and progressing through smaller international artists to bigger names and headliners.  

What one thing would you like artists, fans, and other music industry professionals to learn about your country to persuade them to visit your events, or to listen to some Czech bands and artists?
I think Czechs in general are very open, honest and friendly. This is what you experience when interacting with Czech artists and promoters but also when attending local events. Overall, we are very easygoing.

As a programmer, are there any particular events, forums or platforms that you visit to try to discover the next big act?
I like SXSW in Austin, Texas, but also Transmusicales in Rennes, France. Eurosonic and IFF are very effective too. However, to discover next big act, it is very valuable for me to speak with colleagues, agents, other promoters and also visit smaller, genre/regional-specific showcases and conferences.

What has been the highlight of your career, so far?
Every year is a highlight. Since 2015, each edition of Colours of Ostrava is groundbreaking for me — each year is different, offers new challenges, opens up new experiences and brings amazing moments to share with tens of thousands of people.

What advice would you give to anyone who is trying to find a job in live music?
Do not try to find a JOB in live music. You should start doing it because you love it, regardless of time or money. The second advice is: always respect colleagues. The live music industry is a teamwork.

“Do not try to find a JOB in live music. You should start doing it because you love it, regardless of time or money”

Your remit also includes the development of the festival – where do you find the inspiration for new ideas, and how do you gauge their success?
I take inspiration from everywhere around me: Media, films, internet, community events, sports events, travelling, leisure activities. Travelling is very important to me. I am trying to be receptive and store everyday impulses and experiences somewhere in the brain. Some ideas stay stored there for years before implementing them into the event.

As the festival is a package of many things, sometimes, it is very hard to measure the success – especially as we need to track emotions and feelings of people. Surveys are useful, data analysis from wristbands too, however, I think, that nowadays, you can get quick feedback from social media, especially from Instagram photos.

Do you have a mentor or anyone you rely on to bounce ideas off?
I am glad to be working with Zlata Holušová. She is the artistic director of the festival and 23 years ago she founded the festival in a city whose cultural and social conditions did not suggest the potential for one of the best international music festivals in Europe at all. She created this festival from scratch based on non-mainstream genres with a desire to discover new artists from all around the world. I think this desire, not to be shallow and fully absorbed by the mainstream despite the size of the event and to try to go to the heart of the music and ideas is very inspiring.

And what about meeting new contacts in the business – are there any conferences, festivals or other events that you have attended that been useful for networking?
I think this matches with the previous question of discovering next big act. Usually, the events that can bring in the new talent can also gather inspiring people who can do things. Nevertheless, I think, that very often, smaller events with 20-30 delegates are better to find real connections which go beyond business. As the live music industry is more a lifestyle than a job, I think, it is very valuable to have deeper relations to understand each other.

“Having more protection and advocacy in case of emergencies and concert cancellations would definitely be beneficial”

As a New Boss, what one thing would you change to make the live entertainment industry a better place?
Everyone involved tends to say that we are all equal partners in this industry. It would be great if this were really the case, both on a legal and on a human level. Everyone is fighting their own battle, but from the festival organiser’s point of view, we are exposed to a huge risk every year. We are now working with budgets in the millions of euros and our potential for success is really uneven compared to the extreme risk. That’s our business, but having more protection and advocacy in case of emergencies and concert cancellations would definitely be beneficial for healthy industry.

What would you like to see yourself doing in five years time?
I hope that I will be doing the same: working with music, exploring the boundaries of art and ideas and bringing joy and deep experience to wide audience.

You’re a big advocate for the Meltingpot programme at the festival. Can you tell us more about it?
I am glad that most of the people coming to our festival are entering the festival venue around lunchtime, so they are enjoying the festival all day all night four days in a row. Since morning, they are attending 13 stages of Meltingpot — panel discussions, interviews, key notes and workshop on the topics such as longevity, AI, ecology, education or world in change. At the moment, we are hosting more than 300 speakers from all around the world at this discussion forum. I’m proud, that our audience is open to listening and talking about different global and personal challenges. At first glance, this is far from a music festival vibe, but at second glance, this is the magic and essence of music – bringing people together, sharing ideas, all in a pleasant, friendly atmosphere, isn’t it?

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