Stefan Lehmkuhl to book BMG’s Theater des Westens
Goodlive co-founder Stefan Lehmkuhl has been appointed to the top booker role at BMG’s Theater des Westens in Berlin.
Lehmkuhl is best-known for his two decades of success curating and producing festivals such as Melt Festival, splash!, and Lollapalooza Berlin.
He, along with co-founder Thomas Resch, stepped down from Germany’s Goodlive in July 2021, making way for a new management structure.
After a two-year hiatus from the live industry, Lehmkuhl will now book concerts, residencies and theatre productions for the historic 1,7000-capacity theatre, which BMG recently took a two-year lease on.
Working alongside him at the venue will be event producer Parker Tilghman, known in Berlin and beyond by their alias Pansy. For the last decade, they have created acclaimed underground performance events and club nights in some of the city’s most prominent institutions like SO36, Deutsche Oper, Volksbühne, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, and more.
BMG Chief Content Officer Dominique Casimir says: “Taking a two-year lease on the Theater des Westens was a statement of intent. The appointment of Stefan and Pansy shows the extent of our ambition. Stefan is known for his creative booking and for producing events with visual flair and artistic integrity. With his help we will take the Theater des Westens to an entirely new level and make it a premier entertainment destination in Berlin.”
“Early feedback from artists and managers has been positive, with particular interest in the residency format”
Lehmkuhl adds: “I am excited to join in collaboration with BMG as my first consultant and curation project after a two-year hiatus from the industry. We are offering artists completely new opportunities that have not existed in Berlin before in a truly gorgeous setting.
“We are open to collaborating with agents, managers and event organisers, internationally and nationally, even beyond music, and welcome inquiries. I am grateful for Dominique’s trust and look forward to working with her, Pansy and the team at BMG. Early feedback from artists and managers has been positive, with particular interest in the residency format.”
Pansy comments: “The new format will be of particular interest to established artists who want to present a high-end show at a beautiful venue in the heart of Berlin rather than embarking on a regular tour. We look forward to pairing them with local, underground performers that keep our city so special and unique.”
Michael Schacke, Undercover CEO and responsible for BMG’s live strategy in GSA, said: “With the opening of Berlin’s Theater des Westens for live concerts, residencies and performances, the next piece of the puzzle of BMG’s live strategy falls into place. With Undercover as tour and local promoter in GSA and the Taubertal Festival, TDW now adds one of the most beautiful and exciting live venues in Europe that gives us more opportunities to work with artists and their management in the live segment.”
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The New Bosses 2020: Artur Kasper, Der Bomber Der Herzen
The New Bosses 2020 – the latest edition of IQ’s annual celebration of the brightest young talent in the live business today, as voted for by their peers – was published in IQ 93 this month revealing the twelve promising promoters, bookers, agents, A&R and production experts that make up this year’s list.
To get to know this year’s cream of the crop a little better, IQ conducted interviews with each one of 2020’s New Bosses, to discover their greatest inspirations and proudest achievements, pinpoint the reasons for their success and obtain advice for those hoping to be a future New Boss. Snippets of the interviews can be found in the latest IQ Magazine, with all interviews being reproduced in full online and on IQ Index over the coming weeks.
The first New Boss is Artur Kasper (28), a booking agent at Der Bomber Der Herzen in Germany. Despite wanting to be a journalist when he was younger, Kasper joined Melt! Booking as a booking assistant in 2016 and was responsible for looking after urban domestic and international acts, while his remit also saw him take on the role of booking assistant at the company’s splash! Festival.
Last year, Kasper’s hard work saw him promoted to booking agent at Der Bomber Der Herzen, where he mostly takes care of domestic urban talent.
What are you working on right now?
Mostly on postponing touring dates due to Covid, but also booking my acts onto festival line-ups for 2021. This summer I had a few seated, open-air gigs and live streams.
What are some of the highlights of your career to date?
During my time as a festival booker, seeing the result of my work at the festival was a highlight. Also selling out the first tour of a newcomer act, who I believe in, is always a highlight.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt working in live music?
You really need a passion for music because it becomes a big part of your life. You become emotionally involved and you may lose the separation between private and professional life. This can be very unhealthy sometimes, but I love my job.
Did you always want to be a promoter?
I wanted to be a music journalist and made the first steps in that career but I just didn’t know that I actually wanted to be a promoter the whole time.
“The first aim of the job should be to help talented newcomer acts to grow and to respect the culture, not just exploit it”
What impact has Covid-19 has on your job?
A big impact, as the live industry is suffering a lot and many dates have to be postponed. Under regular circumstances, this would have been a successful year for me. We can only hope that we will be able to go back to regular work soon.
Do you have a mentor in the industry?
My Der Bomber Der Herzen colleague, Ilke Ulusoy.
What does the live music industry do well, and what can we do better?
There are many great and talented people in this industry who are very passionate about their job. As we’re all profiting from the culture, I think as a promoter the first aim of the job should be to help talented newcomer acts to grow and to respect the culture, not just exploit it.
What advice would you give to someone who’s new to the business?
Trust yourself and think about the intentions you have to do this job.
What are the biggest challenges you’re facing currently?
Of course, it’s the lack of clarity due to Covid-19. We still don’t know when we can go back to regular work.
Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time?
Hopefully still physically and mentally healthy and happy with my job.
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The New Bosses 2019: Florian Czok, Melt!
The New Bosses 2019 – the biggest-ever edition of IQ‘s yearly roundup of future live industry leaders, as voted for by their peers – was published in IQ 85 last week, revealing the twelve promising agents, promoters, bookers and execs that make up this year’s list.
To get to know this year’s cream of the crop a little better, IQ conducted interviews with each one of 2019’s New Bosses, to discover their greatest inspirations and proudest achievements, pinpoint the reasons for their success and obtain advice for those hoping to be a future New Boss. Snippets of the interviews can be found in the latest IQ Magazine, with all interviews being reproduced in full online and on IQ Index over the coming weeks.
New Boss number three is Florian Czok (30), an agent at Berlin’s Melt! Booking. Czok got his start booking DJs and throwing parties in Hamburg. At Melt!, his roster includes electronic artists such as Manuel Fischer, TRP, Myss Keta and RIP Swirl.
Czok is also the artistic director for the annual Melt! Festival, which this year featured performances from Bon Iver, Stormzy, Four Tet and Jorja Smith. (Read the previous interview with Solo’s Charly Beedell-Tuck here.)
What are you busy with right now?
Starting to book and collect ideas for Melt! 2020 already; working on some hosted club nights in Germany for artists like the Black Madonna, Denis Sulta or DJ Seinfeld to name a few; and also working on tours and hard-ticket shows for Q1 for the artists from my Melt! Booking roster. It does not get boring!
Did you always want to work in the music business?
I always wanted to work in the entertainment sector, because I knew that this would be the right thing for me. When I was younger, I thought I might play football as a professional. Football and sport in general is also a form of entertainment in my opinion, but I gave that up when I discovered going to club nights and enjoying alcohol at the age of 16.
When I started DJing myself after graduating school, I began to throw parties and booked some other artists – it was a logical step, I guess, to get to where I am right now.
What are some of the highlights of your career so far?
That is a tricky one, because I have worked in so many different fields within the music business over the last few years. I think it’s a highlight every time I do something for the first time and it works out: like doing the first live show with an artist and it selling out; throwing a new event series and seeing it grow; or curating stages at events or festivals to now programming a whole festival like Melt!, which is definitely one of my highlights so far.
“I think it’s a highlight every time I do something for the first time and it works out”
How has your role changed since you started out?
I started booking DJs myself when I was 20, throwing parties with friends, as well as selling merch (that we printed ourselves). That was ten years ago in Hamburg, since then I have worked in a couple of booking agencies where I learned the basics of being a booker and promoter, leading to Melt! booking where I started three and a half years ago.
Since then, I have been booking and promoting around 200 shows per year – from hard-ticket or festival shows to club nights – and also acting as artistic director for Melt! festival.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt while at Melt!?
Be as accurate as possible when it comes to making offers and don’t get dazzled by Facebook, Instagram or Spotify numbers.
What, if anything, would you change about how the live industry is run today?
Sometimes the whole live music industry is a bit too much of a business for me nowadays. Don’t get me wrong, it’s how I pay my rent as well – but I have the feeling sometimes that it’s just about numbers and money, which is going to a level where the passion for the music gets lost.
“We have excellent people in our company who have a lot of experience in the industry and are always willing to help when needed”
This passion is why I started to work in the music business in the first place, and when I hear that some people are looking at statistics nowadays and sometimes don’t know how an artist is playing, it makes me sad.
What do you do for fun?
I always loved that I was able to combine my work with my hobby – so going out with friends a lot, whether it be to concerts, club nights or to (new) festivals is still – most of the time – a lot of fun for me.
Besides that stuff, things that most people my age like: Netflix and chill with the girlfriend, travelling, doing fun things. I went to an arcade game hall recently and really enjoyed it, if you know of some good places in London, let me know!
Do you have an industry mentor?
There are a few people in my close working environment that I have a really high opinion of. Whenever I am not sure if I’m doing the right thing, I know I can ask them for their opinions, because they are experts in their field.
“Don’t get into this business if you are scared to talk to other people, or don’t like going out…”
We have excellent people in our company who have a lot of experience in the industry and are always willing to help when needed. These people have also given me a lot of space and freedom over the years, which has been perfect for my personal development as well.
What advice would you give to anyone who wants to get into, or is new to, the business?
Don’t lose your passion for music and get out as much as possible to get a feeling of what the people want. A Spotify Premium account is helpful as well.
Don’t get into this business if you are scared to talk to other people, or don’t like going out, or are not willing to work more then 40 hours a week, or if you want to have your weekends off… You should also be up for getting on planes and travelling around the globe from time to time.
Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time?
Hopefully I’ll still be in the music business, loving what I do and working on a lot of different and great projects. I have always been the kind of person who is interested in creating new and exciting stuff, so let’s see what we have to talk about in ten years’ time.
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