The driving force behind some of the UK’s biggest and most successful festivals including Latitude, Reading & Leeds, Wireless and Wilderness, Festival Republic managing director Melvin Benn is the latest festival supremo to take the seat for an AAA Backstage podcast interview. The podcast series explores what lies behind festivals and their instigators, and this episode finds Melvin discussing his eventful decades of experience in the industry, from sleeping under the Reading Festival mai...

Isle of Wight Festival promoter and Solo Agency MD John Giddings is the latest festival supremo to be interviewed for the AAA Backstage podcast.The podcast series explores what lies behind festivals and their instigators, and this episode finds Giddings on great form discussing pertinent industry-wide issues and reflecting on an eventful career path.Recorded at the Access All Areas Conference & Awards at The O2, the interview finds Giddings opening up about everything from losing £500,000...

After co-founding ID&T in 1992, at the age of 21 from his parents’ house, Duncan Stutterheim was involved in the launch of some the world’s biggest dance events, including Thunderdome, Mysteryland, Sensation and Tomorrowland. Along the way he helped bring dance music to the masses, but what started him on that journey and how did he balance working in such a hedonistic environment with successfully building a business that he would later sell for $130 million – the highest bid in dance mu...

Notting Hill Carnival CEO Matthew Phillip takes us behind the scenes to discuss his life and times at the helm of one of the world’s most spectacular and popular carnivals. The AAA Backstage podcast series meets festival bosses to explore what lies behind the events and the people that run them. From driving floats at Notting Hill Carnival as a child to taking over as the vast event’s CEO, Matthew has been closely involved throughout his life in what has been the UK’s biggest and brighte...

Harvey Goldsmith CBE, the promoter of two of the world’s biggest music events, Live Aid in 1985 and Live 8 in 2005, takes the hot seat for an AAA Backstage podcast. A celebrated producer and promoter of concerts, festivals, charity events and television broadcasts, Goldsmith has worked with a huge number of major acts including The Who, Queen and Luciano Pavarotti. Among his latest projects is Earth Aid Live – a series of stadium concerts planned over one weekend in six countries with th...

Recorded at The Warehouse Project venue Depot Mayfield in Manchester, this interview finds the nightclub’s co-founder and Parklife festival boss Sacha Lord opening up about everything from being shot at and petrol bombed, back in the days of ‘Madchester’, to projecting a huge protest film above the Tory Party Conference.The series explores what lies behind festivals and their instigators, and this episode finds Sacha in fine form discussing pertinent industry-wide issues and reflecting on an ...

The stunning home of the Black Deer Festival of Americana was the location for this edition of the AAA Backstage podcast, where we meet the event’s co-founder Gill Tee.The series explores what lies behind festivals and their instigators. This conversation was recorded while sitting on the lawn outside Eridge Park, the home of the Marquess of Abergavenny, with magnificent views across the 3,500-acre deer park. We laughed, we cried... we discussed Gill's fascinating career path that led her to ...

Boomtown Fair co-founder Luke Mitchell takes us behind the scenes to discuss his life and times at the helm of one of the UK’s most spectacular and successful festivals. The AAA Backstage podcast series meets festival founders to explore what lies behind the events and their instigators. This conversation was recorded while sitting on a car bonnet with a panoramic view of the festival build at Matterley Estate in the South Downs National Park, where Boomtown has been staged since 2011. L...

Secret Garden Party festival founder Freddie Fellowes takes us behind the scenes to discuss his life and times at the helm of the hugely influential event. AAA’s new podcast series goes backstage with festival founders to explore what lies behind the events and their instigators. This conversation was recorded face to face on location at Grange Farm in Cambridgeshire, where the festival has been staged since its inception in 2003. This episode covers everything from mass nudity and mud w...