E71 | Toby Burrows
Episode summary | Toby Burrows
Toby Burrows is the king of music festivals in New Zealand. He’s a shareholder and former director of Rhythm and Vines, who's more recently tasted success organising Bay Dreams, Le Currents and Plane Sailing, while touring some of the world's biggest artists from Bryan Adams to Cardi B and Snoop Dogg.
We learn about the stressful early days of Rhythm and Vines and BW Campgrounds, and how he helped to put Gisborne on the international music map, how he created an ‘Endless Summer’ for 15 years, splitting his time between NZ and LA, and the famous faces he met along the way, including Joe Rogan, Paris Hilton, Kelly Slater and Freddie Roach, as well as attending Coachella 11 times.
His story is packed with movie-like tales of dealing with the biggest names in the world, but is underpinned by his razor-sharp business savvy and organisation skills.
Show notes | Toby Burrows
1.46 Band practice, face-to-face interviews, and the state of the festival scene at the moment
3.51 Bringing Snoop Dogg to New Zealand
8.57 A Fight for Life in Gisborne, are we festival guys and can you be too old for a festival?
13.00 The origins of RnV and the BW Summer Festival
18.10 The stress of organising a music festival
20.44 Comparisons with Fyre Festival and dodging a bullet not attending
23.18 Working on the tools, risk management, and the journey from conception to delivery
28.10 Giving Six60 their first festival gig for $400 and saying “no” to Lorde
31.22 Getting Bay Dreams Nelson off the ground after an endless summer
35.10 Cardi B and king size riders
39.46 Fake booking Hasbulla to do Russian drill rap in New Zealand
41.16 Spending a week surfing with Kelly Slater
44.56 The LA scene with kiwis abroad
46.03 A real life podcast: Meeting Joe Rogan
48.14 A love of UFC, fighting, and starting the Ultimate Athlete
56.16 The rise of influencers and their use in promotion of festivals
59.38 Coachella and the EDC Festival with Paris Hilton and dream artists
1.04.50 A long way from home: living with Adriana Chechik
1.07.18 Last words from Steven, Seamus and Toby
