Q&A: Neil Ackland talks EMC Play

For the first time in EMC’s three year history, organisers have introduced EMC Play, a two night showcase of emerging artists from a list of over 30 leading electronic music labels and collectives. With this year’s annual EMC Conference just over a month away TMN caught up with Neil Ackland, the conference’s founder, to talk about the key players attending the conference, the scope of EMC Play’s coordination, and how it will attempt to show Kings Cross in a new light.

EMC Play, along with and the Jack Daniel’s $5k international travel grant will no doubt prove invaluable to the artists who secure it. Who amongst the industry are expected to be out and about on the nights scouring for new talent?

Most of the key players in the Australian electronic music industry will be in Sydney for EMC and EMC Play. This year we are also flying in over 15 of the world’s leading talent bookers and A&Rs behind events like Coachella and Electric Daisy Carnival, with the specific goal of booking local talent at the events. Some of our guests include Donnie Estopinal (Disco Donnie Presents/SFX), Johnny Shockey (Coachella/LED Presents), Bobby Runway (SBE / SLS LA), Gary Richards (Hard LA/Live Nation), Latane Hughes (Windish Agency) and more to be announced.

How long has EMC Play been in the works and which events inspired it?

EMC Play has been in the works quite a while now. Our plan has always been about building on the previous success of the daytime conference and adding a discovery platform of nighttime showcases. We have definitely drawn inspiration from the success of events like ADE in Amsterdam, Miami Music Week, SXSW and Brisbane’s Bigsound where everything is focused around a central entertainment precinct. With this expansion, we feel EMC Play will breathe new life into Sydney’s iconic Kings Cross and Darlinghurst precinct.

What can you tell us about the process you’ll undertake in choosing EMC Play’s live acts?

Our theme this year is ’Discovery’ as we believe Australia has some of the best electronic music talent in the world and our reputation internationally is huge, and so we think EMC can play a role as a crucial stepping-stone in discovering the next big artists and promoting them to the world. Applications for EMC Play have just closed and we’re currently in the process of choosing artists to play at the various EMC Play showcases. In charge of selecting the acts who will get it play is former FBi Radio General Manager of Music Dan Zilber, one of Sydney’s most influential and well-respected music industry members. Zilber is supported by a programming committee including Flume’s Manager and Future Classic boss, Nathan McLay, Sony EDM Boss, Jon Hanlon and other industry leaders.

The announcement of EMC Play comes only a week after Kings Cross nightclub The Backroom was forced to close following an increasingly strenuous period of trade following the implementation of Sydney’s controversial lockout laws 7 months ago. Is the current hostile climate towards live music venues and nightlife in general a key factor in selecting Kings Cross for EMC Play?

EMC needed to be located in a precinct that has multiple venues suitable to dance music, all in walking distance with infrastructure set up to handle a large crowd mid-week, so Kings Cross was really the only choice. Our goal is to show the Cross in a different light and bring local, interstate and international guests into the area to experience the vibe and energy of the Cross as it should be. We want the local hotels, bars, restaurants and clubs to be buzzing with EMC delegates, artists and industry people discovering amazing new music over three nights.

EMC could not come at a more relevant time; it’s bookended by some of the biggest electronic music events and the genre features among this year’s ARIA nominees. How do you think electronic music as a whole is fairing in Australia, both on the festival landscape as well as the quality of artists we produce?

Australian dance music is booming. The fact that there are over 120 acts being showcased at EMC just goes to show the depth and breadth of quality talent we are producing, so we think it’s about time the industry had a vehicle like EMC to promote local talent to the world.

FBi Radio’s former General Manger Dan Zilber has been announced as the Head of Programming for EMC Play. What are some of the key factors, which brought you to the decision to take Dan on board?

Dan has over a decade of experience, and is both an influential and widely respected figure within the Australian music industry. He has worked alongside some of the biggest names, collectives and artists during his time at FBi, plus he has a talent for discovering the next crop of electronic music artists in Australia, which is what EMC Play is all about.

You’ve stated that the goal for EMC is “to grow EMC around the vibrant Kings Cross and Darlinghurst entertainment precinct where the industry can connect, learn and network…”. What are the next steps for you and the EMC team once this year’s conference and live festivities come to a close?

Conferences like ADE, SXSW and Bigsound have set a precedent for what is possible, and how these events can be a vital step in artists being discovered. We have grand plans for EMC and see no reason why it cannot be right up there with the world’s leading music industry events in the future.

Have you already begun brainstorming ideas to make the next EMC bigger and better than this year’s?

We are always planning ahead for the next year, but at this stage we can’t wait to see the reaction to the changes made to EMC in 2014. I have great confidence in the talent we have recruited for both the EMC Conference and EMC Play this year, and we still have more big names yet to be announced.

EMC 2014 is taking place in Sydney this 2nd – 4th December. By day the event will feature informative panels, talks and masterclasses on electronic music.  By night, EMC Play will showcase the hottest artists from the scene to more than 10,000 people at multiple venues in the Kings Cross and Darlinghurst entertainment precinct. For more information and to purchase tickets visit www.electronicmusicconference.com