We recently sat down with St Mary’s alumnus and talent manager John Dawkins, to talk about his memories from St Mary’s and his career in the music industry.
John is one of the founders of the music management company Various Artists, and now has offices in both London and Los Angeles.
Over the years John has managed some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Charli XCX, Spice Girl Melanie C, and fellow Simmie Tom Grennan.
Having completed a degree in Sport Science and Media Studies at St Mary’s, John started out as a bartender in Camden before moving to LA for his first job with a band. Twenty years later, here’s what John had to say about the industry and how his time at St Mary’s influenced his career path:
How did you find your time at St Mary’s?
I had a great time at St Mary's, it was three of the best and most formative years of my life. I learned a lot of valuable life lessons and made friends for life. I’m actually still in multiple WhatsApp groups with people that I went to St Mary’s with. I left 23 years ago, and we still meet up at least twice a year, so it really is a testament to how much of an important and good time I had there.
I always felt that the lecturers and student support teams were available to help at any time. I loved the community feel of St Mary’s and I genuinely felt like I knew everyone on a first name basis. It was a really inclusive space and I always smile when I talk about the University, so many great memories.
What did your career journey look like after graduating from St Mary’s?
After graduating from St Mary's, I stayed in the area for another year working in telecommunications and marketing at a place in Twickenham. I then started trying to move into the music industry and got a job in Camden even though I was still living in Richmond, it was the epicentre of the UK music industry at the time.
In 2003 I took a huge gamble and moved to Los Angeles for eight months working with a few bands including my cousin’s band. That whole experience was a massive learning curve and when I came back to the UK I started working with some new associates and we went on to start the company Various Artists together. There were four of us that started Various Artists back then and there’s still three of us at the company now.
How did St Mary’s help influence the career journey you took?
When I was a teenager, I had the dream of being a professional football player which obviously never panned out, but I made a lot of decisions around GCSE's and A-Levels based on that which led to a natural path of doing Sport Science at university.
When I got to St Mary's I settled in immediately with likeminded individuals all on the same path. I really enjoyed the course, but I also knew that my mindset and life was changing and with that I decided to add Media Studies halfway through my degree. Even though the subject itself wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do, I really didn’t want to leave St Mary’s so I stayed and saw through the degree whilst I worked out what I truly wanted to do with my life.
I was always around music growing up. My mum was a first-generation skinhead in the sixties who listened to reggae and ska, while my dad was a mod. My cousin was also in a band signed to the same label as Nirvana’s called ‘Sub Pop’, so when I was at St Mary's I would use the library to send emails to him, frantically asking for updates about the music scene and what was going on with his band. I would be in the St Mary’s library every day, probably not so much studying, but sending emails back and forth to my cousin and looking for a way into the music business.
During the years I was at St Mary’s it was an exciting time for music with Brit Pop and house music still on the ride and later the emergence of the Strokes and The Libertines (who we now manage). As a student, I went to so many shows, and it was just something that really appealed to me. I knew that I could possibly have a foot in the music industry with my cousin, which is why I moved to LA in 2003.
What led you to start your own talent management company?
There was a corner shop by Strawberry Hill Station that I used to visit every week to buy NME magazine. On my first day at St Mary's, I got a free copy of NME which happened to come with a CD of the up-and-coming artists, including Coldplay amongst others. That CD came as a great comfort for my first few weeks at St Mary's, and music brought many of us together in those formative weeks. After that, I would religiously buy NME from the same shop in Strawberry Hill, and I think that obsession with the explosion of the new scene and my passion for music snowballed into where I am now.
One of my first entry points into the music industry was working in the Camden Barfly, which at one point felt like the centre of the universe. A friend of mine from St Mary’s, Michael Lafferty, had a sister who ran the pub, and he got me a bar job there. It was at the Camden Barfly where I started helping bands out and meeting others in the industry, including my co-founder David. I started to realise from working in different areas of the industry that not many of the managers were great at their job. I then grew in confidence and thought maybe I could have a go at it. I also worked out that music was ultimately just about opinion, so there were essentially no rights or wrongs when it came to what you rated. With that I took a dive into the unknown.
Did you face any challenges on your journey to building Various Artists and how did you overcome them?
We’ve faced hundreds of challenges. Just like all things in life, you must be prepared to make mistakes along the way. The only way you can rise is by rolling the dice. If you're doing it from a good place the key thing is to learn quickly and never make the same mistake twice, that's how you build and grow.
We currently manage over 20 acts across our UK and US office, and over a 20-year period I’ve been sacked by only one act. Even though it might seem like a bad experience, I actually learned a lot from it and took so many positives out of that situation.
In the music industry you have to be fluid and move with the punches that come your way, it's an ever-changing game.
Do you have any standout moments from your career so far?
There’s quite a few. I’d have to say managing my first band, The Enemy, was a real highlight for me. They’re a brilliant band made up of three great lads who are very talented singers, musicians, and writers. Their first record went straight to number one, and it was the first thing I ever worked on as a manager. I was one of their managers while they had a number one album and were selling out arenas. They were even handpicked by Noel Gallagher as support for Oasis on their last ever UK tour.
I’m from a working-class background and so are David, Matt, and Nick who I started Various Artists with, so we know how hard it is to survive and be successful in this industry. It’s really important to us now that we go back to the community and provide opportunities for other working-class people to come and get some work experience with us or help on the road and at shows.
Tom Grennan is signed to Various Artists - do you ever bond over your Simmie connection?
Oh, all the time. We often laugh and reminisce about our time at St Mary’s, sharing stories about where everyone used to hang out and where we would go on a night out. Last time we visited campus there were these big stands with Tom Grennan and Clara Amfo on them which made us laugh. I know Clara really well, but it wasn’t until a few years after we’d met that I found out she was also a Simmie.
It’s funny because I first saw Tom on the St Mary’s Facebook page, as there was a video of him singing. I thought he was really good, and then a few days later a scout I knew came into my office and asked if I had heard of this guy called Tom Grennan. Fast forward to now, he’s just won an MTV award and has had two number-one albums. We’ve got another record coming soon and he’s playing a sold-out show at Gunnersbury Park in West London on August 10th, which is a 25,000-capacity venue just a few miles from St Mary's.
What advice would you give to any St Mary’s graduates wanting to start a career in the music industry today?
My main advice is to just keep applying and keep pushing, and to be a nuisance. Even if you just offer your services for free, try and get to as many shows as you can and work in areas where there's a scene going on to put the feelers out there. As I said, the way I broke into the industry was pouring pints at Camden Barfly and speaking to everyone and anyone who was in the industry in some way.
Make sure you’re reaching out to bands, managers, tour managers, people that work at the labels to see if there are any opportunities available for you. Why not try and get on the front foot by creating your own events, such as putting on your own student club night, or putting on three band bills of acts you have seen that you like. Creating a pulse and effecting popular culture no matter how small or niche is a great starting point.
It's about finding things that you're passionate about and aligning yourself with them to then see where it goes. Did I think I would be where I am now all these years later? Not a chance, it amazes me daily. But if I can do it, then why can't you? Let's go Simmies!