Jayden Roy is a promoter and booking agent at Destroy All Lines, touring international and domestic artists across Australia, New Zealand and Asia for the last 15-plus years.
Jayden is one of the many speakers who'll attend BIGSOUND 2024 in Brisbane; this year's conference will reflect on the ongoing disruptions within the music industry, providing a platform for innovative conversations and creative breakthroughs.Jayden has represented a large and diverse range of acts over his career including artists such as Caligula's Horse, Storm The Sky, Future Static, Reliqa, Majak Door, and Jacob Fitzgerald & The Electric City as well as including artists featured in this year's BIGSOUND showcases: Belle Haven and Juno.
What do you do and why do you love it?
I'm a booking agent and promoter at Destroy All Lines. Music is my lifeblood and I would find the world extremely uninteresting without it.
Why should people in the music industry attend BIGSOUND?
Music industry schoolies! It's a fun time to let your hair down, but also experience the future of music, meet like-minded people that you could potentially work with and find inspiration for your work.
What are the rewarding aspects of working in the Australian music sector?
Being a part of an artist's journey and building their foundation from the ground up. The special moments of seeing an artist play to 50 people to selling out large rooms, and over time being able to create experiences for the artist and fans.
How vibrant is the local scene compared to other parts of the world?
We have the best music scene in the world, don't try to argue with me on this. The fact I can see an artist every night of the week and experience something great is amazing.
What are a couple of challenges currently facing independent artists in Australia?
The cost of living is affecting ticket sales and local artists/ small venues are not prioritised compared to the big-gig experience of an international artist or large Australian artist. Costs are rising and so are prices, making punters lose access to live music that they have to become selective on what they spend.
We are also seeing more artists headline shows than ever before to try and make more money than take a support tour. Things are tough right now, but I have faith we will see things change in the future if these living costs start to go down.
With the digital media landscape saturated with so much content, people constantly scrolling through their feeds, how do indie artists make sure they standout from the pack (not just with their music but also marketing etc)?
Good songwriting will always be the most powerful thing to connect with new people. This is subjective to the listener, but if people grab ahold of a song they will talk about it actively.
Artists that do engage with presenting themselves on all socials and being creative with their content always shows strong initiative of what you are willing to do to create an audience and culture.
A piece of advice for emerging talent looking to build their brand both locally and nationally?
This one is subjective too; some artists can build a following online now before ever setting a foot onstage because they focused on building an online audience to hopefully convert in ticket sales before doing live shows.
Otherwise go to local shows, meet likeminded people and create a community that can support you too (although you're never entitled to others helping you out); being present in your local scene does really mean something. Find ways that you can present your live show in ways that work for you – if you are solo and breaking into touring play with a reduced set up if it helps saves money especially in the early days than hiring musicians.
Invest your money into the places that make sense to you; this industry is always changing. Find a flexible job and learn new skills that you can offer others while on the road to keep cash flow coming in. This could be producing, design work, consulting etc.
What's your favourite BIGSOUND memory from past events?
2022 was a really fun year and seeing my artists play to large audiences was really special.
What's the best lesson you've ever learned?
Back yourself. Are you happy with your work/ life balance? I am a workaholic and need to try to switch off more often – that's on me obviously.
How do you define success?
If you can do the thing you love the most for as long as possible that's success in my eyes. The memories are more valuable than any pay check you will ever receive in life.
Jayden Roy speaks at BIGSOUND panel National Touring - Getting Started & Making It Work on 4 September.
