Behind the Scene with Adam Williams
We caught up with promoter Adam Williams, who has been behind gigs at Cardiff’s iconic Clwb Ifor Bach and all across the city for a decade and a half.
A Music City needs more than musicians. A live show requires a team of passionate people, pulling together to put on the performance. One of those key roles is promoter, who pulls all those constituent parts together. We could think of no one better to give us an insight into the life of a promoter than Adam Williams, who has been behind gigs at Cardiff’s iconic Clwb Ifor Bach and all across the city for a decade and a half.
READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH ADAM WILLIAMS
Talk us through a day in the life of being a promoter.
Emails, calls, meetings, emails, lunch, emails, meetings, THEY WANT HOW MUCH?!?!
What’s the best bit about promoting?
The best part of being a promoter is making those ideas happen really. The journey from the idea to the show announcement is still exciting to me despite the bumps you face on the way.
What has being able to work in your passion given you?
It has allowed me to work with people who share the same passions really. We’ve employed so many people over the years at Clwb, it is so fulfilling to me to be able to work with people who are stepping into the industry for the first time. To be able to do this job in Wales too is not something I take for granted, it’s something I think about all of the time. It’s so important we are able to train more and more people to work in this industry. Without them there is no music city.
What’s special about Cardiff’s music scene?
Collaboration! We’ve had it pretty tough in Cardiff over the past 15 years. All of the venues that gave me my first shot at promoting have all gone. Cardiff Arts Institute, Buffalo, Undertone, 10 Feet Tall, Gwdihw. I think this has made the scene stronger and more resilient. I don’t believe that artists share and collaborate on this level in any other city which makes the Cardiff music scene really special in my opinion.
Favourite memory from a gig you’ve promoted in Cardiff?
My answer to this question is always the same. Thee Oh Sees played the first show I promoted at Clwb. It was their first time in Wales, they arrived 15 mins before doors, the soundcheck was 1 minute long, they got food poisoning, they did a 30 minute encore going over curfew and it sold out! Can’t really top that.
Most memorable highlight from Swn Festival 2024? (part of the inaugural Cardiff Music City Festival)
Anthony Smzierek and Lily Fontaine (English Teacher) singing Sugababes’ Overload at Tramshed.
What is live music to you?
For me the dream live music scenario is a Friday night show. Probably on Womanby Street and probably a 3 artist Welsh bill you are seeing for the first time. Post show the furthest you tend to venture outside of Womanby Street is The Queens Vaults until midnight comes and Fuel Rock Club drags you back in.
How did you get into live music promotion?
I volunteered in the Swn Office the week of the festival in 2010. It was the first time I’d ever been in that environment. My only job was to laminate signage and I must have laminated thousands of them. At one point someone asked me to stop laminating because they couldn’t handle the fumes any longer. That’s really where it all started. 15 years on I book that very festival. Some people still call me “Laminator” to this day.
