15 More Conference Speakers Announced for BreakOut West 2017

Posted On: Jul. 25, 2017

15 More speakers rectangle_July17 RESIZED.jpg from top left: Amanda Schweers, Danny Simons, Michael Falk, Andy Hawke, Martin Gangnier, Steve Bays, Feedy Frizzi, Brent Oliver, Devin Landau, Kate Matthews, Marco Noni, Olivia Tambini, Raimond Põldmaa, Ronnie Gurr, Roseanna Schick

15 More Conference Speakers Announced for BreakOut West 2017

Stay tuned for even more!

Amanda Schweers got her start in the music industry working for the provincial music association, Music BC, where she worked in an executive role for seven years. In 2009, Amanda joined the The Feldman Agency team in Vancouver, where she has worked alongside agent Rob Wright, and has recently started developing her own roster of clients with The Feldman Agency as an Agent.

Amanda also founded and co-owns Amazing Factory Productions, a Vancouver based film and video production company she started with her brother, Joseph Schweers, and cousins, Joshua and Andrew Huculiak. Along with the band We Are The City, Amazing Factory produced the feature film, Violent, which has been showcased at film festivals around the world and received numerous awards including the “Best Canadian Film” and “Best British Columbia Film" honours at the 2014 Vancouver Film Festival, as well as eight wins at the 2015 Leo Awards. The company has also produced music videos for a numerous recording artists.

Amanda has always been a passionate advocate of the British Columbia music community, and also currently sits on the MuchFact committee, reviewing grant applications. She spent a few years acting as a manager for We Are The City, and continues her efforts consulting with other acts to help further their careers. In her free time, she enjoys running away to her family’s lakeside cabin in the Cariboo, and talking and drinking about beer.

Danny Simons is the Head of Booking for Grand Hotel van Cleef Musik. Danny is the European agent for Canadian Artists like John K Samson & The Winter Wheat, The Lytics, Slow Leaves, and more.

Michael Falk is the Artistic Director of Jazz Winnipeg, co-owner of Paintbox Recording studio, and owner of Head In The Sand (label & management). He has a black cat named Doctor Heartthrob, a white cat named Professor Snagglepuss, and thinks Kanye and Costello are equal pillars of greatness.

Andy Hawke joins ole with over 12 years of diverse experience in the music industry. Some of his extensive skill set includes A&R, management, marketing, acquisitions, physical and digital product distribution and much more.

As ole label group's Manager of Artist & Repertoire, Andy is responsible for overseeing the artistic development of recording artists and songwriters. He works directly with artists, legal teams, managers etc. and also acts as a liaison between artists and record labels or publishing companies.

Before joining ole, Andy worked at Cadence Music (previously known as MapleMusic Recordings) and Fontana North as A&R/Label Manager since 2012. Working with developing and established domestic and international artists, from a multitude of different genres.

Andy attended Trebas Institute’s Entertainment Management program and graduated Magna Cum Laude (with great honor).

Martin Gangnier is currently the head of licensing at Re:Sound, the Canadian organization that advocates for music creators, educates music users, licenses broadcasters/businesses and distributes royalties to creators - all to help build a thriving and sustainable music industry in Canada.

Martin oversees all licensing activities and results which include stakeholder outreach, business development, compliance and enforcement, communications, partnerships and customer service.

Martin also currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors for Art Starts, an award-winning and inspiring charitable organization which brings artistic programing to underserved neighborhoods as a vehicle to encourage social change and build healthier communities.

Martin has a BA from Université du Québec a Montréal (UQAM) and completed the Executive Leadership Program at Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

Re:Sound is the Canadian not-for-profit music licensing company dedicated to obtaining fair compensation for artists and record companies for their performance rights. We advocate for music creators, educate music users, license businesses and distribute royalties to creators — all to help build a thriving and sustainable music industry in Canada. Re:Sound also collects international royalties for Canadian rights holders.

For over 15 years, two-time Juno nominee Steve Bays led indie-rock phenomenon Hot Hot Heat as the eccentric singer/songwriter/keyboardist frontman. In their illustrious career, Hot Hot Heat signed record deals with Sub Pop, Dine Alone, Dangerbird and Warner Bros, with their songs achieving multiple top tens on US, Canadian and international alternative radio charts, as well as the Top 40 of US Billboard chart. The band performed worldwide, touring with a multitude of bands such as The White Stripes, Modest Mouse, Queens of The Stone Age, Arcade Fire, The Pixies, Foo Fighters, The Killers, Weezer, Kings of Leon, The Cure and multiple times on every major American late-night talk show.

Originally from Victoria, British Columbia and now living in Vancouver, Steve Bays has established himself as an acclaimed music engineer, producer, director, and songwriter.

Steve Bays’ recent studio credits are likely familiar to you, with multiple Top 10 hits on Canadian alternative radio charts. Tracks like Mounties ‘Headphones’ and ‘Tokyo Summer’, Gay Nineties ‘Letterman’, and The Zolas ‘Invisible’ and ‘Molotov Girls’ resonated with audiences nationally. His track with Fake Shark ‘Cheap Thrills’ climbed to #1 on the Musique Plus pop charts, and his Diplo and Steve Aoki co-write track ‘Freak’ landed a feature in 22 Jump Street, and now has over 13 million views on YouTube.

With his many years immersed in the music industry, Bays started to direct and create music videos for bands. His unique musical approach to videos has brought life to many band’s videos such as Limblifter, Mounties, Gay Nineties, Hawksley Workman, Fur Trade, Prairie Cat and Hot Hot Heat.

Although Steve Bays has been extremely active in the studio he hasn’t left touring or performing behind; he continues to be an active member of the groups Hot Hot Heat, Fur Trade, and Mounties, all of whom have released records within the last two years.

Italian native, Feedy Frizzi, has resided in London for the past decade. After being awarded a First Class degree in Music Business in 2010 she was hired as an A&R and Lizzie Francis’ assistant at Spilt Milk management, giving her insight into the world of songwriting by overseeing relationships with writer clients such as Eg White (Adele, Florence, Will Young, Sam Smith, Pink etc.) Justin Parker (Lana Del Rey, Rihanna, Bat For Lashes, Banks) and Jim Duguid (Alex Clare, Paolo Nutini).

Feedy then decided that going freelance would allow the requisite flexibility to build a roster of her own. Feedy’s relationship with Moshi Moshi Music started in 2013 by co-managing Boxed In (Oli Bayston,): artist,producer and songwriter for the likes of Petite Noir, George Fitzgerald, Bohicas, The Two Bears, Rosie Lowe etc., signed to Domino Publishing; and thus she now works as part of the Moshi Moshi Music team. This partnership also extends to their second co-management client, NZCA LINES, signed to Memphis Industries and Because Publishing.

Brent Oliver is the Director of Cultural Services for the City of Spruce Grove, Alberta. Brent & his management company, BOP MGMT currently acts as Artistic Director of the UP+DT Music and Arts Festival in Edmonton as well as represents Indigenous indie-rock act nêhiyawak, pop outfit The Hearts, roots rockers Ayla Brook & The Sound Men and legendary Winnipeg two-piece Duotang. Brent has been behind some of Edmonton’s most iconic live music venues including the Rev Cabaret, New City Likwid Lounge and the Sidetrack Café. A former Western Canadian promoter with Foundation Concerts and agent with Paquin Artist Agency, he currently sits on the board for Alberta Music, the Creative Cities Network of Canada, & the 2017 Breakout West Host Committee. Brent has been nominated for a Community Excellence Award by Breakout West in 2016 & 2017, the John Poole Award for promotions of the arts in 2015 & 2017 and was named a Top 40 under 40 by Avenue Magazine.

Devin Landau started out promoting underground electronic music in college while studying Anthropology at the University of Illinois in Chicago. In addition to promoting shows, he was playing in bands and quickly found himself booking the tours as well. After finishing his degree, he moved to Portland, OR where he joined the Surefire Agency in 2009 and became Senior Agent in 2012. Along with developing the DJ roster and live touring department at Surefire he quickly began working the Latin American market and has held consistent touring schedules in Central and South America for the last six years. In 2016, Devin joined The Windish Agency in Los Angeles, until they merged with Paradigm Talent Agency in January 2017, where he tours a diverse roster of live acts, producers and DJs.

Wardrobe stylist Kate Matthews began her career in the music industry while finishing her Marketing degree at the U of S. Soon after convocation, she worked as an artist manager and specialized in branding and wardrobe styling for musicians. Her passion for styling soon landed her an internship at ELLE magazine where she worked on photo shoots, wrote articles and interviewed public figures. After working at ELLE, Kate developed her niche as a wardrobe stylist and brand consultant for musicians. In addition to working with artists, Kate is the fashion editor for REFINED magazine, the creative director for Saskatoon’s fashion week and a freelance stylist for print and television. Kate has been nominated for a WCMA and her placement and client list includes Warner Music, Live Nation, Just for Laughs, Peak Performance Project, Project Wild, ELLE, Globe & Mail, National Post, CityTV, CBC, CTV, GLOBAL TV, Food Network and more.

After working one year for a Cologne based music promotion agency and another two years for an Artist Management, Marco Noni started an alternative, entry free music festival called, ‘Heimspiel Open Air’ in 2004. With up to 8.000 music fans attending, presenting national as well as international acts like Biffy Clyro (UK), Maximo Park (UK), Mia. (D), Donots (D) and many more, the festival was a huge success. In 2006 he started his career as a booking agent at Meistersinger Konzerte in Berlin, representing international artists like Robyn (SE), Matt&Kim (USA), Yelle (FR) and Hellsongs (SE) as well as established German acts like Erdmöbel, Fehlfarben, Alexander Veljanov and Das Bo.

Marco relocated to Vancouver in October 2014 and redirected his business by focusing primarily on booking Canadian artists in Germany. Shortly after he also took over the management for Edmonton-based band Scenic Route to Alaska, and began consulting Canadian artists and labels on self distributed releases in Germany. Currently, popTrip is beginning to expand, adding Canada to its booking territories and growing the team by welcoming Florian Meier on board. Florian has formerly worked at Empirical Artist Services (Management for The Weakerthans) and Paquin Artist Agency in Canada as well as for Berlin-based agency Destiny Tourbooking (Lagwagon, Jello Biafra & The Guantanamo School of Medicine, Me First & The Gimme Gimmes, CJ Ramone, A Wilhelm Scream...).

Artists Marco is currently representing are Scenic Route to Alaska, Hidden Cameras, The Zolas, Close Talker, Youngblood, Fast Romantics, The Wilderness of Manitoba, Royal Wood, Groenland, Royal Tusk & more.

Olivia Tambini is a music writer and label rep at London-based record label Killing Moon. A practicing musician, she was initially trained classically and went on to study BMus Popular Music at Goldsmiths University of London, graduating in 2015. After leaving university, Olivia worked as a vocal instructor before joining Killing Moon as in intern in 2016 and has been there ever since, coordinating record releases, writing music reviews, and conducting marketing campaigns. In her spare time, Olivia likes to write and record music, swim outdoors, and spend time with her pets.

Raimond Põldmaa is the music Program Manager for the new music showcase festival and industry conference Tallinn Music Week (TMW). Taking place in the capital of Estonia, Tallinn every spring, TMW is the meeting point for Eastern, Western and Central European music and creative communities, attended by around 35,000 people and 1,000 music industry executives yearly. Before managing the showcase program for TMW, Raimond coordinated the festival's daytime City Stage concerts, worked as a production assistant for Live Nation Estonia and a promoter for various venues and festivals in Tallinn.

Raimond graduated from University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy's Culture Management program. His musical DNA has been shaped mainly by modern metal, hardcore and punk rock but he allows any genre to captivate him and spends his Wednesday nights testing his musical knowledge against other heads at the popular local music trivia quiz.

Ronnie Gurr has had an extensive career at the heart of the music industry - including two spells working closely with Richard Branson at Virgin and V2 Records - as well as solid experience in the cultural enterprise and business development sectors. He is currently a member of Showcase Scotland Expo’s steering group, a consultant with Believe Digital Distribution and publishes music-related photobooks through his publishing company Hanging Around Books.

He is also Chairman of Burnsong - the body that works to promote and develop Scottish songwriting as part of the poet's legacy.

A former convener of the Scottish Parliamentary cross-party working group on recording, distribution and new media, Ronnie has also worked as a specialist music industry advisor for Scotland’s Cultural Enterprise Office and their clients since 2005.

RoseAnna Schick is an entertainment publicist, published writer, and award-winning entrepreneur. She’s also the manager of Northern Ontario rock band Midnight Shine, whose showcase debut at 2016 CMW generated a massive media buzz resulting in 165+ stories spanning coast-to-coast.

Through her Winnipeg-based company RAS Creative, RoseAnna provides strategic communications to the music and motion picture industries, sports and recreation, and special events. Since 1995, she has worked with over 50 musicians, 60 special events, and 80 film and television productions. Music clients include the JUNO Awards, Interstellar Rodeo, Winnipeg Folk Festival, and Dauphin’s Countryfest, to name a few.

RoseAnna spent three years on the Board at the Manitoba Audio Recording Industry Association, during which time she co-lead MARIA though a complete overhaul, and was instrumental in relaunching the organization as Manitoba Music. She is a founding member of the Prairie Music Alliance, which became the Western Canadian Music Alliance in 2003. RoseAnna was honoured to receive a Women of Distinction Award in 2011, and was nominated for a Manitoba Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2007. Other nominations include Outstanding Manager at the 2001 Prairie Music Awards for her work with Winnipeg rock band Pushing Daisies, and three Best Music Video nods for their debut video Disagree.

In the film and television world… RoseAnna specializes in unit publicity, EPK shoots, media relations, and digital marketing. She is an experienced field producer and production coordinator, and a scriptwriter for commercial projects. RoseAnna spent two years as Executive Director of the Manitoba Motion Picture Industry Association (now called On Screen Manitoba), where she was responsible for representing and overseeing Manitoba’s film and television industry. Today, she is a member of On Screen Manitoba’s Board.