If you’re familiar with collectives around Dublin, you’ll know right off the bat, that Influence Records have been making an impact in the hard techno scene with their triple headline events, Irish debuts from international acts, and immaculate vibes wherever the party may be. Well they’ve launched a new venture, artist management agency ‘Titans Management’ and we’re excited to see this roster of talent come to life in the coming months.

Read our exclusive interview with Graham Focker below and get ready for the chaos.

Tell us about the background of Influence as a collective? Who is involved in the setup and day-to-day running of operations?

Influence was founded back in 2018 by Nathan (NAT TYPE) & his dad Ray (FULL FUNKTION/BOWSIE). The idea came from Nathan wanting to run parties for his friends to attend and feel a part of the running of the night! They ran their first influence night in November 2018 in 39/40 better known today as Here & Now, bringing Boxia to headline this show.

With a prominent passion for hard fast-paced techno, our vision during the pandemic was to rebrand and showcase this passion through our club nights. Fast forward to today the collectives’ current group (Nathan, Jack, Mark, Graham, Jason) have been working hard to bring the European rave feel from countries like Germany, The Netherlands, and the UK to the Irish scene but predominantly Dublin!

Where did the name Titans Management derive from? And will this still intertwine with Influence from a branding perspective?

When formulating our plan for the agency we wanted to envision our artists in the highest possible esteem, what could be a more suitable description than a 'Titan'. If we are to use the exact definition of a Titan, it gives us 'A person or thing of very great strength, intellect or importance'. This is our wholehearted perspective towards our artists. We respect & appreciate their commitment and in return we will do our utmost to realise their vision.

Despite working in close proximity to Influence & Influence Records, Titans will be a standalone entity and will operate completely separate to Influence from an operational standpoint.

Where did the name Titans Management derive from? And will this still intertwine with Influence from a branding perspective?

When formulating our plan for the agency we wanted to envision our artists in the highest possible esteem, what could be a more suitable description than a 'Titan'. If we are to use the exact definition of a Titan, it gives us 'A person or thing of very great strength, intellect or importance'. This is our wholehearted perspective towards our artists. We respect & appreciate their commitment and in return we will do our utmost to realise their vision.

Despite working in close proximity to Influence & Influence Records, Titans will be a standalone entity and will operate completely separate to Influence from an operational standpoint.

Why did you decide to operate under a different brand as opposed to an agency under Influence?

This agency has been in the works for sometime, when we first started this journey it was christened ‘Under Influence Management’. We hit the ground running by securing a number of International debuts for NAT TYPE & began to build relationships with some much bigger promoters.

It was about 2-3 months into the development of our agency when we discovered that there is much more we could be doing rather than just looking for bookings & discussing future shows with promoters. Artists in 2023 require more than just music, they require a brand, image, personality & even a persona in some cases. This is when we made the discovery that there is a severe lack of development agencies for Artists looking to make the next step in their careers before being taken on by some of the bigger agencies out there.

It was through this process that we decided we wanted to be more, ‘More than just an agency…’

We didn’t want to be held back by being a branch agency of a collective, we wanted to completely separate ourselves & develop a new brand solely focused on providing a boutique service to our artists in order to support their development.

Tell us about the initial roster and who will be represented by Titans Management in the first wave?

Our initial roster will consist of two artists. They will be announced over the next week & we have some very exciting projects in the works with both of them. The roster will remain small as each artist will require a considerable amount of time, work and planning to achieve their desired outcome! It is for that reason we feel it is necessary to keep our roster limited as our main goal will be to excel with our current roster before taking on new artists.

We want to show we can provide value. We have an unconventional approach to our management style that differs from the industry standard! We are more than excited to show our artists the true value we can provide.

What will Titans Management look for in their artists? What will catch your eye?

To accurately understand Titans Management vision and core values you first need to learn how this agency came to be created. It was during the Summer/Fall of 2023 when Influence Collective & Influence Records began to grow at an unprecedented rate, the work required was huge compared to months previous.

I was looking after Nathan’s bookings & management when discussions with some agencies began. At first, this seemed great as it would offload some of the work from the agency & we could get back to focusing on Influence. When I began speaking with agents & understanding what was being offered, it became apparent that even though Nathan has been producing and mixing for well over 10 years there was still a considerable amount of development required on his Brand. I was not confident that these agencies would invest what was required in order to push Nathan to the next level and put the work in which I would expect, which is understandable as he is one of my best friends.

As previously mentioned, This is one of the first times we noticed the lack of development agencies for up and coming artists. We want to be the agency which artists can trust to invest in them.

Ultimately, what will catch our eye is an artist who is passionate about their work & wants to take their career to the next level. We will work closely with Influence Records to assist in identifying smaller/up and coming DJ’s/Producers suitable for our Agency.

When it comes to providing support for your artists, what sits at the core of this? What are the essentials to get somebody into rotation?

This is one of the hardest questions to answer in this interview as we see each artist as their own independent project with their own needs, wants and goals. We pride ourselves on being in touch with our artists, when we first start working with an artist we will sit down, discuss and plan what they want their journey to be. We will put in work behind the scenes to make as much of that plan possible while also using our own industry expertise to assist in the process.

We offer a cradle to grave management service, meaning we tailor our services to our artists from the start to the end. Below are some of the standard services we provide:

- Artist Management

- Registering Artist as Sole Trader

- Banking Advice / Tax / Write offs

- Equipment upgrades

- Production management

- Distributing demos / projects to potential record labels

- Assistance with workflow / Dealing with a number of projects at once

- Planning release schedule / Collecting monetization from labels

- Brand Media Management

- Provides planning for Instagram & Tiktok (Social media planning & management)

- Videographer, Photography and Press shots ( Available in-house )

- Management of collaboration and scheduling

- Bookings Management

In terms of talent, is it just djs and producers that can apply? Solely music?

For the moment, we are only seeking DJs/Producers as we possess the correct industry knowledge to assist these artists who are looking to take their brand & music career to the next level.

How do artists register to be a part of Titan Management? What do they need to do?

Unfortunately we are not open to registrations as previously mentioned, we want to invest in our current roster and provide them with value before we begin to work on any new projects.

Titans will be an invite only agency and we constantly be on the lookout for new talent. As mentioned above, Influence Records will be heavily used as a mechanism for our acquisition of new artists. We urge any Dj’s who believe they are ready to take that next step to submit their mixes to our guest mix series and all producers to send across their demos! If we are impressed, we will definitely reach out to you!

When it comes to branding an artist, what key elements do you think helps shape up someone’s style of music and image?

Branding is a huge aspect of today’s music industry. This will be one of our main focuses for our artists as ultimately we were promoters before this journey and we know the value which an artist can provide to your show if they have a consistent brand therefore the key element for shaping a brand in our professional opinion is consistency.

A brand we always like to refer to is CARV- He is one of the hottest talents in the Techno space at the moment and this is due to his consistent development of his brand, image and music. Every moment Carv is performing he is in fact developing his brand as he only plays his own music (Unreleased & released) therefore giving his musical performances that edge that no other artist can match.

Our objective will be to work with our artists to hone in on elements which big artists are taking advantage of to grow especially with the implementation of multi platform social media posts.

What are your main goals for the new year?

Our primary goal for the new year will be to make that first major step to elevating our artists to the next level. We have our roadmap in place and we are more than ready to begin!

Follow @TitansMGMT on Instagram for the latest updates.

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