Sam Shemtob 

Managing Director

What made you want to work in music?

Although my brother and cousins started me relatively early, on a diet of Dire Straits, Bowie and Lou Reed, I really got interested when bands like the Pixies and Violent Femmes emerged in the late ‘80s, both breaking new ground. At university, I got the opportunity to help refit some underground storage into a nightclub, where I DJed with a friend. It was great fun and enough to make me want to work in music. I also enjoyed messing around on a synth one summer and briefly considered trying to make it work as a musician, but neither had the guts nor the talent!

What’s your favourite album of all time?

That’s difficult. Many of my faves these days are compilations, like Lagos Chop Up, a ‘60s - ‘80s Nigerian music comp put together by Honest Jon’s. Studio albums I have loved include Bowie’s The Man Who Sold the World, Lou Reed’s Transformer, Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes, Pixies - Surfer Rosa & Doolittle, and of course Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. The one I still play most often is A Tribe Called Quest’s People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.

What’s one piece of tech you couldn’t live without?

I used to be a laggard when it comes to new tech. My whole family were. We ‘did without’ all the usual games consoles growing up, nor a VCR nor even a microwave. But that changed after I spent some months mining digital currencies with friends.  My fave tech at the moment is Audiocast, a little widget that plugs into my amp and enables me to wirelessly stream music playing on lots of platforms onto the big speakers.