10 Questions with ... Steve Walker, Beatrix Danko, Todd Sievers & Ken Pittman

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Steve: (steve@radiocontraband.com) KBER/Salt Lake City, Enigma Records/Los Angeles, Charisma, Virgin and Artist Direct/Seattle, The Contraband Company, RadioContraband

Beatrix: (beatrix@radiocontraband.com) Contraband Music Group, The Contraband Company, RadioContraband

Todd: (todd@co5music.com) KUCI Irvine College Radio, Def American, 3 Artist Management, 1500 Records, Nickel Bag (Dust Brothers)/Mammoth/Disney, Reprise, CO5 Music (2003)

Ken: (ken@co5music.com) Alt Radio PD, Midwest Radio Promotion for MCA & DreamWorks, West Coast Radio Promotion Elektra, Lava, Roadrunner, National Radio Promotion Downtown Records, Independent Radio Promotions/Artist Development

#Happens

1. Thanks to you all for taking the time as you get ready for #Happens 2019 In Las Vegas. Can you give us the lowdown on the rebranding of the Contraband event to #Happens, powered by Contraband Company and CO5 Music?

Steve: We have looked at expanding our environment to include all rock genres since the inception of our company and looked at some incredible options to move forward with the concept. The timing was perfect to team up with Todd, Ken and CO5 Music and the results have been phenomenal. The growth is exciting and although a bit overwhelming we look forward to presenting a new, fresh perspective to our event.

Todd: Steve and Beatrix have built a wonderful and successful event for rock radio and its community over the past six years. When we discussed bringing the two formats together our goal was to create something that can grow beyond any boundaries.

Ken: Todd and I had felt there was a need for a live music platform for developing artists, when Steve and Beatrix approached us about augmenting their already successful event in Vegas it all really just clicked and made sense, it came together very quickly.

2. What was the genesis for doing a curated event with BOTH Active Rock and Alternative radio?

Todd: We had been speaking to Steve and Beatrix for a couple of years about possibly combining our events or branding them together with rock and alternative. The rock exclusive event was very successful, but my understanding is it had hit a ceiling in terms of reach. All four of us are entrepreneurs and have worked with each other for over a decade, it is our nature to grow our businesses. It feels like a logical step and the feedback has been positive from the industry. There are a few concerns and we hope everyone walks away feeling inspired. Plus, with all of this talk about guitars coming back to alternative, let's put it to the test!

3. Before we get into the gist of the agenda for #Happens, in years past the Contraband events were held at the Hard Rock Hotel on the Strip. This year's event is at the Golden Nugget Hotel downtown. Why the change of venue?

Beatrix: The First 3 years were at Mandalay Bay and worked well but always believed that we should be at the Hard Rock Casino based on the combined love for 'All Things Rock.' We were approached by the Downtown Las Vegas Economic & Urban Development Division a few years ago to consider doing our event in the Fremont District. Our attendees overwhelmingly spent their free time in the District so after solving what we perceived would be logistical issues we have decided that this opens the door to the curated event ethos in the shortest term possible. Fremont is going to be a blast!

Todd: It is where the locals go, everything is close and walkable and if you want to gamble you won't go broke! Plus, downtown is cool and who doesn't like Triple George Steakhouse?!

4. A big congrats on landing Badflower and Pretty Vicious for the Opening night party on Feb 20. How did that come together?

Todd: Heather Luke, Scott Borchetta, John Varvatos and Mike Rittberg had a big success launching Badflower out of the event last year and this is a very gracious way for them to come full circle to where it all began. Steve, Beatrix, Ken and I are really excited to launch our new branding, location and joint format event with such a great line-up and party! Badflower went to #1 at Active and is exploding at Alternative, it makes perfect sense!

Beatrix: This was an easy and simple proposition for me. I have a band crush and am proud of the launch of what is becoming a genre favorite with Badflower and look forward to presenting Pretty Vicious to our family.

5. Now let's talk about the #Happens events on Thursday and Friday Feb 21 & 22. You have conversations listed for both mornings. What will these conversations entail?

Todd: Inspirational topics from people with something to share. It might be new radio topics to motivational artist and charity stories. My dream is to combine WTF, Moth Radio Hour and TED talks, it is a work in progress, but we are inspired to grow it and win everyone over.

Ken: We consider #happens to be an open source event, we want people to feel very much a part of everything, whether you're running a cluster, a format head or program a specialty show in a small market. Our conversations will be informative and uplifting

Steve: We are truly excited as we transition into a more robust participation in our conversation platforms. I look forward to presenting the participants in these informative discussions very soon.

6. You have the curated events happening on both afternoons. What are some of the events you can tell us about at this point?

Ken: We are right in the middle finalizing these as I type this! There's so much to do in Vegas, prepare yourself for everything from a golf experience to a glimpse into the history of Vegas and the Mob to a motorcycle ride and maybe even our own "True Underdog Story" with a game of dodge ball!

7. You also have music showcases set for each night with separate Rock and Alternative showcases on Thursday and combined showcases on Friday night. Why did you decide to do separate showcases for each format?

Ken: Steve and Beatrix have built a very successful and credible rock event and that community expects to see bands that cater to their format, but we do feel there are bands that can and should appeal to both rock and alternative. The thought was to bring together the Alt/Rock community and at the same time keep their identities intact. To achieve this, #happens will open Wednesday night and close Friday with everyone together.

8. The past Contraband events put a big emphasis on the "community" of Rock Radio as one big family affair. What are you hoping to accomplish in adding the Alternative "family" to #Happens?

Beatrix: I think that combining both formats will lead to healthy conversations about developing and growing artists with a long lasting appeal to rock music lovers everywhere.

Todd: We want to continue spreading the family love! A lot of Alternative hits cross to rock and a lot of Rock hits cross to Alternative, there is a natural overlap. Both formats come from the same root system and we want to focus on that.

Ken: We are all in this business together and we feel there are far more common elements in the rock formats than not.

9. The past Contraband events featured the Rock Radio awards showcase on the final evening. Why no awards at this year's event?

Beatrix: We did the awards for the past 7 years and they were quite polarizing. While we loved acknowledging the rock format, labels and artists we had an equal number of people expressing their disappointment in how it functioned so we thought we would take a break and see how it can be improved.

Todd: We understand awards and their appeal, but we don't want it to be a contest, we want it to be a community. Maybe we'll give everyone an award!

10. Finally, if someone reading this is on the fence about attending this year's #Happens event in Las Vegas, what would you say to convince them to join the party?

Steve: Our event grows every year and the connections made with the people in our environment are long lasting. I truly enjoy watching the friendships grow while at the convention and beyond. This year's attendees include programmers from the biggest markets in the country! That alone is a statement in the legitimacy of our event.

Todd: This event has been amazing for six years and now it is expanding! Plus it is in Downtown Vegas, it will be social and inspiring, it will be full of discovery and memories and it will be FUN. Not to mention the cigars and whiskey tasting...