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Creator Spotlight: From metal-obsessed kid to touring your idols with Your Mate Bookings

Anthony Blayney is living his dream. As we chat, the founder of music touring and booking agency is on the highway out of Melbourne, heading back home to Sydney after another great run of dates. 鈥淭he last tour I did was Sasquatch from the US and Pieces of Molly from New Zealand,鈥� says Blayney. 鈥淭hat was really good, it was the longest tour I鈥檝e ever done, like three weeks.鈥� 

Your Mate is Blayney living his passion for music, a career love letter to his favourite styles; hardcore, metal, psychedelic and stoner rock. 鈥淚鈥檝e been obsessed with music since I was a kid and I became a metalhead when I was 12 years old,鈥� says Blayney. Since starting Your Mate in 2017, Blayney has channelled that lifelong love of music into a job that is tough, but full of highlights.

鈥淭here鈥檚 the funny tours, there鈥檚 the crazy tours, there鈥檚 the long tours,鈥� says Blayney. 鈥淚 toured a band called Crowbar from New Orleans in 2019 and this was just a three date tour. They鈥檙e a big band, so there was a lot involved in running the tour and a lot of prep involved. Only being three shows makes it easier, but when you can get along with a band and connect with them, it means a lot, and this is a band that I鈥檝e been following since I was a kid. I鈥檓 so glad I did this tour and it makes it worthwhile when they treat you with respect and they want to hang out with you just because you鈥檙e a dude that they can speak to, not because there鈥檚 a business deal. That was a bit of a highlight for me.鈥�

Getting started

These days, if you鈥檙e heading to a psych rock or metal show anywhere in Australia, there鈥檚 a good chance that Anthony Blayney has had a hand in organising it. It鈥檚 no exaggeration, with upcoming shows everywhere from Collingwood in Victoria to Belconnen in the ACT, and a 2022 full of international tours, local single launches and day festivals. It鈥檚 all the more impressive when you consider that, prior to 2019, Blayney was only booking acts part time. 鈥淚 used to be a bank manager,鈥� says Blayney. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge change. Whilst doing booking on the side, and after doing my first few tours and understanding finance and budget and things like that, I realised I could do it full time.鈥� 

Orchestrating a tour means coordinating a huge variety of moving parts. 鈥淭here鈥檚 Australian immigration visas, marketing, artwork, support bands, contracts, accommodation, flights, backline, venue hire, and that鈥檚 making it easy for you,鈥� jokes Blayney. Even more impressive – Blayney is essentially a solo act, with just one part time assistant, a street team for postering, and his dad pitching in to help with visa applications. 鈥淚 taught him how to do it and he鈥檚 really good at it now,鈥� Blayney says. 

Supporting the local scene

Your Mate has two sides: touring and booking. Besides the more glamorous task of touring international acts, Blayney books shows for local up-and-comers. They might not have the profile of the touring bands, but Blayney鈥檚 is his chance to foster a scene that he loves. 鈥淲hen I do the international shows, that鈥檚 my take home money basically,鈥� says Blayney. 鈥淭he local bands, I want them to earn their money so I don鈥檛 take a lot out of that because they鈥檙e not earning that much money as it is. I want them to develop, I want them to do well. Money is one of the only things that can help them do well, so whether it comes to recording, mixing, merchandising, or travel for touring, they need that cash.鈥�

For Blayney, the chance to develop the smaller bands isn鈥檛 just an investment in the future of Your Mate Bookings, it鈥檚 an investment in the music scene in general. 鈥淭he most important thing is to be a part of the scene and give back to it as much as it gives you,鈥� Blayney says. 鈥淎t the end of the day, all those people are there to buy tickets to your shows and if you鈥檙e not supporting them, why should they support you? That local connection is so important.鈥� 

Learning lessons and chasing success

For aspiring bookers, Blayney says there鈥檚 one thing that makes the difference. 鈥淭he biggest thing for me is relationships. If you don鈥檛 have a relationship you cannot have a proper business deal. Especially if you鈥檙e trying to develop underground artists, relationships are really important because you need someone that鈥檚 going to back them over here.鈥�

It鈥檚 a reflection of how much he cares for the music that the former banker looks for more than one indicator of success. 鈥淲hen you can succeed in accordance with what you鈥檝e projected the tour to do [financially], obviously that鈥檚 success. But because I鈥檓 quite a spiritual individual, I also feel that it is what it is. If it didn’t work out, that鈥檚 okay, at least you鈥檝e helped someone, at least you鈥檝e done something for the masses and made them really happy. It can鈥檛 always be financial. You need to weigh up a few things. One tour might not do so well, but the support band on the tour might get an offer to tour with that international band overseas, so that鈥檚 a success.鈥�

Looking ahead

In the short term, Blayney is going to keep sharing his favourite music with Australian audiences, bringing new experiences to local crowds hungry for more. 鈥淎s much as we deal with a lot of underground bands from around the world, we鈥檙e constantly reaching for the stars with the bigger bands,鈥� says Blayney. 鈥淔or example, next year we鈥檙e going to be touring a 90s band called Unsane. It鈥檚 noise rock but it鈥檚 got elements of hardcore, punk and metal. It鈥檚 extremely abrasive noise rock that鈥檚 actually really groovy, they鈥檙e an incredible band, they’re legends of the 90s. That鈥檚 one of the big bands we鈥檙e excited about bringing out next year.鈥�

Blayney is also hoping to keep growing the business, crossing his fingers that he鈥檒l get the chance to step back occasionally. 鈥淚鈥檓 basically working towards shorter tours. We鈥檒l still keep supporting the underground and doing those underground tours, but it鈥檚 going to be the case where I need to train someone up to do everything that I do, and it鈥檚 a big job. Some nights you鈥檙e getting three hours sleep, and you鈥檝e got to be up first and you go to bed last to make sure everything鈥檚 in order. But I think touring bigger bands, having a bigger team that knows what they鈥檙e doing, and growing a bit more to the point where I鈥檓 looking at things from afar because I鈥檝e hired people.鈥�

Growing with 91制片厂

Blayney has been creating experiences with 91制片厂 since he started Your Mate Bookings in 2018. Compared to other platforms he鈥檚 dealt with, Blayney finds it easy to control everything he needs with 91制片厂, from running email campaigns to event ticketing. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty damn good – it’s a very easy platform to use,鈥� Blayney says. 鈥淚t helps because you have ultimate control over how you鈥檙e running the tickets for the event. You can change things yourself, you can do things yourself and even the help centre is very good, very helpful, very on it compared to the other companies. Some of the experiences I鈥檝e had with those companies where you鈥檝e told them to do things and they don鈥檛 and it affects you financially.鈥�