Kasabian’s drummer, Ian Matthews opens up about the development of the AmplifyWorld Artist Fund, his goals and aims to support emerging artists, and so much more.
Hi Ian, how are you today?
I can’t complain, I certainly won’t complain anyway.
What does this new funding, the AmplifyWorld Artist Fund, mean to you?
To me, I’m very proud to be involved with this project where we can help up-and-coming, ambitious artists continue with their careers and support them as they do it.
Can you tell us a bit more about the type of support and what they can do with the funding?
When I talk about supporting artists through the Artist Fund, I mean helping with all of the huge costs involved in running a live act these days. Whether it’s touring, booking hotel rooms, getting an engineer on board, or even just renting a van to take your band around the country or wherever you’re touring, it all adds up. Making a record is still an expensive endeavor too. If you want to hire a studio, get more equipment, hire a producer, or musicians to help with the project, it all costs money. Then obviously there’s marketing, which is fundamental no matter where you are in the industry, whether you’re just starting out or you’re someone like Taylor Swift at the very top end.
For me, this is something special. I would have loved to have had an opportunity like this when I was in my 20s, out there touring in the back of a van—to have had a financial boost and been able to invest directly back into the band, to make it better, and make it easier to get out there in front of an audience.
How have you seen AmplifyWorld grow and develop since the start?
There have been a lot of meetings! AmplifyWorld is a project that we’ve been working on for the last three years. Initially, it started out with myself and Irfon Watkins and the chapel we have in mid-Wales, which we were turning into a venue. Then COVID hit, and it got us wondering how we could create an economic environment for a small venue like that to survive. In answering that question, we soon realized that it was also dependent on the musicians who play in these small venues. That’s when we teamed up with a company in Bristol called Amplify.link, and we came together. Over the last three years, we’ve been continuing to invent and evolve that idea into what exists today as AmplifyWorld.
How do you manage your time between Kasabian and AmplifyWorld?
It’s very busy. I jump between both worlds as a musician and as a founder of AmplifyWorld, but we’ve got a dedicated team at AmplifyWorld who are working hard behind the scenes to make things happen every day.
Are there any transferable skills that you have from your work in Kasabian that help you with your duties as co-founder of AmplifyWorld?
The main thing is, I’m a lifelong musician. I’ve been a professional musician since I was about 19 or 20, so I’ve been in the business a long time. I’ve experienced the industry from a street-level point of view all the way up to playing major festivals with one of the biggest bands in the world. So, my most valuable input into the company is that experience.
How can AmplifyWorld support an emerging artist?
Through AmplifyWorld, independent artists can get the digital marketing tools that they would usually only get access to if they were signed; it’s a one-stop solution for their digital marketing and distribution. Then obviously there’s the Artist Fund, and although it’s limited for now, that’s there to financially back ambitious artists.
What would be your own tips for any artist starting out, based on your own vast experience?
It’s harder work than you think. You will be surrounded by serious negative forces, whether that’s people who don’t believe in you or finding yourself in really challenging situations. But that’s also part of the fun. The industry, when you’re coming up through it, is a place where you might find yourself questioning your own sanity. But you have to keep going, you have to keep working, and stay positive. Make and play your music with pride. It’s hard, but you will be rewarded.
What is your message to artists that want to get involved and attain that $1,000-$50,000 to support their careers?
Just, please apply. The fund right now is really quite limited, but we are genuinely looking for people to support. And as our business grows, the hope is that we’ll have more money to support even more artists. That’s where I want to take this. You know, today, we have $500,000, and I want to grow this whole thing. Imagine having a million dollars, or ten million dollars, and what we could do.
Crucially, what are you and the team at AmplifyWorld looking for in an artist?
We’re not looking for musicians or artists who create certain styles of music or come from certain parts of the world or exist in certain scenes. The Artist Fund is there, literally, to help you as an ambitious artist. Show us you’re ambitious through your track record so far, explain to us how you’ll use the funding, and how it will be beneficial to you. We also want people that are forward-thinking and not scared of technology.
Is there anything that I’ve missed here that you would like to plug or promote?
I mean, what’s useful on top of the Artist Fund is our platform AmplifyWorld, which helps artists expand on their digital marketing. Our ultimate goal is to bring artists closer to their fans, or to help artists create a fan base. AmplifyWorld has an entire suite of tools to help independent artists do that really professionally from the beginning. Also, the new Kasabian album ‘Happenings’ is out now.
Thanks so much for the time!
My pleasure, thanks for the chat.