Quitting uni, setting boundaries and nurturing the North: Eva Davies

Insight Avenues kicks off with the lovely Eva Davies.

• Label Manager at Come Play With Me
• Artist Manager for Pop Vulture and Bug Teeth
• Freelance Advisor for Youth Music
• Event Promoter and Founder of GRRLS DO THAT TOO

Hey Eva! So I see that you’re the label manager at Come Play With Me, is that based in Leeds?

Yeah, our office is in Leeds. We have a couple of members of the team who are based in London, and the whole team are always finding ways to build relationships nationally and internationally.

And then you’re also like an artist manager for two of the Artists?

Yeah, so we’ve got Pop Vulture and Bug Teeth. Pop Vulture are like post-punky vibes and then Bug Teeth are a bit more shoegazy. But then, yeah, so I managed them through Come Play With Me.

I remember reading that you started busking as a kid?

My mum would take me, we’d do stuff like that growing up, and we’d play solo gigs and stuff like that. So I kind of got to kind of see, the gig side, and playing quite early on which was a lot of fun. I was like 9, 10 I think when I started.

And then you went on to study music technology?

Yeah, as a kid I was like playing at school and in bands and stuff like that and then after, like I did a thing called Junior LCCOM at Leeds College of Music. I did that while I was at school and I got to use all of the studios that usually only the degree students, like undergrads, get access to, which was really cool.

It’s why I kind of chose to do it at college level. I think after so many years of being more on the performance side, wanting to learn more and that kind of on the production side and more behind the scenes and stuff like that and just kind of got a bit more experience doing as many as many different areas as I could really.

So I was reading through this interview and you were saying you noticed you were basically one of three girls, right?

Yeah, yeah. I was quite lucky that I had a parent that kind of took me to kind of music conferences growing up, which I think also helped me kind of gain a really strong understanding of kind of the wider music industry from quite a young age. So I think it wasn’t really a shock, but I think hearing about it and being in the situation were two very different things.

Yeah, because you mentioned that that was kind of what spurred you on to start your own events for women and people of marginalised genders?

Yeah, I wanted people to just all feel comfortable playing gigs and stuff like that, as well as just creating a bit of a community. Just trying to get people to meet each other and be more aware of all of the bands and artists that were about in Leeds that weren’t just a group of boys with guitars.

I mean, like just listening, it sounds like, you know, with the conferences at a pretty young age that it was like you’re quite switched on quite early.

Yeah, I think that really comes down to just going to as many gigs as possible, always being open to chat to people, going to conferences as well and starting to understand what a good one is, what works well, and just getting out and going to different places. I think you learn a lot from stuff like that, especially when it comes to putting on your own events.

Was it like a dream to be an artist or a producer, or was it kind of like you always looking into the business side of things?

I think, like growing up, I always wanted to be in music in some way. I started thinking about it more in high school, when everyone started talking about uni. It’s quite funny, at that point I remember being totally adamant that I didn’t want to go to uni, I just wanted to get a job and start working as quickly as possible, for a while I had the idea of kind of getting into radio and stuff like that but it’s just funny thinking back on that and then, after going to uni and dropping out and all that side of it. Yeah, it’s like year 10 me.

What would you say to people that were wondering if they should go to uni or just keep going?

I think it’s totally different on everyone’s personal situation. Like, I’ve got friends who were from small towns, really rural, and the only way for them to get out of that was to come to uni. I was quite lucky that I lived only like a half an hour’s drive away from Leeds so when I went to college there I was already aware of what was going on.

I think for a lot of people uni is a really good way to kind of move away from a hometown, get to know a new city and have the time to kind of explore that, which I totally get. It’s just different for each person, but I think if you can use your time at uni and spend that time going to gigs, conferences and meeting people so that you’re building your network whilst you’re at uni, and by the time you’re graduating you’ve got a bit of a step up.

But going in to do my BTEC at Leeds, I kind of was doing that from being 16. It’s also about doing stuff off your own back. I think it’s also a thing of if you’re at uni and then two years in, you’ve kind of built up something and it doesn’t feel right anymore, then uni isn’t going anywhere.

“You can always go back. I think there’s a lot of pressure on people to have to go to uni and finish it, but I think there’s a lot to be said if you can kind of make your own experiences and kind of make the most of your time while you’re there”.

How would you describe Leeds, the music scene, and then what do you think could be done nurture Leeds a little bit more as a music scene?

I think Leeds is great because there’s so many pockets going on. I think there’s an amazing post-punk indie scene, there’s an amazing jazz scene, there’s some really exciting hip-hop grime artists. I think the one thing with Leeds is, and one thing that we’re trying to do at Come Play With Me is kind of bridge the gap between them all a bit more and make everyone aware of everything that’s going on. We’re finding ways to work with artists from all of those genres and I think that’s really exciting.

So obviously you’re like an artist manager and a label manager. I was just wondering for someone that’s kind of interested in those roles, like how would you differentiate them?

I think naturally there is quite a lot of crossover. When you’re a label manager and you’re supporting an artist campaign there is an element of soft management around that. I think when we’re kind of helping them plan for the future and work out ways of kind of getting funding, trying to get them more gigs etc. I think that’s when we were like, okay, this is this is becoming more of a management thing.

Bug Teeth and Pop Vulture really excite me, but it can be quite hard to find time to switch off from like a full-time job doing the label stuff alongside management, which is very much like out of office hours, going to the studio and gigs etc.

I think it’s very important that you set boundaries with the artists quite early on and just kind of manage the expectations. If you can set those boundaries as early on as possible, they’re not suddenly just wondering what’s happening like why they aren’t getting a response or anything, but I think it also alleviates a lot of the pressure on you as a manager and you can make sure that you’re not burning out in that sense.

For them obviously the band is like the thing that they want to do well so that can be their job. I think they obviously put in a lot of passion to the writing and just want it to do the best that it can. I think it’s it’s just about managing those expectations and making it clear from the get-go that you do have other stuff going on, but you will be there to help. There’ll be times where like Pop Vulture will be on tour in April, Bug Teeth probably won’t get quite as much attention and vice versa. So it’s making them them understand that there’ll be times where they’re the number one priority, and there’ll be times where the other band is. I think being honest with them at the start is gonna help not to have any conflict later on, for sure.

“I think giving advice to someone, it would just be totally dependent on their situation, their relationship with the artist that they’ve got, and how do they see themselves progressing over the next few years, and is that progression happening because they’re going on to other artists and being a business at that point”.

What words what would you want like an emerging artist to know about like labels and managers, if they were looking and they might not know too much about how it all works?

That’s a good question. I think if you’re an artist and you’re looking to grow your team, whether that’s like label or an artist manager or even a booking agent, the one thing that you want to make sure that the people approaching you are genuinely passionate and excited for your project. I think that passion then translates into the right progression in your career.

Organisations like MMF and AIM, all those help musicians with informational education around that side of the industry.  I think it goes back to what we were saying about getting out and finding connections as much as possible, whether that’s through conferences or gigs. Just being able to go up and talk to people – I think that’s the biggest help. 

When we’re looking at artists to work with, we wanna make sure that the artists are not just kind of waiting for someone to come and release the workload, but they’re up for talking to people and networking.

Personal highlights of 2022/2023 and focus for the year ahead? 

Then Great Escape was amazing, again just being able to go out and meet people. But I think of the rest of the year, our release calendar is full for the next 18 months – which is f*cking insane. And just meeting new artists, and launching Come Play With Me at that commercial industry space is really, really exciting. Alongside maintaining our side by side complication album, but yeah I think it’s gonna be… Like the first 6 months of this year have been insane so I can imagine that the next six are gonna be even bigger for sure. 

What motivates you? 

One of the biggest things is seeing the artists that we’re working with getting excited, whether that’s because their first single is coming out off their debut album or if it’s a gig we’ve got them on the management side or tour or they see the merch for the first time in person. Just seeing them get excited it’s humbling and this is gonna be like really cringe, but makes you feel like warm inside. It makes it feel worth it, that’s what we’re there to do, we’re there to support artists.

“One of the best things ever is when an artist hears their music on vinyl for the first time, like that never gets old, at all. That’s what keeps me going”.

As well as just being able to chat to EMI North and build up a collaborative music industry hub across Yorkshire and the north east and north west. 

Anyone inspired you? 

As a kid I looked up to Debbie Harry an insane amount, I still think she’s so cool. On more of a local level, everyone in the Come Play With Me team is incredible and amazing to work with. Having an amazing supportive team, makes all the of the stress and the insanely long work days so much more worth it. 

If someone was about to listen to Pop Vulture of Bug Teeth what songs would you recommend? 

So Pop Vuture would be CNE and for Bug Teeth I’d do… Ice-9, my favourite.