John Saunderson simply has music running through his veins. Getting his first break into the music industry DJing for Wham! on their legendary Make It Big Tour in ’85, he spent over 20 years at DMC (Disco Mix Club) where as his role as General Manger, was involved in the DMC label and management, early days of Mixmag and the DMC/Technics World DJ Championships. John was then headhunted to work for independent music publisher Notting Hill Music where he was responsible for over 120 writers worldwide and a 30,000-song catalogue, as well as organising songwriting camps all over the world, including UK, Nashville, LA, Norway, Denmark, Berlin, Amsterdam and Kingston, Jamaica. In 2019 he moved to the mighty Ostereo taking on the role of Head of Publishing and Management – and only twelve months later he has already built up a formidable roster of singer/songwriters, artists and DJs. DMCWORLD checks in with one the most hardest working (and nicest) men in the music industry as he prepares for a massive few weeks with 16 new releases swinging our way…
Words by Dan Prince
You have 16 new tracks swinging our way over the next few weeks through the Ostereo Management roster – a phenomenal amount in difficult times for the music industry. What do you look for in a track and artist before considering them for management?
Good question Dan. The first thing I consider is more on a personal level. I don’t care if they are the best producer or writer in the world. If they are a dick….I move on. As it happens, I have 11 amazing artists signed to Ostereo’s Management Company. I think of them as my kids and are part of one big family. I think that being a DJ for over 40 years in the UK’s best clubs helps me decide what will, or won’t work on the dancefloor. As you say, in the next few weeks we have 16 new releases on the likes of Ultra, Universal, Defected, Perfect Havoc, Selected, Spinnin, Altra Moda, Island, Heartfeldt, Enhanced, Future Sound of Egypt, Axtone, Hexagon and Black Lizard. Exciting times ahead.
Many eyebrows were raised when you left the comfort of your long term role at Notting Hill Music Publishing for Ostereo…what was it about this company that helped make your decision an easy one?
Yeah it was never going to be an easy decision. I had 16 very happy, very successful years at Notting Hill Music as Head of A&R. I signed some great writers to NHM but my biggest was Dizzee Rascal who went on to secure 6 No. 1 singles. I just felt that the ‘traditional’ way of signing writers was over. I was in Beijing on a fact-finding mission with the BPI and DIT when I met Howard Murphy, the CEO of Ostereo. We got on amazingly well and chatted for hours. I researched the company thoroughly and loved their ethos. With their disruptive, young, forward thinking mentality I just thought it made perfect sense. My traditional skills and their data driven methods seemed like a no brainer. They also wanted me to head up the company management as well as the publishing division which appealed to me. We quickly partnered up with Nigel Elderton at Peer Music as our administrators.
Okay the music! Let’s kick off Tom Enzy’s collab with Pillows ‘Gold Digger’. A relatively new artist to the Ostereo stable, tell us why you just had to get Tom (above) signed on the dotted line, why is he so good?
My first signing to the roster was Harrison. I’d been after him for years. He’d previously been managed by some heavyweight management gods like Nick Halkes (Prodigy), Simon Belovski and Sergio Bienati (Meduza). Harrison introduced me to both Mosimann and Tom Enzy. The minute I heard Tom’s stuff and spoke to him on the phone, I KNEW I could add massive value to his career. I only managed him for 24 hours before securing this huge cut on Selected. Tom is one of those guys that lives, eats and breathes music every single day. We communicate from 7.00am – 11.00pm. If I ask him to work on a project and he will stay up for 2 days to deliver. I love that. He is a big family guy too. That is very important to me.
Two major releases this week Rion S’s ‘Awakening’ tune with Harley Sanders on FSOE – and Breathe with Leandro Da Silva and Matt Kerley on Altra Moda. Ryan (above) only started in the music industry a mere four years ago and has already a powerful release schedule behind him. What are this writer/performers qualities and what does the future hold for him?
I first met Rion S (Ryan Sewell) when he was signed to NHM/23rd Precinct. Along with Billy Kiltie and Susan at 23rd, I secured quite a few cuts for him as his publisher. As soon as I left the company he was one of the first people I went after on the management front. His work ethic is like mine. I mean this CAN’T be a 9 – 5 job. It HAS to be a way of life. He’s had over 30 amazing releases including the ‘Awakening’ cut with the massively talented Harley Sanders on FSOE and Leandro Da Silva/ Matt Kerley on Altra Moda out today. His first three singles in Q1 of next year are with Ultra, Defected and Perfect Havoc. Not a bad start to the year. A lot of people have only heard Ryan’s dance stuff. You wait ‘til you hear his commercial songwriter material. It’s WORLD CLASS.
DMCWORLD have been big fans of French producer Mosimann (above) for quite some time, another superb Ostereo signing. His latest track ‘Lust and Fame’ is out in December, tell us about the man behind the music…
Again, this came from Harrison. He played me a few bits and I was totally sold. I jumped on the Eurostar to Paris where he said he would pick me up from the station. I thought he would pull the stops out and pick me up in a limo or Roller. Nope, there he was astride this 500cc motorbike with a spare crash helmet in hand. We went to his amazing studio and spent the day discussing where he’d like to be. He and his business partner Maud Brooke said his goal was to get a cut on Defected. I came up with an idea which he smashed the production on (can’t say what it is yet). I got Ostereo client Scarlett Quinn on vocals and guess what? Signed it to Defected a week later. That’s just how I roll. Ha. Quentin is not only a brilliant DJ/Producer but his vocals are INSANE. Can’t wait to show them off.
One of your biggest career success stories is of course Harrison (above), the producer whose name is on everyone’s lips at the moment. He has a stomping new track coming out in the form of ‘Get Me High’, just how much potential has this guy got?
OK so here we go with Harrison. He is the REAL deal. Not only a massively talented producer/writer/DJ but he has the most UNIQUE and RECOGNISABLE vocal on the scene at the moment. Featured on some huge songs with Guetta, Hardwell, Steve Aoki, Laidback Luke, Alok, Knife Party and many more. I genuinely thought that we needed to stop the features and concentrate on him becoming an artist in his own right. Since then we’ve done a brilliant deal with Virgin/Universal Berlin. His first 2 releases were the Rui Di Silva Classic ‘Touch Me’ and Fat Boy Slim’s evergreen ‘Praise You. His 3rd single is an original. ‘Get Me High’ is out today. I’ve also done a deal with SELECTED for H. They will fill any gaps in the Universal schedule. His current single on this amazing platform is a cover of ‘Lucid Dreams’ which has done well over 4 million in 5 weeks and is streaming about 140,000 a day. It’s also picked up numerous plays on Radio 1. Harrison is like a son to me (or grandson he’d say). All of my clients mean the world to me.
Tell us about some of the other signings to Ostereo Management…
As well as Harrison, Tom Enzy, Rion S and Mosimann, we have a brilliant dynamic vocal duo from Glasgow called Able Faces.
They have had cuts with Spinnin, Hexagon, LoudKult, Future House, Armada, Heartfeldt, One Seven, AWAL Marc Benjamin and others. I signed them after one of my mentoring sessions with The Songwriting Academy. Now signed 17 records in 12 months…MC Coppa, Pete Lee, Scarlett Quinn, Josh Stanley, Phoenix Heru, Keith Jacobs, Mark Maitland…
Okay let’s rewind for a moment and discover where this musical adventure began…
What is your earliest memory of music from your childhood?
I’ve always loved music but I guess it was in my teens when I was obsessed with The Beatles, Queen, T Rex and even Bay City Rollers (early boy band). They were the days when you recorded the Top 40 on cassette and listened to it again and again.
What was your first proper job and how did you get your foot in the door in the music world?
Ahh, okay so my first propa job was Head of Photography at a Comet store in West Brom. I got really serious about music when I was DJing 11 gigs a week in West Brom and was the support DJ for Beacon Radio and the Radio 1 Roadshows. Wine bars, Fun Pubs, nightclubs, radio…music 24/7. It was then that I was given the job as warm up DJ for WHAM! on the Make It Big Tour in 1985 and it went from there.
What were your ambitions back then, the music industry in the 80s was a million miles away from the one we work in now…
I was just a lowly, rough, council estate boy with no expectations. Most of the people on the estate ended up at the egg factory…not that there was anything wrong with that, but I just wanted more. I just lived for my music. When I was playing music I was happy. I loved the 80’s; Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Human League, Madonna, Michael Jackson. It was a great time for music and I loved every minute of it.
You won International DJ Of The Year in 1989 – I was there!
Ha! Well I was very, very proud to win. I remember collecting the award from Pete Waterman at the Hammersmith Palais, I grabbed the mic and said ‘If Steve Walsh was still alive….he would be standing here collecting this’. It was a very emotional time as Steve had just died that year. A legend. I was lucky enough to DJ at all the biggest and best clubs in London for 20 Years. Hippodrome, Camden Palace, Limelight, Equinox. They were great times.
You are stranded on a desert island. Tell me 3 albums you would be happy to listen to forever…
The 3 albums I would take are….
The Beatles – 62 -70
Queen – Night at the Opera/Day at the Races
Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life
How did the whole DMC relationship begin, you were there from the beginning. Had you any idea just how instrumental DMC and Mixmag were to the whole dance music scene back then?
While DJing in West Brom I’d heard about a great DJ only organisation called Disco Mix Club who supplied cassettes of remixes, megamixes and promo tracks to DJs. I fondly remember putting a DMC mix on in my clubs and PRETENDING to mix them. We didn’t even have Technics varispeed turntables. I got to chat with Susan and Christine & Tony Prince and before you knew it, I was offered a job. It would mean Anne Marie and I quitting our jobs, pulling up sticks and moving down south. We left West Bromwich the day after our wedding. We were both just young naive kids in a very strange and unknown world. To land the job at DMC as Promotions Manager and then General Manager was like a dream come true. Things went for strength to strength at DMC. They created the Technics/DMC World DJ Championships which boasted 34 countries at its peak. They created the GREATEST DJ magazine of all time with MIXMAG. They created the Back To MIne & Under the Influence series of compilation albums which, in my humble opinion, are the most iconic ever (check out Fatboy Slim’s BTM which is out now). I don’t want to get slushy or emotional, but I owe all my successes and everything I’ve become to Tony & Christine Prince (and Susan). I will never forget that.
What is your favourite big venue DMC memory, there are many to choose from including The Royal Albert Hall, Wembley Arena…
Wow, now you’re asking. A very difficult question to answer. I had 25 years of annual DMC Conventions at The Hippodrome, Empire Ballroom, Hammersmith Palais, Ministry of Sound and the BIG ones at the Royal Albert Hall and Wembley Arena. These events attracted the world’s best DJs and Artists picking up their DMC Awards. Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Alexander O’Neal, Run DMC, Jam & Lewis and many many more BUT…. the highlights for me were when we booked PUBLIC ENEMY to perform at the SOLD OUT Wembley Arena. Everything was going to plan until we got a call saying Flavor Flav missed the flight. If Public Enemy went on stage without him… there would have been a riot. So Tony paid for him to come over by Concorde. I think he made it from New York with 20 minutes to spare before stage time. BUT the biggest memory for me was at the Royal Albert Hall. We had booked JAMES BROWN to perform but didn’t tell anyone. The venue was heaving and again, totally sold out. I still get tingles when I watch the video (google it). When Tony announced “You won’t believe who’s here to collect his award tonight…God is here….. JAMES BROWN” – it was one of the greatest moments of my entire career! To think that a handful of people in Slough could make such an impact in the DJ and music world is mindblowing. I was and always will be very, very proud to be a part of that movement. DMC were single handedly responsible for creating the Superstar DJ.
Your family is more important to you than anything else. One of your sons Dan is now doing extremely well at Orbit Talent (a newly formed partnership with The Insanity Group). Were you happy for him to enter the music industry, did you warn him of potential pitfalls…
When Dan asked me if he should get involved with the music industry, I said NO! But he was determined so I suggested the only people making big money was the live and merchandise sector. Well he didn’t want to print t-shirts so went for the live side. Obviously, he was doing incredibly well until the Pandemic struck but luckily his artists that include Nathan Dawe, PS1, Majestic and Big Zuu are all having success AWAY from the gig side so all is good. Like you Dan, my Dan was surrounded by music all his life. I think I bought him his first Technics 1210 turntables when he was about 12. He was always going into music in some capacity. I’m just really proud of his achievements so far. It’s either in your blood or it’s not.
Looking ahead, are there any other exciting Ostereo projects you are looking forward to…
My favourite projects are always when you can connect artists, producers and writers all over the world to create hits. Plenty of virtual writing camps over the next few months which will see our wonderful roster working on briefs from the biggest labels and artists in the dance and pop world. Continuing to achieve billions of streams for Ostereo and drive our roster’s success with a string of exciting upcoming releases is the thing I’m most looking forward to.
You have a little black book like nobody else. Who are some of the record industry execs who you have always looked up to and respected over the years…?
Thing is…. I grew up with a lot of them. They started off at the same time as me and grew into label bosses/ Chairmen etc. There’s so many to choose from but these guys have my utmost respect; Darcus Beese, Korda Marshall, Nick Rafael, Jo Charington, David Ambrose, Mike Sefton, Bob Masters, Fred Dove, Mervyn Lynn, Jo Hart, Tracey Webb, Everton Webbe, Julian Palmer, Jon Barlow, Dave Dollimore, Dipesh Parmer, Colin Barlow, Julian Close, Joe Kentish, Joe Barbe, Jason Ellis, Ben Cook, Ed Howard, Tim Bins, Simon Dunmore, Wez Saunders, Jamie Nelson. Patrick Moxey, David Waxman, Leonidas Chantzaras. More recently Rob Davis and Adam Griffiths at Perfect Havoc. These guys are on fire.
And finally, the music and live events industry have been the last to be looked after by Boris’s government. Hope may be around the corner with the vaccine announced this week, we shall see. How much damage do you think has been done by the Pandemic, will it return as strong as ever? Has the face of our bellowed dance music scene changed forever…?
We have always evolved Dan. From the days of the illegal raves to the superclubs that were created. Maybe it’s time to redesign the way we enjoy our music. I REFUSE to believe that this virus will have lasting effects. If nothing else, this pandemic has shown us one thing. WE ALL LOVE AND MISS MUSIC in whatever form we consume it. Can you imagine when we do get that vaccine? This planet will experience the greatest euphoria ever. We have to stay positive and have faith that our creative minds will find a way. THIS WORLD WILL DANCE AGAIN.
