Meet our favourite Songbird Sally Newman and one thing is for sure she is one busy lady and involved in an abundance of projects.
First up there is - The Songbird - a Music Platform she created and where she relentlessly supports the best new emerging and signed artists/bands and works alongside with some of the biggest names and most influential figures and organisations.
Second - The Songbirg HQ – for all Artist Management and PR purposes. Their current roster includes bands like Manchester's punk outfit Aerial Salad and indie rockers Cult Icon.
Last but not least - she works for Alan McGee's “Creation Baby” label, where she is solely responsible for the running of all social media accounts and Toura Toura Ltd, the tour agents for Alan McGee, Shaun Ryder, Bez, Idles Joe Talbot, Clint Boon and most recently, Rick Witter from Shed Seven.
I had the absolute pleasure having a few chats with her via Instagram and very grateful that she took the time out of her busy schedule to answer a few of our questions:
How did it all start for you? How was your journey to what you do now?
Well, I initially started off writing a few music reviews for my own blog just for fun really. Very soon after starting I was approached by someone to review a band he was managing. He loved my work and as such, introduced me to his pal, Alan Mcgee who contacted me and told me "You're a very good writer" and I then starting writing some reviews for him as well. Within weeks of this I was approached by a webzine and asked to come on board and be one of their writers. This didn't last long however, as due to unforeseen circumstances, the site decided to close down for a while. I was loving the work I was doing, however, so I decided to form The Songbird HQ.
Please gives us a little rundown of all the projects you are involved in!
Ah yes, just one or two!!!
Well, firstly there's The Songbird which is a new music platform featuring unsigned and new signed bands and artists for reviews and interviews, music features and general important music news.
There's also The Songbird HQ for Artist Management and PR. We currently have a couple of acts on our roster including the Madchester punk band Aerial Salad and indie/blues rockers Cult Icon. We've also been working on a lot of PR campaigns with the likes of Dalmas, Garden Party, The Merchants and The Great Leslie. Things are really picking up here with us being approached by several acts every day to manage them and help them with their PR, so expect more announcements in this regard soon!
I also work for "Its Creation Baby" record label where I have the sole responsibility for the running all of the social media accounts. I love this role as it enables me to have a really close working relationship and friendship with all of the acts signed to the label. Indeed, Cat SFX have just appointed me to be their live booking agent which I'm really excited about.
Then there's Toura Toura Ltd who are the tour agents for Alan Mcgee, Shaun Ryder, Bez, Idles Joe Talbot, Clint Boon and most recently, Rick Witter from Shed Seven. I really enjoy these tours as not only do you get to see an in depth and completely candid interview with some major music idols, but before every QnA there is a live performance from a new band that many people might not be aware of yet. It gives artists such an amazing opportunity to get their music heard and I absolutely love this part of my role here.
And finally (for now at least) there's Jack Pepper Media who are a documentary and film making company. This is quite a new role and not much has happened yet, but I can say that there is a major project underway involving a massive band which has just got backing from Netflix. One of my roles here is to help source suitable music for the soundtracks. This is a very exciting role and again one which really helps me to further my passion of getting new music out there.
How did you become involved in the music scene? Any mentors/ people you look for inspiration?
I've always been extremely into my music. One of my earliest memories is of my Dad making me a mix tape for my Fisher Price tape recorder aged about 4 or 5! God there were some classics on there, The Beatles, The Kinks, The Who, ELO....
Anyway, as I said above, I really got involved in the industry by chance if you like or perhaps it was fate. Everything just seemed to align and point me in the right direction and opportunities presented themselves to me.
Any mentors / people you look for inspiration?
Ooh a few people really. Well of course, there's Alan McGee. He is such a decent human who despite his level of idolisation he is extremely grounded and down to earth. He is so knowledgeable in his field and I know that I can always call him or send him a quick message if I need any help or if I want advice as to what to do and that he will always be there. He truly is a good guy. Then There's Kevin Fitzgerald from Toura Toura. I admire him so much. He set up his own business at probably not the best time for the industry, but he never gets defeated. He has got a true passion about him for what he does which is infectious. Again, Kevin is a massive supporter and mentor to me, always there at the end of the phone and up for a chat.
I bet the pandemic must have been very challenging for you – how did it change your line of work? How are you staying motivated through all of this?
Yeah, its affected everyone hasn't it. The challenge for me being no live gigs and no tours, that being said though, I think people have been using their time wisely. The band I manage, Aerial Salad, have been working hard on new music and getting plans together for promotions for when the scene returns. I've kept motivated by keeping the end goal in sight, working behind the scenes and making lots of plans for when things return.
How do you juggle all your responsibilities especially having to homeschool your kids due to the pandemic?
Haha, honestly some days I don't know how I've survived! I've got so much going on work wise and then home schooling three young children into the mix, well its been exhausting, but through sheer determination and persistence we've got through it. As with any line of work though organisation is key. Prioritise your work load and concentrate on one thing at a time. Break things down into manageable sections and then they don't seem quite so overwhelming.
What campaigns are you currently working on and who should we look out for?
Now the world is slowly returning there's so much going on, we've got lots of announcements coming out on The Songbird HQ shortly so make sure you continue to keep watching our socials for updates of those.
I've also been busy booking some live shows, so again keep an eye out for those announcements.
There' s lots of new music coming out on Its Creation Baby and new signings being announced.
The Shaun Ryder QnA rescheduled tour dates have just been announced.... with more dates and names coming soon, so its going to be all go, go go, from here on in!
How would you define the word “success”?
Success to me is being able to find happiness and fulfilment in your everyday life.
If you could switch lives with someone for a day, who would it be?
Oh God this has been the hardest question for me to answer. I honestly don't know! I suppose it would be quite interesting to swap lives with someone, anyone just to get a different perspective on life for a while, but to be perfectly honest, I'm quite happy just being me!