As partner charity of The Great Escape, we’re excited to be hosting a special panel at the festival’s conference on Friday 13th May where we will be discussing the issues affecting our industry during the global pandemic (and beyond) and what Music Support is doing to support our peers.
The panel takes place at 2.30pm in Conference Room 2 at Jury’s Inn, Waterfront, Brighton, and is open to anyone with a ticket to the conference (click here to buy tickets).
Further details on the line up:
Andy ‘Franksy’ Franks is a world-renowned, multi-award-winning Tour Manager who has worked with everyone from Depeche Mode and Coldplay to Robbie Williams and The Rolling Stones (to name but a few). Now more than eight years sober, Franksy was inspired by his own challenges of being an alcoholic in the music industry. In his words “I wanted to find a way to help others not to go through the same pain and suffering I had experienced, and from that, with the help of other recovering addicts in the business, Music Support was born.” Franksy currently lives in Brighton and is married with two grown-up children and a small angry terrier.
George Levers has spent many years in the music and live events industry, leading brand and artist partnerships at Live Nation and creative entertainment agency FRUKT. She is also a trained actor appearing in TV, commercials and theatre over the years. Understanding the complexities of mental health and addiction challenges has been a passion of hers for many years, having struggled with her own issues in her late teens – early 20’s. As part of her continued desire to support people with similar challenges she is training to become a psychotherapist and is also a mentor to people with eating disorders. Working at Music Support is an honour, she is humbled everyday by the generosity and sheer brilliance demonstrated by her colleagues, Music Support’s volunteers and the organisations that support the vital work of the charity.
Spanning 25 years, Chris de Banks promising career in music began playing in punk and rock bands at the end of the 90’s. Fast forward to 2016 and he was destitute, unemployable, and his health was failing fast. During those 18 years he’d worked as a Manager, Promoter, and Booking Agent but had developed an alcohol and drug addiction that not only destroyed his career but also threatened his life on a daily basis. Now, sober for six years, Chris runs Not Saints, the UK’s only record label and events company dedicated to working with artists in recovery from addiction.
CHINCHILLA, aka Daisy Bertenshaw, draws influence from huge icons like Beyoncé, Ashnikko and Lizzo, thriving within her own unique wonderland. With a rapidly growing fanbase, CHINCHILLA has been spreading her wings across Europe, supporting Sting on his 2019 arena tour and performing at the last two annual Estonian Music Awards. Since then, she has released two EP’s with tremendous critical acclaim, been on tour with Missio, signed a record deal with Sony’s Columbia and recently supported McFly across their ‘Young Dumb Thrills’ arena tour. With huge support from Radio 1’s Jack Saunders and amassing over 21 million streams, CHILCHILLA is set to play the Isle of Wight Festival’s main stage in June. With a string of upcoming singles looming, 2022 doesn’t look like it’s about to slow down any time soon!
Make sure you catch her set at The Great Escape on Friday 13th May at 11pm at the Waterbear! Find out more here. Follow Chinchilla on Instagram.
We would like to say a huge thank you to The Great Escape for choosing us as their partner charity for 2022.
The Great Escape is THE festival for new music, showcasing more than 450 emerging artists from across the globe in 30+ walkable venues across the city and a pop-up festival site on Brighton Beach. It’s the first place to discover your new favourite artist and see them in an intimate setting before they go on to headline major festival stages.
Tickets for the Great Escape festival are still available, start from £75 and are on sale here. When you purchase your ticket, you will be given the opportunity to make a donation to Music Support to help us continue our vital efforts in supporting those who work in UK music and live events affected by mental ill-health and/or addiction.
If you would like to make a donation to Music Support as part of Mental Health Awareness Week you can visit our Justgiving page.