I Was A Teenage Raver Part 6: Raving For Adults

So, my time as a full time promoter had come to an end. For real this time. I did everything I needed to do in the rave scene, and was eager to find out where my life was heading next. This was 2014 as I started to feel settled in Victoria; I just met this dude I was pretty eccstatic about (and still am nearly 4 years later), and was feeling really good about life.

That summer I took a break from festivals, as it didn’t seem like a priority at the time, banked some cash, and vowed to head back another year. I worked my butt off, and then 2015 came around.

Now, I had been working random odd jobs at large scale festivals since I was 16. First, starting with picking up garbage on the beach at the now defunct Soundwave Music Festival in Uclulet, BC (seen above!) and organizing artists at the Victoria Electronic Music Festival, then moving onto larger positions later on.

It was something I’d always enjoyed, and so when asked to be a member of the artist relations team at Tall Tree Music Festival, I accepted almost instantly. It had been a few years since I’d hit Brown’s Mountain and I knew a few others on the team, so I figured why not. While there, I spent some time with a couple folks who I knew from shows around, but wasn’t aware of their positions at the time.

So, I return home to an email from the Entertainment Manager of Shambhala Music Festival, requesting me on that year’s Artist Relations team. One of the folks that happened to be at Tall Tree was also working alongside her at Shambhala and passed my name along. That was the dream! I received an opportunity to work on the team in 2012, but was dealing with the loss of a family member at the time and had to turn it down. After that, I kind of figured I was out of luck, so getting that email cemented it for me. I think I found a new position to hold, at least for a couple years.

During this time period, I was lucky enough to work with Tall Tree once again. I was able to help start Atmosphere Gathering in Cumberland, BC, which just finished up its fourth year, and was fortunate enough to meet and work with some of the most talented artists on the west coast.

Working with Shambhala was a dream come true. I had always treated festivals with such a different attitude, so when I finally started doing real work behind the scenes, it gave me a different and interesting perspective on this world that I’d been a part of for so many years.

It was amazing, but at the same time, I knew this wasn’t exactly where I wanted to be; even though the team and the festival still to this day remains my favourite experience thus far in my career. I knew really where I wanted to be, I just hadn’t been able to facilitate it. But, through this position once again, I found a path that I’m finally ready to take.

Which, I’m going to save for my final chapter. I’m so excited to wrap this up this series with you!

Any last requests for the final chapter? Let us know in the comments!