Christopher BarrettParklife festival (cap. 80,000) and Warehouse Project (10,000) co-founder Sacha Lord is the latest festival supremo to be interviewed for the AAA Backstage podcast.
Recorded at Warehouse Project venue Depot Mayfield in Manchester, the interview finds Lord opening up about everything from being shot at and petrol bombed, back in the days of ‘Madchester’, to projecting a huge protest film above the Conservative Party Conference.
The series explores what lies behind festivals and their instigators, and this episode finds Lord discussing pertinent industry-wide issues and reflecting on an eventful career path that led the promoter to become the night time economy advisor for Greater Manchester.
The many topics covered in the podcast include his early career, which started with an event at the Haçienda in July 1994 and later saw him excite the inmates at Strangeways Prison by staging the first Warehouse Project, with Public Enemy, just metres away from the prison walls.
Lord also provides passionate views about the issues impacting the industry and his events today. Among the many areas covered in the conversation are drug testing at events, the importance of sustaining grassroots talent, the need for artist exclusivity clauses, the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, and him very publicly sticking two fingers up at Rishi Sunak.
As with all episodes, it is available to watch on YouTube or to listen to via all the main podcast platforms including Spotify, Apple and Amazon.