The Producers

MANILA, Philippines - Which big shot promoter is behind the massive Wanderland festival and next year’s buzzed-about Phoenix concert? Surprise, three 20-somethings with a passion for music and a knack for business.

The year 2013 has been especially generous to Manila’s most devout concert-goers. From Rihanna to The Killers to The XX, we saw tour schedules squeeze in a pit stop here, somewhat an anomaly in our landscape over the last few years — where greatest hits tours were rampant, and Mandy Moore was the concert of the year. Not anymore. And lest we forget, the festivals: Malasimbo, Manila Music Festival, and Wanderland, an assembly of symptoms that indicate that times are a changin’, and that when it comes to your favorite band, regardless of the genre — the odds are in this city’s favor.

The year 2014, in fact, will start with a big, fat bang. Social media went abuzz (key words: “OMG” and “OMG OMG”) last week with the announcement that Phoenix is coming on Jan. 21, and Young STAR is directing you to the people you need to thank: Karpos Multimedia. Stephanie, Nicole and John Uy are the siblings (triple threats, really) that contribute to the changing tides of our local concert scene. And here’s the point where we start feeling bad about ourselves: they’re all under 25. We talk to the wunderkinds behind Wanderland about Phoenix, how they got started, and who got burned backstage.— KAREN BOLILIA                                                

YOUNG STAR: How did Karpos Multimedia start and how long have you been mounting concerts?

STEPH: Karpos Multimedia started as a graphic and web design company. In 2011, our cousin introduced us to the concert scene and since then we’ve been staging concerts and events as part of our business model.

What’s the concert scene here like? 

It was kind of overwhelming at the start. There were a lot of shows here every month all in the same genre, but now I think it died down a bit. Now I believe it is the rise of the indie bands.

Fill us in on how you got Phoenix to play here in January. How long did the negotiations take?

I’ve been in contact with them since January this year, because we wanted them to play for Wanderland 2013. But the band’s agent told us they wouldn’t be touring Asia until 2014. So after Wanderland, last May we got in touch with him again. It took about four months since they haven’t planned the exact date of their Asian Tour.

How does one even begin to get in touch with an internationally acclaimed band?

ALL: We have our own ways. Though, they usually check if your team is eligible in promoting shows.  

What are the challenges you had to face when you guys were still starting out, especially at your age? And in contrast to now, has it been easier each year to bring in certain (or bigger) acts because you’ve already established yourselves?

NICOLE: The most challenging for me is getting advertisers to sponsor our event, as they were skeptical about our capabilities as new promoters. It’s not really been easy — although we have done a number of concerts before. What we could do is to make the best out of everything and not to waste it. We gotta make every little thing count.

JOHN: One of the biggest challenges was lack of experience. We started in this business as rookies, not knowing that it requires hard work. There’s no smooth process in this kind of business. And we believe that this is what makes it more exciting.  

STEPH: After I graduated, I never really experienced working in a corporate world. So it’s been hard for me to manage a company and at the same time, mounting small scale to big shows. But together with the guidance of the Lord, my siblings and my dad who’s been our consultant, we’ve learned to take everything step by step.

Speaking of challenges, what made you guys decide to throw Wanderland?

ALL: At that time there were no promoters bringing bands that cater to the genre we love. We’ve also noticed that in other countries there are a lot of festivals and it looks fun. Together with my siblings, we thought of mounting a festival and combining it with one of the things that we really love, which is art and design. We wanted people to experience a different kind of event.

Any interesting backstage encounters with the acts you’ve brought in here?

STEPH: Oh, one of the band members from Temper Trap burned his back because of the steam iron. Another one was during Foster the People’s concert, when we waited two hours backstage just to get a photo op with Sophia Bush, instead of Mark Foster. When we finally got to take a picture with Sophia, Mark came out and we were sort of embarrassed because we should’ve been wanting to take a photo with him more since he was the one having the concert in the first place.

If anyone wants to model their company on what you guys have been doing, where do you suggest they start? 

ALL: First and foremost, you have to make sure that this is what you’re passionate about. Doing this kind of business is very difficult — lots of risks are involved. You win some, you lose some. Dream big, start young and always hope for the best in everything that you do, seek and trust God.