When it comes to podcasts, the idea of two blokes discussing music is about as revolutionary as sliced bread (and at this point, nearly as old). 2 Promoters 1 Pod has an edge, however. Hosted by Damnation Festival director Gavin McInally and 2000trees/ArcTanGent boss James Scarlett, it’s a weekly insider look at what it’s like to run an independent UK festival.
This month, the pair are taking a live version on the road, with dates in Bristol, Birmingham, Gloucester, London, Glasgow, Manchester and Leeds.
“There are so many different kinds of people listening,” James marvels, explaining that 2 Promoters 1 Pod is not just a business podcast – although industry folk are clearly paying attention, including those who secure the shows for your favourite bands.
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“Promoters are supposed to be behind the scenes, and you don’t usually know what they look like, and you’re certainly not supposed to hear their opinions – but here we are! Now I get messages from booking agents saying, ‘You’d better not be saying that about me!’ In a joking way, of course!”
The pair started 2 Promoters 1 Pod in February 2024. The episodes feature discussions on everything from band fees to logo placement on posters (a contentious issue!), and the difficulties of remaining independent.
“We did the first three episodes the same night,” recalls Gav, the showrunner of Manchester’s Damnation, the biggest indoor extreme metal festival in Europe, which this year will feature Perturbator, The Haunted and more.
“We didn’t know until week two if anybody would actually give a shit. It turns out, a lot of people do!”
A big part of that is due to Gav and James’s no-bullshit approach. With more than 20 years’ experience running their own events, they represent every music lover’s dream – imagine putting on your own festival! But they talk candidly about some of the setbacks they have encountered, as well as the issues facing the music scene today – without dropping anyone in the shit, though…
“We won’t name bands when we’re talking about fees, and we only say the name of a booking agent or manager if it’s a positive story,” James says. “We’re not trying to call people out or be controversial.”
Before 2 Promoters 1 Pod, Gav hosted the Damnation Vs podcast, where he had frank chats with bandmembers from the likes of Svalbard and Pig Destroyer, plus managers and fellow promoters.
But he found listeners were tuning in for specific guests rather than coming back each week, so he reached out to James about becoming a co-host and making it more like a hang between mates. James looks after Cheltenham’s 2000trees (Coheed And Cambria and Alexisonfire are playing this year) and Somerset’s progressive ArcTanGent (Wardruna, Karnivool, Tesseract).
“It was more organic than two middle-aged men starting a TikTok,” Gav jokes.
Soon after launch, they realised 2 Promoters 1 Pod was a hit, with listeners flooding back for more and even setting up paid memberships (although the podcast is available for free on the usual platforms).
Although the duo are the podcast’s main draw, they still invite the occasional guest to offer a sneak peek into a different side of the music industry, from band managers like Andy Farrow (Opeth, The Wildhearts) to local promoters like Birmingham’s Ian Shaw (Surprise You’re Dead Music). James admits that Download head booker Andy Copping would be a dream guest, but Gav is quick to add a caveat.
“My dream guest is just whatever agent, booking agent or manager is happy to come on and tell the good stories,” he says. “So if we got Andy Copping, I’d want him to tell us exactly what happened with Kid Rock [at Download Festival 2008, Rock pulled out on the day of the fest despite apparently showing up on-site], or why Manowar have never played Download. These are the questions in my head, so that’d be the dream.”
In the meantime, Gav and James have started planning the topics for the live tour, as well as rolling out bits of information about their own festivals happening later this year.
“We want the listener to come away with some new information, even if it’s one small morsel,” Gav says, of why they’re letting people in on the hidden realities of running a music festival.
“That’s the entire point. One of our best-received episodes was The Ballache Of Billing A Festival; it gave a real sense of what we’re about. People were like, ‘What do you mean, bands get upset about whose logo is on the left or right? Who gives a shit?!’ So it was all a surprise to them.”
The 2 Promoters 1 Tour events start in Bristol on March 20. 2000 Trees takes place in Cheltenham from July 9 - 12 and ArcTanGent takes place in Bristol from August 13 - 16. Damnation takes place at Manchester BEC on November 8 & 9.
