Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Brooks.
Hi Robert, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My story begins in 2011 in Atlanta, GA. After I graduated from the University of Georgia, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in the music industry. My whole life, I was surrounded by music, and I knew that I wouldn’t be a rockstar, so I wanted to do the next best thing and work in music business. In 2011, I started interning for one of my mentors, Kristen Sheehan and her company OPC. It was with OPC that I began working on festivals & concerts. My very first introduction into the festival side of the business was Sweetwater 420 Festival in Atlanta. There I learned the ins & outs of Artist Relations & hospitality. I would spend the next five years running Artist Relations with Kristen at events like Sweetwater 420 fest, Shaky Knees, Shaky Beats, Shaky boots, Imagine Festival, and many more. While working with Kristen, I also began learning how to talent buy, and my first job as an assistant talent buyer came in 2014 for Imagine Festival in Atlanta. After a couple of years of being an Assistant, I got my first job as a festival talent buyer with ILLfest (formerly ILLectric River).
I moved to Texas in January of 2017 and helped start the event. That first year as a head talent buyer was really difficult, as I didn’t have the greatest relationships with the talent agencies. However, I pulled off a decent lineup which attracted around 3,500 people. Also in 2017, I started working with Good Vibes Presents in Austin, where we produced Electronic Dance Music concerts at Vulcan Gas Company. I stayed with this company until 2019 and then started my own company Mark My Words with my partners Jason Millsap & Jules Durel. With Mark My Words, we grew ILLfest into a powerhouse Dance Music Festival and produced over 100 events in 2019 alone. I also started an event called Collapse with my best friend Alex Reid, who owns Prime Night Cult and produces events like Wobbleland and Lights All Night. Today, Today, Alex and I coproduce most of our events together, and I also work very closely with Disco Donnie Presents in the Austin market. Today, Mark My Words produces concerts in Dallas, Austin, Houston, & San Antonio, as well as festivals like ILLfest, Collapse, & brand new properties launching in 2022. We are on target to produce over 300 events in 2022 in multiple markets in Texas.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The biggest challenges of being a Talent Buyer was definitely breaking into the Texas market and establishing relationships with agencies like Wasserman (formerly Paradigm), UTA, CAA, WME, and Corson Agency, It took me a couple of years of building my relationships with top agents, and today, I work with the biggest acts in Dance Music. Another challenge was raising enough funding to produce events with 1-2 Million dollar budgets, but through my partner Jason Millsap, we were able to get fully funded. The most important struggle I went through was not having any money for the first two years. I literally stayed with friends for two years while building my company. However, after a couple of years, I am financially stable, buying a home and investing in my future. I firmly believe that without struggle, you can’t really enjoy success.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My company Mark My Words is one of the biggest producers of dance music concerts and festivals in Texas. We specialize in producing events of all sizes that range from 600 people to 20,000. I think that our willingness to work with others in the industry, as well as our years of experience, help make us stand out in an industry that has so many people trying to succeed. My partners and I have always strived to create the best events for our customers and emphasized the experience over profits. As lovers of Art, we like to combine music with art and produce a visual experience at our events that only a few companies have done. I think this is what keeps people coming back to our events. I am most proud of our flagship festival ILLfest, as we have put our blood, sweat, and tears into it, We grew ILLfest from 3,500 to 10,000 in February 2022, and we are growing to upwards of 20,000 fans by September 2022 when we produce our second ILLfest of 2022.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Over the next 5-10 years, I see our industry growing like crazy. After being shut down for 18 months due to the Pandemic, people are more hungry than ever for concerts and festivals. I see the live event industry doubling in size, but this also means it will become oversaturated with events. I believe that the events that were established before the pandemic have the best chance at surviving, as they have established brands.
Contact Info:
- Email: robert@illfest.com
- Website: mmwpresents.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/markmywordstx
- Facebook: facebook.com/markmywordstx
- Twitter: twitter.com/markmywxrdstx
