Kimberley Galceran is currently the Venue Manager at FBi Social – Sydney’s community radio station – FBi Radio’s music venue, where she books bands and arts events and manage the venue and staff. Prior to that she was FBi Radio’s Office Manager managing their volunteer-base, and has been with FBi for two years, sometimes hosting radio shows too.

Kimberley, like many of the business people Cake knows, wears more than one hat! Aside from FBi she runs her own company Octopus Pi organising events such as Wormwood – a monthly night hosting experimental to psychedelic DIY bands which incorporates projections, crowd activities and transforming spaces with decor and different themes. She also helps touring interstate bands and acting as a networking hub for local bands and artists, Octopus Pi has been running for a year and they just held our first DIY festival Wormwoodstock.

She started learning the ropes of music management as a teenager in bands and studied it after high-school; she has been hosting events her whole life but it wasn’t until two years ago that Kimb formalised it and was luck enough to get a job in the industry.

She’s also our Marketing Manager, Mel Carrero’s cousin, which makes Cake cool by association.

What keeps you motivated?

Music! There is a lot of very exceptional music being made by bands who aren’t interested in mainstream popularity. They deserve to be heard. I’m also interested in providing people with an immersive experience. Wormwood’s aim is to stimulate all of the senses, I’m motivated to give people more than just your average gig. I get a lot of emails from bands looking for a hand so that keeps me motivated week to week, but what personally motivates me is seeing a crowd enjoy the experience, sometimes I’m able to cut loose a bit too!

At work I’m motivated to see the venue I manage succeed and be all it should be, particularly in representing the radio station. It means getting the right events booked in and having a happy crowd.

What is your favourite way to unwind?

I love cooking and eating gourmet food (I’m cooking a mean lasagne right now) and just relaxing at home with a good movie. I keep off the internet on weekends so I can spend time being me without the stresses of work.

How do people find you/ your business?

Usually through word of mouth or if they come to one of our events. Touring bands tend to let their friends know about us so they get in contact when they want to come to Sydney. Usually if someone has a good time at one of our events they’ll like us on Facebook or follow our blog to stay in touch.

As far as FBi Social – we’re lucky enough to have a radio station so we can plug our gigs on-air!

What have been your biggest challenges and how have you overcome them?

I really want to take care of the bands that play our shows and make sure they get paid well which sometimes means foregoing payment myself but I’m starting to realise that if I want to be able to do this full time and really make a difference I’ll need to take care of myself too. This year I’ll apply for funding to try and build the business, as well as growing the team.

What is your favourite brand and why?

I’m interested in underground labels and brands that are making a difference to music and events. New Weird Australia is a radio show and label who also host events, they’re completely not for profit, we’ve worked together a number of times. There are a handful of record labels who release underground bands who are great too. It’s refreshing to see a brand who’s main aim is not money.

What has been your biggest marketing success?

Wormwoodstock helped to lift the profile of our Wormwood events. A lot of people were excited by the festival and wanted to help us promote it through interviews on radio and online. We also used the crowdfunding website Pozible to raise the initial cash and sell the first tickets which helped create a bit of buzz.

As far as FBi Social – we do live broadcasts from the venue each week and have FBi programs host their own shows which helps with cross-promotion, it keep the radio station and venue united.

What do you know now that you wish you had known when you were establishing your business?

That it takes a team effort to really make a difference and not to shoulder all the responsibility yourself. There are people who are keen for the experience and involvement; they in turn have great ideas and a lot of enthusiasm which keeps the business evolving. I’m starting to realise that the workload can be shared and as long as everyone has the same vision it only makes the business stronger.

What is your proudest achievement so far?

Wormwoodstock. It took a lot of work and some moments of stress especially during the event itself but in the end it brought our team closer together and more inspired to take on 2012.

FBi Social also won the TimeOut award for Best Music Venue, it means a lot to receive that kind of recognition.

Thanks Kimb!

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