In the buildup to the summer of 2018, the announcement of a new festival series reaching Istanbul, appropriately titled Electric Playground, managed to turn quite a few heads. The organization behind the new entry, Charm Music, had existed abroad, but this was to be their first real effort in the Turkish music scene, a climate fraught with challenges for promoters – especially true in regards to international performers. From an outsider’s perspective however, this didn’t appear to be a major issue for the showrunners, with their debut festival featuring the talents of world stars The Chainsmokers and bringing in a full house. By all accounts, it had been a success.
Fast forward a year and Charm Music has managed to build on their momentum in style with a massively anticipated follow-up Electric Playground featuring two international electronic juggernauts in Marshmello and Kungs. Taking place on Wednesday 3 July at Küçükciftlik Park, there are plenty of reasons fans are excited for one the biggest billings of the summer, and we couldn’t help but wonder about the organization behind the scenes.
Nick Hobbs, the founder of Charm Music (also known as Charmenko), has been involved in the industry for years – both as a performer and organizer – and has worked with international icons Radiohead, The National, Tom Waits, and many others. With an ever-growing global reach, the organization continues to share their diverse program of artists via their unique festivals. We took some time to chat with Nick about the organization and this year’s Electric Playground.
Hi Nick! Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your background? How’d you get into the professional world of music?
I started when I was teenager working for free with bands I loved. Then sometime in my early 20s I started getting paid for it and I needed to earn money to support myself and my somewhat crazy projects. I’ve never looked back though maybe I should have…
What’s the origin story behind Charmenko/Charm Music? Why that name?
The name Charmenko is an in-joke based on a Smiths song and the fact that I’m romantic about eastern Europe. Charm Music is a more easy-going public version of the same name.
So your reach currently extends through Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia, and Turkey. Could you tell us a bit about why you’ve targeted these places? What made you decide to add Turkey into the mix?
I’m not a targeting sort of person. I started working in Eastern Europe because I found it interesting part of me is fed by nostalgia for a world that no longer exists and maybe never existed. Well it did, in part at least… Turkey – I moved to Istanbul on a whim and the rest followed from that.
Looking through your collaborations, you’ve promoted a number of huge artists from all over the world. What goes into your selection process? How do you curate these programs for the different regions you work in?
We’re a music company and I’m a music person and everyone at Charm is a music person with their own taste and ideas. We do commercial things because we’re a business and there’s no choice if we’re to survive, but we also do things just because we find them interesting or we love the music. I think it’s important to find a balance between the commercial, the cultural and the personal.
Is there a particular performance from your catalog that stands out to you the most?
Apart from my own… there are artists I love working with because they’re so good. For example Nick Cave, Radiohead, and Sigur Rós.
Last year’s Electric Playground was a very ambitious entry into Turkey’s festival landscape and it seems to have been really well received. What were your initial impressions of working here and the response you got?
Well we managed not to lose money in the 1st year so that’s an achievement and we managed to come back for a 2nd year which is also an achievement, especially because the climate for promoters of international artists in Turkey at the moment is very hard. And I’m happy with how my team handled things – I didn’t feel any need to detail manage.
This year’s line-up looks to be pretty incredible, with Marshmello, Kungs, and DJ Funky C all on the billing. Could you tell us a bit about how this came about?
Marshmello’s people were aware of how well we’d done with The Chainsmokers, so they were ready to work with us everything flowed from that. We hope the audience will be happy!
What are you hoping to achieve with the Electric Playground series? Is it meant to just be a yearly iteration here or are there plans to take it in different directions?
I think Electric Playground should stay as a youth dance and pop event. We have lots of other ideas for other kinds of events (like we had with Elemental Sound last year and Sónar Istanbul every year); some of them will happen; the hardest part is not having good ideas but making them work in such a tough economical climate.
Anything else we should know about this year’s festival or what to look out for in the near future?
The Electric Playground t-shirt looks great! We’re talking about a project for September this year; we have a concept and a name, now we have to see if we can make it work in a rather short time…
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For more information on this year’s Electric Playground featuring Marshmello, Kungs, and DJ Funky C, check out the official event page. You can keep up with all things Charm Music via their official page.
