Back in April I sat down with the multi-talented Kody Chambers, learning about jazz, instrument harmonies, advertising and film music production. All while getting a shot of inspiration for how to live your best life by following your dreams.

Kody is an American composer, music producer, award-winning multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter. He started off as a jazz trumpet player and composer in Toronto and New York City, then made his way to Amsterdam where he initially was a music supervisor at MassiveMusic.

Currently he continues to grow in his craft and infuse every project he works on with his unique approach, informed by his knowledge of musical harmony and production techniques, as well as his experience in collaborating with international directors and creatives across both film and advertising.

It was truly fascinating speaking to him and learning how his mind operates when it comes to music production, composing, but also how music helps him process certain life experiences and emotions, so please enjoy our conversation.

So excited to share this new conversation with Lamsi, Amsterdam-based DJ, producer, teacher and community leader. He's worked with Bambi, Unknown T, Jarreau Vandal, produced a score for hit TV series Top Boy and rocked a set at Boiler Room London, among many other accomplishments in his young career. Lamsi has also gained overall international recognition in Paris, London, Brussels & Moscow, yet remained humble and rooted in his local community and Surinamese culture.

In this episode, we speak about how he got into the music industry after a brief stint as a dentist (yep you heard that right), his unique approach to music production, what inspires him outside music, how he stays fit as a DJ or why giving back to his community is such an imortant focus in his career.

He also teases an upcoming project rooted in his Surinamese background that is bound to make you sweat on the dancefloor. In case you’ve missed it, there’s a snippet of that already on the Add To Queue Instagram channel, which if you don’t follow by now, please make sure you do, to not miss exclusive video content from each interview and much more.

For now, please enjoy my conversation with Lamsi & let me know what you think!

Today’s interview takes us into the business world of music, through a very honest and open conversation with the highly respected and equally mysterious Nigel van Ommeren, co-founder of the artist development company based in Amsterdam - Headfirst Music.

Nigel started in artist development roughly 10 years ago. The first success was Amsterdam art collective called “Vage Gasten” . This collective evolved from street art painters into a pioneering group of designers, dj’s and event organizers. Four years and over 100 national and international gigs later Nigel decided to focus on the music side of the entertainment business.

Nowadays his roster includes Sevdaliza (who went on to become one of the most anticipated fully independent artists in today’s entertainment business), FS Green, Full Crate and Mariposa. Together with business partner Lijne Kreupeling, Nigel is specialized in paving the way for artists to build independent business structures and strong artist stories. Over the last 10 years Headfirst Music developed artist careers, produced events and worked on numerous brand consultancy projects.

Headfirst Music is not only focused on artist management, but on capturing a cultural movement and amplifying this to a bigger audience.

In this episode, I talk to Nigel about what it actually means to be an artist manager, when should an artist consider getting one, how he discovered this path (without having a clear plan initially) or how an artist manager makes a living. Nigel also tells us why he wants to keep Headfirst Music focused on a small and carefully curated number of artists instead of expanding. We then touch on the evolution of the music industry throughout the years, the cultural differences in music business across different countries, the advice he would give to his son if he were to enter the music business and much more, including behind-the-scenes stories about how Sevdaliza got to work with Madonna or Full Crate with Jungle.

Please enjoy and let me know what you found most interesting from Nigel’s advice and stories. You can always reach out with your feedback via Instagram @addtoqueue_

Also check out Headfirst Music’s artists:

https://www.instagram.com/fsgreen/

https://www.instagram.com/fullcrate/

https://www.instagram.com/sevdaliza_/

https://www.instagram.com/dondestamariposa/

For more on Headfirst Music: https://headfirst.am/