Over the years, Future Bounce has been so many things: a radio show which ran on Reprezent Radio, a SoundCloud platform with weekly mixes, and for a brief stint, a tastemaker YouTube platform in which I tried to be the next Majestic Casual. Now it is a music platform which is used to bring together my love of producers. We action this by throwing parties, live events, the Studio Bounce YouTube series and curation on Spotify and SoundCloud. Our aim is to educate and entertain. As I’ve grown, Future Bounce has grown. It’s my baby and we’ve been on a crazy journey, but I never thought running Future Bounce would have taught me some key life lessons. Here’s what I’ve learnt so far…
1) If you want something too badly it doesn’t happen!
I wanted to be on BBC Radio 1Xtra so much it used to make me anxious and I stopped enjoying all the things I loved doing as I was just focused on “making it”! When I started Future Bounce as a radio show all my energy shifted and I became less focused on 1Xtra and more focused on being a part of and supporting an amazing new scene I was so passionate about. I was loving what I was doing so much that I’d actually decided it didn’t matter if I never made it to 1Xtra. I could see something growing before my eyes! Little did I know that was when 1Xtra was watching me the most and ultimately it was the work I put into my Future Bounce radio show them to hiring me.
2) Patience
I’m definitely part of the generation who demand instant gratification. We see it and we want it now! No one really talks about the baby steps you have to take in order to get there. With Future Bounce I’ve learnt that things take time. Even just to get them off the ground. I wanted to do club nights right from the start, but I just couldn’t get a venue. So I ran a joint night with a few friends, carried on building the brand. And finally two years after my initial conversations people were ready to take me seriously. And in hindsight I wasn’t equipped to run a club night at that point it would have bombed, whereas now I’m more mentally and financially ready.
3) Invest
You have to be willing to invest financially in yourself. I remember having early conversations with my Mum and being like I can’t do that because I can’t afford to. She was like “well if you spent less on going out and buying clothes, eating out then maybe you could”. Once I re-organised my finances I was able to start small and make little things happen to begin with, just as simple as a sponsored post to now I set aside 20 per cent of my earnings to put back in. In the long run paying for things is so much better then when you hustle them for free, better quality and your in control and not at the mercy of someone doing you a favour.
Image by: Alex Rawson
4) Teamwork
I’m such a control freak and really believed I could do this all on my own – me against the world and all that! Erm nah! The first club night I did was on my own and it definitely pushed me close to the edge. Now I have a strong close knit team and things move a lot faster and more efficiently. Plus, everyone brings a separate skillset to the table and you can learn from their expertise.
5) Consistency
Maybe this is an obvious one, but I learnt if I couldn’t be consistent then it probably wasn’t the right thing for me to be doing. When I had the idea of making Future Bounce a YouTube tastemaker channel I didn’t really think it through and definitely didn’t realise how much work would be involved. From getting the permission to host the tracks, making the videos and then promoting it and trying to drop a track three times a week. I lasted a few weeks tops. But I think it was a valuable lesson as it helped me find what I was stronger at and I got there in the end with my Studio Bounce series which I love making and can do at sustainable rate.
Future Bounce is still very much in it’s infancy. There’s still so much more we can do and I’ve got a lot more personal growth but I’m proud and happy with what we’ve done in four years – looking forward to 40 more!
Future Bounce continues it’s UK tour with a penultimate night this Friday 17 November at east London’s Birthdays. Tickets available here.
