GO DOWN BELIEVING MANAGEMENT
Allen Wright ditched singing and unexpectedly got involved with an influential European prog festival.
Attending school in the aptly named German town of Rammstein was probably an early portent of where Allen Wright’s career was heading. The vocalist ping-ponged between his native California and Germany in the 90s, joining metal crossover bands Headcrash and then End Of April.
“I called it quits on playing after meeting many bands on the road who didn’t have bookers or management,” Wright says. “I started growing my network, taking on a couple of bands who ended up being connected to Roadrunner Records.”
He settled in Cologne where, in 2005, he established Go Down Believing Management, booking and managing mainly metal bands. His current roster includes French avant-gardists Hypno5e, prog metallers Shokran and Ukranian groove metallers Jinjer. Since 2011, he’s been a talent programmer for Euroblast Festival in Cologne, which has attracted Devin Townsend Project, Meshuggah and Animals As Leaders. Younger bands such as TesseracT, Monuments and The
Algorithm made their
European breakthroughs there. Although coronavirus has put business, including October’s Euroblast, on pause he’s pleased that tickets for the postponed event are still selling as it “shows how faithful the Euroblast fans are.”
Wright was on tour with Jinjer when the pandemic struck, first in
Tel Aviv, then in Australia, and finally Latin America. “They started shutting everything down after we played – I felt there was this tsunami chasing us from show to show,” he recalls. “Touring forms around 70 to 80 per cent of all band income. Whether in the future we do live drive-in shows or in a limited capacity venue, crew and travel expenses will be the same – even though we’re on a much more limited income.” But he remains positive about the future. “There’s an abundance of local talent in every nook and cranny of every country. It’s difficult for them to get shows as big bands bring their own support,” he says. “When you’ve got a capacity of 50 to 150, it’s perfect for local bands.” AR
Swedish instrumentalists Gösta Berlings Saga (right) launch new album Konkret Musik on July 24. It’s described as a mix of “progressive rock, synth minimalism and otherworldly melodies” that will “not leave anyone unaffected.”