May ’26
Busy month, this one. It also helped that the weather was improving and we even saw a heatwave, which really rocked the boat, giving parts of the UK one of their hottest May days on record.
After a good call with Rebel to ramp things up, we had a busier month (thank fuck), plus a good first piece of work with BSI Merch. Although I ended up doing a lot more work than was initially part of the scope, it was still a good opportunity to build trust.
Berlin
At the start of the first May bank holiday weekend, which also happened to coincide with Friday 1 May, we were in Berlin. It was also a public holiday there for Labour Day.
Traditionally, it’s a pretty wild occasion, going back to the origins of the eight-hour work day and five-day working week, arguably one of the crowning achievements of the international labour movement. In Berlin, it was traditionally a day of protest that often became quite violent as it evolved from a labour movement gathering into something larger, with various left-wing political groups, including anarchists, joining demonstrations against capitalism and state institutions more generally.
In 2026 there are still protest moments, but it’s largely become an occasion for friends and families to get together and share food and drink. Parts of Berlin close off the streets and a series of street parties take over.
We started the day with Julia and Aaron, visiting the madhouse that is their family home and spending a few hours with them and the kids before heading into Kreuzberg. Although it was busy, it wasn’t a complete madhouse. The techno DJ set-ups shared space with jazz bands, food stalls, market vendors and even the occasional rock band.
After some time with them, we headed across the city via Lime and eventually found ourselves at the hotbed of actual chaos in the central park area that was effectively ground zero.
Along the way we rode through what looked like the slow rumblings of a Parisian riot, complete with riot police marching through the streets and armoured police vans parked haphazardly behind road closures.
We finally arrived at a brewery-come-day-club in Neukölln to meet Tanu and his mob of ultra non-Berlin Berliners, all dressed in the rainbow uniforms expected of Berlin’s immigrant party class — basically non-Germans in town to party. Seeking the hedonism of Berlin without any of the real responsibilities of the places they originated from.
Anyway, 100 beers later and no water (due to cup costs and no bottles being available), I was absolutely hammered.
The next day we caught up with Ally and Andrew again in Tempelhof and enjoyed a wonderful BBQ with Han’s parents and their friends.
The rest of the week was spent making trips into BSI’s Berlin office, meeting the team there and catching up with Max from Just 4 Noise to try and lock in a way of working.
London
Back on home soil, we touched down and quickly headed off to see Tame Impala at the O2.
The tickets came courtesy of my friend Jono in Australia, who acts as Kevin/Tame’s business manager, so that was pretty awesome. I wasn’t feeling too great and didn’t drink, and it was only the second time Hannah and I had seats for a gig, but it was genuinely amazing.
It was such a great show, with a few surprises thrown in. The appearance from Dua Lipa was definitely the highlight.
Conference Season
I attended Brighton twice in May, first for TGE and then for BMC.
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Both conferences were second-time events for me, which was great because it made me feel much more confident going into them. Also, as the business continues to mature and my contacts list gets a little fuller, I wasn’t nearly as nervous and was able to gravitate towards familiar faces much more quickly.
TGE was awful weather-wise. It was freezing down in Brighton. Thankfully, it didn’t dampen the mood, although it did make standing outside somewhat challenging.
I also decided I only wanted to go for the day, as conferences can be pretty draining. All I really wanted to do was bounce between mixers, catch up with old faces and meet a few new ones.
The day started well at the Russells brunch, then I met Sophie at Music Gateway, followed by drinks with old colleagues from Proper Music and then a few more catch-ups before ending up at the TikTok event on the seafront, which, while fun, was basically the end of the line for me.
I was cold, tired and drunk.
On the way back, I bumped into Matt from MTUK and we enjoyed a can together on the train home.
The following week was a totally different experience. For one, the weather was glorious. BMC is also much smaller and genuinely feels more like a community event.
I checked into the hotel, wandered down to the waterfront, caught up with a few people, listened to some talks and then headed to the AFEM dinner later that evening. It turned into a wonderful night of meeting new people while also connecting with a former Utopia colleague who I didn’t really know at the time but ended up having a great chat with.
Field Day
I got back to London from Brighton on Friday and caught up with Dan and Nash for some beers, dinner and to lock in our plans for Colombia.
We needed to sort out flights, but it was also just great to hang out for a bit.
Being a long weekend, we called it after one more post-dinner pint and headed our separate ways before regrouping on Saturday for Field Day, the first major event of the London summer festival season.
It was absolutely stinking hot, but spirits were high and a big group of us got together for an excellent day of music.
Highlights included SHEE, IPC and KI/KI.
The day after was equally great as we met up for a recovery picnic in Hackney Downs and enjoyed a few wines and plenty of laughs in the sun.
On Monday, Han and I headed down to Sandgate to escape the heat and enjoy a day by the British seaside.
The rest of the month brought gorgeous weather, so we squeezed in a few more BBQs at home and rounded things off with an absolutely mental terrace party at Rene and Andre’s, where someone brought along some heavy-duty club-ready decks and I even jumped on for a bit to blast out some tunes.
All in all, it was an excellent month, and things both personally and with Soundboard were starting to vibe.
