Rob Davies
Rob started his career in music, while still at Esher, setting up his own label and production company at the age of 16. After taking a degree in music business/production at the Academy of Contemporary Music he founded Perfect Havoc, a UK dance and house record label
After getting work experience at Shadow Globe and Sony Music, Rob met his business partner Adam Griffin and the two have set up their record label, Perfect Havoc, and recently celebrated generating over a billion streams globally, including three UK top 10s with artist Joel Corry.
Subjects Studied: Double Media Studies and ICT (Information and Communication Technology)
Secondary School: Ewell Castle School
Left Esher: 2004
What do you remember about Esher?
I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Esher College especially from a social perspective as I met some of the best people and friends that I still have today. The Double Media Studies course with Mike and Michelle was brilliant. It gave me a wide range of skills and understanding from film, animation, TV, creating websites and music, which are all skills that apply when working in the music industry.
My passion for computers and IT led me to music production and it was when I was at Esher that I started my own company “CME” (Click Media Entertainment), at the age of 16. I funded CME, by taking a bar job at a private health club in Molesey (haha) whilst still attending Esher. I signed Oliver Bugg (Mr Bugg), who was also a former student at the College in my year. We recorded and produced a couple of records together and actually brought out a single and distributed it on iTunes, which was not an easy thing to do back in those days. Then you had to get a distribution deal, which I managed to get via a US company called CD Baby. The main lead single ended up actually getting used by PUMA for an internal marketing campaign, and I managed to get Mr Bugg a few shows at Capital VIP and of course at our then, Esher College Fresher Parties!
This then led me to study at ACM (Academy of Contemporary Music) in Guildford for a Music Production / Music Business degree followed by work experience at Sony Music where I met my mentor, and now business partner, Adam Griffin, who I set up Perfect Havoc with in 2014.
How did you get your first break in the music industry?
Once I started my own company/record label, I became quite obsessed with how the music industry worked.
I was a little geek really (still am) – always reading up on music business books and researching articles online from publications such as Music Week, Billboard, and then started attending seminars via AIM, BPI and MMF, which were brilliant for networking and learning current affairs within the industry. After leaving Esher, and getting a scholarship at ACM (which was a two year degree), I decided that I definitely wanted to work in music. So I bugged and bugged the HR departments, and eventually ended up being interviewed with Adam Griffin at Sony Music. We had both been introduced to Sony, by the same person. But a few days after my interview, I still hadn’t heard from Adam but it wasn’t going to let that stop me. So I ended up just ringing him every few days to try and get an answer, he finally answered and said “You’re very persistent aren’t you, why don’t you come in Monday” – I can’t tell you how happy I was at that moment and still remember fist pumping the air!
After a small temping stint at Syco, and working on X Factor, I spent two years at Electronic Arts (EA Games), before Adam and I came together again and Perfect Havoc was born in 2014.
Tell us about your success with Joel Corry?
Joel sent us a demo back in 2018, which we ended up releasing called ‘Good As Gold (feat. Hayley May)’ swiftly followed by another ‘Fallen (feat. Hayley May). We managed to get decent air play across the UK from BBC R1 to KISS FM. Joel then played us his single ‘Sorry,’ which I got really excited about. I am a BIG fan of UK Garage, and we loved Joel’s remake of it.
We released Sorry on April 4 2019, but it wasn’t until July when it started to really bubble and climb the Official Charts where it ended up at No. 6. It also broke the record for the most Shazam’d song in one day and ended up going Platinum too. We ended up licensing to Asylum/Atlantic Records (part of Warner Music), which then followed with Joel’s next singles ‘Lonely’ and most recently ‘Head & Heart.’ Both singles also achieved platinum status in the UK with Head & Heart achieving the No. 1 spot for six consecutive weeks and over one million units sold in the UK now. It’s also gone Gold and Platinum outside of the UK across multiple countries. We have two more tracks left with Joel under our deal with Asylum/Atlantic Records and enjoy working closely with them and Joel’s fantastic management at Tileyard Music and of course Joel himself who is one of the most driven and hard working artists I have ever worked with.
What is your favourite part of being in the music industry?
Well, obviously the music is No.1. But equally positioned are the people within it! It’s an incredibly social industry with everyone having a common interest and the personalities are just fantastic and so much fun. Some of the best people I have met were via my work experience at Sony Music, some of which I still work with now. Working directly with talent is so rewarding too especially when you start at the beginning with an artist, and in my case that would be with Joel Corry.
What advice would you give your 17-year-old self?
Be patient. I have always been very passionate, driven and eager and I think one thing I have had to learn massively is patience, especially nowadays with the way the streaming market works as it can sometimes take 4-6 months for a record to break – it’s not like the old days.
Another is “Focus” – Be focused and have a plan. Don’t try and do everything at once. It’s important to keep focused on your main goal, no matter how frustrating that can sometimes feel or momentous.
Any tips for musicians on how to get inspired and to stand out in the music industry ?
Wow what a question! This sounds cheesy but what inspires me is just listening to music, new and old, it motivates me in a way I cannot explain when I hear an amazing song. It’s like a drug actually (in a good way).
In terms of how to stand out, my suggestion is just be as “creative” and “resourceful” as possible. Nowadays, we have so many amazing ways to create content, music and video just from our phones, technology nowadays is incredible and pretty much anyone can make something cool just from using a smartphone!