Golden Touch Festival is back on the 10th of June for a brilliant lineup of bands from across the UK. This one-day festival now in its 4th year, offers a good selection of musicians and Billy from Fitz Promotions loves the challenge of pulling all this together. I appreciate the time it takes to bring a mix of bands to the city and with 20 to see on the day and no clashes, you can just concentrate on enjoying the whole day of music.
Corella and Dutch Criminal Record both bring Summery vibes with their upbeat tunes that give you that festival fever and the indie-rock twist of the Covasettes and The K’s really brings an edge to this festival. Having Jerry Williams on the lineup brings a local focus, she has a distinctive voice and her songwriting really grabs you.
The festival draws a real mix of talent from the North and the South and I love how all the musicians playing on the day complement each other. For me, the chance to see so many bands I love in one venue, all on the same day, really sells it to me. I managed to sit down with Billy the founder of Golden Touch to find out a bit more about him and the festival.
Hi Billy, thanks for the interview.
What is the best thing about pulling a one-day festival together like Golden Touch?
The best thing about this is the sheer amount of artists we can fit into one day. I always try to maximise the amount of artists we have on show. Since expanding to 20 bands we’ve seen serious support & the flexibility that provides to showcasing new artists is invaluable. The opportunity to showcase exactly what music I love is quite a special thing, it sometimes feels like a personal concert.
How did Golden Touch happen and what year did it start?
Golden Touch started back in 2019 following my first year of shows at the Wedgewood Rooms & it started as an attempt to showcase the best music I’d found in that year. It all sparked from a bit of a drunken idea of putting on a full day of music which has spiralled into one of the favourite things I’ve ever done.
What can people expect when heading to the venue at the Wedgewood Rooms?
People can expect 11 hours of constant music across two stages at the Wedgewood Rooms. Whether you’ve come for one band or all of them I’m sure you’ll find something new to enjoy. It’s all about embracing the newest names in music & trying to spot that next big thing.
What do you like to do as a hobby when not helping bands become the next big thing?
Funnily enough, I don’t have too many hobbies outside of music. I noticed this recently when chatting with friends, if it doesn’t relate to my many facets of music then I don’t have a great deal to talk about! Music has become my life over the past few years. Other than that I think all I do is go to Fratton Park, where I’m a season ticket holder.
When did you get into music?
I started helping a friend’s band back in 2017 during a difficult time in my life. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing but had some free time so went on tour with them. This is where I learnt a lot of the basics that have held me in good stead currently. After about 6-9 months of talking to friends about wanting to work in music & how I wanted to run my own shows, I finally got pushed into booking my first show. Ultimately my friends were just bored of me talking about doing it instead of actually doing it.
What advice would you give to a young band just starting out?
The best bit of advice I’ve got is just never assume you know everything. Always allow yourself to soak up information from other people and don’t be afraid of making mistakes. You learn a lot more from mistakes than you’ll ever learn from not taking risks. My last bit of advice is to build relationships, develop these where you can & that’s where you should start. This industry is built on relationships and ultimately I believe that’s the secret to success.
Are there any tickets still left?
Yes, there are some limited tickets left. We’ve sold over 85% of tickets so we’re very close to selling out. We’ve sold out the last two years & incredibly we’ve sold over 100 tickets more this year than we have ever sold at this stage. So we’re flying towards another sellout in advance. It’s really now or never on these!
Grab your ticket here
