“I started my management company upstairs on the fifth floor,” Yungblud’s manager Tommas Arnby told Music Ally from the artist’s new brick and mortar shop, Beautifully Romanticised Accidentally Traumatized (B.r.a.t.) on Denmark Street in London. “There were two desks and a bunch of mice.”
Arnby is the founder of music publishing service Locomotion Music Group, which partners with Yungblud (Dominic Richard Harrison) as well as artists like Wargasm, Jamie Bower and Nieve Ella. Arnby is also CEO of management company Special Projects.
B.r.a.t is Yungblud’s lifestyle label and elevated punk fashion line, which Arnby described as a grassroots project, mainly run by Yungblud and mates of his. As a physical location it also serves as a community offering and a place for anyone to “come and chill,” said Arnby.
“Coffee is two pounds a cup. Our ‘Bludbeer’ is three pounds 50. People can come and be a part of it, even if they can’t afford to buy the clothing.”
Reviving a scene
Core to all the bold choices Yungblud and his team are making is a passion for the state of rock in the UK – and a determination to help make the scene flourish again. B.r.a.t.’s location is meaningful for Yungblud: he has described growing up on Denmark Street – the proverbial mecca of the UK music publishing industry from the 1950s to the 1970s. Its studios and music shops hosted The Beatles, Elton John, The Rolling Stones and the Sex Pistols.
“We want to make a commitment to the UK, to London, and we want to make a commitment to the street, because history is really important in order to create the future,” said Arnby. “I think that’s sometimes where the music industry gets lazy – it becomes people starting to cash in in their heads before they’ve actually created something that resonates culturally.”
In a time that we are experiencing a sort of flattening of cultural history – with practically all eras, genres and levels of musicianship readily accessible at the touch of a finger – Arnby views supporting the local scene as an essential resource for upcoming artists. This means creating the conditions to give them the chance to become great – to rise to the level of the Freddy Mercurys, the David Bowies, the Robert Smiths.
Harrison and Arnby also met on Denmark street. “He was fiercely ambitious, the most ambitious person I’ve ever met,” Arnby told us. Elle Shoel, the creative director behind B.r.a.t. agrees: “Dom always says we looked at each other and he was like, ‘You’re a fucking witch.’ And I was like, ‘You are.’ And then we became best friends. He actually hired me to take on his whole project, without even seeing one of my designs.”
People can come and be a part of it, even if they can’t afford to buy the clothing”
Tommas arnby
Connecting at a deeper level
Alongside building Yungblud’s career – which reached a new peak this year with one Grammy win for Best Rock Performance for “Changes (Live From Villa Park)”, as well as nods for Best Rock Album and Best Rock Song – the two have made moves to bring back some of the collaborative, community feel of the UK’s rock and roll scene. This is the intention for B.r.a.t. as well as Bludfest, a UK-based-and-beyond festival with an emerging artist-heavy lineup.
“These songs need to connect on a deeper level for it to really tip into the mainstream again,” Arnby told us. “We’ve got to make sure that we are helping make great fucking rock records. It can’t just be about the aesthetic. You need to have done your 10,000 hours worth of songwriting, and failed many times to win a few times at writing those amazing songs that are going to define you.”
That being said, timeless truths are best paired with some degree of radical adaptation to modern conditions. The music industry has always been something of a wild animal, and often the most effective move is just to follow its tracks, stay relatively vigilant and hope for the best.
Arnby believes that right now, the best way to do that is through meaningful storytelling, amplified through social media in thoughtful, responsible and craft-oriented ways. “Here in the UK, we do storytelling really well. We’ve done it historically through fashion, film, and music. I think this is the piece we need to get back to.”
With the third iteration of the sustainability-conscious, “HERE and NOW”-focused Bludfest, he and Yungblud hope to shift the cultural gears accordingly.
“Rock and roll, in my opinion, is about being together. We’ve embarked on this crazy mission, and we’re very proud of where we’ve gotten to. I’m hoping that Bludfest is something that can become sort of like a little beacon within the festival community, and also inspires other festivals.”
“We care deeply about music from this country,” he added. “And that’s not a marketing strategy. We literally live for this shit, and we all invest into it.”
Actionable Takeaways:
Create spaces to deepen fan community. More than a store, B.r.a.t. is a place where people can hang out and make connections, both to the artist and with each other. Whether it’s a physical space or an online fan community, the lesson beyond e-commerce is to prioritise strengthening fan identity and loyalty over pure retail.
Anchor projects in cultural context. Also through B.r.a.t.’s location on Denmark Street, Yungblud has tied himself to the history of British rock and dedicated himself to preserving the local scene. Bludfest is a further commitment to cultivating local talent. Consider ways your artist can do the same, whether through event launches, locally-curated lineups or digital collaborations.
Prioritise storytelling. Storytelling is key to modern artist development. Content, visuals and fan experiences are all opportunities for narrative development and cohesion. Intentionality is the name of the game, way before trend-chasing.
