The Drunk Promoter. Glenn Stewart.

Glenn Stewart, The Drunk Promoter is a card. A king of hearts and a jack of all trades, he's holding a full house, booking and touring legendary international acts and the cream of Australian music.

Aside from the British film industry, the lack of money supporting creatives is a global epidemic so why does someone like Stewart choose music over a steady income? "I’ve been asking myself that for some time now, like ‘Why the fuck am I doing this?’ but it keeps drawing me back.” Likening it to anyone drawn to art he continues, “In the same way bands reform or music journalism finds you.”

“I have a successful lawyer friend and when he shouts me lunch and dinner, I sometimes wish I’d done something more stable so I could do the same for him...but I know sometimes he feels the same about what I do, I guess the grass is always greener no matter what you do.”

Supporting and touring Australian music for the last 10 years, it’s only in the last 12-18 months that his well earned reputation has seem him promote bigger shows, “The tours I’m doing are not large in numbers but they’re big in the sense that they are big tours to me personally.” Being passionate about the bands he works with is what makes him tick, “I don’t really care about the money, I have to do things that I am actually passionate about.” 

Skating to Adolescents at age 14 and now hosting the Californian crew for their next Australian tour is a little scary exciting for the man, “The Adolescents tour is really close to my heart, it’s the first band I’m going to be nervous picking up from the airport.”

The Elvis Museum

Never doing anything half heartedly, Stewart opened a museum to the public to honour his first rock hero, “When I was 7 or 8, I started an Elvis Presley museum in my bedroom, I put a sign up on the front of my house so when people drove passed they could come in and check it out. It had Elvis number plates, bed sheets, toys - I was obsessed.”

His obsession helping realise the positivity that was on offer with the opposite sex, “When I was a kid I rented Girls!Girls!Girls! at Video Ezy, and at primary school age, you hate chicks, you know girls suck but I was the totally into it.”

“When I was 7 or 8, I started an Elvis Presley museum in my bedroom, I put a sign up on the front of my house so when people drove passed they could come in and check it out."

Connections.Work.Love.

What inspired you and where did you start? “I went to Livid festival when I was 14. I told my Mum I was staying at a friends house in Toowoomba and she believed me....Sorry Mum."

"Public Enemy, Pulp and the Dandy Warhols were there - there were 30,000 people, I’d never seen so many people in one place, the atmosphere was amazing."

The only way to get involved with something you love is to work hard to be heard, "I used to annoy the Livid festival promoter every week by email." Pushing it real good he continues, "He replied to me and I just kept sending emails, by the end of it he was like 'Would you please stop sending me so many fucking emails'....I just kept going, we got on really well eventually..." 

To Infinity and Beyond

Knowing when it's time to think bigger, Stewart muses about future plans, "I do want to expand... I threw myself in the deep end when I was really young and made a bunch of mistakes but now in the last few years I’ve learnt a lot - and to definitely trust my guy instinct."

Moving forward with confidence is directly and absolutely linked with who you choose to work with and trust, "I know which people to go through now, which people to work with, who I can trust, it's been building organically for years."

Love Thy Promoter

Known as the 'sleazy guys' of Rock n Roll, Promoters generally have a bad name for themselves, "There seen as the guys that want to make money out of bands but in truth, the Promoter is always the last one to get paid after booking hotels and forking out for travel."

Another common misconception is what the Promoter actually takes care of, "A few months ago a girl ask me 'What is it that you do?'...I said I’m a Promoter and she said 'Oh someone who has a door list at a club'....Er no."

Having witnessed first hand how Mr. Stewart operates it's no surprise that his reputation proceeds him, "One of the guys from Clowns and Strung Out’s Tour Manager came up to me and said 'You’ve got a pretty good wrap for a Promoter', I was pretty happy about that."

"Most of the time people don’t give a shit about the Promoter."

As a Promoter you are not always on the minds of others, "Most of the time people don’t give a shit about the Promoter." Stewart offers an example, "If something happens on tour and the Promoter says one thing and the band says another, fans of the band are going to believe the artist, no ones a fan of the Promoter." Laughing he sets his position straight, "So you're pretty fucked if something like that happens on tour."

A New Wave

The Drunk Promoter moved to Melbourne from Brisbane a little over 12 months ago, a change the allowed him to grow, "Everyone is at the same level on the local scene, they want to help each other and work really hard. Brisbane's still has great quality bands it’s just not as big." 

Regional Victoria is also welcoming touring bands by the bucket full, "There are pockets of places in Victoria that sell really well, there are some places I haven’t even heard of before that I'm booking so there is quite a bit of opportunity down here."

Where is Australian music now? "Theres a new generation of Australian artists coming through, it used to be bands like Regurgitator, bands that I always looked up to when I was young but now there's, The Bennies, Clowns, High Tension, Violent Soho, it's a new era and I love being a part of it."

The Drunk Promoter is touring Adolescents, Dwarves, The Bennies and Morning Glory. Tickets are selling stupidly fast. Get yours at TheDrunkPromoter.com

Kenada Quinlan

Photos TheDrunkPromoter.com and DRI shot by CarbieWarbie