Future Artist Development // Behind The Brains - Interview with Coach Steve Cannatelli

Thanks for much for talking to us today about Future Artists Development, How's it going?

It's goin' awesome thanks!!! Great to be chattin' with Behind The Scene :)

Can you give us your most basic explanation of Future Artist Development?

Man... We're just super passionate about bands being able to have the resources and education to meet their full potential. We believe every band has the right to success regardless of their look, sound, up bringing, financial situation and so on... So we came up with a program and system that allows that... and we're glad to say... IT WORKS!! It actually has a 100% success rate at this point in time, every band FAD has worked with has gone on to sign major record deals, touring nationally and for some internationally. Some of these bands include Stand Atlantic, Void Of Vision, Belle Haven, Storm The Sky, Arkive, Harbours, Stuck Out, Pridelands, Earth Caller and a few more.

That's wicked! How did you come about coaching artists?

Honestly man it all started about 4 years ago when a friend of mine was managing bands and one of his bands had a pretty poor show so I dunno why but he turned around to me and said "Can you go into this bands rehearsal room and do something with this band?" I guess he figured I'd been around it all long enough that I'd have an idea on how to bring the band up to a standard... So blindly I went into the bands rehearsal room and started constructing exercises to help improve their live show. About a month later the band hit the stage supporting an International band and completely owned the stage... At this point I was like "Wow it worked... We might have something here" and so I continued building it with bands like Void Of Vision and Storm The Sky and eventually cemented a program that allows bands to reach their full potential for that point in the bands career and managed to knock it out within 8 weeks. I also was studying a degree in Youth Work so I started implementing things such as Team Building, Personal Development and Mental Health into my program which I guess is something that other Development Companies don't have so that started to set us aside from the rest and also improve results.

What have been some of the best things you've learned whilst coaching bands?

Some of the best things I have learn't is that not every band wants to become the biggest band in the world, some just want to play a few shows here and there and have a great time doing it to the best of their ability... And why shouldn't they? There's nothing saying you need to start a band as a potential career, people forget (and including myself at times) that music can be for just pure enjoyment :) Also learning bands mission statements, what they want to put out in the world, the reasons that motivate them to write songs and get on-stage, no one band is the same so that's been really interesting for me as well as working with Youth and seeing where the demographic is at in 2018

How do you work with a Pop Punk band VS a Metal band?

​Absolutely no difference man, these are core principles that apply to ALL bands of ANY genre... The program has been set up to cater universally not just to a niche.

When did the idea of coaching on the scale we see through FAD click?

In late 2017... I had just gotten back from living in Europe and you could say I was a little lost, with everything and I saw the success Stand Atlantic were having and I guess something inside me clicked and I was like "Man if I can be a piece of the puzzle that helps young bands achieve their dreams then that's what I should be doing with my life" and so I did :) I collected 11 friends who have the same ambitions and motives as me and went for it. The Void Of Vision boys where really a driving force and motivator as was Beau Mckee, constantly pushing me forward and I can't thanks them enough for that because at the time I needed it. To anyone reading this always surround yourselves with people who push you to reach your potential, it's half the battle, legit!!!

What are some of your goals for FAD and it's bands? Which have you already smashed?

Man, if we can keep helping young bands travel the world through the right direction and education that's all I can really hope for or want out of this. Seeing young bands come off stage with a grin from ear to ear, coming out of the studio psyched on what they have just laid down, watching their video back or looking at their photo's with the upmost confidence to put it all out into the world is all the reward we need here. I'm happy to say to date, we have absolutely smashed that with every project we have worked on.

Tell us the story about the first real pitch for this program and putting together the bones of the current team.

​ The first real pitch for this was when James, Jack & George from Void Of Vision started calling me up and saying "Bro we really should do this" so I started sitting down with them individually and going over the logistics of it... James was really my right hand man, he helped me structure my business and even kept on it all whilst he was touring Europe... After we figured out what departments we wanted to include we started brainstorming who would be appropriate for each one... I think I put the idea out to roughly 30 people and the team came down to the most proactive members of that 30. I really wanted people who don't wait for opportunity rather than make it happen and I'm glad to say every single person on our team is of that mentality :) They were the ones calling me saying "Steve, I have this idea"

Tell us about the struggles and the breakthroughs in establishing the business.

I think the struggles came from the last 4 years, I was doing this all for free and in my own time... I was developing bands for free, which I didn't mind but it started to get extremely costly, I was out on tour living on nothing but food allowances... It wasn't easy and eventually I burnt out and moved to Europe, band coaching was dead at that point... The break through came when I saw the success Stand Atlantic started to have and I was like "What the fuck am I doing working in a shoe store in Europe when I have the ability to help young bands reach their potential and live their dreams" so I threw all my stuff in my suitcase, booked a flight and came back to Australia... and here we are :) I had to start charging for my services, as everyone does at a certain point, I couldn't sustain myself doing it for free anymore unfortunately but we have managed to keep our prices extremely low as we understand the financial burden of being in a young upcoming band and we didn't want to add to that stress. We don't do this for money, the money is just to keep our heads above water.

​Tell us about why you chose the team members you have.

Simply, they chose me, they came to me and that's exactly what I wanted, motivated, ambitious young people who are passionate about seeing change for the better within the music industry. I had about 30 people interested and the 11 on my team now are the ones who pursued their positions, coming to me with idea's etc... plus they're all dear friends which makes the working environment super fun.

Tell us about a particular specific success story with a client.

I think Void Of Visions road to success was a particularly special one for me... In 2014 I started working with VOV. In two months the band went from another metalcore band to the metalcore band to watch. I finished coaching them in around July 2014 then they went in to record their debut EP "Broken Bones" with Beau Mckee and by the end of the year the band had gone to playing to roughly 50 kids to an average of 300 kids screaming their lyrics back at the them, stage diving, doing mic grabs etc... and we also achieved Blunt Magazines "EP Of The Year" in 2014. I guess that's why the VOV boys are so passionate about this program and system because they have seen it work for them first hand and want other bands to experience what they experienced

What plans do you have for FAD in the near future?

To keep doing what we're doing with as many bands of possible and to keep growing the team to create more and more resources for bands to access.

Thankyou again so much for your time! Can you let our audience know where to go if they're looking FAD's services?

If you wanna be the best you can be then check out our Website and hit us up. It's as easy as that... We don't promise fame and fortune but we do promise you will have the absolute best chance at obtaining success, your own success, once you've done our program and utilized our resources.

#FadedHeartPhotos #StandAtlantic #VoidOfVision #BelleHaven #StormTheSky #Arkive #Harbours #StuckOut #Pridelands #EarthCaller