The King of REMINISCE - COREY TOPP
Corey Topp has been an event king from an early age, it all began when a 10 years old Corey started throwing three-day extravaganzas for each birthday and that lead to him hosting all the high school parties and events, so REMINISCE doesn’t come as any surprise to those who know him. Corey started REMINISCE as small backyard event with mates to countdown their favourite house tracks, a blueprint of essentially what is the present day event. Jump ahead to the present day, 2022 sees REMINISCE celebrate it’s tenth year and wow do they have a party planned to mark the milestone. The March 19th event, will see the iconic festival countdown the top 50 in it’s iconic home of The Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne with Artists such as Armand Van Helden , Example, John Course & bunch of brilliant local talent.
Corey, the award-winning event entrepreneur, the creator of REMINISCE, Sellout Digital, the Sellout Marketing System and one of Australia’s leading digital marketers, is a man who wears many hats, so naturally we jumped at the chance to pick the brain of the man, the myth , the legend himself to ask him about the achievement of REMINISCE - 10Years, the journey from “Backyard to the Bowl” and what the future looks like for one of Australia’s most loved events.
Firstly congratulations on 10 years of Reminisce and thank you for taking time to talk to us at Music Festivals Australia
Thanks a lot and thank you for having me.
REMINISCE started in 2011 as a backyard event amongst a bunch of good mates, fast forward to 2022 you are celebrating a decade of events, do you pinch yourself that something that started as a fun night in for friends has turned into one of Australia's most iconic events?
I try to. It’s really easy to get caught up in the day to day of things and not take the time to step out and look back in and think to yourself, “we’ve built something pretty awesome.” I’ve definitely gotten a lot better at doing that over the last few years.
From backyard to the bowl is a mammoth testament to the events growth. You must be immensely proud every time you have outgrown a venue?
Absolutely. I guess the best thing about it is that it’s really been driven by the people each time. From the backyard party to Prince, to Circa to the Bowl, each time it’s been feedback by Reminisce friends and fans that has driven each move.
“ I don’t see the Reminisce Classic House event in Melbourne moving from the bowl. It’s such an iconic venue, it’s really the mecca for Reminisce”
Speaking of 'outgrowing', you are filling the beautiful Sidney Myer Music Bowl, which holds 10,000 plus, where to from here for REMINISCE? the MCG or some sort of equivalent? or will the bowl stay the forever home for your event?
Haha, we often joke about what’s next, the G? But I don’t see the Reminisce Classic House event in Melbourne moving from the bowl. It’s such an iconic venue, it’s really the mecca for Reminisce. With Reminisce Carnivàle we are already at Flemington which is great as we can be more creative with the site. But this event will most likely always be at the bowl.
2022 sees REMINISCE expand to 3 stages, are there plans to include a fourth or fifth as the event grows or to turn REMINISCE into a National Tour in the future?
The event will definitely be going national in 2023. We have an event in Sydney in April and will then look to do as many states as we can next year. I can’t wait for that. In terms of the extra stages, we’ll see how this event goes first and go from there. Keeping that Reminisce vibe is the most important thing.
“There have been so many ups and downs that people wouldn’t know about, so I’m excited to tell the whole story.”
To mark the 10th anniversary of REMINISCE there will be a special feature documentary made titled ‘Backyard to the Bowl – 10 Years of Reminisce’ (coming out this March), which will include a slew of guests including Mark Middo, Sean Rault, John Course, Richie McNeill, Josh Soon & Aden Forte (Feenixpawl) are you excited to see the history of your event encapsulated on film?
Very. We’re always asked about the story, I’ve told it so many times over the years so to have it in front of us as a documentary will be great. There have been so many ups and downs that people wouldn’t know about, so I’m excited to tell the whole story.
Are you surprised that your original concept of a voted countdown hasn't been pirated or copied? especially given its huge popularity?
It actually has been a few times, but they just haven’t taken off. The idea of a countdown isn’t original to us, obviously Triple J do it and whatnot, but playing the countdown at an actual live event is. There are so many intricacies that go into promoting an event like Reminisce, it would be very hard for someone to replicate it and scale it successfully. At least in Australia anyway.
What’s the easiest part of organising a successful festival?
Good question. There aren’t many haha. I’d have to give a boring answer and say the digital ads, because that’s my trade so I don’t have to think too hard about that side of it. Lots of promoters get royally screwed by digital agencies that charge a fortune and get poor results, as they don’t understand how different promoting an event is from other campaigns. We never have to worry about that, which is nice.
What’s the hardest part of organising a successful festival?
Dealing with all the requests for VIPs and comp tickets. It’s exhausting.
Corey, you have been involved in music, entertainment and event planning since the age of ten, it, seems to be something that comes naturally and makes you happy. Is it safe to say your living your best life?
In a lot of ways yes. It’s definitely not all sunshine and rainbows though. Plenty of downs to go with the ups. A recent pandemic is coming to mind.
What has been the highlight or your favourite moment for you so far in the REMINISCE journey?
Definitely the first Reminisce at the bowl in 2019. That was a surreal feeling, having been to so many events there as a punter, especially the Summadayze and Future events back in the early 2000s, and now we were running our own event there. Definitely a pinch yourself moment.
REMINISCE like everything in 2020, had to be cancelled. Was that a hard blow to pick yourself up from and regenerate momentum?
Absolutely it was. Especially because it was so close. We only missed out by 6 days. I just kept thinking why couldn’t we have just got it done? It’s not fair etc. I was definitely down in the dumps for a few weeks. But then something just snapped and I got on with it. Now I’ve got a successful digital agency business that was born out of the pandemic, so in a weird way the pandemic was actually a good thing for me from a business standpoint.
“Now I’ve got a successful digital agency business that was born out of the pandemic, so in a weird way the pandemic was actually a good thing for me from a business standpoint.”
REMINISCE was fortunate enough to be able to run two limited capacity shows in 2021. How did your team manage this when other big music events/festivals found it easier (or were forced to) to postpone?
How to make this answer short haha. It was very, very hard. We were never going to make any money from the events and because of the way the pods worked with the social distancing, plus the fact we were forced to refund ticket holders who had kept their ticket from 2020 and they had to re purchase in groups of 4 or 6, plus Ticketek difficulties, we were getting called everything under the sun by a lot of people. It was really hard knowing how hard we were working, all for just the love of it, and getting abused by angry people taking their frustration out on us.
I understood it was a really tense time for a lot of people with lockdowns and whatnot, but it was still tough. A lot of the time people don’t stop to think there are actual people behind a brand. They are just yelling at an inbox.
It was all worth it in the end though, we had about 6,000 people over the two nights and a lot of them said it was their favourite Reminisce ever. It was about more than Reminisce, it was about everyone getting together and having a good time with their mates again after a very tough year.
What has been the hardest Covid-19 rule/regulation to plan for or accommodate in this new age of restrictions, besides the basic social distancing?
Just the massive grey area around vaccinations and proof of vaccination requirements. Then it not being anything like what they say it’s going to be like on the day.
Who in your crew or team deserves a shout out but never gets one? And what is they do that keeps your world turning?
Just the whole team behind the scenes. It was Damien from Hardware and now Thad is in that role, plus the girls Harriet, Saskia and Steph. Always dealing with our constant barrage of questions and last minute requests and pulling the whole event together.
What can you tell us about REMINISCE-10 Years? What can fans look forward to on March 19th? any surprises planned for celebrating this milestone? what do ticket holders need to know? any special messages?
It’s just going to be one monster celebration of house music. Expect the countdown to be full of traditional Reminisce classic tunes and very little of the newer stuff that made it in the Reminisce Carnivàle top 50.
We’ll have the biggest crowd and the biggest production we’ve ever had. There’s going to be performances, surprises, cameos, fireworks and just a whole bunch of good times.
For more info, go to:
Website: www.reminisce.dj
Facebook: @reminisce.event
Instagram: @reminisce.events
Interview by Michelle Symes
February 2022