Voices From The Trenches: Steve Sybesma

He took it seriously and spent several weeks considering and composing his answers.  In this feature, he not only details the launch of the festival but his sojourn into China, his partnership at Sunshine Promotions, Prince, Michael Jackson, and a search for jewels at the bottom of the sea.

Can you please tell us what brought you to where you are now?

I have to assume you mean the path to the Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival specifically, or this would take way too much ink. 

Most in the industry that know me also know that before I moved to Miami to produce Okeechobee, I lived in China for 11 years producing concerts and television.  In December 2013 I was back from China, visiting family in Indianapolis for Christmas holiday.  Cliff Rosen (one of my new partners) owned this amazing piece of property, what is now Sunshine Grove.  He was investigating the idea of doing a festival on his property, and reached out to his lawyer to see if he could connect him with someone in the music business. 

His lawyer circulated an internal company memo and it just so happened that my daughter Ashley was practicing at the firm at that time.  She connected me to Cliff.  Cliff called me and convinced me I really should make the trip to Florida to take a look at his property in Okeechobee. 

I only had a few days left before going back to China but decided to fly down and take a quick look.  I really did it as a favor, and my intention was to connect him with some of my friends at AEG or Live Nation if it really looked promising.

However, I was so blown away by the property. I said to myself, “Fuck that; I’m doing this.” 

Less than two months later, in February, I convinced Jim Tobin to come and take a look; he said it was the best festival site he’s ever seen.  Thirty days later, I had a deal locked with Cliff and soon I was trying to convince Paul Peck to join me. 

The year 2014 was crazy for me.  I informed my China partner Eric Zho that I had decided to go back to the U.S. to produce the Okeechobee festival but stayed through October to finish the “Budweiser Storm Electronic Music Festival,” year two, in Shanghai.   I made 10 trips back and forth to the U.S. that year and was basically producing two festivals at the same time, half a world away from each other. 

Three days after Storm, I moved to Miami.  Now it’s 2016 – the first Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival was an amazing success, and Eric is producing Storm in six China cities.

Please tell us whatever you want about the Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival. What were the highlights?  What improvements will be made for the 2017 version?

As I said, the festival, OMF 16 was amazing.  We couldn’t have expected, or have asked for any better.  We ended up with 32,500 attendees and sold out for our capacity this year.  We weren’t expecting to sell so well, so we only prepared about 60 percent of the property for camping, and had to stop sales after our first day on Thursday. 

Although Sunshine Grove is 800 acres, it includes paved roadways, lakes, tropical woods, and protected wetlands, things that make it special and picturesque but also take up a lot of acreage, so we’re destined and perfectly happy to be a comfortable 50,000-capacity camping festival.

The natural beauty of the site is breathtaking and it really does have a magical feeling that is shared by all festivalgoers and any visitor.  It’s really hard to describe the feeling; you have to experience it.  All of the artists that we heard from were also blown away by the festival and loved performing there.  It showed in their performances. 

As for highlights, our entire line-up turned out to be the perfect mix of great talent for our first year.  Kendrick Lamar killed it.  Robert Plant killed it.  Mumford & Sons, Skrillex, Bassnectar, Odesza, Hall & Oates all killed it.  Very special performances all around and it’s impossible to list them all.  It seemed that almost every performances was over the top, passionate, and powerful.  I only wish I had been able to see more. 

Certainly both of the PoWow! performances produced by Okeechobee co-founder Paul Peck were highlights.  The Miguel / Win Butler PoWow! with musical director John Oates packed the stage on Friday with 23 legendary and superstar artists.  It was amazing.  And Sunday’s Mumford & Son’s PoWow! with the Avett Brothers and Tom Morello was epic.

We ended up with six stages and more than 135 artists, including the Jungle 51 stage, one of the coolest stages I’ve ever seen.  Set in the middle of a Jurassic Park-like woods with tall palms, palmettos, and giant oak trees, people were literally dancing in the jungle among the trees to top names of underground techno and house all night long.

Besides a spectacular talent lineup, highlights included other things to do.  Aquachobee Beach and the Beach Stage were a huge hit, a really cool place to hang, sunbathe, swim, play volleyball, ride the Ferris wheel, or chill with your friends.  Chobeewobee Village, Yogachobee, the tea house, parades, and artistic performances, and more, everyone was really having fun and enjoyed all of the amenities.

We did a survey, and 98 percent responded that their experience was positive, 98.59 percent said they would recommend to friends, and 98.59 percent said they would return.  There was a really special feeling of sharing and friendship at Okeechobee.  Geographically, only 55.9 percent of our attendees were from Florida. Others came from 47 states and 39 different countries.  The reviews and blogs were testimonials to our success.

What is one of the biggest misconceptions the music business has about China? 

That you can book a show 45 days before the concert date.  Misunderstanding is probably a better word, or an understanding that you need a lot more time to prepare for a concert in China.  Getting a performance permit for an artist can be a complicated process – not always, but it is unpredictable. 

Managers and agents need to confirm further in advance in China so you have enough time to promote your show properly. 

What would be one thing that people would be surprised to learn about you? 

I was a significant owner of RMS Titanic Inc., the company that was the owner of the salver in possession rights for the Titanic. 

A group of concert industry friends joined together and did a hostile takeover of the company in 1999.  In 2000, I went on an exploratory expedition and participated in one of the Russian submarine dives 2.5 miles to the bottom of the ocean to see the Titanic and to recover new artifacts. 

Our primary mission on that expedition was to find some legendary missing diamonds.  They were never found.

Doing any motorcycle riding? 

Someone must have told you.  I love riding.  I ride to work on a motorcycle almost every day. 

It has always given me a great feeling of freedom.  I had a motorcycle before I owned a car and have owned many and different styles including classic bikes, Harleys, and a completely custom bike that was featured in Easy Rider Magazine.  When I moved to China, I rode an electric scooter to get around and loved that too. 

Today I’m riding a Kawasaki KZ1000, which is basically a rocket ship, unbelievably fast and powerful.  I’ve always admired rice burners and just had to try it out.

You have three shout-outs.

Three is not nearly enough for my career.  I could name 20 or so agents, but I’ll have to keep it to my four primary business partnerships. 

1) Dave Lucas was an incredible partner for 30 years and still a great friend.  We made a lot of stuff work from the ground up, organically – Sunshine Promotions, Deer Creek Music Center, Polaris Amphitheater, The Palace Theater (Louisville), the Murat Theatre (Indianapolis), TourDesign, Suntex, and Sun Records were the most important of a lot more trials, errors, and successes. 

2) China West partners Adam Wilkes (now AEG China/Asia) and Robb Spitzer (now Live Nation China/Asia).  We really were pioneers in China, were a great team, did a lot of really cool events, and had a lot of fun along the way. 

3) A2Live (China) partner Eric Zho and Gil Wadsworth.  Eric and Gil taught me a whole new world of Television, Film, and Video in China, and I taught them the concert and festival business.  We produced some amazing cross media projects.

4) Soundslinger / Okeechobee partner Paul Peck. Paul is a young superstar and I am lucky to be his partner. Without Paul, I would not have created a first-year festival of the caliber and success of Okeechobee.  Working with Paul has been amazing and I look forward to many years to come.  Also, we couldn’t have done it without Cliff Rosen and Jim Tobin.  Cliff made the property work, and Jim is perfectionist when it comes to producing a festival, passionate about the experience and final result.

All of my partners and former partners are great friends to this day.  We all keep in touch.

Agents are cool but I would sure appreciate it if they would …. 

… always give me the favored nations deal.

Five years from now, one of the major changes in the industry will be … 

I can’t tell you or I’ll lose my competitive advantage.

What are you listening to and how are you listening to it? 

I like a lot of different music and don’t usually get stuck on one artist.  Most of my discovery comes from booking shows and listening to artists I don’t know. 

I do listen to the Beatles’ White Album when I’m in the mood for a range of great classic songs.  Most of the time, Spotify is my medium of choice for new music.

Favorite and/or least favorite concert memories. 

With more than 6,500 concerts under my belt, I have so many great memories it could take days, but I’ll mention a few. 

Of course my first concert ever, Jan 1, 1972 – local bands in a roller skating rink.  With a little help, we built the stage out of plywood. 

Frank Zappa at Notre Dame May 12, 1974, my first festival with ZZ Top at Bush Stadium Indy May 24, 1974, and of course my first Rolling Stones shows – Bloomington, on July 26, 1975 and Freedom Hall Louisville August 4, 1975. 

So many great Rush shows and hanging out with the guys. Good friends Nazareth. Four Prince concerts. Michael Jackson, Market Square Arena, August 28, 1981.  Frank Sinatra. And, one of my all-time favorite shows, James Brown in China Feb. 20, 2006. 

Really, just too many highlights to mention – the venues, China, Okeechobee.