Agency Intel: CAA’s Ferry Rais-Shaghaghi Heads Into Sphere With Afterlife Presents Anyma

Since Sphere opened last September, fans have been eagerly waiting for an electronic act to play the Las Vegas ven- ue. While the first four

bands announced (U2, Phish, Dead & Co. and Eagles) followed the traditional rock route, concertgoers knew the visual experience found in electronic dance music would make for a remarkable sight in the world’s largest spherical structure.

CAA agent Ferry Rais-Shaghaghi felt his client Anyma (aka Matteo Milleri, who is one-half of melodic techno duo Tale Of Us, which oversees the Afterlife record label) would be perfect. Since Milleri began his Anyma project three years ago, his visuals of a robot trying to break out from behind the screen have gone viral. Rais-Shaghaghi has worked with Anyma since 2022 — the two officially partnering with a handshake deal that took place in the back of a car in Ibiza — with the goal to introduce Tale Of Us and Anyma into North American markets following the duo’s recent success in Europe and South America.

Sphere initially announced that the venue had booked Afterlife pres- ents Anyma “The End of Genesys” for its first New Year’s Eve show, with five additional dates added due to “incredible ongoing demand.” All six performances, scheduled Dec. 27 to Jan. 1 and presented by Live Nation, sold out instantly.

An announcement from Live Nation notes that the run will “showcase a meticulously curated selection of music and visual art by Anyma and Afterlife, in collaboration with digital artists and directors such as Alessio De Vecchi, Tobias Gremmler and Alexander Wessley.” Anyma, who released Genesys II in March as the follow-up to his debut full-length album in 2023, will be joined by yet- to-be-announced special guests.

Pollstar: Anyma’s visuals have gone crazy on the internet the last few years, and expanded his audience so tremendously where people even outside of dance music have recognized them. Can you talk about the project’s growth?
Ferry Rais-Shaghaghi: It was a learning process for all of us. One of the most impressive things was how the entire team leveled up in real time. Whether it was going from a team of 10 people traveling to a team of 50, hiring all the right people, those people step- ping in and making sure they’re capable of building shows at that size, finding the venues and understanding the restrictions and limitations for each venue and what we could do with it, and how we could make it special. So, it was all happening in real time, but we were all talking with each other. Matteo from Anyma and Tale Of Us was very much in the process, always sharing in real time what he’s seeing on the back end from the fan perspec- tive and demand. And, from me, taking that information and then talking to the promoters on the ground and what we could do, how I could push them to really understand and see the vision and bring it to life. To this day, we’re still figuring out how to level up and grow the shows.

Who comes up with the design concepts for those visuals. What’s the story behind them?
The genius behind it is really Matteo. He brought in some of the most talented and creative people in that space. They’ve also built a team of really special artists that have come in and contribut- ed to different pieces. There’s a big group of people, but it really starts from Matteo [recruiting] someone like Alessio [De Vecchi] to bring it all to life.

When did the concept of going to Sphere start feeling feasible to you? 
Going back to the whole idea of finding unique locations and venues and just making sure we’re giving something new to the fans. When I heard about Sphere, it just instantly clicked that this was the place we needed to do Afterlife. So, the conversation started in March 2023 and just trying to understand the venue, get in touch with the right people there, being able to get appointments set up to see the quarter-scale Sphere and Burbank Studios and doing a tour there. From there, putting together a presentation and plan of what we have in mind and why it makes sense. At the end of the day, taking a techno show into a traditional venue is not something that happens often, let alone in a venue that just opened and is one of its kind. It’s been a year-long process, but everyone’s super excited about this.

What was Sphere’s initial reaction to you guys coming in and saying you had this plan and wanted to execute it there?
It was an education process. It’s like, “Are you bringing a rave to the venue? Is this going to be a full-blown warehouse type event? Because, that’s not what we’re trying to accomplish here.” To their credit, I understand that they weren’t aware of what this is. It was an education process. But the good thing is as we were developing our business globally in North and South America, we were able to have the right partner like Live Nation involved that were part of seeing what this could really be and how serious this is. They were able to stick their necks out and be part of the process of bringing on the Sphere team and letting them know what an incredible experience this could be for the fans.