First Class Fest
Photography, writing, and editing by Kian Gannon
Pre-show Interview
‘If you could give an introduction to everyone, tell us a bit about why you got involved in the scene and how you two came to put together First Class?’
Leo: I'm from Vancouver originally and I've always wanted to get involved in the music scene, but I'm not an artist myself. I first started doing digital advertising. So I run a company called ‘Balaclava Entertainment’. We do TikTok ads, Google ads, Facebook ads, and stuff similar to that for rappers/artists. I started with a few local ones in Vancouver, and then when I moved out to Toronto I started working with some of the talent out here. I actually met Jake at a party one night and just DMed him after because I think I was trying to get one of his artists to run ads or something. He invited me through to a studio and we just kind of met there and built a relationship because we're doing different shit but in the same space. I think we both bring something different to the table and that’s why it works.
Jake: Pretty much the same for me, I like music but I never really had an interest in making it, I just wanted to be around the scene. I started with a clothing line called ‘Less Talk’ in Vancouver and was doing that for about a year. I got my clothes onto some pretty big rappers, like 24KGoldn, DC The Don. So they kind of pulled me more towards the music side of things instead of the clothing. I started working with a couple of artists that I met online, doing little management stuff like plugging them in playlists and all that type of stuff. Just recently I started working with Yung Tory, so I've been working with him for like a year now. He wore my clothes at a show and I got in touch with his manager and I started registering songs and doing some copyright stuff for him. That got me into the music shit so I stopped doing clothes and started throwing shows. My first ever show was a Nascar Aloe show in Arizona, so I continued doing those and just linked up with Leo for First Class.
‘Did you guys ever consider going to school? Or is that just something that you didn’t see working for you?’
Leo: I'm in school right now actually, I go to Ryerson or now ‘TMU’.
‘What are you taking?’
Leo: I'm in a course called creative industries. So, it's pretty much focused on the creative side of business so it’s a bit different than the regular business program. I was in the music side of the program, but I’m going into my third year and I have to take another one so I’m doing communications.
Jake: For me, my stuff started happening when I was in grade 12 in high school. I tried to do music management in college for two or three months and then I dropped out because someone in Atlanta told me to come over there and I started working with an artist called Xora instead. So I just decided to try my own shit and I haven’t gone back to school since, I’ve just been working with people in this industry.
‘How did First Class come to be? Was it more so one of you approaching the other with the idea or a mutual idea?’
Jake: Both of us wanted to do something and I’ve done shows before so Leo and I kept linking at the studio and we came up with the idea of doing an event. We were able to get an investor through our third partner Sam, so he gave us a budget and we just started planning from there.
Leo: It was just about being in the right place at the right time. Sam was talking to Jake about doing a show and Jake was like “Yo, Leo does some marketing”. So originally I was just gonna be running ads for the show, but as Sam met me he saw that I guess I was putting in the right amount of work that he was looking for and he brought me on as a partner.
Jake: We came up with the actual idea of First Class because we wanted to have a festival where we go to different cities for each one. So we wanted to stick with the theme of travel and that's how we came up with the idea of First Class.
Leo: We have a vision too, long term. Right now we've been playing into the theme through Instagram, the visuals, and having tickets being called boarding passes, but we have a vision if the shows continue doing well. If we can get proper budgets, we can really play into the theme and actually fly the artists out first class and have all the security decked out in uniforms and have the girls that are working in flight attendant outfits. We really want to play into that theme and you’ll see some of that at the show in August, we just have to work that into the budget.
Leo: As Jake said, we didn't want to do just one show. We kind of wanted to build a brand because we have such a cool opportunity that Sam's blessed us with. So instead of just investing the money into one show and looking for a return, we're investing money into the brand so that moving forward we can continue to do these festivals.
‘Would you say that the budget was probably the hardest point between coming up with this idea and then having this show booked? Or was there something else that was more difficult?’
Leo: The budget sounds like it would be difficult, but that really just fell into place and we were able to work with it. I'd say the hardest part for us is that we haven't run a proper festival. So contacting artists to get their set list, get auto-tuned mics, do lighting, do sound production, hit up sponsors, do social media branding, running ads. It's sort of just been a learning process as we go. We've been facing it head on and I'd say that's the biggest challenge. Just not really knowing what the next obstacle is gonna be, and different things popping up at random times.
Leo: What would you say, Jake, in terms of our biggest obstacle?
Jake: Yeah, the biggest obstacle is just the things that we don't know. So every day we're learning something new. Usually, the budget is the hardest part but I’ve been throwing shows so I think we were at a point where we knew enough people that if the show made sense, we could get the money together.
Leo: Yeah, like Jake has tons of connects through his management work, and then through my marketing agency I also got to know a decent amount of managers and stuff. So, we just put that idea in place and came up with well-written and well-thought-out documents to present to people in regards to sponsorships and making everything come to life.
‘I wanted to talk a bit more about the local artists on the Toronto line-up, a good friend of ours and a supporter of the magazine, Sunny Addams is on the bill. How did you guys link up with Sunny and the other local acts? Is it important for you guys to be bringing on people from each city you plan on stopping in?’
Leo: I'd say because it was Toronto and that's where we both live right now, that was important for us to kind of put on people that we saw in the city doing their thing.
Leo: There are lots of artists on the lineup. Like, Shevy's a guy I've worked with for a while now who I always thought made dope music, and I feel like he needed more of a spotlight. So, I wanted to put him on as well as Sunny. Jake took me to the DMTV show and he was in a fucking suit and had the crowd going crazy during his set.
Jake: Yung Shrimp Tempura was another person that I wanted to get on the line-up. I've known Shrimp for a couple of months now because we used to have a residency at this strip club called ‘House of Lancaster’. I run a collective called ‘777’ that does all sorts of afterparties and stuff like that so that’s basically how that came to be.
Leo: I think we definitely want to bring on people from the city because it's a mutual benefit, obviously we're bringing a platform and we're bringing bigger artists that allow openers to share the stage with them. But someone like Sunny is also going to sell tickets and will allow us to pick up steam in the city that we’re in. There are a lot of people in the city that we want to work with because we see them doing dope shit, so any videographers, photographers, magazines like yourself. At the end of the day, we're young and we're attacking this, so we just want to bring on board people that are high energy and are committed.
‘Is there anything else you guys wanted to speak on or let the people know? I feel like you’ve shared a lot about the direction and behind-the-scenes of First Class, so thank you for that.’
Leo: I'd like to just say that we're trying to put on for the youth of Toronto and Canada as a whole. We're kind of just pushing the agenda by jumping into the scene and making waves. We're both young, but we're also both confident that we're gonna take this thing to new heights. Do what you're passionate about and grind.
First Class Fest recently made their first stop in Toronto at Parkdale Hall on August 5th. The lineup included some of the biggest names in the underground rap scene, as well as tons of local artists that were given the opportunity to perform. This included artists like; UnoTheActivist, Yung Tory, The Hxliday, Seventh Angelo, Xora, Katozai, Sunny Addams, Social Outcasts, Shevy Malibu, Nue, Trenchy, Trill Nagi and many more! A few special appearances were made by 12am and Gunnr. Vendors were also available all night, including close friends of ours Carlos, Josh and Gavin from Aux Wars and Jumpers Jump. From approximately 6pm – 8pm each opener had around a 10 minute set. Many of these artists were locals to Toronto and got the crowd going to start off the night. Notably, Sunny Addams was the second artist to perform and he chose “Mr. Chalamet” off of his new EP and cult classic “Soljah”. Sunny brought a freshness to the crowd and had mosh pits and some sort of dance circle going by the end of his set. Social Outcasts also had a notable performance bringing their entire collective on stage and having the crowd bouncing. By approximately 8:30 the headlining performances started and the crowd didn’t seem to be tired at all. From water being thrown into the crowd, one of the organizers Jake (@lotteryjake) stage diving like he’s in the WWE, and UnoTheActivist bringing three fans up on stage to perform “Astral Plane (High As Me)”, the place was going nuts all the way till the very last song. A few moments that we found to be the most entertaining were Uno’s performance of “Taco Bell”, Yung Tory bringing his butler on stage to dance and smoke with, and The Hxliday’s performance of “Save Me” that transitioned his set to a slower, more relaxed close. Overall, First Class Fest was not one to miss in the city. It’s rare that we get the opportunity to see these artists in our city, especially all at the same time. It’s even more important that they brought together a community that were able to discover new local artists from Toronto that may not have had the opportunity to be exposed to that type of crowd. The rap scene is very much alive in Toronto and First Class were able to mark a point on that timeline that many of us won’t be able to forget.
A huge thank you to Leo and Jake from First Class for having me as a part of the media team and for the incredible night that they put on. <3
