SERIES ONE – EDITION SEVEN
In the seventh edition in our Faces of Liverpool series we caught up with Joe Campbell, aged 26 originally from Huyton; Director and Founder of Culture City.
What do you love about Liverpool?
The people, the culture, the buildings, the football, the art, the history and the music. The fact everyone from here is proud to be from Liverpool.
I always remember an article that went viral about a survey asking to choose Britain’s second city. Voters in Manchester voted Manchester, while voters in Birmingham voted for Birmingham. Voters in Liverpool voted for London. That kind of sums it up for me really.
Name one main thing about living in Liverpool that makes you proud?
I think the thing that makes me proud to be from here more than anything is the fact everyone wants you to do well. There’s a willingness for you to succeed, it might be someone you’ve never met before in a pub saying well done for everything you’re doing or your mate telling you he’s made up to see you doing well. I think that’s a very Liverpool thing and I love it.
If you could describe Liverpool in 3 words what would they be?
Boss, Sound & Resilient.
Name one place in Liverpool that holds a special place in your heart?
The Royal Liver Building – In the last few months we’ve moved our company into a beautiful new office on the mezzanine floor in RLB. We haven’t even announced this yet so this is probably the first time people have heard about it! We’ll be doing our first ever company promo film to show the space off very soon but it’s definitely my happy place at the moment. We started the company at the end of 2012, working from my bedroom, we then went on to get a really small space in Mann Island. It was tiny but it was our first home and it took our business to the next level. We eventually grew out of the space and needed somewhere bigger. I never thought we would be moving into the most iconic building in the city but we have and every time I walk in the office it reminds me of how far we have come.
Is there anything on your ‘Bucket List’ to do in Liverpool that you’re still yet to achieve?
We do so much in the music industry. We manage bands, produce music videos, create content for artists and work with both indie labels and majors. I would love in the next few years to set up our own record label that produces everything in house. I love the idea of finding talent and then creating products that look and sound amazing. One of my favourite projects we’ve ever worked on was the first record from The Racket. We worked with Klee music to release the record, we got a huge buzz around the release, hosted a sold out gig, pressed a load of vinyl, had some huge partners involved and press covering it. It was great and we’ve got plans to try and set something up so we can do a few releases like that a year. The idea is that we can be a stepping stone for the artists. We can focus on each release at a time and hopefully progress them onto a bigger label.
Do you have any tales of Liverpool or claim to fame while in the city?
I’ve had some of the most amazing nights of my life in this city but the most surreal moment was back in December 2018. I got a call from my mate Chris, who works in the music business and he said “What are you doing tonight? I’ve got you an Access All Areas pass for Paul McCartney at the Echo Arena.” The concert was that night. I sat next to one of my heroes, Elvis Costello. I laughed, cried, It was truly unbelievable.
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