Fay Woolven

After leaving her all-girls private school, with numerous academic qualifications and a brief stint at college; Fay realised a 9-5 city job was not for her and headed to the music business. Twenty years later her varied experience in marketing, press, A&R, studio management, tour production, TV production… has provided a broad knowledge of the business and combined with her slightly maverick nature, has proved invaluable in her chosen career, of band management.

Her first job was at EMI, but after a couple of years there working in Marketing and then A&R, she moved on to her first experience of band management.

This first outing in to management was working with rockers, Thin Lizzy, the uncrowned kings of sex, drugs and rock and roll. Thin Lizzy were at the peak of their career and the world of movie premieres, partying and excess was an eye-opener to Fay, but also a useful exercise in how to become un-shockable. Unfortunately, the Lizzy experience came to a sad end, however this baptism of fire into the world of Rock was to set the theme for her later management career: where various escapades have, on occasion, had more than a passing resemblance to cult movie, Spinal Tap.

Fay then decided to take a change in direction and went to manage a recording studio complex, where clients included Depeche Mode, Michael Nyman… but the world of management was more appealing and she moved on to work with guitarist Jeff Beck and then Sting; followed by rock legends Ian Gillan and Black Sabbath amongst others.

This return to the world of rock, lead to an offer to join Metal Hammer magazine, where she was responsible for the new Metal Hammer TV show and Video magazine; directing and producing.

The TV production experience lead to a brief foray into the world of mainstream TV, where she worked on various programmes, but two shows with some UK comedians, who remain nameless, sent her heading speedily back to the music business.

Fay combined with ex-promoter, Paul Loasby, in a management company, where the first band she added to the roster was extreme metallers, Cradle Of Filth: 10 years later they are still working together and during their association; Fay has been arrested at gunpoint at the Vatican, featured in a BBC TV programme among many other bizarre scenarios that are not for disclosure here. Fay signed them, against bets to the contrary, to Sony: the first extreme metal band to sign to a major label.

Three years after joining up with Paul, Fay decided to go it alone and start her own management company; In Phase Management, which has developed into a predominantly rock-based roster, which best utilises Fay's years of experience in this area of the market.