‘It has been relentless’: Twiggy Rowley & Sam Pringle on Charli XCX and their Music Week Awards win | Management

Twiggy Rowley and Sam Pringle of Project Gold have spoken to Music Week about the phenomenon that is Brat, describing it as “a truly extraordinary moment with a truly extraordinary artist”.

We met the pair backstage at the Music Week Awards, where they won the Manager Of The Year category. On the night, Atlantic won the Artist Marketing category for their work on Brat, while the label won the Promotions Team trophy, too. 

Charli XCX has since been named Songwriter Of The Year at the Ivors. That’s in addition to her haul of five trophies at the BRITs and multiple wins at the Grammys.

In our Q&A, we quiz Twiggy Rowley and Sam Pringle on life in the “Bratosphere”, their managerial journey and their unique bond with Charli XCX…

Firstly, to borrow a line from Charli herself, how are you feeling now?

Twiggy Rowley: “Very excited and happy and pleased to be here!” 

Sam Pringle: “I’m really glad we’re here! We’re based in Los Angeles, we arrived today and we’re leaving tomorrow. It’s been great. I’m feeling very grateful to be part of the team alongside Charli and Twiggy. It’s been how many years of working together? 

TR: “17 years now.”

SP: “Nearly two decades.”

That’s a long time…

TR: “It has been quite a defining period of our lives.”

It’s not a normal relationship, but it’s one that we’ve all enjoyed for so many years that it’s second nature

Twiggy Rowley, Project Gold

SP: “There’s been a lot of hard work and blood, sweat and tears, especially in the last 24 months and there’s so many incredible people we’ve worked with who Charli has lifted up alongside us, and I think taking this moment now to reflect on all the hard work is a really nice and important thing to be able to do. There’s lots to look forward to beyond Brat and we’re excited for the next chapter.”

Do you think you can put your finger on why you have won?

TR: “I mean, we’ve been doing this for quite a long time at this point, and we’ve managed all kinds of projects over the years, a lot of developing and independent artists, to film TV projects, to all kinds of things. So we’ve seen the gamut of what all aspects of management can be. Obviously, the last couple of years has been very Charli-focused and it’s been so fun to be a part of all that dizzy success. But we also manage independent artists and self-funded artists. So it’s quite nice to work across both aspects of what this industry can be and juggle the two. It’s been a long time in the making and it’s quite fun to finally be able to get all those ideas and things that we’ve been talking about for so long and actually get them into fruition and make things happen. It feels very rewarding.”

What does Charli need from you as managers? 

TR: “With any artist, there has to be unconditional trust, there are obviously elements of emotional and pastoral support, strategy… It’s a myriad of things for different artists, but with the Charli projects, because there’s just such a history of knowing each other, there’s an intrinsic level of trust, taste, respect and just 24/7 support. It’s not a normal relationship, but it’s one that we’ve all entered into and enjoyed for so many years that it’s second nature and it’s just what we know at this point.” 

Have you learnt anything new about how to be managers from the last 12 months? 

SP: “Yeah, definitely. You have to learn what to prioritise, because there is too much incoming to reply to everybody and to respond to everybody and to make everybody feel good. You have to, unfortunately, be a bit more mercenary about what it is you choose to engage in, but I would say we are all very good at being able to identify what that is and being able to triage whatever is in front of us, whether it’s a music video that needs to be done in two days, a tour that needs to be put together, a merch strategy that needs to be rethought, a brand deal that is in a crisis that needs fixing, or whatever it is. We’ve definitely learned to move a lot quicker and that you have to make a few more difficult decisions but not think about that too much.” 

TR: “To keep it moving, just keep it moving…”

Charli continues to surprise me, just when you think it couldn’t get bigger, crazier or more intense, she’s able to unlock that next 10%

Sam Pringle, Project Gold

Brat had been in the works for a long time in terms of the vision from Charli, but why specifically do you think it was able to happen when it did? 

TR: “Yeah, I think she has always had the vision and has always known exactly what she wants to do. Finally after so many years of work and the groundswell that she’s created and us being able to support that, we’ve been able to make the things that she had always thought of finally happen. 

SP: “Because we have been doing this for years, we have made quite a few relationships in that time. I do feel like we have pretty much stayed true to the values that we always have had since the beginning of really valuing and respecting other people’s opinions and just being vessels for Charli and all our other clients’ ideas and helping to bring them to fruition in a thoughtful and respectful way. I like to think that goodwill has been built up over the years. Even though this has been a truly extraordinary moment with a truly extraordinary artist, we are still the same people that we were when we started this.”

TR: “I think we always try to be respectful and transparent. We always try to be responsive, maybe a little less in the last couple of months as it’s been so busy, but we always try and we always take a firm but fair approach, but also just have fun with it, because this is a slightly silly industry and we’re very lucky to be able to do what we do. I couldn’t do it without Sam, I couldn’t do it without Charli and I think collectively the three of us are able to find some fun amongst all of the craziness as well.” 

What are your reflections on the very start of Brat now that so much has happened? 

SP: “I think it was about four days after Christmas, three years ago now. She sent a 40-page PDF outlining every single thing that was going to happen in the Brat campaign, including Grammy wins, BRITs, Boiler Room, all of those things and pretty much everything has come true. Receiving that just after Christmas was like, ‘okay, let’s go…’ and here we are. It’s a testament to her single mindedness, that’s the thing that really has been so transformative, making like no compromises. Also it’s about being in a position to do that, and us feeling like we have the relationship to make no compromise without damaging relationships. That is probably another aspect of why it’s been so successful, but it truly has been a team effort.”

What’s it been like to be in the middle of it all? 

TR: “I think for me personally, it’s definitely going to take probably a good few months or years to really take stock of what’s happening, but right now I’m weirdly feeling very calm and collected and just trying to enjoy it. It’s been quite relentless, but it’s also been equally inspiring and motivating.”

Charli has spoken to Music Week on various occasions, and not every artist is able to speak about their industry like she does, so to see her conquer some of the things she has with Brat must have been special to watch…

TR: “She has such a command over her conduct in music and her career and how she wants to do things, but she also has such a generosity with the people that she works with and the artist she operates with, and I think it’s a very powerful and striking combination. She’s brilliant. 

SP: “It always continues to surprise me, her work ethic. Just when you think it couldn’t have got bigger or crazier or more intense, she’s always able to unlock that next 10% that you need. That is what has pushed us as a team to get to this next point. I think most people, when you get to that thing, you might take a second to stop and say, ‘Oh, wow, that was great.’ That’s just not something that ever happens in our team.”

How do you follow Brat?

SP: “I don’t think we should answer that!”

TR: “Watch this space…”

SP: “There are a lot of projects in the offing, the first one is The Moment, which is the mockumentary starring Charli as herself with an all-star cast. It is set in this exact moment, Brat Summer has happened, so how do you keep it going? Do you sell out? Do you stay treated to your roots? What is the meaning of being an artist? We’re really excited to have some fun with it. It’s coming in September.”

TR: “It’s an artist or a project that’s slowing down any time soon! So we look forward to a day off, maybe in 2029. [Laughs].” 

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}