Kitt Carr – Off The Record – Urban Rebel PR Interview

The music industry is notoriously fast-paced and for those trying to get a foot in the door, or simply elevate their artist career to the next level, music conferences and networking events can be a fantastic resource. Off The Record is one such event brand and community hub which has been serving the Scottish music scene for years, bringing together industry heads to discuss of-the-moment topics and showcasing the freshest local talent.

Charged with ensuring that each event runs smoothly and sends attendees home feeling inspired, educated and connected, is Event Coordinator Kitt Carr. We put UR 10 questions to Kitt hear her insider advice on making the most out of local conferences, and go behind the scenes on what her role entails.

1. Hey Kitt, thanks for taking time out of what is likely a super busy time in the run-up to this year’s Off The Record event series in Edinburgh. For anyone not familiar, can you please share an intro to OTR? Who you are and what you do. 

Hey, thanks for having me! Off The Record is a music industry event series for 16-25s based in Scotland. The overarching idea behind Off The Record is to provide routes into the music industry for grassroots artists and aspiring industry professionals through a blend of networking opportunities, panels and workshops and paid work experience roles, all geared towards demystifying the music industry.

2. What are the hot topics up for discussion across the OTR programme at the moment?

Our event series is a blend of online event programmes and in-person conferences and networking, the online events cover the three main pillars of a grassroots artists career and include releasing, live and promotion. While the conference day explores those topics deeper with a look to secondary revenue streams for artists in sync and songwriting while also looking at how aspiring industry professionals can navigate the many routes into a career in the industry.

Coming up next we have our final online event of the series which will look at the role of agents and promoters and how they work with artists while also exploring DIY approaches and how artists can cultivate their live audience.

Off The Record sits within the Wide Events roster, I’m the Event Coordinator across Off The Record, Wide Days and Born To Be Wide overseeing the organisation and delivery of our three industry conferences and showcases. I started out at Perth UHI studying Music Business, while at University I started a music blog and went to as many gigs and industry events as possible to build a network of contacts in Scotland. During my final year at University I took part in a work experience placement with Wide Events and after graduating was taken on for a day a week with the organisation. Over the past five years I’ve built my experience and worked across many of the projects Wide Events delivers, I’m now full time with the organisation as part of a team of three who work across all of our events.

4.For fans and members of the electronic music scene specifically, which panels/panellists should we look out for? 

There are many panels that are relevant and apply to the electronic music scene, most of the industry guests and knowledge provided are applicable to all genres. All of the panels from Off The Record in Edinburgh were recorded and are now available to watch on our YouTube channel. Panels that would be of a particular interest to members of the electronic music scene would be, an introduction to sync, securing funding for your work, working with managers and promoters and mental and physical health in the music industry. All really important topics for anyone navigating the music industry. We also have a host of resources on the OTR website covering contacting press and media, digitally releasing and artist tools available for DSP platforms and content creation across TikTok and Instagram.

5. What advice would you give anyone attending the conference to get the most out of the experience? 

When attending any conference go with a bit of a plan of what you would like to get out of the day, whether that’s more artist contacts for collaborations and live shows, a manager or booking agent. A bit of a plan can help you navigate the event easier, also go with business cards or set up contact swap on your phone so you can share your details easier with people you talk to. Make the most of your time there too, you never know what conversations can lead to further in your career, also network laterally with your peers as you don’t know where people at the same career stage as you might end up in the future too.
 

6. Any practical tips for overcoming nerves when it comes to networking at such events? 

Attending industry and networking events can be an incredibly daunting experience for those starting out. For me, I research who will be at the event where possible. Most conferences will have speakers and attending delegates listed on their websites which makes it easier to put names to faces while you’re at the event. Also, remembering that everyone is there to network and the worst thing you can be told is no, whenever I’ve been in a networking environment most people are happy to take the time to talk to you and once you’ve overcome striking up an initial conversation it gets easier from there. Attend events with someone if you can that always helps overcome nerves and try and make conversation outside of people’s roles within the industry to make the conversation feel more natural. I know small talk is not everyone’s idea of fun but it does help.

Wide Days is taking a pause for 2025 (we’ll be back in Autumn with a 2026 update), but in the meantime we’re very excited to be hosting a special event taking place on 1-2 May in Edinburgh!

New From Scotland will showcase a selection of Scotland’s most exciting new artists over two nights at much-loved independent venues La Belle Angele, Sneaky Pete’s and some special pop-up shows (more details to come on those…)

8. We’d love to know, who from the Scottish music scene are you personally loving at the moment? (any genre) 

There are so many, I feel privileged to work within an organisation who work with so many incredible grassroots Scottish artists. At the moment I’m particularly loving Indoor Foxes, Sister Madds, Joshua Grant, The Big Day, Eyve and Zoe Graham.

9. Likewise, can you shoutout some of your personal favourite venues in Scotland? 

My personal favourite venues in Scotland are Sneaky Pete’s, Cabaret Voltaire and La Belle Angele in Edinburgh and Nice N Sleazy and McChuills in Glasgow. They’ve cultivated great gig environments and communities around their venues and I’ve seen some great bands in these venues over the years.

10. If anyone would like to join future Off The Record events,  how do they get involved? 

To get involved in any of the OTR events I would recommend following our social media accounts or joining the OTR mailing list. We have tickets available at the moment for our latest online event programme covering building your live audience.The event will include sessions on a DIY approach to building your live audience covering organising your own gigs/events, working with promoters, securing support slots while other sessions will look into navigating networking in the music industry and why its important and the roles of booking agents, promoters and routing tours across the UK.

Thank you so much for speaking to us!

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