Willie came to Midnight Mango after years of experience in performance.
What brought you to Midnight Mango?
I was an artist on Midnight Mango’s roster with my former band Rackhouse Pilfer. Ethan Proctor was our agent. We loved working with Ethan, he helped us realise some of our bucket-list dreams, like playing Glastonbury in 2017. We couldn’t have done that without Ethan and Midnight Mango.
Unfortunately, later in 2017 the band broke up. I was the band’s point of contact and had a great relationship with Ethan and Matt. I was also booking a lot of my band’s shows in Ireland, so Matt asked me if I would like to stay on and assist agents in booking shows into Ireland. That inevitably morphed into building my own roster, so I have been here since 2015 I think, in one form or another!
What kind of bands do you like to work with?
I mainly work in the Folk, Country, Blues, Americana space. To be honest, I grew up in that world, my parents were touring country musicians, I have been going to Nashville since I was a child and have spent a lot of time there myself as an adult writing and recording. I love these genres and really it was a natural progression for me to continue down that road when I stepped into this role. It’s such an exciting space these days in the UK and Europe, Country and Americana music is certainly really popular now.
What advice would you give someone considering joining the Midnight Mango team?
Learn to have a lot of patience, there are many challenges, it can seem like you’re a firefighter at times. But holding your professionalism in the most challenging times I think can say a lot about you to your peers and colleagues. At the end of the day, you are representing someone else and their brand, you are often the first point of contact for your artist with bookers and I think it’s important to do that with good professional vibes and to maintain those same vibes right through the booking, no matter which way it turns. In the long run I think that will stand to anyone as an agent and will lead to more connections and inevitably more gigs, when people tag you as being good to work with.
Who would you love to have on your roster?
Well again they’re all going to be in that Country/Americana world… Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Tyler Childers, Ryan Adams and probably some legends too like Emmylou Harris or Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings!
First festival you went to?
Oh, I think the first festival was one called Witness in Ireland, which later became Oxygen and then it disappeared. I ended up at Witness because my cousins are the McNamara brothers in the Brit-pop band Embrace, who were flying high at the time and they invited me along.
Best festival you’ve been to?
Again, playing Glastonbury in 2017 was unbelievable. I was in awe at the sheer size of it, I had never been to something on such a huge scale. I returned as a punter in 2019 and had a blast then too, it’s so cool in so many ways. But on the other hand, I’m not a lover of the whole slogging it out for five days in tiny tent and mucky fields. I was at Cambridge Folk Festival in 2024 for the first time, one of my acts, Niall McCabe was playing, so I took the opportunity to go. I really loved it. It’s a gorgeous site, nothing too overbearing and well laid out. Other honourable mentions go to La Roche Bluegrass Festival in France, Country Piknik in Poland and I must mention Sligo Live Ireland, where I am a producer and programmer.
First gig you went to?
I have been going to gigs since I was a baby. My parents used to put me sleeping in a road case behind the drummer on stage. That was the 80’s, not sure you’d get away with that anymore? So, it’s deeply ingrained in me really.
My first real memorable gig was Johnny Cash in Ireland in the early 90’s. My mother worked with Johnny back in those days, they had recorded duets together and she opened a lot of his shows in Europe. Johnny was such a kind man, one of those guys that made an impression on you as a kid, he engaged with you. I remember running back and forth from front of house to his dressing room with vinyl records people were desperate to get signed. In and out of his dressing room, I didn’t know any better really, but I remember the smile on his face, he beamed every time I burst through the door with the next random person’s merch to be signed.
I think the first big gig I went to on my own was Oasis in Pairc Ui Chaoimh Co. Cork in 1996. The Prodigy was on before Oasis and The Bootleg Beatles opened the show. A bunch of us hired a bus to drive us down and maybe there was a little bit of underage drinking going on. That was a lot of fun as a fifteen-year-old. I most certainly didn’t pay hundreds for that ticket back then either!
Best gig you’ve been to (so far)
In recent memory, The War On Drugs in Dublin. I just love that band, even though the sound in 3 Arena was pretty bad, the vibe was still there. I’d love to catch them again soon, I missed so many of their earlier tours because I was always gigging myself and couldn’t go. Chris Stapleton at C2C also sticks out from recent memory, that was a super one, he’s a powerhouse. Of course, I’ve seen loads at Glastonbury that were great, Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Chemical Brothers, Tame Impala, Liam Gallagher solo was one that took me by surprise, he was great that day.
