Old Princethorpians

Age: 51

When were you at Princethorpe - years from and to?

I was amongst the last five students at St Bede's College in Leamington Spa.  St Bede's was the prep school feeding Princethorpe.   They closed down the boarding at St Bede's when I was about nine years old, so five of us boarded at Princethorpe and were bussed to and fro everyday. I started boarding at St Bede's aged six and left Princethorpe aged 18 in 1978.

What are you doing now?

After 25 years of living in London, I've returned to Oxfordshire to live with my family. Ironically, I am now about 15 miles from Princethorpe. 

I am the CEO and partner in the entertainment division of SEG International, which is a multi disciplined management  company covering both the sports industry and the music and film industries.

We manage over 250 athletes, including such luminaries as Arsenal's Robin Van Persie amongst many others. My division manages artists, composers and producers in the music world. We also have a music supervision department that puts together all of the music solutions for up to five movies per year.

This month sees the release of our latest project 'The Disappearance of Alice Creed', next month we have two films released, 'Heartless' and 'Wild Target'. We manage about 30 artists include the Noisettes, William Orbit, Leftfield, ShyFX, Breakage, Lemon Jelly, Billy Ocean and emerging artist Kirsty Almeida.

Producer William Orbit is most famous for his production of Madonna's 'Ray of Light' album, and Blur’s '13'. He's currently producing a solo album from Girls Aloud singer Nadine Coyle. 

What was the school like in your day?

As a boarder, the early days were pretty spartan. There was only one female member of staff: the matron.  However I remember Princethorpe in a very fond and positive light, partially because I've always been a self-starter, and the lack of close supervision was just my cup of tea!

From 14 years old I was obsessed about music. Naturally my dream was to become a rock star, however I've had a pretty close approximation to that lifestyle over the years. The early days at Princethorpe were so loosely supervised that I managed to spend a significant proportion of my life indulging in my passion of music. The roots of a 30 year career was set down at Princethorpe, and I wouldn't change a thing!

How did Princethorpe affect the person you are today?

Princethorpe helped shape the person I am today. I had to learn to stand out; to sink or swim; to stand on my own two feet.  And I learned that willpower and sheer force of personality plays an enormous part in any successful person’s formation.  I learned that being different simply isn't a problem: in fact it's an advantage.

In my career I have always taken advantage of alternative and strange artists artists, and my signings have reflected that including Massive Attack, De La Soul, Nine Inch Nails, Pulp, Talvin Singh, The Stereo Mc's, PJ Harvey, Tricky, The Cranberries to more recent management clients Richard Ashcroft, Yusuf Islam, The Audio Bullys or Lemon Jelly.

Like any father I am super keen that my three wonderful children gain as many meaningful qualifications as possible, however it's often the things that don't appear in your list of qualifications that makes you into a more interesting person.  My other great passion is photography and for instance last week I shared the photographer’s credit on the official photo shoot for our band Leftfield with my sons Luc and Christian.  At 14 years old Christian has already had photographs reproduced on album covers and in books and magazines and has been highly commended by the Natural History Museum and Kew Gardens. Like me he's unlikely to get his maths GCSE however I will help him develop alternative skills that will set  him apart from his contemporaries and shape his future.

My time at Princethorpe did this for me.

What advice would you give to your teenage self?

Get your maths GCSE, don't play rugby in bare feet....... but don't change a thing otherwise!

Who or what has been the greatest influence on your life?

It's hard to name the person that had the greatest influence on your life, because my friends, my family and my educators all shaped me into the person that I was when I met Chris Blackwell, the greatest mentor in my career. So partially I have to thank everyone from my past for helping  me get noticed by Chris Blackwell!

Chris founded Island Records in 1959, the year I was born. I joined Island Records  in 1984 as a junior scout within music publishing company Blue Mountain Music.  By the end of that year, aged 25, I was appointed managing director, and found myself in charge of U2 and Bob Marley! By the age of 29 I had being promoted to the position of managing director of Island records UK.  Aged 40 I was running Island, Universal, MCA, and Motown Records combining them (In the UK) into Universal Island which is now one of the biggest labels in the world.

 What keeps you awake at night? 

My industry. I'm pretty certain that 90% of the people who read this article will have illegally downloaded music created by up-and-coming artists. To say that it is killing the industry is an understatement. Illegal downloading and file sharing is a very rare kind of parasite, as most parasites don't kill their host.  I'm sorry if this sounds like a lecture, but it's affecting consumers too as record labels these days are far too scared and conservative to invest in unusual talent. So you are being fed  a diet of formulaic and tried and tested artists instead of truly original ones.

What has been your proudest moment/greatest achievement so far?

Introducing Bono to the concept of Third World debt cancellation via the Jubilee 2000 campaign. He changed the world, but I led him to it in my own small way.

What’s your biggest indulgence?

It's in the past, however I owned the fourth Porsche Carrera C4S convertible in the country, when the new shape was unveiled in the late 1990s.

If you had to have one last meal, what would it be? 

It would have to be a curry! I am a second generation Mauritian on my father's side, and curry was Sunday lunch.

What is your favourite TV Show and why? 

I'm afraid I'm a sad science fiction fan and I'm addicted to Stargate Universe at the moment!

If you could be anywhere right now, where would it be?

Carboui, our home near Toulouse set in 100 acres of sunflowers.

Lasting memories of Princethorpe:

Hijacking the photographic darkroom behind Princethorpe's chapel, and playing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon very loudly with the lights out in the week it was released!

Are you in touch with any other Old Princethorpians, if so whom?

My school year are pretty unique I believe. I'm in regular touch with a number of my old friends: Andy Frain, Mike Halloran, Peter Rollason and Mike Nagaur to name four, However I'm in irregular, but very welcome touch with a number of others including Steve Evans, Simon Venus, Mike Smith, Paul St Aubyn, Bill Franklin, Mike Laughnan and Peter Kafno. Sorry if I've forgotten anyone!

Is there anyone you would like to track down?

I'd like to track down Pat and Moira Wier and Lou Skiffington as I believe they live relatively close to our place in France.

I think I been tracked down by anyone that wants to find me as I'm on MySpace, Facebook and Linkdin already!

Images show Marc today and 35 years earlier, around 1976 jamming in what was Princethorpe's study hall.  Pictured from left Andy Frain on drums, Mike Smith guitar, Marc on bass and Simon Venus on guitar.