Up from the underground
In conversation with Jake Osman, the creative force behind London based music agency Motive Hunter
‘What do I want to be when I grow up?’ is a question you have probably asked yourself countless times over your formative years. Some people know, and some people don’t; some people go with the flow and others have no idea; some work for years only to realise their passion lies elsewhere.
The latter is exactly what happened to Motive Hunter’s founder, Jake Osman. After studying Fashion Communication and Promotion at Central Saint Martins, equipped with several creative skills, he shifted from the fashion industry to pursue his passion project – Motive Hunter. Initially, a Facebook group for the drum and bass community to talk about their favourite DJ’s, and share events.
Motive Hunter has expanded to become a digital and photographic solution for the music industry. Currently, it has a monthly radio show, DJ mix channel and a line of rave merchandise. We caught up with Jake to speak about his industry journey so far and what he has planned for a post-pandemic world.
What originally inspired you to change your career path and start working in the music industry?
I’ve always been really into music before I started Motive Hunter I used to shoot a lot of hip hop on stage, I did a lot of work with Danny Seth and +44. From there I did an internship for a jungle and drum and bass promoter James Rompani, of Concrete PR and Rompa’s Reggae Shack.
That was during my placement year at university, it was amazing. I fell in love with the scene and the people in it. I can fully nerd out on it, I could go on a massive ramble about different influences, where it’s going and where it has been; as a scene, as a sound, and why things change. I made a conscious decision that this was where I wanted to put my time and energy, rather than trying to be in this negative bubble that the fashion industry is. It’s just a lot of unpaid internships in fashion and I felt like at the end of them, I was begging to work for free.
So how did Motive Hunter come about?
Motive Hunter came when I was working for James (Rompa). He wanted to start another promotion group on the side of Concrete. He basically hit me and said, let’s make something called the London Drum and Bass Bible, but I just didn’t feel like the idea was fully there. I told him, let me come up with the idea, I’ll do the work for it and put something together. So from there it just started to grow, originally it was a Facebook promotion group, where, in a non-COVID time, everyone, and their Nan would be posting events; it just became this constant feed of really sick motives. So that was it, the branding was really nice and I had a lot of good feedback, so I ran with it.
With the current pandemic, the music industry has taken a big hit and moved online, how have you adapted to these circumstances?
Content, creating so much content. If you can’t do raves, and you can’t be there in a physical way, then you’ve got to think outside of that, and what else you can do. We started a DJ mix channel called Drum Hunter under the MH brand and did a whole 10 part series, getting different guest mixes from people. The series was great, I really want to start that again, but this time I really want to push female artists, so I need to think about how I’m going to do that.
When was the moment you realised Motive Hunter was starting to get recognition in the scene?
My big break was being hired as the official photographer for Soul In Motion, which is a weekly drum and bass event ran by Bailey and Need For Mirrors. Through that, my event and gig photography developed massively, and I was being asked to shoot a lot more. I think the moment that I realised my work was being seen, was when I was getting off the train at London Bridge, I was listening to one of Bryan Gee’s podcasts, which is one of the guys who founded V Recordings; and I got a call from an unknown number. I picked up, and I just heard this voice say ‘Hey man, it’s Bryan, can I book you for next Saturday to shoot?’. And that was one of the most surreal things ever.
I religiously listen to everything V Recordings do, that’s how I got into D&B really, Bryan is my favourite DJ of all time. I ended up shooting V Recordings warehouse sessions in Unit MOT and Planet V Live launch party at Peckham Audio. It was crazy to me because I’m still looking up to these people and all of a sudden the situation switched, becoming part of the scene and not just a consumer. That was January 2019, and then in December 2019 I shot Fabio & Grooverider Return to Rage, which is a massive deal, Rage was a big club night in Heaven in 1989, and this was the revival night, and I was the official photographer for it.
Since the launch of Motive Hunter you have definitely pushed yourself creatively. What do you feel is your biggest achievement so far?
I think the merch is really big, the feedback that I’ve been getting from that has been great and really positive. AC13, who’s a massive D&B DJ and producer wore one of the jackets in a photoshoot, and one of the images is currently being used on his New Zealand tour poster. It’s gonna be seen by a lot of people in there and all over the world, and he’s wearing a jacket that has the Motive Hunter logo on it which is crazy. But, I think my biggest achievement is probably landing the radio residency at Subtle Radio. I put a lot of graft into it every month, getting tracks together, formatting it and recording it. It’s a lot of work, but we also get a lot out of it.
The creative industry can be ruthless, especially in music. How do you remain confident in your work and ideas?
You’ve just got to have faith in yourself and trust the process if you are passionate and doing something that you love, then good things will follow. For me, I know I believe in what I’m doing and what it can be. I started mixing in November 2019, and In December 2019, I did an impromptu back to back with my friend Susie Q at The Cause for the Wavey Garms event. I couldn’t even really mix back then, but I still managed to pull it off. So it’s just the case of convincing everyone else that you have something worth looking at.
How did you tackle lockdown blues and keep up your productivity?
I told myself I need to come out this year with something. This pandemic has got to have happened for a reason, it’s given me the time to really work on this. By the time I come out of it, I want to have something underway that I can use in later life and use in real life. Motive Hunter before the pandemic was not as talked about as now and didn’t have the hype around it, and that’s because I haven’t shut up about it for the past year.
You have worked with the likes of V Recordings, Soul In Motion and more! How have you managed to achieve this in such a short period of time?
I DM Everyone, I’m an absolute fiend for it. Literally, you name a DJ, I’ve probably dm’d them. You’ve really just got to network as best as you can, I am constantly tagging DJs in posts, getting reposted and sending out merchandise. I think MH is getting to be a household name in the scene, which is beautiful because that’s really what I envisioned for it. I’m not saying I’m there yet. I’m far from it, but we’re getting there, we’re on the right path.
Aside from networking and DM’s how have you continued to develop MH?
There’s a lot of different start-ups in music, especially in D&B and we’re all essentially trying to do the same thing, but I try to be different with it. I’ve got a very different education to a lot of people in the scene. I’d like to say that the way I think is from a Central Saint Martins graduate perspective, and I have a lot of different skill sets under my belt. I feel that by putting all of that together, I’ve been able to make Motive Hunter exactly what I want it to be. It’s a completely in house project, and I have complete creative control.
Rumour has it you just got hired by Knowledge mag, can you tell us a little more about this?
When I was with Rompa we used to work out of an office on Brick Lane, one of the guys that was renting one of the desks was a guy called Colin. He runs Knowledge magazine, which is the longest-running drum and bass magazine in the UK, it’s actually about to their 25th anniversary. To cut a long story short, I’m going to be the site editor and merch coordinator of K mag, which is fu***** crazy. At the moment I’m working through their archive and preparing the Insta and website for the relaunch so give them a follow and keep a lookout.
What have you got in the works for 2021?
I kind of established myself in a lot of different realms, it’s like a silent killer, Motive Hunter, because I think everyone knows what it is, but it just hasn’t got the immediate following yet, so definitely to get my follower count up on Instagram and move away from being underground. I also want to get the website sorted and release my book called Motive, which is a comment on present-day rave culture, an ode to the past and a viewpoint of the future. We’re also officially becoming a record label in March, Fleekee is releasing his debut EP on March 1st with Motive Hunter Audio across all streaming platforms.
What would your advice be to someone looking to break into industry with their own start up?
Know your stuff. You’ve got to see a target market, and you’ve then got to see a gap in that market. I see there’s a gap that Motive Hunter fills really well. I find it quite hard to describe what it is, but I feel that I see it, and if I can see it, then there’s a place for it, and a reason why people should pay attention to it. If you put in the time and effort, good things will follow.
Find the links to all of Motive Hunter’s content here
All images and artwork produced and provided by Jake Osman