Andy Prevezer started his career as an in-house writer for Warner Music’s Public Relations team in 1985, and has now independently established himself within the industry. In 2000, he founded his own PR company, APPR, diligently acquiring artists including Neil Young, Stevie Nicks, Soft Cell and The Jesus and Mary Chain.

Prevezer also notably acquired Liam Gallagher, who the majority of the country knows has recently announced his return to Oasis, undertaking a slew of hotly-ticketed tour dates with brother Noel.

In the current fast-paced climate of music, with today’s big thing quickly becoming yesterday’s news, it makes Prevezer four-decade-spanning career, in which he has consistently kept his pulse on the music industry, all the more impressive.

Alongside his extensive PR roster, his current artist management of cool contemporaries including, Iona Luke, Keg, Mandrake Handshake and Dog Unit just cements another notch in his ongoing legacy. In a world full of Allen Kleins, Prevezer is a Tony Wilson.

Hi Andy, where are you from and did you go to university?

I’m London born and bred, then went to Exeter University to do Classics.

How would you outline your job description?

My job description is two-fold; I’m an artist manager, representing a roster of six artists/bands, but began (and still carry on with) my principal music career as a publicist.

Was there a specific moment you knew you wanted to go into the music industry?

There really wasn’t a moment where a career in music became an ambition. I wanted to be a music journalist, and began submitting articles for music magazines, unsuccessfully, before a friend called me to say that Warner Music were looking for an in-house writer, to author their PR material, band biographies and newsletters.

Can you tell us about how you got this start and your foot in the door?

Somehow, I got the call to come in [to Warner Music] for an interview; I was grilled by legendary music PR Barbara Charone, and somehow got my first job there. I sat in a small office attached to the Press Department, typing (on a typewriter, that’s how long ago it was) an endless litany of press releases on bands like Fleetwood Mac, Prince, Madonna. The music industry was buzzing. I was based in Soho, so life was a non-stop merry-go-round of gigs, parties and general mayhem. Very good days.

Who was your first big client?

After three years at Warner, I was approached by indie label, A+M, to work as a Junior PR. Their roster included the likes of Sting, Squeeze, Bryan Adams, Sheryl Crow, Del Amitri and more, and they needed a young person to bolster their five-person press team.

After about two years there, a major upheaval saw me promoted to heading up the whole department, terrifying – a proper ‘dive in at the deep end’ moment. I grew into it pretty quickly though, and thoroughly enjoyed it. This was, I guess, where I made my name… bringing Sting back in house and launching the careers of UK and US bands like Del Amitri, Dodgy, Soundgarden, and Therapy?.

Is there a particular example of a scenario which gained you your reputation?

I don’t think there was a particular moment where my reputation was cemented. I was just a young music fanatic in a mad, fast-paced business, who was quick to build relationships with writers at all the national newspapers. During that time, there were legendary press trips all over the world, taking writers out to meet bands in places as far as Hong Kong, South Africa, and Vietnam, and with regular visits to mainland Europe, New York and LA. Business was booming, and labels weren’t afraid to spend money on garnering favourable press coverage to help artist’s careers.

What do you think makes you good at your job?

If I really am, it’s because I genuinely love music, so what I do doesn’t really feel like a “job”. Being able to get on with people is key, it’s still a very sociable business. But for me, it’s about loving music and being genuine; people can smell the PR bullshit a mile off, so be honest about what you’re publicising, and even if it’s not that good, people will help you. There’s a trade-off between PR and journalists that exists, and that involves a degree of mutual trust. Sometimes you’ll need their assistance to write something about an act of yours, and sometimes they’ll come to you seeking access to one of your named acts. Don’t let anyone tell you that horse-trading isn’t a huge part of what we do!

And what do you look for in potential employees?

See the above… friendly, smart, sociable, honest, music-loving, gig-going people that are prepared to work hard and stay out late!

Have you ever gone out on the road with a band? If so, any fun stories?

Countless times, that’s my favourite part of the job. Hanging with Sting in Vietnam and New York, taking the NME to see Dodgy in Tokyo, taking writers to watch Del Amitri play atop a Scottish mountain, getting drunk with Liam Gallagher (on numerous occasions), spending time at Sheryl Crow’s Nashville ranch, endless weekends at Glastonbury, going to Stevie Nicks’ Malibu house for dinner – the stories are too many to mention!

I understand you’re in PR, so feel free to keep your cards close to your chest. But could you describe what it has been like to work with artists such as Liam Gallagher, Stevie Nicks and Soft Cell, and how do you handle them as individuals?

There’s no magic wand, you just have to be sensitive to their temperaments, realise when to lie low, how to deal with tricky moments when they don’t want to cooperate or speak to journalists, how to handle some delicate egos, how to smooth over difficult situations when they’ve read a bad review of their show or received a poor album review. Artists can be vain and sensitive creatures, so you have to expect that there’ll be rocky moments in your journey with them…

Stevie Nicks’ music has blown up again via TikTok trends. Stepping into modern times, how has your role and relationship with the media shifted?

As a PR, my job has changed a whole lot as the industry itself has mutated into the digital age. Print media has diminished and PR is seen to be less important than say, TikTok or streaming. It’s a totally different world, involving different metrics for success and there is almost nothing left of the world I came into in the 1980s. My job as a manager now allows me to see things from a different perspective, to look at different aspects of the business and what a band needs to do to move the needle for themselves… it’s complicated, and not very scientific! And no-one really knows what it is that breaks a band or an artist.

Do you have any hopes for the future of music?

Yes, of course! Though we have to navigate these difficult days, with small venues closing for good and labels being less prepared to take a risk on a band than ever before. But great music has and will always emerge from dark times, and these are definitely dark times….

And finally, if you could select six songs to be part of your discography, what would you choose

Songs that I’ll take with me to the grave are too many to mention but, at a push, I’d say The Walkmen’s ‘The Rat’, ‘New Rose’ by The Damned, The Cure’s ‘Charlotte Sometimes’, ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’ from The Smiths, Talk Talk’s ‘Living in Another World’ and finally, Frank Sinatra – ‘One For My Baby (And One More For the Road)’.  But that list will change tomorrow!