Events with Zach Pavlou (Capital Entertainment)

We recently caught up with Zach Pavlou from Capital Entertainment to chat about all things events. From his beginnings in the clubbing scene to being a partner in an entertainment collective, Zach’s career has been a journey. His passion and enthusiasm for the industry shine through while he tells his story, which we hope is one you can learn from.

Pictured: Zach Pavlou

Please describe yourself and tell us a bit about what you do.

So I work in the events and entertainment industry and I've been working specifically in the events industry for about five or six years. I started doing very small club events, migrated into some celebrity after parties and celebrity-hosted events. About two years ago, I decided to leave the clubs behind and get involved in the entertainment and touring industry. I was given an opportunity to work with a company called The Hour Group on my first couple of tours where I learnt a lot about the basics of touring and large scale events; they've done some very cool shows and a lot of sports stuff. Probably about 12 months ago, I reunited with somebody that I grew up and went to school with, and we decided to go out on our own and start a company called Capital Entertainment. We've been in business for 12 or so months, we've done a handful of music festivals and a big show at Margaret Court Arena for Tyga, which was our first show under the Capital Entertainment brand. We also did a charity event called the Bushfire Appeal Day Party with a few other promoters and we raised $182,000 for charity, which was a very admirable cause. 6000 people were there, it was a great day and then COVID hit.

Bushfire Appeal Day Party

You guys definitely accomplished a lot in your first like 12 months, Tyga is huge! Anyway, I'll move on to the next question. What influenced you to work in the entertainment industry?

So my father used to be in hospitality and entertainment in his young days and it was something I always wanted to get involved in when I was a younger kid. I actually started my career in entertainment as a performer, I was a dancer. So I studied dance, I went to a performing arts school, did relatively well, performed on a national level competitively. Then I injured my knee, so I wasn't able to perform anymore. I took a couple of years off, and then decided, I want to come back in some capacity because I still enjoyed this industry. One of my favourite things is being able to walk into a venue and look at everything in motion, and it's that exciting sort of feeling. So that's what inspired me to get into the entertainment industry, missing that feeling of performing and being able to walk into a venue and so yeah, this is it. Also, I like to see people happy. That's a big thing for me. Seeing a big crowd of people enjoying themselves, that's something that really fulfils me as an individual. There's a lot of solace in creating something and watching people consume and enjoy it.

Tyga at Margaret Court Arena

Alright, the next question is, do you remember the first event you ever worked on? And if so, could you please tell us a bit about it?

I worked on an event in the city at a bar that used to be called Amber Lounge but at some point it changed hands and the name was changed to Kenobi bar in its final years. Me and a friend of mine ran an event there called Watermelon Sundaes. We had a great team there, it was very good. Eventually the venue sold, and we moved the event elsewhere. I worked with quite a few cool people at that night. All people that have grown to be large in the industry and it was interesting for me to be able to be under a lot of those people. But yeah, I came in and I was still a dancer at that stage and I didn't really know much about promoting. Also, there was obviously that stigma around club promoting and stuff like that and it was a bit hard for me to sort of get the numbers in, but eventually, a couple of weeks in, I sort of got the hang of it. And you know, I like to think I'm a bit cool. So people thought "Oh, yeah, Zach's cool so we'll come down to these events" and so on. As a team, we ended up doing our first afterparty and that was for Danny Brown, the rapper. And in the same week we did Joey Bada$$ as well. Then a few weeks later we did YG and Ty Dolla $ign together at EVE which has since become XE54 and that was the big one that later on ended up in an article on TMZ. Although I’ve since moved on from the team a lot stemmed from my first event which was very exciting.

Yeah. Awesome. So, what are the tasks that you're doing in the lead up to a major event?

Yeah, sure. My primary role in Capital Entertainment is in operations and the events manager. So a lot of stuff leading up to the event has to do with logistics. I can speak on a concert, for example. So the first thing we do logistically, is we look at booking the venue and the production and things around that. Then what we'll do is we'll look at transportation, hotels, and that kind of stuff. And then just managing the night as it goes along. It's a relatively simple role with a lot of legwork. In reality, it is a large workload but for the most part, it's relatively simple. Being able to connect the dots and make sure everything matches together well is important. If you can do that you're good at events.

So the next question is a bit more of a fun one. Do you have a song or an artist that gets you motivated and feeling energised when you listen to it/them?

I like a lot of indie music and I like a lot of oldies as well. I mean, I really couldn't narrow it down to one but I checked my Spotify a couple months ago, and the most listened to artist I had was Mac DeMarco. Yeah, Mac DeMarco is a bit of a dream tour for me. And I'd say he's probably my favourite artist, but it's a bit of a split between Mac or Jamiroquai. I've got all the Jamiroquai albums, everything on vinyl, I'm a big Jamiroquai fan.

Yeah, very nice. What would you say is the most memorable moment in your career so far?

Most memorable moment (pauses to think). I couldn't really narrow it down to a specific event. But moment-wise I remember every time a venue clears out and it's just the silence of the fans leaving and the janitors cleaning up and you know, the cleaners coming in and spraying everything down and the roadies bumping out, that's sort of a moment, every single tour that I cherish. And on the other side is setting up, you know, when you walk in and everything is in motion, and you just sit on the crash barriers and just look around. You're there just watching things happen around you. That's a moment that is really inspirational to me, and that's probably the best part of the tour for me when I do shows and events.

Awesome. And the final question is, what advice would you give to those aspiring to work in events?

Just stick to it. If you really want to do it, just stick to it. For me, my initial entrance into the entertainment industry was club promotion and like I said, there was a lot of stigma around that. And I feel that if I listened to a lot of people that were around me, and went into a different career path or didn't pursue what I enjoyed, I would have been in a very different place today. I feel like I would have been unhappy as well, because I really enjoy the industry. And it is an interesting way that I got into entertainment and large scale events, through the clubbing industry. But I would just say stick to it. If it makes you happy, it's not a waste of time, no matter what anyone says.

I guess with clubbing you get to learn the ropes and start small and build your networks and get people coming to your bigger events when that eventually happens.

For sure, it's all networking. And those sort of grassroots promotional skills that you learn in that small clubbing arena, they'll always come back to help you out and I feel like they would be able to help you in any business.