Adam is a man who eschews the conventional and who actively thrives on difficult situations. And it’s just as well – he forged his career in Nottingham, working in alternative education and youth music projects during the emergence of the Grime scene. It was a difficult period for the city which was rife with gun and gang violence. Engaging with young people there meant devising approaches that were both creative and innovative. It’s a way of working that has been crucial to his current role as CEO of AudioActive, a groundbreaking, music organisation on the south coast specialising in black and underground music and youth culture.

With the support of Patron Rag’n’Bone Man and an impressive alumni including Celeste, Octavian & Rizzle Kicks – also patrons of the charity – notable AudioActive projects include Equaliser a weekly young women’s music production drop in looking to challenge gender inequality in the music industry from the bottom up.

In parallel to AudioActive talent development programme Adam has co-founded social innovation projects such as Room to Rant, a rap-based mental health programme and Break4Change an innovative Child-to-Parent Violence intervention which is now licensed and replicated across the UK and into Europe. Adam is driven by the number of aspiring artists he sees at AudioActive who despite being exceptionally talented, have been failed by the education system, often leaving school with no formal qualifications and little prospect for progression through formal talent development pathways. This is why AudioActive are now working to establish a centre of excellence for ‘socially engaged talent development’ in Worthing.

As a warm up for having their own building, Adam set up ‘Bottega Rooms’ as a pop-up in Brighton in 2018. Comprising a community studio, practice rooms, production & videography suites and 6 professional artist studios. Bottega Rooms has quickly become a staple of Brighton’s live music scene.

As the pandemic bites and the high street becomes ever more strewn with empty shops, AudioActive are poised in 2021 to take over the ex-Dorothy Perkins store in Worthing. They will convert it into a music and talent development hub where, with Adam firmly at the helm AudioActive will launch a radical new record label and prototype their Centre of Excellence in Worthing whilst shining a light on how, beyond the pandemic, cultural organisations can play a key role in the development of ‘the new high street’ and the recovery of towns’ communities and music ecosystems.