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Q1 2008feature30EXTRA ACCOUNTSKaren Millard– Woman of the Year AwardsEmma had been a candidate for the past twoyears as she is a previous winner of an award andan agent to be reckoned with, carving a name forherself in a tough line of work. Her win willhopefully inspire other women to follow her trail,and believe that success is possible in such amale dominated industry.Peter Mensch – Q PrimeThe Red Hot Chili Peppers are the biggest bandI’ve ever managed in Europe, and Emma Banks ismostly responsible, maybe with some record sales.I’d always had this dream of playing HydePark because of Brian Jones and the Stones andthe whole shtick, and Emma said that we couldpull it off with Stuart Galbraith.The band doesn’t normally play more thantwo days in a row and they were playingManchester on the Friday, so we booked HydePark for the Saturday. A week before the showwent on sale, Emma asked me to check about thepossibility of a second show. I didn’t believe wecould sell 170,000 tickets, but checked withAnthony Kiedis anyway.The tickets went on sale at 9am in the UKand by the time I woke up in New York, Emmahad phoned to say that we’d sold out two datesand were moving onto a third! No one will everdo Hyde Park again to that level and with that manyshows. It was Emma’s finest moment in my eyes.I can’t tell you how pleased I am to be inbusiness with Emma Banks.John Watson– John Watson ManagementWhen Silverchair first broke in 1995, they wereonly 15-years-old so a parent had to travel aschaperone on their tours. Emma has, of course,always been willing to work around the clock forher clients. However, she took that to a new levelon the night she went dancing until sunrise at atacky Berlin nightclub called ‘Disco Chip’ with theSilverchair mums while the rock 'n' roll band andcrew slept soundly back at their hotel.Asif Ahmed – ShhhmanagementNever before have I worked with someone whomakes my shitty job so enjoyable. We worktogether on two artists. Whenever we speak, shemakes me giddy as a teenager on poppers. Imean, I don't want to DO her or anything. I maybejust want to watch reruns of Golden Girls withmud masks on...with her present. At her house –which of course I've never been to – becauseshe's always at the office. I think she needs sometime off. I worry sometimes. She needs help!continued on page 37recognition among her peers is more theresult of 17 years of hard work thandiscrimination based on her sex.“It never occurred to me that I was awoman in the industry,” she says. “I comefrom a fairly male dominated background, soit’s never been something I considered. I’venever actively thought, ‘there aren’t anywomen doing this, can I?’”In fairness though, if the agency businesswas ever investigated by a feminist,wheelchair-bound ethnic minority auditor,there’d be blood on the tracks beforebedtime – it's a sector populated almostexclusively by white males.“Why do you think I’m in it? I’m activelycampaigning against women entering it sothere’s more men for me!” she jokes, but while,as a woman, she’s conspicuous in havingreached the top of her game, Banks sees nolimitations based on gender.“WHEN NINE INCHNAILS WANT ME TO SIT ONTHEIR TOUR BUS AND WATCHHARDCORE PORNOGRAPHY,AS LONG AS IT’S NOTONE WITH ME IN IT,“I’LL WATCH IT!“It’s not difficult for a girl to do this job,and I think you get a different kind of agent,potentially,” she says. “Women can be a bitmore nurturing and they come at it from adifferent angle, although you can’t beprudish…if you are, you need to be bookingdifferent acts to the ones I’ve got.“When Nine Inch Nails want me to sit ontheir tour bus and watch hardcorepornography, as long as it’s not one with mein it, I’ll watch it! But you need to establishboundaries and barriers, which comes withage as much as anything, and experience.”GIRL ABOUT TOWNThe ability to nurture is just onecharacteristic from her early years that setBanks on her current career path. Growing upin Cambridge with two younger brothers (“Iam a bit older sisterly”) Banks waspreoccupied for much of her teenage yearswith her pony, Popeye.“I’d obsessively bandage the poorGraduating universitybastard’s legs,” she says. “I wasn’t thatinterested in riding it, I just wanted to lookafter it and tell it what to do.”Her time was spent with schoolwork(“I was never rebellious”) and organising anannual gymkhana to raise money for charity,inspired by her father, a successfulbusinessman. “I know I’m out there trying toprove something to him,” she says. So with abossy older sister mentality, a successfulfather to impress and an innateorganisational ability, even as a teenagerBanks possessed the motivation, inspirationand inclination to do well.But while many of the older generation ofagents were consumed by music at an earlyage, Banks’ only indulgence was to tape theTop 40 charts on a Sunday afternoon. By thetime she began a Food Science degree atReading University in 1986, she’d been totwo gigs: Dire Straits Live in ‘85at Birmingham NEC Arena, and aTV-broadcast Adam and the Ants’ show,filmed in London.With her horse Popeye