Charlie Sloth
Appearances
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
If I feel like something's wrong or... It's not going to work. It doesn't look right for the brand. They know before it's even come to me because they know what my morals are. They know what I stand for, what I don't stand for, what I feel is right.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
So it's got to the point where I don't even have to have those conversations because I have such a great team who have those conversations for me and they protect the brand. I feel like if something goes wrong with one of the brands, it's a reflection on me. And something that I've always believed is one of my biggest assets is It's my reputation. I feel like you may not like me. You may hate me.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
You might find me annoying. But one thing you can't challenge is my reputation. I've never done anyone dirty, ever. I've never backstabbed anyone. I've never said I'm going to do something and not done it. And my brands have to hold up that same ethos.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
We actually have a fire in a brief Bible, a handbook. to do's and don'ts and especially now because you know the vision of fire in the booth has gone from being uh a feature on a radio show to being a global brand you know obviously now we're of apple you know one of the biggest companies in the world who i believe share the same ethos as we do in terms of vision in terms of content consumption um
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
I mean, it's, you know, it goes from camera setup to edits, colours to use, right through to how artists are treated once they arrive, communication with teams.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
Yeah, I feel like, you know, I feel there's times when I've not released a final booth and an artist later on has gone on to thank me. Because, you know, it's a big moment in an artist's career. And I feel like if it doesn't do you justice, it's not about me. It's not about why I think this is going to do well for the final booth brand.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
Like anytime I have a conversation with an artist and they say to me, do you think it's good? I can't sit there and lie to the artist's face and say, yes, it's okay. I'm going to be like, you could do better. If you want to come back and go again, we can. If not, let's just park it off for now and come back to it at a later date. And there's been so many that have not gone out.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
But that's because I felt it's not a good reflection on them. Not on the brand. Because no one's going to, you know, attack the brand as much as they would the artist. There's one of the biggest artists in the world right now, Stephen. One of the biggest. Globally. who come in to do a final booth. And I can't tell you how excited I was for this moment, even though it was a few years ago.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
They were still a big artist then, but they won because they are now. And they came in and done their final booth. And, you know, everyone was excited and we were prepared for it. And they came in and it was possibly one of the worst final booths I've ever recorded. And I could see that the artist was quite excited by their performance.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
And, you know, they was like, oh, when are we going to release it? And in my mind, I'm thinking, is this just me? Is it because I expected here and they delivered here that I'm judging this? And they're talking to me and their mouth's just moving and I'm processing all this information in my head because I'm like, I don't want to lie to the artist. I don't want to be disrespectful to the artist.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
All this information is swirling in my head. And I was like, I'm going to go back and listen to the final booth. Give me 10 minutes. So I went back into the studio, replayed it. And this is garbage. This is garbage. So I chatted to the producer at the time. I was like, how's best to handle the situation? I don't want to go out and say that this is not going to go out.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
But at the same time, I want to give them the opportunity to redo it while they're here, while they're in the country. And regretfully, I didn't do that. I didn't go out and give the artist the opportunity to do it again. I was like, you know what? I'm just going to say that it's not going out. And... For me, that was a bad decision. I look back at that now and it was a bad decision.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
But it just weren't good enough. It weren't good enough. And there's so many artists that have come through and not performed. But again, like I said, some that have called me at a later date and said, you know what? I appreciate you not putting that final brief out. Let's go again. Why do you regret that decision? Because...
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
In hindsight, I could have given them the opportunity to record it again there and then. But because I had no faith in the situation, I was like, I'm not going to waste their time and I'm not going to waste my team's time. I just think it's best that we kind of keep it moving. But now, on reflection, I should have given them the opportunity to do it again.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
You know, and there's comments all the time saying, I've spoke about this before, where people are like, release it. Release the Friday Booth. This person is huge right now. We've got sign-off on it. We can release it. But I just wouldn't. You know, I don't do things for that reason. I'm not going to shit on the artist now.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
Put something out that I thought was shit back then and put it out now for views. It's counterproductive. It goes against everything that I say and stand for. So it will never come out.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
And I think... It has integrity. But I think because you have integrity, I think because you have integrity, you install your morals into the brand. And this brand is a reflection of you. I think like pretty much everything you do speaks about you as a person because I feel like I'm the same. I feel like if it challenged my morals...
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Moment 192: The Fire In The Booth That Would Have Destroyed My Brand: Charlie Sloth
I wouldn't want to do it because I'd be like, well, that's not a real reflection of me. Why am I going to invest my time or my money, my energy into something that doesn't represent me? And I feel like my team, you know, I have an amazing team, do an incredible job of managing the expectations of all of the brands that I'm involved with. And I don't even have to say it no more.