Karli Sample is, without question, the brains of Barney Collins. Her skill and success with journalism, many e-ventures, and her background with a proven successful marketing acumen, makes her the perfect centre of reason in a creative team; where creativity itself can sometimes be it’s own worst enemy. Perfectly paired, she also has an excellent ear for heavy rock and metal, genre’s that Matt is less familiar with. She is shrewd, focused and result driven, she is the Malcolm Maclaren to Downey’s Johnny Rotten and her contributions – and the success they bring to Barney Collins’ clients, speak for themselves.
Matt Downey is a frontman, singer and songwriter who’s had his creative little thumbs in ventures as broad as comedy, musical theatre, production and film. He ran two separate rehearsal spaces (The Pitz) in Sydney for 6 years. These spaces were established as principally Marxist in that they made every effort to NOT make any money from the artists that used them. A long-time performer himself, Downey set out to address the imbalances between musicians/creatives and the self interested industries that seek to exploit them. Having lost a fortune to a landlord, his vision for something less “bricks and mortar” was the catalyst for Barney Collins. Having met Karli while she was in charge of Marketing for a mutual workplace, he recognised immediately that she would provide a level of professionalism and direction to what had been a mere dream to that point. A 3 time ARIA nominee and charting success, his experiences make excellent reference points to trade on for each of Barney Collins clients.
