![\"Music](\"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/files\/2017\/06\/WGM_CENTTRIP_300x250-2.gif\" "\\"Music")
<\/i><\/a><\/figure>It\u2019s Coachella 2024 and Sam Denniston has a problem.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe Verdigris Management founder is watching his clients Jungle smash their set on the Outdoor Theatre stage, but an issue with the side screens has sent him off to find the festival\u2019s production manager. Except he can\u2019t get to where he needs to go, because of a huge security presence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, \u2018I need to get through\u2019,\u201d he chuckles. \u201cAnd then I clocked Taylor Swift dancing with her huge boyfriend and was like, \u2018OK, I get it!\u2019 Donald Glover was in the audience as well \u2013 it was pretty cool\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Denniston is getting used to rubbing shoulders with A-listers. After 11 years of operating happily under the radar, Jungle and their manager are suddenly gaining access to the industry\u2019s inner sanctums.<\/span><\/p>\n Certainly, the campaign for Jungle\u2019s fourth album, Volcano<\/i>, has been remarkable by any standards, let alone those of a veteran dance music act that has always done things its own way.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, they won their first ever BRIT Award (Best Group) and played live at the ceremony on prime-time Saturday night ITV, and were then asked back for more on The Jonathan Ross Show.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Their smash hit single, Back On 74<\/i>, has flown past 225 million streams and 7.1 billion TikTok views, while cracking sales, Spotify and Shazam charts everywhere from the UK to New Zealand and most points in between (including Costa Rica, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Lithuania and Peru).<\/p>\n They now have over 14m Spotify monthly listeners and over 750,000 Instagram followers. They have their own Fortnite<\/i> emote and a massive GAP sync\/brand partnership, featuring superstar Tyla recreating the Back On 74<\/i> video moves. And they\u2019ve sold out venues across Europe, Australasia and America (including Red Rocks), with their biggest ever UK show coming up at London\u2019s O2 Arena in September.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re talking 11 years of meticulous planning, hard work and constantly touring.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cWhen a lot of artists blow up, the public perception is that it\u2019s an overnight success,\u201d Denniston says as he welcomes MBUK<\/i> into Verdigris HQ, hidden behind an anonymous door on a Shepherd\u2019s Bush side street. \u201cBut I\u2019ve been working with Jungle literally since day one \u2013 we\u2019re talking 11 years of meticulous planning, hard work and constantly touring the globe. It feels great but, dare I say it, well-deserved after a lot of hard work\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Denniston has certainly put a shift in. He grew up in Putney, South-West London and went to an arts-friendly school that encouraged his interest in music. Further inspiration came from his dad\u2019s funk\/R&B record collection and his mother\u2019s mission to help opera reach a more diverse audience by broadcasting performances to outdoor audiences via big screens.<\/p>\n Enthralled by the 2000s indie-rock explosion \u2013 Kings Of Leon, The Libertines and Razorlight \u2013 he set his heart on an artist career, only to discover he was a \u201ctruly terrible songwriter\u201d. Instead, he joined production company Blink Productions, working on video shoots and running errands, until he met Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland.<\/p>\n At the time they were in five-piece indie rockers Born Blonde and smarting from an ill-fated major label deal. Denniston recommended they try a new direction \u2013 three of the band weren\u2019t interested, but Lloyd-Watson and McFarland listened and, between them, they developed the Jungle concept.<\/p>\n Two successful albums on XL followed before they left the indie label, signed with AWAL and headed for the stratosphere.<\/p>\n Denniston has been there every step of the way, going to every show, anywhere in the world in the early years \u2013 despite a rare neurological autoimmune condition that means he has to visit hospital every two weeks for intravenous treatment.<\/p>\n \u201cWe became a very tight trifecta,\u201d says Denniston. \u201cEvery decision would be made between the three of us and, more often than not, we could move forward very quickly because the three of us were thinking the same thing at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n Jungle\u2019s line-up has since been supplemented by Lydia Kitto \u2013 whose songwriting prowess Denniston credits with making a huge impact, not least on Back On 74 <\/i>\u2013 while Charlie Di Placido\u2019s creative work with Lloyd-Watson on Jungle\u2019s videos and the GAP campaign, is also cited as key to their success.<\/p>\n\n
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