The conference will feature well-known personalities in the metal music industry, including musicians, metal label CEO’s, A&R reps, tour managers, agents, promoters and music journalists. They will participate in discussing a variety of topics, which will include:

• Why labels sign bands & why they may or may not be interested in yours.
• Touring till you break up or break-out; how to survive the road
• Landing tours, and planning your own; what you need to know.
• Promoter Panel: live show stage etiquette & working with promoters
• DIY tips on promoting your band and getting your music heard.
• Getting paid for your music, SOCAN, radio play and iTunes.
• When do you need a manager, a lawyer, and an agent?
• For Gear Nerds: what’s new in the world of gear?
• Recording Clinic: Best tips for DIY recording of guitar, bass and vocals
• Recording Clinic: Best tips for DIY recording of drums
• The Producer Panel: Tips from some of the best producers in Metal
• How fewer label signings affect your chances of getting ahead as a band.
• Private “mentor sessions” with the speakers and panellists.
• And more...

Ticket prices have been announced and are available for purchase online. You can either attend the conference as a separate event for $50, or you can bundle it with a festival pass.

Click here for ticket prices.

Who are the Speakers and Panellists?

In Alphabetical Order:
(More Speakers Coming Soon!)

Tom 'Angelripper'	Tom Angelripper, aka Thomas Such, is the founding member, songwriter, bassist and vocalist for the legendary thrash band, SODOM. Sodom is considered one of the "big three" of Teutonic Thrash metal, and legend has it that Tom started the band in an attempt to escape certain fate as a coal miner in his home town. With inspiration coming from Motorhead, Saxon, Venom and Tank, Tom wrote music and lyrics that reflected social, political, and war themes, and led the band to international acclaim. With 13 Sodom discs under his belt, numerous band line-up changes, and involvement in entertaining side projects, Tom Angelripper remains one of the most engaging and enduring figures in metal today.
Jon Asher	Jon Asher is a Music Publicist known for being a regular fixture on the Montreal metal scene and is the founder of Asher Media Relations whose motto is "Creative Publicity for Creative People". Coming from a musician’s life himself and being a McGill graduate in public relations. Asher strongly believes in helping out struggling musicians in getting the attention that they deserve. Names AMR works and has worked with are the following: Reversed Records (Gene Hoglan, Omega Crom, Fattooth), Quo Vadis, Forty Birds, Stareblind, Surefire Machine, Special Ops, October Sky.
Martin Atkins	Martin Atkins is the definition of entrepreneurial activity in cultural arts endeavors, his 30+ years in the music business spans across genres and borders and industries. He is the author of Tour:Smart, a hilarious and deeply persceptive book about how to survive the road. He was a member of Public Image Ltd. and Killing Joke. He founded industrial supergroup Pigface, The Damage Manual, and Murder Inc., and has contributed to Nine Inch Nails and Ministry. He is the owner of Invisible Records and Mattress Factory Recording Studios (est. 1988). He is a Suicide Girls columnist, taught at Columbia College Chicago for six years and currently teaches Madison Media Institute. Martin is a producer, drummer, documentary film maker, DJ, and father of four. Most recently, he started his own entrepreneurial school Revolution Number Three. Whatever the future of music is, you can pretty much bet that he’ll be in the middle of it.
Mira Born	From ICT System Engineer at Maastricht University to Freelance Metal Photographer, Mira Born has no trouble keeping busy. Photographing roughly 30 European metal festivals in a given year for Metalshots.com and eight different metal publications including: Metal Hammer (GER), Terrorizer (UK) and Zero Tolerance (UK, US, AUS), Born includes a fine balance of passions in her life, some of which are being a vintner, flying an ultra light, and farming organically. Born's photography gear consists of: 3 x Canon EOS 400 D. Lenses: Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM, Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5.
Craig Boychuk	Craig Boychuk is a freelance recording engineer based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and has been making records with a wide range of artists for over 11 years. From noise rock, punk, and heavy metal to shimmering indie pop, experimental soundscapes, and chamber music, he is comfortable anywhere between the strange and saccharine. Craig is ideally positioned to nurture and participate in the unique scene that exists in the middle of the prairies, and often travels abroad to work with musicians from across the country. He is the resident recording engineer for the Send + Receive experimental sound festival, and has served time in a number of noisy bands such as Head Hits Concrete, Prague, Archagathus, and The Blasphenaut. Some clients include: Fuck The Facts, KEN mode, Mares Of Thrace, Kittens, Velodrome, Putrescence, Under Pressure.
Tyson Boyd	A graduate of the Grant MacEwan University Arts & Cultural Management program, Tyson Boyd is currently working with the Alberta Music Industry Association.   In addition to promotional activities with the within the heavy metal community in Edmonton and Western Canada, Tyson also freelances services with the promotion companies Union Events, Live Nation & AEG Live.   With a wide range of knowledge of the music industry from grassroots to stadium-levelled talents, you can find Tyson working with and developing the metal community in any way he can. Tyson also was the producer and creator of 2009’s Harvesting Hell Metal Festival that took place in Edmonton.
Chris Bruni	Chris Bruni has a post-grad degree in Public Relations/Corporate Communications, an undergrad degree in Film Studies, and runs Profound Lore Records. Bruni wrote for several metal publications and established a solid contact base which helped build the foundation for Profound Lore. What initially started out as a hobby-label, releasing limited edition vinyl and CD's, turned into something more when Bruni took full control of the company and released Asunder’s “Works Will Come Undone”. Faced with difficulties in the job market, Bruni had the opportunity to make Profound Lore his full-time job. Since then, artists that have helped shape the identity of the label include: Cobalt, Yob, Portal, Krallice, Blood Revolt, Ludicra, Yakuza, The Howling Wind, Coffinworm, Salome, Altar Of Plagues, and The Gates Of Slumber.
Ian Christe	Ian Christe is the author of Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal (2003). He is the publisher of Bazillion Points Books, home of Swedish Death Metal by Daniel Ekeroth; Hellbent for Cooking by Annick Giroux; Touch and Go by Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson; and Only Death Is Real by Tom Gabriel Fischer. Since 2004, he has hosted the weekly Bloody Roots metal history lesson show on Sirius XM satellite radio.
Topon Das	Topon Das has been involved with the underground music scene for over a decade as guitarist and founding member of Ottawa grind metal band Fuck the Facts. Once started as a solo recording project simply trading tapes with people around the world, to eventually touring the world as a full band and releasing albums through various well established labels, Fuck the Facts has always maintained a very ‘Do It Yourself’ work ethic. From self booking tours to independent releases, Topon Das has always had a very hands on approach to every aspect of the bands career.
Tomislav Crnkovic	Tomislav Crnkovic manages a local Calgary music instrument store Axe Music and fronts an up and coming Power Prog band Viathyn. Born into a musical family and exposed to guitar/piano at an early age, he found his passion first in playing instruments and later expanded into recording and production. Recently finishing his first full length album for Octillian, Tomislav has also contributed to other local acts such as Divinity, Caveat, Exit Strategy and Nebucadnezzer to name a few. Tomislav is well immersed in the local music community and helps out anyway possible live or in the studio.
Sam Dunn	Sam Dunn is a heavy metal anthropologist. Born in England, he grew up in Victoria, B.C., where he stoked his passion for metal with underground tape trading, playing bass and hosting campus radio. He earned his graduate degree at York University were he published several articles on globalization and won several academic awards. His first documentary film, Metal - A Headbangers Journey was produced along with Scot McFadyen his partner in Banger Films. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and won a Gemini Award for Best Writing in a Documentary. Banger films then released Global Metal, a film on the globalization of metal and underground subcultures; and Iron Maiden: Flight 666, documenting behind the scene lives and concert performances of the band.  Flight 666 screened in over 500 cinemas in 42 countries on World Maiden Day, becoming the largest ever simultaneous documentary release.  This spring, Banger Films released Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, which tells the story of Rush through archival material, interviews with the band members and fans, which ranged from the famous, like Matt Stone (South Park) and Gene Simmons (Kiss), to the fanatical. Dunn is currently filming on location in England.
Eric Greif	Eric Greif has been in & out of the international metal scene in various guises for 30 years. Co-promoter of Milwaukee Metalfest, he produced albums for bands such as Morbid Saint, Invocator, Acrophet and Viogression. Assistant manager of Mötley Crüe at 19, Greif managed the career of genre innovator Chuck Schuldiner and his band Death, taking a break to graduate from the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Law. Current legal clients include Paul Masvidal & Cynic and Hank Shermann & Demonica, and he runs all aspects of Chuck Schuldiner’s intellectual property as President of Perseverance Holdings Ltd. and Mutilation Music (BMI). Eric is an Adjunct Professor at Mount Royal University's Department of Justice Studies.
Evan Harting	Since Maryland Deathfest's inception in 2003, festival organizers Ryan Taylor and Evan Harting have continued to bring together some of the most legendary bands in the scene and some of the most talked about up-and-coming bands in the underground for an unparalleled metal experience. Both combine the DIY attitude with a refreshing professional touch, and year after year, the Maryland Deathfest is given high marks for being one of the best run and most organized festivals around. The diversity of the lineup is only surpassed by the diversity of MDF's rabid fan base, who annually travel from all over the world for an unforgettable weekend of metal.
Josh Hogan	Over the past four years, Josh Hogan has become a strong  voice behind the  Canadian East Coast metal scene. Beginning as the vocalist for the metal band Orchid's Curse, Hogan quickly discovered the lack of support for the metal community and formed the Halifax-based metal label Diminished Fifth Records. Through the label and his publicity company Hogan Media Relations,  he has helped  provide exposure and recognition for metal bands on the East Coast. Josh  has spoken at organizations and onferences such as The Halifax Pop Explosion, Noctis III Metalfest, Music Nova Scotia, The ECMA Conferences. His efforts in the music community lead to him being named in The Chronicle Herald's "Top 20, 20-somethings" to watch and he has been featured in such publications as Canadian Musician, The Coast, here[NB] Magazine and the Ryerson Review of Journalism.
Matt Jacobson	Matt Jacobson is the founder of Relapse Records, an independent record label established in the USA. What began 20 years ago as a labour of love in his parents basement, has exploded into one of metal's most renouned labels. With his business partner, he has succeeded in bringing a diverse selection of metal music to fans all over the world including bands like: Incantation, Nile, Dillinger Escape Plan, Suffocation, Mastodon, Voivod, and Necrophagist. Relapse Records will, without a doubt, continue to be at the forefront of extreme music releases for years to come.
Thérèse Lanz	Thérèse Lanz is a nationally-acclaimed musician, visual artist, and writer. A nearly decade-long veteran of the Canadian touring circuit, she has contributed loud growls and evil riffs to numerous acts ranging from punk to grindcore. Her most recent project, the doom two-piece Mares of Thrace, was the number-one metal album on Canadian campus radio in August 2010, and was hailed by Decibel Magazine as "formidable, punishing... startlingly powerful". A bachelor’s degree holder in media studies from the University of Calgary, she has written for publications such as Beatroute and Nerve, and possesses the ability to function on no sustenance other than espresso and Bathory records.
Greg Musgrave	Greg Musgrave has been performing and recording musician for well over a decade in such Calgary metal acts as Stonewater, Blacksky and Caveat and has recorded and released 7 albums over the last 10 years. Currently he contributes bass and vocals for death/grind band Exit Strategy as well as vocals and guitars to progressive metal band Phantom Limb. Greg has also contributed session vocal work for such acts as Kilyakai, Rob Spencer Band and performed on Nuclear Blast recording artists Divinty's debut album Allegory. Greg helps moderate albertametal.net and he also organized the Calgary metal compilation "The Greatest Underground Show on Earth - Volume Two," released in 2008.
Sacha Laskow	Playing guitar in the bands: Divinity, The R.A.C.E., and Enditol , Sacha Laskow is known as one of the most accomplished metal guitarists in Alberta. Those skills are now being showcased to a worldwide audience since his band, Divinity, was signed to Nuclear Blast. Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Sacha enjoys collecting guitars, recording, and teaching guitar which he has done for over a decade. Sasha also is the creative force behind "Broke Bands" (http://www.divinity.ca/brokebands/) a resource to help musicians create great recordings at an affordable cost. It is not all music with Sacha, to balance his days he works in communications; specifically the web/media industry.
Sean Palmerston	Sean Palmerston is involved in both ends of the Canadian metal music scene. By day he is a publicity contact and metal label liason for Sonic Unyon Records and Distribution, the Canadian label for Augury, Rage, Sacrifice, Suicidal Angels and Voivod; and the exclusive Canadian distributor for the Listenable, Moribund, Nuclear Blast, Profound Lore, Southern Lord and Season of Mist labels. By night, Sean is a fanzine editor and radio host, as owner/publisher of Hellbound.ca and co-host of Hellbound Radio every Sunday night on CIOI / INDI 101 in Hamilton, Ontario. He has also written about metal for a number of magazines, including Exclaim!, Vice, Roadburn Online, Unrestrained!, VIEW Hamilton and Metal Maniacs. He lives in Hamilton, ON with his wife, two sons and more metal albums than his house can comfortably hold.
Pamela Porosky	Pamela Porosky is the editor in chief of Pitch Black Magazine, owner of Changeling Photography and a regular contributor to MetalUnderground.com. Her writing and photography has also appeared in a number of internationally distributed print publications, including Guitar Player, Bass Player and Keyboard Magazine. She keeps her own keyboard and vocal chops sharp between assignments with the Calgary-based metal act Gales of Avalon. When not obsessing about music, she is the editor for Canadian Rodeo News, the official publication of the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association, and uses her training as an advanced reiki therapist to treat animals. She is also working on her first book, "For Nadija," a memoir of the Holodomor through the eyes of her great grandfather.
Dan Rozenblum	Dan Rozenblum is a lead agent at The Pantheon Agency. He started booking tours in 1994, starting with his own band, which led him to spending over a decade on tour and then the opening of his own agency, Thunderdome Touring. He simultaneously was the Metal Director at one of the oldest and most prestigious college radio stations in the US, WVFS Tallahassee, as well as having been an independent talent buyer for over a decade and having owned an all ages venue for 5 years. In March of 2010, Dan closed Thunderdome Touring to join The Pantheon Agency, which represents over 100 clients and branded festival tours.
Rob Shallcross	Rob Shallcross is a Juno award winning engineer who has worked on projects with names such as Gene Hoglan, Strapping Young Lad, Darkest Hour, Gwar, Devin Townsend, Meldrum, Fear Factory, Zimmer's Hole, Threat Signal and many more. In addition to all these great names Shallcross has also produced a number of artists such as Omega Crom, Fattooth, Mr. Plow plus many more that are showcased on his label Reversed Records. Reversed Records' sole purpose is to showcase Rob's insanity and provide a home for artists who are crazy enough to endure and encourage his sick mind!
Andy Sneap	Andy Sneap is an English record producer, recording engineer, mixer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is best known for producing and mixing many acclaimed heavy metal albums. Some of his work includes the production of Kreator's Violent Revolution, Megadeth's Endgame, Accept's Blood of the Nations, Machinehead's Through the Ashes of Empires; and the mixing of Opeth’s Deliverance, Killswitch Engage’s Alive or Just Breathing, Testament’s The Gathering, and had had his hand both mixing and producing many Exodus albums. Andy is also the guitarist for the classic thrash metal band Sabbat. Currently he works out of his own studio, Backstage Studios, housed in a converted farm in Derbyshire, which he founded in 1994.
James Stangroom	James Stangroom is a Calgary-based freelance photographer specializing in shooting live music of varying genres. In addition to shooting shows, James is also the Senior Photo Editor for Beatroute Magazine and also provides his expertise to a number of music festivals, artists, bands, and music-related events. James also photographs productions at the Theatre Junction Grand, headshots for actors, and enjoys capturing images of his travels. James is a gear minimalist and shoots with a couple of aging digital Canon bodies and a couple of key lenses - usually the 70-200 f/2.8 IS and the 16-35 f/2.8.
Ryan Taylor	Since Maryland Deathfest's inception in 2003, festival organizers Ryan Taylor and Evan Harting have continued to bring together some of the most legendary bands in the scene and some of the most talked about up-and-coming bands in the underground for an unparalleled metal experience. Both combine the DIY attitude with a refreshing professional touch, and year after year, the Maryland Deathfest is given high marks for being one of the best run and most organized festivals around. The diversity of the lineup is only surpassed by the diversity of MDF's rabid fan base, who annually travel from all over the world for an unforgettable weekend of metal.
J.P. Wood	JP Wood has been involved in the Heavy Metal industry in various capacities for a number of years. He got his start in 1999 by inventing Metal Mental Meltdown, a Heavy Metal trivia board game. His activities have included promotion, marketing, local journalism, hosting various 'Metal Nights' at local bars, and being involved in various metal related events, including a Heavy Metal Blood Drive. JP has contributed to a number of books on the topic of heavy metal over the years. Currently he is co-host of Megawatt Mayhem, one of the world's longest running Heavy Metal radio shows. He is also the Canadian Representative for MusicMight.com, the worlds largest Heavy Metal internet database. If that wasn't enough he is also a Senior Staff writer for Metal-Rules.com, again one of the world's longest running and largest Metal websites. He figures he must have written about 666 CD reviews and doesn't plan to stop any time soon.
Kevin Woron	For 25 years, Kevin has been the man at the microphone for Canada’s longest running Heavy Metal radio show, Megawatt Mayhem on CJSW. His metal cred also includes time as a writer for M.E.A.T. Magazine, Vox, ffwd and the Calgary Straight. Kevin also sang and fronted one of Calgary’s more notorious local bands of the 90’s, Torment’her. He also has worked in the Calgary concert industry and is probably one of a few people on the planet to say he has been the driver for both Tom Araya AND Neil Diamond. When not on air arguing about the value of guitar solos with JP, Kevin spends his time blowing stuff up for fun and profit as a display fireworks supervisor and indoor pyrotechnician (no, I won’t do your show for free…).