4 Rounds With... Mr Mojo Rising

Haha, somebody has been researching Mojofuel via Google/LinkedIn. That ‘about Mojo’ bit on LinkedIn needs updating as does our own website but frankly and thankfully we’ve been a bit busy! I’m also sure I had some misguided SEO reason for describing all the elements of our team/family – that aside, having re-read the description it is a fair description of the people who make up Mojofuel, we are a mixed bunch of multi-skilled individuals who have played the game for long enough to know no one believes the bullshit anyway. The things that matter are relationships, consistent hard work and creative solutions that deliver the goods.

But to really understand Mojofuel you have to take it right back to the beginning. I left Granada Television at the end of 2000 after working on and off in TV for 6 years. The last programme I worked on was This Morning and it was a ‘fat ladies fashion’ item that finally killed my will to work in such a formulaic content production environment. It was truly soul destroying!

Armed with the first of the Sony Pro-sumer cameras the VX1 and a laptop based edit suite that had just been released called Avid Xpress, my mission was to make some money as a freelance video producer! I set up a small company called Visionbomb and the early days were spent filming all sorts. From very dodgy nightclubs in Teesside to posh parties in Ascot. The work started to take me abroad, I explored Turkey for Airtours, did a lot of work in Ibiza for various dance music brands and eventually I ended up in California, working with the likes of Quiksilver and even the US Republican party.

In 2003 Visionbomb became Mojofuel.

You worked closely with SPAM on its online marketing… that must be an interesting client with a real cult following? And do people actually still like SPAM?

We won the Spam work after an introduction by our good friends the Golley Slater Group. Unfortunately after our work was completed they moved all the marketing control back to the US and we haven’t had a brief for a number of months although our site is still live. We still have a joke book in the office that is full of SPAM jokes. Not one of them is funny.

Northern Rail is another client that you work with. My colleague Cameron has a love-hate relationship with theM. He hates them, they love taking his money… Rail operators get a bad press, but what are they like to work with?

We’ve been working with Northern Rail since the franchise began in 2004. Over the years we have filmed across the entire network (the largest in the UK) from ticket offices to engineering depots, on trains and on platforms. Since then we have gone on to work for Serco with the London Light Docklands Railway, Merseyrail and most recently we took over the website for Grand Central Rail.

Once you’re ingrained in the train-operating world you gain a different perspective on transport infrastructure. There are so many contributing factors to each and every line, route and operation. Stakeholders, Community Rail Partnerships, Unions, ATOC, the widest possible demographic mixture of customers, along with the perils of the weather, cows on the line and breakdowns, to name but a few.

The rail companies we work with are technology focused, forward thinking and always willing to listen to our opinion. This makes them great clients who we enjoy working with.

Do you see MojoFuel as a superhero sent to the world to rid it of bad guys and bad design? Tell us a bit more about Mr Mojo? Will he ever, erm, take off?

We were asked to create a character based on a drawing from McCann of “Mr Z” to support the launch of the HP Z series machine. We were one of about 10 agencies from across the UK. Right before it all went public the whole campaign was stopped in its tracks when someone finally realized the character looked just like Pixar’s Mr Incredible in a blue suit (we’d all been saying this from the start!).

Illustrator Duncan Rudd animated the hero and I edited the video and did the sound effects. All of this was out of hours, of course, as we had no budget. The prize was credibility, the hope of winning a HP contract and some new hardware, namely the new machine and a fancy monitor... We all won this in the end.

When it all blew up we were told we couldn’t use the animation in the Mr Z form so Dunc and I decided to stick a silly helmet on him and changed the HP on his top to a Mojo M.

To go back to your question I wouldn’t say I see Mojofuel as a super hero, we’ve always tried to be more like the A Team.

Anyway, Sticking to the superhero theme, you and your agency have been described as likeable, “nice” people! But do the good guys always win?

That’s nice of you to point out and I hope we will always carry that perception. However, to answer your question, NO we don’t always win. Over the last 10 years I have seen backstabbing, bullshit of epic proportion, blagging and backhanders, it’s not a perfect industry. Survival is based on intelligence and tenacity, success is based on relationships (friendships & networking), strong ideas and luck. I wish it was different but each day is a fresh challenge and we have to make sure, above all else, that our clients are looked after.

You created a music video for Tiesto’sBeautiful World. It was screened in front of 150,000 people at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami… That must have been a proud moment? Do you think that more people should dance to your work?

That was a bizarre YouTube clip that was sent to us. It was a proud moment and a very strange feeling in that you knew or at least guessed that not one person in that audience could link what they were seeing on screen to a small agency in Manchester. They were all there to see Tiesto and I tip my proverbial hat to the man for building up such a following, he is the biggest dance music star in the world today.

But we would need to produce music to inspire dance, I can play the piano and my head of production is a classically trained clarinet player but, as yet, we haven’t got round to putting a tune out. I doubt we ever will!

It’s not just Tiesto that you have worked with in the music biz. Through your Gio Goi links you seem to hook up with quite a few rock stars. Do you live a rock 'n' roll lifestyle?

This was the one question my wife laughed out loud about. Once upon a time I did, these days I’m mostly juggling toddlers. It’s true I’ve been very fortunate to work with quite a few rock stars, but prior to Gio Goi it actually all began whilst working for Microsoft. We’ve done many music videos and interviews over the years for MSN but probably the best was producing The Killers Live at Brixton Academy (2006 Sam’s Town Tour).

Does Manchester’s famous swagger lend itself well to working with musicians?

Mojofuel has always had a hand in working brands with bands (or DJs) and Manchester is a perfect city for that. Undoubtedly the city has a great pedigree for music, The Smiths, Joy Division, Oasis etc – I’m not originally from Manchester but it is my home, the swagger you speak of is more about attitude and pride than it is about a way of walking. Does it fit well with musicians? Most definitely!

Tell us something about yourself that most other people wouldn’t know.

I was in the Merchant Navy as a lad, for a very short stint – only a few months but in that time I sailed as far north as Bremen in Germany right down to the South West coast of France and stopped at every country in between. It was only a small ship, carrying cargo like steel. Only the Captain and myself were English! The rest of the crew was Estonian, Serbian and Portuguese. My Dad was ex-Navy and was keen for my brothers and I to understand the meaning of hard work from a very early age.

What do you think of the Manchester agency scene? A good community? Are you a networker… If so, where can you be found on an evening? What’s your tipple? and will you be the last one in the bar?

I used to be a dedicated networker but less so in recent years. The Manchester agency scene is good but we’re not that heavily involved. That said, we do very much keep an eye on what is going on! My favourite pub in Manchester is actually the Jolly Angler, round the corner from our old office. My father’s side of the family is Irish so I have a great love for a good pint of Guinness. When necessary, or if I’m on a mission, I am always the last one in the bar.

What’s the very best thing you have ever done?

Aside from meeting my wife and having fantastic children I would have to say producing the first live streamed interview of the British Prime Minister (Tony Blair) from Number 10 for Microsoft/MSN. The sheer magnitude of the event and the complexity of the set up was a personal achievement I have yet to match.

What’s the plans for MojoFuel, then? Growth and world-domination? Eat your way up the food chain? Or are you content as you are?

We’re pretty content and thankful that we’re busy. World domination would be nice, but not necessary. I’m just very proud of the team we have and I know we have more great things to come.