EQUATE Meets The Founders Of DLT Brunch
"We don't always have the luxury to plan weeks in advance, sometimes it's one week, three days, four days."
What started with an idea in New York, soon turned into a vision and swiftly after, Days Like This Brunch became a reality. Born from the founders Michael Amusan, Bosun Apata and Anthony Iban, the trio initially met at University - whilst doing an internship in the Big Apple, they were fascinated by the huge offer of day time experiences and vibrant brunches and soon discovered a gap in the market back in London.
Their first ever event with 200 people in Peckham sold out already, and the rest is history. Now, DLT Brunch have collaborated with the likes of Soho House, EMI, Live Nation and Box Park, and worked work with artists including Julie Adenuga, WSTRN, Ms Banks and So Solid Crew. But if that wasn’t already impressive enough, they have also sold out brunches and parties on a global scale - most recently in Nigeria, Ghana and Ibiza. Tickets are always selling out in minutes, and there’s no doubt that soon, DLT will be a recognised brand worldwide.
We spoke to Anthony and Michael about their journey so far.
Read the full interview below..
EQ: How did you guys all meet and eventually decide to start a business together?
A: We all met at University. Me and Michael bumped into each other at a party, and really got on with each other and then just started being friends since 2019. Then we all went off to New York together for an interview and saw all these brunch parties happening in New York, and thought we could do this in London so we thought we could just give it a go. And that’s how DLT started.
EQ: Why did you call it Days Like This?
M: We knew the concept and had the venue and then we were like what are we gonna call it? And then we came up with names. And then Anthony said ‘Days Like This‘ and that was it.
A: The name captured the vibe we were after, we wanted it to be.a really memorable day so I think ‘Days Like This‘ made the most sense. And also there’s a song called ‘Days Like This’ and it tied in with the whole thing.
EQ: Biggest challenges to first spread the word out here? What did you do to gain people’s attention?
M: A lot of it was begging people to come to the first event, haha, our friends, our wider circles. We were like ‘come, it’s gonna be great’. A lot of it was word of mouth for the first few events, and then we jumped on social media which spread the word a little bit and got us a bigger audience. It was tough but to be fair, it did sell out and we did have a few hundred people there. The biggest challenge was getting venues. The first venue we used was run by someone with a similar background and they were a bit more welcoming with giving us access.
It was quite tough though to find venues that would be open to the kind of music and the clientele that would be there, and at the time there were lots of stereotypes around Black music so it was tough. We both worked in banks, and I remember there were times when we had to sent emails from our work emails and then when we got to the venue and were like ‘it’s no corporate event actually, it’s this party with this many people and this kind of music’. Some of them would say no and some of them would say yes. So that was definitely the biggest challenge at the time and still is now. There are great venues now that we have worked with that have opened their doors to us because we built our reputation over the years.
EQ: How did you juggle setting it all up whilst working full time?
A: I started off in investment banking and then transitioned all the way to music. I work in music publishing now, based off the success with DLT. We literally live on our phones and what makes it really good is that we’re friends anyway and converse all the time anyway. We just had to, I guess, be smart, and like not drink on a Sunday when you got work on a Monday.
EQ: How far in advance do you plan an event?
A: It depends really. Michael, do you remember the time when we had an event on a Sunday and planned it on a Monday?
M: So when we were in lockdown, it was the first lockdown, and then they finally let us out, we were in two minds. We wanted just stick to our original format and don’t really want this whole sitting down vibe. But I think, credit to Anthony, we pushed ourselves because when will we know when to party again? I’m the pessimist and Anthony is the optimist in the group. I’m just like ‘man this is not enough time’. But the same day I put a meeting in my diary and went to the venue and organised everything. Got the artwork the next way and we were partying on the Sunday. It literally just depends on what’s available. We don’t always have the luxury to plan weeks in advance, sometimes it’s one week, three days, four days.
EQ: What’s been your most memorable DLT event so far then?
A: I think me and Michael are gonna have two different opinions on this, because there was one where he wasn’t at. My most memorable one was in Ghana. We’ve done a DLT in Ghana where he wasn’t at and we were terrified we didn’t sell but we had like two and a half thousand people at the venue, and 600 people trying to come in. The whole of Ghana, especially Accra, was talking about us. It was a full day, there even were fireworks.
M: Yeah, so I’ve had two. There was one we did with The Compozers. We always wanted to mix all three elements of party, food and live music. So that was the first time we implemented it, and The Compozers have done an amazing performance. The other one would be Boxpark Croydon in December 2019, I was in Lagos a few days before. It was our New Years party with So Solid Crew and Anthony and the other team would be in Ghana a day after, so it was DLT, DLT, DLT. It was a busy week.
“We’ve done a DLT in Ghana and we were terrified we didn’t sell. But we had like two and a half thousand people at the venue, and 600 people trying to come in.”
EQ: You’ve also expanded the brand internationally, when did you realise that there may be an opportunity for that abroad as well?
A: I think there was a time in 2019 when we had a lot of momentum and were selling out in minutes and we did an event in Ibiza as part of a collective, and had a really great response. And then I had an epiphany moment and said to Michael, let’s go to Africa.
M: I was like, you’re crazy bro!
A: And we were like, ‘how are we gonna do it’. And I’m always scared something might go wrong but nothing has yet. So we were speaking to some people and discussed whether it was feasible or not and they were like nah your brand is strong enough to do it. So we just made some contacts. I just got made redundant from my banking job and had all this free time so I booked a flight to Africa, to see the venues etc.
EQ: Did you have any contacts there already?
A: My friends knew people but the first time I landed in Nigeria and Ghana it was so random. One of the guys from the bar we used in Ghana had to write me a recommendation for a Ghanaian visa and we had never met each other, it was the most random thing ever.
EQ: Is there any other country you want to expand to in the future?
M: I think New York. It makes sense to go where it started. Hundred percent.
EQ: What is your ultimate goal for DLT?
A: I guess the pandemic has made us re-strategise a little bit, I feel like we have a brand that could really connect people together. So if we are in and out of lockdowns in the future, in terms of marketing and the brand we are gonna look at more than parties. I think we have proved that we have something special.
Listen to their playlist below to get into the mood for their next event!
Keep up with DLT on socials
Instagram: @dltbrunch
Twitter: @dltbrunch
Website: http://dltbrunch.co.uk/