The Bang behind the show

Usually when a show is coming to town, it is common for us to focus our attention on the artist. This time we decided to interview one of the folks operating behind the scenes.

Charleston native Ben Corum of INkahootz Presents has been racing around promoting Sunday's show at the Music Farm: Chiddy Bang. The event has been at the top of Corum's big brain since the show was announced in early July.

Rather than us just telling you about the upcoming concert, we figured we'd let Corum talk about the show and INkahootz before he headed back into the sweltering Charleston heat.

Q: Tell me a bit about the show at the Music Farm.

A: Chiddy Bang is making a stop there on Sunday. It's them with a few other artists, like 2am Club, Donnis and XV. It's all part Chiddy Bang's "Swelly Life" tour. The lineup is pretty good. Chiddy has a song out right now, "Opposite of Adults," that is getting a lot of attention. It helps that the song samples MGMT's "Kids." Virgin is releasing the album. I know Q-Tip from Tribe Called Quest is handling some of the production. There's Donnis, he's an ATL emcee that has gotten a lot of press for his song, "Gone." XV is like one of the greatest rappers you've never heard of. He's from Kansas, man. Out there in Kansas and making nice lyrics. And then the other act, 2am Club, is six members doing music that blends hip-hop, funk and rock. They put on a good show.

Q: Who else is involved with putting the show together?

A: Travis Holland from Night Vizzion has been a big help. ... He's the main man. Pinecone Productions has been great as well. They've been a big help in getting the word out as well.

Q: How long have you been doing this?

A: Promoting shows? About a year. I used to manage Merch Underground, the Music Farm box office, until we closed shop last month. I have a lot more time to focus on this side of things since then. I help out the booking agents a bit more as well. It's not a job per se, but it's definitely giving me more experience. I first started helping with All-In Entertainment, the company that books shows for the Farm. INkahootz has acted like a kind of liaison between the Farm and the C of C students and getting the news out there.

Q: So what all are you doing out there to promo the show?

A: Let's see ... fliers, posters, blogging about it, doing the Facebook thing, of course. I mean, I and the two other guys who do INkahootz, Lee and Gordo, have even been out there with the actual physical tickets and sell them on the spot. It's basically whatever we can do. You are out there trying to convince people that this show and every other show are worth their time and money. There never seems to be enough time to do it all.

Q: Are you anxious?

A: You're always a little anxious, but when the time gets tighter and the show date gets closer, things can get a bit chaotic. Since school is not back in, we don't know what's in store for us. Summer can be pretty difficult.

Q: Have you ever found yourself having to improvise?

A: It's not uncommon. Awhile back we had an outside show, but were having trouble getting a big enough stage, and the budget was stretched real thin, so in the end, we just built a stage of our own.

Q: Do you have any future plans for INkahootz?

A: We have monthly festival type shows out at Trophy Lakes. That's been going pretty well. ... Ben Gordo handles a bit of the business end. He was a business major, and he's dead serious about all this. We even have a business plan to map out everything. (Laughs) We definitely want to make this work. We have some good people helping us out. John Marzuola of Pinecone has helped us make some connections. He's got an eye for what moves and pays real close attention to the charts.