Part 1: Why creativity, community and digital thinking still matter in business
As I write this, I’m looking out over the coastline at Saunton Sands. The sea is almost motionless, the sky is cloudless, and on days like this it’s easy to understand why so many creative businesses choose to make Devon to be their home.
People often assume that if you’re building something ambitious-whether it’s a technology company, a manufacturing business or, in my case, a rock band-you eventually have to gravitate towards London.
The last few months have convinced me that assumption deserves to be challenged.
Earlier this year, I launched Good Vibes Rollercoaster, an independent rock collective built around a simple idea: create uplifting music with world-class musicians and use digital platforms to reach audiences directly. We had no record label, no management company and no major marketing budget. What we did have was a clear vision, a strong brand proposition and an understanding of how modern audiences discover content.
Five months later, that experiment has grown beyond anything we anticipated. Since launching at the end of March, the band has attracted more than 800,000 YouTube views, over 46 thousand subscribers, more than two million cross-platform views and over 500 playlist additions worldwide.
The interesting question isn’t simply how those numbers were achieved: It’s why Devon, where I was raised in Torquay and Paignton, and where I spend so much family time, has been such an important part of that.
For decades we’ve accepted the idea that creative industries naturally cluster in major cities. There are obvious advantages: access to labels, agencies, media and investors. Yet the digital economy has quietly rewritten many of those rules.
Today, audiences don’t care where music is made. They care whether it connects.
Our latest music video might be viewed in São Paulo, Chicago or Tokyo within minutes of release, but much of it was filmed across Devon. Earlier releases celebrated Newton Abbot, Scoriton and Dartmoor, while recording sessions took place between the studios Are Friends Electric in Devon and Echotown Dorset, with much of the band spread between the two counties. Rather than disguising where we came from, we made our roots part of the band’s identity. That decision wasn’t accidental.
One of the advantages of building a creative business in Devon, while working across the wider South West, is perspective. There is space here to think strategically. For me, the landscapes of Croyde and Dartmoor, to which I frequently return encourage reflection rather than constant reaction, and in an attention economy where everyone is trying to be louder, clarity becomes a competitive advantage.
Ironically, many of the same principles I learned during three decades working in international technology have proved equally relevant in music.
People often ask whether launching a band is completely different from building a business. In truth, it isn’t. Both begin with understanding your audience rather than your product. Both require consistency rather than occasional brilliance. Both depend on creating something distinctive enough that people choose to recommend it to others. And perhaps most importantly, both require resilience.
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Every entrepreneur knows that growth rarely happens in a straight line. Some ideas succeed immediately; others need refining. Markets evolve. Algorithms change. Customers surprise you.
Music is no different.
When we released our fifth single, I Don’t Care, it marked a significant departure from our earlier sound. Inspired by my own experience of ADHD, the song explores individuality, creativity and learning not to be constrained by other people’s expectations.
From a commercial perspective, changing direction always carries risk. But innovation usually does. Businesses that never evolve eventually become irrelevant. That lesson applies whether you’re designing software, manufacturing products or writing songs.
Another assumption we’ve challenged is the idea that independent means small. Our collective brings together musicians whose careers have included Primal Scream, Jethro Tull, Tom Jones and the Italian Toscanini Orchestra, alongside engineering talent from EchoTown Studios and mastering at Abbey Road. Yet the project itself remains proudly independent.
Increasingly, that’s becoming a viable business model across the creative industries. Technology has dramatically lowered barriers to market entry. The challenge is no longer distribution; it’s differentiation. For Devon, that’s an encouraging prospect.
The county already possesses extraordinary creative talent across digital, design, media, film, food and tourism. For anyone building a creative business in Devon, that growing pool of talent and expertise creates opportunities to collaborate locally while reaching customers and audiences much further afield. If we continue investing in skills, collaboration and infrastructure, there’s every reason why businesses here can compete internationally while remaining rooted locally.
In our own small way, Good Vibes Rollercoaster hopes to contribute to that story. We’ve deliberately chosen to showcase Devon in our videos, collaborate with local businesses and celebrate the landscapes that inspire our work. Every international view is, in a sense, an export-not just of music, but of place.
As we continue this column over the coming months, I’ll share more of what it’s like building an independent creative venture in today’s economy: the opportunities presented by digital platforms, the realities of audience growth, the lessons learned from success and failure, and why I believe regional businesses can think much bigger than geography sometimes suggests.
Because if there’s one thing this journey has reinforced, it’s that ambitious ideas no longer need a London postcode.
Sometimes all they need is a clear vision, an internet connection…and perhaps a view of the sea from a clifftop in Devon.
🎵 Listen on Spotify
For more background on the project, Devon Business News previously explored how I used my marketing and technology experience to grow Good Vibes Rollercoaster, including the strategy behind the band’s rapid early growth. See: How a Devon marketing executive turned Good Vibes Rollercoaster into one of YouTube’s fastest-growing independent bands.
Matt Walton
Matt Walton is a technology and business leader with more than 30 years’ experience in digital transformation, marketing and technology. Raised in Devon, he has held senior roles including Chief Technology Officer, Head of Digital and Transformation Director, working with major organisations including M&S, Sainsbury’s, BP, Virgin and Vodafone. He is the founder of independent rock collective Good Vibes Rollercoaster, where he applies his experience of branding, digital strategy and audience development to building a global music project with strong roots in Devon and the wider South West.
