'Going from Strength to Strength': Finely Tuned Founder Reflects on 20 Years at the Heart of Live Music
The Music Network caught up with Finely Tuned's founder Simon Beckingham to reflect on what has been built over the past 20 years.
At a time when live music feels more essential than ever, the Finely Tuned team - responsible for Lost Paradise and new event series The Works among other things - is continuing to create spaces where people can gather, move and connect.
The trailblazing dancefloor curators are now celebrating 20 years in the business, off the back of a record-breaking summer.
Founded in 2006 and based in Bondi, Finely Tuned have spent two decades building and curating culture-led live music and event experiences nationwide, from events such as We Love Sounds Festival, Knotfest, AGWA Yacht Club, Lost Sundays, Above, and Paradise Club, to large-scale brand activations through their agency, LAYERS.
The Finely Tuned team has presented headline shows and national tours with a wide range of internationally respected artists as well as homegrown heroes, including Black Coffee, Dom Dolla, Caribou, Lola Young, Interplanetary Criminal, Peggy Gou, DJ Boring, Job Jobse, Bicep, Fish56Octagon, Carl Cox, Jeff Mills, and Cub Sport, among many others.
The Music Network caught up with Finely Tuned's founder Simon Beckingham to reflect on the scale of what has been built of 20 years, and the demand for what comes next.
Reporting from inside the Australian music business since '94.
The Music Network: Celebrating 20 years while rolling out a massive 2025 Lost Paradise and debuting The Works feels significant. Was that timing intentional, or a coincidence?
Simon Beckingham: We’ve wanted to present a series of shows at Carriageworks for a few years now. It’s such a special venue, its bones really honour its industrial history. Being able to layer contemporary production into a space like that is something you simply can’t do anywhere else in Sydney, which is what makes The Works unique. Knowing our twentieth anniversary was approaching definitely drew a line in the sand and gave us the push to finally bring the project to life.
Twenty years ago, what was Finely Tuned’s mission - and has it changed?
Our mission back then was simple: to create experiences that people love. I don’t think that’s changed at all. As straightforward as it sounds, it demands a lot. As we’ve evolved, that mission has meant constantly raising the bar, across artist bookings, production, creative design, site layouts, infrastructure and everything in between, to ensure every event feels genuinely special.
Lost Paradise continues to grow while so many festivals are disappearing. How important is it to protect an event like this? Would you ever consider moving it from the New Year’s period to fill a gap elsewhere in the calendar?
Lost Paradise is going from strength to strength, and that’s a reflection of the passion and thought that goes into every element of it. We’re facing a good problem, we need to increase capacity. Tickets sold out in just a few days last year, with around 8,000 people on the waiting list.
That said, our ambition is to keep it across the New Year’s period and grow it carefully while maintaining its boutique feel. If it becomes too big, it risks losing the sense of community that makes Lost Paradise so special.
The Works feels like a very personal project. What inspired its launch, and what do you hope it becomes?
I grew up in Manchester and was lucky enough to experience some of the first warehouse parties back in 1988. There was something incredibly powerful about hearing electronic music in raw, industrial spaces. That magic still holds today, especially with venues like Printworks capturing people’s imagination globally.
We wanted to take that ethos and elevate it through programming and production, delivering a series of shows that Sydney simply hadn’t experienced before. I think we achieved that. At its core, it’s about the same ethos that drew me to dance music decades ago: bringing people together in unique settings, losing inhibitions, and dancing with a feeling of unity.
With several major events falling away, do you see Finely Tuned stepping in with more new concepts?
Absolutely. Given it’s our twentieth birthday, we’ve got plenty of ideas and ambitions. One of those is a new series called 'Forma', which we’re rolling out in late November. It’s still evolving, so I won’t say too much just yet, alongside that, there are a few other treats and surprises planned for the year.
Longer term, we’re keen to launch a new camping festival. NSW feels underserved in that space, and there’s something uniquely magical about camping festivals that forms part of our DNA.
What can the industry do to better support festivals and large-scale events right now?
These events play a crucial role, they act as anchor shows for artist tours and benefit the entire ecosystem. The real challenge is access to unique spaces. NSW still lacks enough event-ready spaces, and that’s where councils and government support could make a meaningful difference.
Finally, if you look into the crystal ball - where do you see Finely Tuned in another 20 years?
It’s hard to predict where the industry will be in twenty years, let alone one company. What I do believe is that live experiences will continue to grow in importance, and those who can deliver truly unique events will thrive.
That’s where Finely Tuned has always found its sweet spot. We’re a passionate team of music lovers, and my hope is that we continue doing what we do best, remaining relevant, authentic, and deeply connected to the culture.
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Reporting from inside the Australian music business since '94.
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