Guilty Pleasures

Sean Rowley began his DJ career in the mid-1990s, touring with notable artists such as Paul Weller and Oasis. His early work involved creating the radio show ‘All Back to Mine’, which aired on BBC Radio 1 on Christmas Day 1997. This show featured him exploring the record collections of various music-loving celebrities, including The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, Damon Albarn, and Noel Gallagher. The program’s success led to a television adaptation on Channel 4 in 1998, running for two series and featuring guests such as Lemmy from Motörhead, Gil Scott Heron, Moby, and James Dean Bradfield.

Rowley further expanded his media presence by presenting the 13-part BBC TV series ‘Head to Toe’ in 2000, which explored the history of modern menswear. By 2001, he was hosting a weekly show on BBC Radio London for eight years. In 2009, this show moved to BBC Kent, where he received the silver Sony Radio Academy Award for Music Broadcaster of the Year in 2012. It was during his BBC London radio show that Rowley conceived the ‘Guilty Pleasures’ concept, aiming to reconsider songs often deemed unfashionable but genuinely loved by many.

This ‘Guilty Pleasures’ concept evolved into a highly successful club night, initially holding a monthly residency at KOKO in Camden Town. The brand expanded to include five compilation albums, a dedicated radio show on BBC London 94.9, and a television show on ITV1 hosted by Fearne Cotton, featuring established artists performing cover versions of ‘Guilty Pleasures’ favorites. Rowley has subsequently hosted and DJ’d at events globally, headlining stages at major UK festivals such as Glastonbury, Latitude, The Big Chill, and Bestival. In 2016, Rowley co-founded the Mighty Hoopla festival, an event that brings together various pop brands and has grown from a weekend event at Butlins to a two-day festival in Brockwell Park, London, featuring headliners like Years & Years, TLC, Chaka Khan, and Sugababes.