Dan Rowland

A new arena, chosen deliberately.

With a career in professional athletics behind him, Dan pursued his ambitions in a new arena, attending Newark and Sherwood College for what was, at the time, the only course of its kind in the country to specialise in music industry studies.

A pianist at five, then the man behind the club.

Beginning as a pianist at the age of five before adding drums, guitar and vocals, Dan went on to work in Soho for Sir Terence Conran, at what was the old Marquee Club, known as Mezzo, at 100 Wardour Street, and at Maxwells in Covent Garden, becoming founding mixologist at Europe's first sake bar, which kicked off the brand itsu. Originally launched as Tsu in 1997 by Julian Metcalfe, the Asian-inspired, healthy Japanese food and sake bar concept opened its first location on Walton Street in Chelsea. Dan also hosted at The Tabernacle in Notting Hill.

He went on to take on bar and venue management of Claires, Torquay, the 10-year running Blues & Soul magazine UK Best R&B Nightclub. He has also worked at five-star hotels including The Imperial and the Mandarin Oriental Piccadilly.

Dan went on to found True Guardians of Freedom and Soulasonic, organisations putting on exceptional hybrid live music and DJ events.

Festivals, carnivals and two world records.

That work moved Dan into festival operations management, on staff for major live outdoor events of up to 50,000 people. He was part of the production for live concerts at Powderham Castle for artists including Tom Jones, Jools Holland, Liberty X, Status Quo, Blue, Busted and McFly, alongside the Battersea Park Bandstand sessions, hospitality hosting and venue management for multiple DJs and the Clapham Acoustic Lounge, co-promoting the Balham & Tooting Carnival, and the Perfect Day Festival at Bowood House. Dan has also been part of the stewardship of Port Elliot Festival and, at Henley-on-Thames, took care of two projects at Britain's most valuable private estate, and the launch of The Kennels at The Goodwood Estate.

Dan was part of the F&B at the Kidz Field at Glastonbury Festival with world record holders Music 4 Children, raising thousands for their orphanage in Nepal.

From the stage to the superyacht.

After cutting his teeth in technical sales leadership, as the youngest team leader at Centrica British Gas and Regional Sales Manager of Powergen, Dan returned to high-end hospitality and entertainment management. Under the guidance of his brother Paul, he helped run the famous Smoke Bar Diner and Smoke Rooms in South West London. It was there he was introduced to the world of high-end interior fitting and finishes, the start of what is now a twenty-year career in the industry.

Dan has built and scaled businesses in the luxury interiors sector, specialising in service for ultra-high-net-worth individuals and liaising daily with the world's best architects, interior designers, property developers and general contractors, earning international recognition through award-winning projects across residential, hospitality and superyacht markets, including the bespoke interiors of MY Thumper, built by Sunseeker International and nominated for a 2015 World Superyacht Award, and award-winning luxury residential developments in Ascot, Berkshire. He has also worked extensively on Britain's ultra-exclusive St George's Hill and Crown Estates throughout the Home Counties. Dan oversaw the interior surfaces fit-out of New York's most exclusive private members club, Casa Cruz NYC, during and after the pandemic, and is currently engaged in the Upper West and East Side of Manhattan, at 10,000 ft in Aspen, Colorado, and on Middle and Far East private client works. He is proud to represent Walking On Wood.