Residence New York City Name Rocco Gardner Website www.esca.pe | Nationality British | |
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Born 21 June 1979 London, England | ||
Occupation Entrepreneur, musician | ||
Rocco Gardner is a British-born entrepreneur and musician based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is the owner of the experiential brand Escape and a production company, Escape Productions LLC in New York City.
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Early life and education
Rocco Gardner was born Roland Gardner on 21 June 1979 in London to British entrepreneur Alison Gardner. He is the godson of the late Jaime Ortiz-Patino, owner of Valderrama Golf Club and former Chairman of the World Bridge Association.
Gardner attended Summer Fields School and Radley College in Oxford before earning a Bachelor of Arts with Honors from the University of Bristol in 2003. During college, he served as an intern at IMG.
Early business career
In 1997, Gardner worked the Ryder Cup as Assistant to the President of the Club. In 2001, Gardner launched Studentism.com, an early social media network connecting students.
In 2004, he founded Sidewalk 7 Limited in the United Kingdom. Initially founded as a company to act as the vehicle for Gardner's projects and creative ventures, it expanded to a business including a record label, an artist management company and event production agency. Sidewalk 7 Limited released over thirty titles internationally from acts including Winter Roberts, This is Radio Freedom, Jim Kroft, Al Catraz, Billy Vincent and The Blue Eyed Shark Experiment. The company successfully managed campaigns on behalf of artists and garnered radio play on the BBC, television coverage on MTV and widespread college recognition in the United States. The company also booked talent as a specialist for the Spanish Government via UK artist agencies including CAA, WME, XRAY and ITB. Sidewalk 7 Limited's artist bookings included the Chemical Brothers, Madonna, and The Rolling Stones.
Escape
In 2009, Gardner founded his newest company, Escape Productions LLC, giving birth to the brand Escape. Escape Productions now serves as Gardner's production company. Gardner serves as CEO and Creative Director, Head of Strategic Business Development, and Manager of Tribal Relations.
Rancho V
Escape's west coast headquarters is Rancho V near Palm Springs, a private 40-acre ranch in the high desert of Pioneertown, California near the renowned music venue Pappy and Harriet’s and 15 miles from Joshua Tree National Park. It functions as a retreat for musicians, photographers, artists and others which serves as a respite from modern living. It houses a state-of-the-art music recording studio and provides a desert landscape for photos shoots. Rancho V has been visited by major label artists The Pierces, Vogue Italia, Eagles of Death Metal, Peaches, the Smirnoff Sound Collective, and author Neil Strauss.
Festivals
Escape for Good
In 2012, Gardner created the Escape for Good series in partnership with New York marketing firm Sunshine Sachs. It is a charity race over 36 hours where contestants travel with no money in support of their favourite cause.