Head b*tch in charge
Get ready for volume two of our HBIC panel. We had so much positive feedback, and there are no shortage of incredible women in this industry that deserve to have the spotlight placed on them. We are beyond pleased to present to you with these 5 panelists who have built their careers from the ground up, becoming powerhouses in their fields and a force to be reckoned with. Join us as we discuss the steps each of these women took to get to where they are today. We will focus not on diversity, but rather the strong will and work ethic it takes to reach the level of success that earns the HBIC title. The music industry can be tough and quite cut-throat. These panelists have risen to the challenges we all face in a complex industry where only the strong survive and entitlement should never be presumed.
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Emma Cederblad (SE)
Production Coordinator and Assistant Tour Manager
Emma Cederblad is a Production Coordinator and Assistant Tour Manager with more than 20 years in international touring. She began in the metal world, touring worldwide with Motörhead and Slayer and working in Artist Relations at major rock festivals. She now works across major global productions, including tours for Beyoncé and Madonna, with experience ranging from clubs to stadiums, and deep roots in metal touring.
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Silje Wergeland (NO)
Festival Organizer & Musician
Silje Wergeland has worked in the international music industry for more than 25 years as an artist, as a festival organizer and in several artist & music business development centers aiming to support musicians, venues, promoters and other music business in Norway (Music Export Norway, BRAK, AKKS Bergen). She is one of the founders of and general manager of Beyond the Gates-festival, a board member of Vill Vill Vest, USF Verftet and chairwoman of the board in Apollon Records. For 5 years she was partner and general manager of Revelations Music doing management for Dimmu Borgir, Abbath, Gaahls WYRD and more.
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Kim Dylla (US/SE)
Designer, entrepreneur and vocalist
Kim Dylla is a metal costume designer, entrepreneur, and singer hailing from Virginia, USA and Stockholm, SWE. Coming from an Academic background, she took the leap as a full time professional metalhead when she founded her clothing company Kylla Custom Rock Wear in 2012. Singing with Metal bands since 2001, most notably as Vulvatron of Gwar and currently with Ireland's Cruachan, Atlanta's The Burned Over, and Virginia's Ekktoplasm, she strives to
bring her metal aesthetic onto the world's biggest stages as she designs and fabricates unique custom stage wardrobes for metal legends and internationally touring bands.
Photo: Rich Tarbell
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Doris Yeh (TW)
Festival Organizer, Musician & Cultural Entrepreneur
Doris Yeh is a Taiwanese musician, cultural entrepreneur, and festival organizer, co-founder of Megaport Festival and bassist of metal band Chthonic. She balances artistic creation, cultural programming, and large-scale festival operations.
She began by forming a rock club in high school, later managing Formoz Rock Festival in Taipei, and co-founding two independent live music venues, gaining extensive experience in programming, artist booking, and venue management. As the bandleader and bassist of Chthonic, she signed with Spinefarm Records via Universal UK, released multiple albums, earned Golden Melody Award nominations, and performed hundreds of shows across Europe, North America, and Asia. Her international touring included major festivals such as Ozzfest, Wacken Open Air, Download, Bloodstock, Summer Sonic, and Fuji Rock Festival.
Since 2006, Doris has co-founded Megaport Festival, located in Kaohsiung City in southern Taiwan, into the country’s largest music festival. The self-sustaining event features 10+ stages, 100+ domestic and international artists, nearly 70,000 ticketed attendees, and more than 100,000 annual participants including free-area visitors. It combines NGO villages, social issues programming, cross-media collaborations, and 5G remote-synchronized performances, transforming grassroots culture into a pop culture landmark and building a sustainable festival model, boosting Kaohsiung’s cultural visibility and tourism.
Doris also endorses ESP instruments, has published an autobiography, serves on award juries, and participates in international music forums, merging creative work with strategic cultural entrepreneurship.
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MOD: Lina Khatib (LB)
World Metal Congress
Dr Lina Khatib (aka Lina Metalina) started out in Lebanon as a musician and presenter of the country’s only metal music show on national public radio in the 1990s before managing metal bands from the Arab world and then co-founding and co-leading the World Metal Congress, an initiative connecting the global metal community. She is the Lebanon promoter for the Wacken Metal Battle and appears in major metal documentaries including Metallica Saved My Life. She has been a contributor to Metal Hammer (UK) and is a prolific writer and media commentator.