FROM WARPED TOUR TO GAMES PR: THE UNLIKELY STORY OF DECIBEL-PR


Sam Brace bounces us through his career, from college to Rocket Media to Capcom to Bethesda to THQ to Decibel-PR... with just enough time to strut his stuff on stage along the way!


W


hen I graduated in 1997 with a degree in Music Technology from Rose Bruford College, I quickly


realised there weren’t many jobs waiting for me in the music industry. After a run of temp jobs around London, including delivering film reels and Beta tapes around Soho production houses… I accidentally found my way into videogames PR thanks to a friend who recommended me for a role at Rocket Media. At the time, I’d spent more of university


playing games and drinking than planning a career, but somehow it turned out to be the perfect fit. After making Rich Eddy and Kirsty Payne laugh in the interview, I got the job and began a journey that would eventually take me through Capcom, Bethesda and THQ during one of the most exciting eras in games publishing. At Capcom, I spent seven years rising to UK PR Manager


working on titles including Resident Evil 4, Okami and Devil May Cry. Later came Bethesda during the launch of Fallout 3, touring internationally with Pete Hines demoing the game across Europe, Australia and the US, before eventually moving to THQ to work on WWE and UFC titles. At the same time, music was running parallel to everything. My first


serious band, The Alps, toured extensively and recorded with producer Dave Allen, who worked on The Cure’s early records. But it was my next band, Skinny Lister, that truly changed the direction of my life. What started as pub gigs and festivals escalated into international tours, record deals and eventually a place on the Vans Warped Tour in 2012. THQ had already kindly allowed me time away for an earlier US


tour, but when I asked for another seven weeks off for Warped Tour, understandably the answer was no. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity, so I quit my job and threw myself fully into music. Warped Tour was incredible. We were suddenly playing to thousands


of people every day across America and genuinely thought we might become rock stars. But when the tour ended and reality returned, I found myself unemployed with a mortgage to pay and no real plan.


50 | MCV/DEVELOP July/August 2026


Sam Brace with Skinny Lister at Scala, London, December 2025


That uncertainty inadvertently led to the


creation of Decibel-PR. Around that time, former Psygnosis


and Sony developer Nick Burcombe got in touch looking for PR support on his first iOS game, Table Top Racing. He didn’t have much budget, and I’d never promoted a mobile game before, but we gave it a shot. One of the first calls we made was to Apple, where it turned out the App Store contact handling games was Rob Saunders, formerly Nintendo UK PR Manager during my Capcom years. He invited us in for a demo, loved the game, and shortly


afterwards Table Top Racing secured a two-week App Store Editor’s Choice feature. Back then, that kind of placement could completely transform a project, and the game went on to become a huge success. In the years that followed, Decibel evolved alongside the industry itself,


moving from mobile into console, hardware, music and entertainment projects. Throughout all of it, I was still touring internationally, often writing press releases, pitching previews or taking client calls from the back lounge of a tour bus somewhere in Europe or America. When Covid arrived, my partner Eva and I relocated to her


hometown of Thessaloniki in Greece intending to stay for a few months. Six years later, we’re still there. That period also gave me space to reassess what I wanted creatively and professionally. I stepped away from full-time touring, focused more on my own music, and began building Decibel more seriously. Today, alongside an incredible team including Ali Payne, Jasmine


Koolhoven and Luke Hebblethwaite, Decibel-PR works across games, music, live events and technology, supporting projects ranging from Game Music Festival and BAFTA Games in Concert through to publishers, hardware brands and emerging entertainment projects. More than anything, we’ve tried to build an agency that understands


games no longer exist in isolation. They sit alongside music, creators, communities, live experiences and wider cultural conversations - and that intersection feels more exciting than ever.


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