Review of The Bohicas w/ Return To The Sun + Whitehill Grove @ Electric Circus (7/10/2015)

Written by Liam Dickson @ FEAST
Liam
I wish more bands would take themselves as not-so-seriously as The Bohicas – the passion for performing within a genre you love conveys far more to the listener than squeezing yourself into the earnest-shaped hole you think the public expect. Their second gig in Edinburgh (and coincidentally their second at Electric Circus) was a boisterous let-your-hair-down cure for the midweek blues!
First up tonight, Return To The Sun deliver a top notch set, their more Scots-rock oriented sound standing not in opposition to the bluesy-indie rock of The Bohicas but rather in complementary contrast, a display of the energy of both the north and the south under one roof. The Edinburgh group are doing the rounds in support of their upcoming EP ‘ElevenFiftySeven’ (cool title!) due for release in December; quite a while away but better to have the punters over-hyped and foaming at the mouth rather than under-hyped and indifferent. Turning on a distortion pedal seems like the easiest task in the world but very few really get it right – these guys did, and their heavier sections are glorious! More epic than Rome and tighter than the Tory party budget, they turned in a performance to be proud of. You could listen to the shrrredding lead guitar until your ears bled and the drummer thumped a mean tub with some flourishes and fills that make you say “woa-hoah, where did that come from?!”. There wasn’t much variety in style/sound between songs but that is a moot point; whilst some bands try to adopt a different façade for each of their tunes, others explore all the possibilities within one style that works for them and Return To The Sun have a hell of a lot more room to move within their groove before we get even remotely fed up of it.
Whilst reeeally not wanting to be unduly harsh towards the next band, you can’t help but wonder how Whitehill Grove blagged the main support slot tonight. The pop-punkish three piece turned in a set that, whilst undoubtedly under-rehearsed, still appeared to convey the joy and energy of three lads imitating their idols. Nothing wrong with the performance per se, it just felt like they needed a few extra months of honing their song writing craft and getting it ‘there’ in terms of tightness as a band before they start making some waves. Well, I did think that – right up until they started taking the mick a bit too much. The bassist would sarcastically clap his hands or give an annoyingly arrogant thumbs-up towards the singer anytime a bum note was played; the singer would cast unmissable daggers towards the bassist in response to every piece of improvised banter with the crowd; and the drummer kept looking towards the other two for his queue despite, you know, being the timekeeper. Unless you’re the Gallagher’s this level of obvious tension on stage is just not fun to watch; a bad case of ‘well I didn’t mess up’ syndrome. The thing is though, the singer/guitarist had a good sense of melody and he could really sing – at points his voice had a fantastic raspy quality to it! He’ll do well for himself if he keeps at it and if the band as a whole stops mucking around – there was a fair crowd in Electric Circus tonight and they fluffed up a good opportunity to blag their selves some new fanboys and girls. Sorry guys, I can’t lie! The Bohicas

But enough of that, on to the main attraction – The Bohicas! Essex lads only in birth right, they saunter on stage to some choice soul funk and hit the ground running with ‘Upside Down’, guitarist Dom John with his leather vest and wide-brimmed hat making him look the lovechild of Pete Doherty and Jimi Hendrix and lead singer/guitarist Dominic justifiably confident in himself but not arrogantly so; you see the inherent gratitude when he makes not-uncomfortable eye contact with most in the crowd. The mammoth 12-song set (mammoth for this scale of gig anyway) is unrelenting; even the ‘slower’ ones aren’t even that slow, only describable as such in comparison to the rabid indie energy of tracks such as ‘XXX’ and ‘Crush Me’. A wise decision to never let the pace drop – the crowd just keep getting more and more and more into it as we witness the evolution from head-nodding to body-swaying until every punter on the floor is dancing, and I mean REALLY dancing, excluding those who deem themselves ‘too cool to dance’ who act like I can’t see their feet tapping along in spite of their composed face. The guitar tone is brilliant, both guitarists taking equal prominence in terms of alternating rhythm/lead duties with some mad, mad solos – it’s not ground breaking but they never claimed to be! “We’ve got one more song to play for you” they say… “SWARM! SWAAARM!” the audience scream! They save the best for last, the anticipation within the crowd finally released in a manic performance featuring a riff that seems so simple on paper but is without a doubt their most effective by far. Even after 12 songs the crowd could easily have lapped up more and the faithful quite-a-few scrabble for a copy of the set list (sorry guys, I got there first!). I leave to catch my bus as soon as the performance finishes, and within the two minutes it took me to grab my coat and leave the venue I get outside and see lead singer Dominic ‘swarmed’ by a big handful of fans, pestering for a selfie and singing his praises. I shout over, “You guys were awesome!”, but he’s too preoccupied to notice – fair play to him, that performance warranted some adoration!

Check out Return To The Sun on Facebook for updates on their upcoming ‘ElevenFiftySeven’ EP:
https://www.facebook.com/returntothesun?fref=ts
Check out Whitehill Grove on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whitehillgrove?fref=ts
Head over to The Bohicas website for tour dates, tunes and more:
http://www.thebohicas.com/

Review of The Winter Tradition w/ Silver Coast & Mt. Doubt @ Electric Circus 2/10/2015

Written by Liam Dickson @ FEAST

Walking into Electric Circus the first thing I am struck by is the stage; a bank of various floodlights and strobes that look fit for an Academy sized venue swallow up half the stage and suggest a band with a musical ambition that massively outweighs the venue they feature in. Rightly enough, The Winter Tradition have been playing some notable larger scale gigs in support of their new album ‘Lumi’ (such as the Belladrum Festival in August) and this is not a case of a band with heads bigger than their fan base, but rather a band outgrowing their old haunts who couldn’t resist playing an intimate hometown show.
First up tonight are Inverness alt rock 4-piece Silver Coast performing their first gig in the capital – nobody would blame them for thinking perhaps this was an ill-fated venture as they walk on stage to a dishearteningly empty room though you’d think they hadn’t noticed. Opening with a sparse sound heavy with reverb and confident vocal delivery before hitting us with a glorious wall of sound, all distorted guitars and crashing drums, you feel they deserve a far better crowd than this. But patience is a virtue, and as the Edinburgh gig-goers finally make their way towards Market Street the venue is packed by the time their set draws to an end. “Come forward, come forward, we don’t bite… much!” jokes frontman Aaron Murray – you get the sense they are a down to earth bunch of lads with a good sense of humour. Current single ‘Wake Up’ from their new EP produced by no other than The Winter Tradition’s guitarist Mark Morrow (who has seemingly produced for every band in the Edinburgh independent scene worth their salt) is performed perfectly, the jangly lead guitar filling our ears with echo and bends that tug at your heartstrings – the vocals are consistently on point even when venturing into falsetto and offering some truly impressive screams. They pull off the loud/quiet dynamics to wonderful effect proving they know when to give it their all and, more importantly, when to hold back.
Up next is 21 year old Leo Bargery – better known as Mt. Doubt – delivering a set of folky ambience infused with a punkish edge. Gruff vocals and unconventional synths pull the band back from the brink of generic folksiness and with a variety in structure keep each song in the set sonically diverse with no musical ideas getting recycled. A couple of songs into the set Mt. Doubt having properly greased up their musical hinges start getting right into it; singer Bargery jitters and jerks at his most impassioned moments seemingly just within the boundaries of self-control. At their best points the band build and build into a cascade of noise briefly toying with chaos before snapping back into seriously delicate bridges topped with vocals more fragile than you could expect given the sheer energy you just witnessed. A female backing vocalist joins the band for the latter half of the set though could hardly be considered ‘backing’ as she mimics the lead vocal line with just as much prominence creating a more complete and well-rounded sound. The heaviness of Mt. Doubt lies in the energy of delivery rather than reliance on pedals and overdrive, the drums being the rawest sounding of all the components. The keyboard player is the unsung hero in this ensemble offering a brevity and diversity that keeps the set really interesting – each song is unique!
The crowd are well and truly pumped for headliners The Winter Tradition, the venue now packed to the brim. The crowd are anticipating a truly special performance from the established Edinburgh group; nobody brings a stage set up like this unless they intend to bring out the big guns. The house lights fade, the band emerge from the darkness to swelling metallic ambience and without any warning or audible count-in launch straight into their set – more than a few distracted punters jump out their skin! Straight to business, The Winter Tradition are note perfect being more than experienced in performing to such crowds; this band have fully realized their sound and are well and truly running away with it. Second song of the set ‘Call’ provides the best example of a selective and seamless use of backing tracks to fill in the gaps when a group of guys with only two arms apiece can’t replicate the grand musical landscape concocted in their rather smart heads. The distorted vocals of singer-come-bassist Ewan Simpson combined with the statuesque silhouette he casts is enough to give you goose bumps and guitarist Mark Morrow knows exactly what he’s aiming for and hits the target. The levels throughout the set are really well balanced and fill your ears, every bit of screeching feedback only enhancing the electric atmosphere in the room. Each song segues smoothly into the next indicating a curated and properly rehearsed set, and the last song of the night is met by massive applause and one particularly ecstatic fan holding his Winter Tradition t-shirt high in the air with pride. The music really connotes wide open spaces as large and epic as their sound, like Ben Nevis in a thunderstorm condensed into a sonic punch in the face. Massive respect for the Winter Tradition for turning in an epic hometown show before heading into pastures greener and far, far bigger!


Check out Silver Coast on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/silvercoastmusic?fref=ts
Check out Mt. Doubt on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/MtDoubt?fref=ts
Order the new album ‘Lumi’ on The Winter Tradition website:
http://www.thewintertradition.com/The_Winter_Tradition.html

Review of Tame Impala @ Barrowlands, Glasgow, 8/9/2015

Written by Liam Dickson / Photograph © Izzy Claase 2015, Feast.
Tame Impala
The Barrowland Ballroom has played host to many a band passing through on their ascent to rock royalty – Arcade Fire, Oasis, Muse, Foo Fighters, even U2 – and once again this legendary Glasgow venue will become a landmark moment in the rise of another, this time Australian outfit Tame Impala, freshly reinvented and on arguably their best form to date.
As the house lights dim and the screams ring around the converted ballroom we see a solitary green light appear on the back screen presumably being controlled somewhere off stage. As thunderous bass noise bubbles up through the PA the light slowly begins to spin in a circle, turning and widening and picking up pace until a neon vortex and chest-shaking bass rumble converge in an assault on the senses. Suitably hyped, frontman Kevin Parker and his backing band (he writes and records the music himself, the name Tame Impala just a moniker for his work) emerge from the shadows to rapturous applause and warm up the crowd and themselves with a phat, trippy little jam.
They don’t let the pace drop and fire straight into ‘Let It Happen’, the seven-minute opener from new album ‘Currents’ – many in the crowd are wondering how or even if the band can replicate the editing trickery used on the track to give the mid-section instrumental it’s glitchy electro quality, and they only go and nail it!
Tame leant heavily on new material to fill up their set list with no complaints from the audience (their newest album is getting five star reviews left right and centre). With limited space on the set list for older tracks, Parker shows a keen awareness of his own music with the choice picks he decided to include – ‘Why Won’t They Talk To Me’, ‘Apocalypse Dreams’ and ‘Mind Mischief’ go down a storm from breakthrough second album ‘Lonerism’, and now-an-oldie ‘It Is Not Meant To Be’ was a welcome surprise when nobody was really expecting to hear much from the debut.
The set reached fever pitch about midway through; the foot-stomping glam monster hit ‘Elephant’ that put Parker on the musical map for many causes a near riot before seguing into new cut ‘The Less I Know The Better’, it’s almost Madonna-esque sickly sweet vocals and unbelieeevably funky guitar riff sees a thousand shoulders jostling for space as they do what main man Kevin had realised he’d never seen his fans do before – dance, unashamedly!
This was the thinking behind the change in direction heralded by the release of third full-length LP ‘Currents’ – as Parker improves both in musical ability and in personal confidence he sheds any anxious reservations and escapes the diminutive label of ‘stoner rock’ or ‘psychedelic revival’. Not everyone picked up on the slow decline of the previous generation of bands – the ‘noughties bands’ – that were heralded as the new guard of guitar music; acts like Franz Ferdinand, Razorlight and Kaiser Chiefs have slipped from festival headliner status to relative obscurity, while figureheads Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian have soldiered on upwards whilst morphing into exaggerated caricature versions of their former self. But the noughties are long gone now and a new wave needs to fill the void.
Tame Impala are without a doubt one of the most professional sounding and well-rehearsed bands doing the rounds nowadays. Not content with merely reciting material for a paying audience, each and every song in the set was beefed up, tripped out, extended or otherwise mixed about to some degree to keep the audience on their toes (no pun intended) and to avoid performances from becoming stale – they’ll no doubt be touring this album for a long time and if there’s one thing a band hates, it’s playing the same thing over and over again.
The sound, atmosphere and bright psychedelic visuals came together beautifully, swishing synths echoing round the high rounded ceiling of the Barrowlands. We saw Parker come out of his shell (or at least poke his head out) as he substitutes his guitar for adorable little dance moves on occasion and hilariously throws bottled water over the rabid crowd like a camp fountain – “I feel like I’m saving your lives or something!” Tame Impala have moved tracks and hit a musical goldmine with this new direction, and if he’s done it once he could more than easily do it again. This band will keep changing and subverting expectations and for this they will inevitably rise above the rest. All hail the next great band!

Mac DeMarco @ 02 ABC, Glasgow – 7/9/2015

Written by Liam Dickson / Photographs © Jordan Thomson, 2015, Feast.
Mac DeMarco 1
McBriare Samuel Lanyon DeMarco, or ‘Mac’ DeMarco to you or I, is experiencing a rocket in popularity – his gig at the O2 ABC in Glasgow, 7/9/2015, was a sell-out show with more fans stood outside desperately trying to blag a spare ticket. As his name spreads like wildfire through small sects of the music consuming public the adoration held for him by such listeners is only solidifying, apparent in the small army of copycats wearing full length dungarees, flannel shirts, trucker caps or all of the above (not quite a counter-fashion movement, but it’s not a stretch of the imagination).
Waiting for the doors of the O2 ABC to open, the excitement is tangible… Someone causes a flurry of strained necks when they claim to see Aussie psyche-vendors Tame Impala sauntering down Sauchiehall Street – another anxious bystander claims to have spied Mac and his band chowing down in the window of the Thai restaurant over the road and, right enough, backing guitarist Andrew Charles White runs out from the restaurant then round the back of the venue as a fan chases after for a selfie and maybe a cheeky free ticket! One dungaree donning girl gets turned away by the bouncers before collapsing to the floor in silent tears – passers-by look up at the sign reading ‘Mac DeMarco @ 7pm’ then walk on bemused by such a strong display of emotion for a name they’ve never even heard of. The Mac Army have taken the goofy Canadian so strongly to heart – a recent ill-informed Tweet from Londoners Fat White Family threatening to ‘join Isis’ if Mac continues to make music only caused his fans to stand even stauncher on the side of the nice guys as people grow ever weary of the same old dime-a-dozen mouthpieces that tend to front bands (there’s a reason Liam Gallagher has seemingly vanished from the face of modern music!)
Up the stairs and through the double doors the mini-Macs wait patient but fidgety amongst a small ocean of reasonably priced merch shirts with funny biro doodles on the front and tour dates on the back, tonight’s listing mysteriously not present. The support act was… interesting! A German artist called Dinner stands solo on stage with nothing but a mic, a backing tape and some kind of rag to work with (which he drapes over his head as he violently lurches from side to side like he’s got a stomach ache). Half new romantic, half industrial techno – really – Dinner does get cheers from the audience that contradict the confused, wide-eyed faces looking around as if saying “You’re seeing this too, right?!” … a questionable choice until you consider the tongue-in-cheek, whimsical humour as synonymous with Mac as his twangy guitar picking.Mac DeMarco 2
We saw this light heartedness first hand when Mac breaks a string one bouncer of a song into the set, before nonchalantly informing the crowd “Yeah, I need to change a string, but I’ll leave you in the capable hands of my band”, sitting cross-legged on the floor as they launched into an impromptu cover of Red Hot Chilli Peppers “Under The Bridge” – some in the crowd thought it was a muck about until the chorus came in and got a rather decent singalong.
Mac DeMarco can offer to his fans what no other musician can – himself! His music and his character are one and the same, and equally loveable. Restless feet, straight-faced banter, a couple of hit-and-miss attempts at crowd surfing and screaming vocal tics genuinely had people in stitches. “Everyone give a big hand to our sound guy… you know, we only ever talk from this far away. We’ve never actually met face to face”.
There is no lull in his set, every song bringing a venue wide pogo, boogie or arms round the shoulder shout-along. “Okay, let’s keep it moving. We know you like to rock, Glasgow, so that’s what we’re gonna do!” Most if not all songs from his new LP ‘Another One’ get an airing, met with as much enthusiasm as his back catalogue despite being little over a month old. The ode to his favourite brand of ciggies ‘Viceroy’ looks set to be the anthem for a new generation – “Oh baby I’ll smoke you ‘til I’m dying!” we sing, ironically, until our lungs hurt.
As the set draws to a close you believe Mac is the kind of guy who wants his fans to just give each other a big hug and get along with one another – before he comes back onstage to screeching feedback then launching into a breakneck cover of Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ and starting a mega-mosh – I jump in then get hit square in the eyes by a flying pint of cider. Mac’s critics may poke holes in the similarity in sound between his tunes but here he proves he can nail any style he wants when the mood takes him. Everyone in the place is left panting for breath and soaked through with sweat, the crowd and the band having given it all they could. The gig was truly unique – the intimate tunes weirdly juxtaposed with the carnage ensuing in the mid-sized venue – and considering his last visit to Glasgow occurred two years ago at Nice ’n’ Sleazy who knows where he’ll be playing in another two if he keeps his foot on the pedal.

Control Social Club @ Sneaky Pete’s – 2nd September 2015; ft. The Rockalls, Sweaty Palms, Polarnecks & Facial Slurs

THE ROCKALLS
So, having been to Sneaky Pete’s to review a particular band, I’ve never walked out of a venue so chuffed.

I had the pleasure of getting to see a lineup of up-and-coming Punk bands from Scotland (one of which had their first ever live gig: who’d have thought, they were brilliant!) – with this, I’m more than happy to state every single band playing had something good to share.

I would personally describe Sneaky Pete’s in itself to be a low-key, grungy environment to be in – not everyone’s cup of tea, or for those who enjoy a silver suppository – but this completely fit the style we were about to witness.
The Rockalls

Having listened to their music on their Bandcamp page, I found myself wobbling and bobbing around as you do when you like a song you hear. Unless it’s just me when I’m doped up with caffeine. That aside, I found myself thinking, “Hold up. I’m seeing this live,” leaving me with two sudden conclusions. One being, “I need to leave some so I can get a nice surprise when I arrive” (which is why I refuse to check the setlist before gigs, I love surprises!), and “I NEED to see what they can do with a crowd.”

And this desire was fulfilled in great fashion, but I’ll come on to this shortly. I must add that Sweaty Palms have to be credited for their ability not only to play, but for setting the scene for the appearance of THE ROCKALLS, and thus should be given key mention.

People were moshing, a bottle was smashed and there was even enough room for people to crowdsurf, including their adrenalised guitarist. What could possibly top this?

“Could a vocalist ‘a-few-beers-later’ engage with a crowd to such a degree?” Was the general idea of the question asked by a pal beside me, as we stood by, wide-eyed and watched a mass of people down in front, give way to the machine that was about to cause mayhem.

Dom, their singer and said machine, had a quick chat with me outside after and did ask me not to mention the level of intoxication he was under, so we won’t go any further on that note. Sorry Dom! When asked about influences, he simply replied “Name any Punk band,” and given their categorisation as Garage Punk, this was certainly made obvious during their performance.

Dom even managed to nail every note, and leaped off-stage a number of times to engage with his audience and they went ballistic in turn; this is the type of energy that one might expect from this style of music, and they completely surpassed requirement. Cables were taught, and mic stands were everywhere. One was at a point where I thought it was going to catapult, so the inner sound tech in me jumped out in order to rectify this, hopefully saving someone’s head from being knocked off. After a pat on the back from one guy for my efforts, I was instantaneously thrown back into the pit for more fun and laughter.

With regards to their setlist, they played a variety of their own songs, particularly a few of their older ones which for me had a harder edge and showed the band for their true colours. (‘That’s really heavy, man.’) This also included songs from their most recent EP mentioned above, which is linked below with my sincerest recommendation. Please check it out, and you can buy it for just THREE POUNDS! Yes, three!!! Or a little more if you’re feeling generous, they deserve it.

And the gig was to be rounded off in the most down-to-earth and ridiculous way. We see Dom sitting on the floor in front of the stage, without a care, and addressed us all with the question: “I’m feeling pretty tired, man. What about you?” And we replied appropriately.

Exhaustion mutually acknowledged, this was followed by a final performance of the EP’s title track, “Wolfman”. I had the utmost pleasure of dancing to this (or ‘dancing’) with everybody; along with speaking to the boys afterwards, during which I was told that they are playing Sneaky’s again very soon.

Like Punk; the abundance of sweat, and overall brilliantly executed entertainment topped with good patter? THE ROCKALLS are the band for you, and so is the EP below.

https://therockalls.bandcamp.com/track/wolfman

They can also be found in their natural habitat of Glasgow, and on these other pages:


http://garagepunk.com/profile/therockalls
https://www.facebook.com/therockalls

You’ll hear more from me in my review of Solitude, stay in the loop for that one!

Rusty @ FEAST

INDIGO VELVET Q&A

INDIGO VELVET INTERVIEW FOR FEAST BY CHLOE MCINTYRE

It is by far an amazing experience to discover new local bands in your area, especially when they are out supporting one of your favourite acts. This is exactly the case when I first heard Indigo Velvet when they supported The LaFontaines on their Edinburgh show in June of this year at The Liquid Rooms
Indigo Velvet describe themselves as a Tropical Pop Quartet and definitely have a feel good vibe both in their recorded music and their live performances.
The guys have been extremely busy right now with various exciting things such as bringing out a new single, playing Electric Fields Festival and an upcoming Edinburgh Headline show so it only felt right that I got in touch and seen what they had to say!

How long have you guys been making music together?
– “We have been making music together for almost two years now, and we really feel it’s starting to come together now!

How did you come up with band name “Indigo Velvet”?
– “Basically, trying to think of band names is the most tedious part of starting any band. We were sitting in Lauries house (bassist) and he had a purple throw lying on this bed. It’s so happened to be velvet so we then tried out different with the word ‘velvet’ and ‘indigo’ just really seemed to stick.

What are the bands musical influences?
– “Our musical influences all vary widely with Jason (guitar/ back vocals) taking a lot of his from listening to Nile Rodgers and Michael Jackson. Darren (vocals/guitar) taking his from growing up and listening to the likes of Queen and The Boss Bruce Springsteen. It kinda works though..when Billy’s (drummer) element of Little Mix gets thrown into the pot!”

What processes go into the way you guys write your songs?
– “For our song writing, we’d usually go into our studio and down to basically discuss what type of song we want to go for…but 9 times out of 10 that never seems to work and we end up writing the complete opposite! Usually we structure out songs round a solid drum and bass body and then we let Darren and Jason come up with neat guitar parts. Once that is done, Darren would then hum a melody and then take that away and write the lyrics by himself.

What can people expect at one of your shows?
– “Sweat, Hip Wriggling..and a party”

What is the funniest thing to happen at a gig?
– “Funniest thing that ever happened at a gig was when we played a festival a woman asked Jason mid-set if she could get up on stage and use a mic to try and find her friend. We were completely oblivious to what she was saying as it was all slurred..but she left before we could find her pal.

What can we expect to see/hear from you in the future?
– “We have a new single out 4th of September called ‘BLUE’ and a headline show at Electric circus on the 9th of October with Lisbon and Lewis Capaldi supporting. We have a lot of stuff lined up for the start of 2015 which will hopefully get us on the write track to success.

So that concludes my online interview with Indigo Velvet, but hopefully it won’t be the last time we hear from them! Below I have added ways to like/follow the band for future updates and to give them the support they deserve, thank you to Darren, Jason, Billie and Laurie for answering the questions.

Posted by Chloe McIntyre

Twitter- INDIGOVELVET_
Facebook- Indigo Velvet
Tickets and Merch- http://weareindigovelvet.bigcartel.com/

Live Preview – The Rockalls, Sweaty Palms, polarnecks, Facial Slurs @ Sneaky Pete’s, Wednesday 2nd September, 7.00pm

Tomorrow night (Wednesday 2nd) sees Control Social Club (cscevents) showcase a Scottish Punk / Rock n’ Roll happening featuring Glasgow’s The Rockalls, Sweaty Palms, Polarnecks and a live debut for Edinburgh’s Facial Slurs.This will be a great show, only a fiver in, and all at Sneaky Pete’s one of the best live music venues in Edinburgh for the last few years, starting at 7:00pm. Amazing!

More details can be found at: https://m.facebook.com/events/519262694898285?acontext=%7B%22ref%22%3A3%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22null%22%7D&aref=3&ref=bookmarks

Paul.

Interview – Artist management in the 21st Century (part 4)

With the music business changing at an incredible speed, Feast invited Biffy Clyro manager Dee Bahl and Idlewild manager Bruce Craigie to discuss the ever-expanding role of the artist manager in the 21st Century. In the last of our four instalments Dee and Bruce talk about the investment, marketing and the Music Managers Forum.

Q: Are independent investors including management companies a realistic alternative to labels?

B.C. Yes, I think so. As I said, because it’s easier to get your music out there, there’s no reason why, if you build that team around that investment, there’s no reason why you can’t build up the artists profile to a certain stage where it becomes inevitable that a bigger record label might come along and pick you up. Ed Sheeran is the perfect example of that. He’s got to such a size where he had to be picked up. These stories are few and far between unfortunately, but it shows it’s possible. If you can work with a management company or a set of investors that understands the needs of the music business, I guess that’s one of the issues because the music business is one of those industries that’s very difficult to invest in because the goalposts change or the length of time it might take an artist to get onto that ladder or get successful might take longer than an investor anticipates and in the time of economic crisis it might be hard to find those investors that will give that amount of time and the repayment terms may not be satisfactory to the artist where the investor wants their money back a bit quicker. All of those things have to be taken into account but it’s a question of finding money wherever you can but you have to make sure everybody’s comfortable with the deal.

Q: How important is marketing and innovation important in creating and building an artists’ fan-base?

B.C. I’m still of the opinion that talent and ability is the basis of any career. It is important to get that out there but I’ve always felt slightly nervous of things being hyped or marketed because I think that people do see through that quite quickly. Whatever you do it needs to appear natural. I mean we all know how a piece of music on a bit of Youtube footage can suddenly exalt you into the stars so it can happen very naturally that way as well. It’s the trick of finding a nice natural way to do it but it does come back to talent and ability.

D.B. It’s almost everything. It’s vital in breaking a new artist or a new release. That’s why bands end up signing with major labels. The marketing budget that the majors can afford on campaigns is huge. It’s very difficult to do it online yourself. To have everything working in a coordinated fashion to gain a reaction from an audience is an expensive and time-consuming process.

Q: In the recent past there was a good deal of publicity around the appointment of Brian Message to head the Music Managers Forum. How do you feel about his appointment and the relevance of this trade organisation to the way managers do business?

B.C. I’ve never been a member of the forum, not for any real reason. I’ve been lucky in my early career as I had lots of experience at record company level so I kind of knew what was going on at record companies. I think it’s probably not a bad thing these days to have the forum there. If a young manager can learn from any individual or organisation that would seem to be a good thing from my point of view. Brian has been very successful in what they’ve done. Part and parcel of the way they do business has worked very well for them and they’re investing money into the business themselves so you can only applaud that kind of investment from their point of view.

D.C. Brian Message was originally an accountant, if I’m correct. In this day-in-age you need new business partners to emerge simply because of the lack of investment. So having someone like that who understands the business and how money can be generated can be a positive thing which other aspiring managers can learn from and Brian becoming the head of the MMF can only be a positive given his background with Radiohead. He must have learnt a lot given his experience as an accountant but he must also have learnt a lot from managing one of the biggest bands in the world. The organisation is relevant because people like him can pass that experience on and that can only be a positive. I’ve never actually joined the MMF but I recognise it’s a great way of networking. I’ve sort of gone out on a limb myself and I’ve learnt along the way and it’s worked out okay for me so far.

Interview – Artist management in the 21st Century (part 2)

Interview – Artist management in the 21st Century

With the music industry changing at an incredible speed, HND Music Business students at Edinburgh College invited former Biffy Clyro manager Dee Bahl and Fatherson and Idlewild manager Bruce Craigie to discuss the ever-expanding role of the artist manager in the 21st Century. In this second instalment Dee and Bruce talk about the changing media landscape, funding and the changing role of the record label.

Q: Artists are increasingly gaining sponsorship from brands of all kinds. How do you feel about the way the market is moving?

B.C. I don’t really have a problem with sponsorship. I guess it depends on who the sponsor is and dependent on the artist really. Artists need financial help and you need to take it where you can really. It’s almost impossible to walk down the street without finding a sponsor somewhere. Most of the venues you play, the bigger venues are sponsored by somebody. I suppose it’s a question of where do you draw the line. I mean if they can help you realise your dream and help support you at an early stage then I don’t have a problem with sponsorship really.

D.B. It depends on the brands credibility and anything is acceptable depending on a bands situation. It depends on your values and your outlook on life. For me there has to be a balance because there is so much commercialism and you have to be aware of the feelings of your fanbase. If there is a negative connotation towards the brand that can have an adverse effect on your fanbase. There is no right or wrong here. It just means that there are potential opportunities for new ways of funding and if it’s an appropriate fit for the band then go with it. Things have to be run passed your lawyer and you must ensure your management team are not just doing it to make money.

Q: How has the changing media landscape affected the way you do business?

B.C. I think it’s changed certainly if you take into account the digital landscape as part of that it’s changed the way the business has worked in the last ten years. There is a saturation of digital outlets and you can spend all day everyday combing various outlets to look for music and find music. I still think it’s like back to the basics because you’ve still got to find the band and find what makes people come to that band. In many respects it was easier when there was just fewer outlets of media, you know you only had two radio stations or you only had three magazines. Now there’s magazines and online presence wherever you look. It’s very dissipated so it’s a question of using these to your advantage, finding the tastemakers that seem to be important. It seems that your facebook presence or you social media presence is important in terms of getting lots of people to your site and then those in the industry can see that and they can check on your status in terms of booking you for shows or getting involved with you and they can make a judgement on that straight away.

D.B. Bands have to work so much harder now to assess all the digital outlets available to them to for channelling their music to their fanbase or to continue to build their fanbase. Before the internet there were fewer media channels and so it was more straight forward about how and who to get your music to. There are now many more avenues for people to access and consume music and bands have to be more active in interacting with their audience and trying to establish a more direct relationship with their fans.

Q: Do you think the way people discover artists now has an impact on the longevity of an artist?

B.C. There are still those tastemakers such as Steve Lamacq and the Evening Session and previously John Peel or a writer you trusted in NME for example. Now it’s also a question of blogs and other artists building up profiles for other bands and recommendations and so there’s always going to be these tastemakers at local radio stations and small stations. Talking about the shelf-life for an artist, for a guitar band it used to be on a two to three year cycle when you made a record it would take another six months for the record to come out then you’d tour for a year and a half and the you’d make another record and before you knew it it was three years gone and it seems that with artists nowadays they have a new record out every other week if they’re popular and everything seems to be hammered home so quickly because the shelf-life seems to be so much shorter.

D.B. In terms of reality talent shows very few of them stay around for very long because the talent is questionable and also they may not be prepared to handle the exposure since the rise to the top is instant in their case.

Q: Given everything you and the artists need to supply to the labels and the media how has the role of labels changed?

B.C. In terms of the smaller labels they tend to take a lot less risks now because they don’t have the finances themselves to be able to support that world tour or make that big record in America or go and mix the record somewhere exotic. That just doesn’t exist anymore which may not be a bad thing. It does seem that with some of the labels or distributors you take a finished record to them now and sometimes cover some of the costs of the marketing and promotion yourself. There are less mid-sized labels now so you have to find the money to make the record before you approach the record company or the distributor and although it’s cheaper to make a record now you still want to make a good record to deliver to the label.

D.B. Labels are looking at other income streams now. For example, it’s not unusual for labels to have management teams or publishing and be involved in 360 degree models and be involved in every aspect of a bands career. Labels have changed as well due to how music is now being consumed. There were a lot more labels twenty years ago and there is not a lot of money available for development and that has a knock on effect on the money that’s available for new artists. How many bands have come through in the last five years from small venue to stadium level – very, very few. There is a direct lack of funding, if you haven’t made it on your first album you get dropped. How are people meant to succeed? With Biffy Clyro we were very lucky as we started on the independent label Beggars Banquet and we were allowed to go and make three albums and learn our trade before we went onto a major label. These kind of opportunities are very rare or don’t exist anymore. Very, very tough times out there.

Q: Are independent investors including management companies a realistic alternative to labels?

B.C. Yes, I think so. As I said, because it’s easier to get your music out there, there’s no reason why, if you build that team around that investment, there’s no reason why you can’t build up the artists profile to a certain stage where it becomes inevitable that a bigger record label might come along and pick you up. Ed Sheeran is the perfect example of that. He’s got to such a size where he had to be picked up. These stories are few and far between unfortunately, but it shows it’s possible. If you can work with a management company or a set of investors that understands the needs of the music business, I guess that’s one of the issues because the music business is one of those industries that’s very difficult to invest in because the goalposts change or the length of time it might take an artist to get onto that ladder or get successful might take longer than an investor anticipates and in the time of economic crisis it might be hard to find those investors that will give that amount of time and the repayment terms may not be satisfactory to the artist where the investor wants their money back a bit quicker. All of those things have to be taken into account but it’s a question of finding money wherever you can but you have to make sure everybody’s comfortable with the deal.

Q: How important is marketing and innovation important in creating and building an artists’ fan-base?

B.C. I’m still of the opinion that talent and ability is the basis of any career. It is important to get that out there but I’ve always felt slightly nervous of things being hyped or marketed because I think that people do see through that quite quickly. Whatever you do it needs to appear natural. I mean we all know how a piece of music on a bit of Youtube footage can suddenly exalt you into the stars so it can happen very naturally that way as well. It’s the trick of finding a nice natural way to do it but it does come back to talent and ability.

D.B. It’s almost everything. It’s vital in breaking a new artist or a new release. That’s why bands end up signing with major labels. The marketing budget that the majors can afford on campaigns is huge. It’s very difficult to do it online yourself. To have everything working in a coordinated fashion to gain a reaction from an audience is an expensive and time-consuming process.

Q: In the recent past there was a good deal of publicity around the Music Managers Forum. How do you feel about the relevance of this trade organisation to the way managers do business?

B.C. I’ve never been a member of the forum, not for any real reason. I’ve been lucky in my early career as I had lots of experience at record company level so I kind of knew what was going on at record companies. I think it’s probably not a bad thing these days to have the forum there. If a young manager can learn from any individual or organisation that would seem to be a good thing from my point of view. Part and parcel of the way they do business has worked very well for them and they’re investing money into the business themselves so you can only applaud that kind of investment from their point of view.

D.C.  In this day-in-age you need new business partners to emerge simply because of the lack of investment. So having an organization which understands the business and how money can be generated can be a positive thing which other aspiring managers can learn from. The organisation is relevant because they can pass that experience on and that can only be a positive. I’ve never actually joined the MMF but I recognise it’s a great way of networking. I’ve sort of gone out on a limb myself and I’ve learnt along the way and it’s worked out okay for me so far.

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