I am a big fan of musical instores, ever since I can remember my family and I would seek them out when growing up in the Netherlands; Record Store Day is more of a highlight than my birthday, and I would never miss out on an up close and personal event with musicians I admire. So when I received the request to sort some live music for ALLSAINTS‘ London Fashion Week event, the answer was always going to be yes. I was asked to book two artists for thirty minute slots, create some social media content, and provide a sound system, and so I did.
One of my favourite local artists is outstanding singer, songwriter, and cellist Taliraw, and Leeds-based, Hexham-born artist Gemma Gates wowed at this year’s Aelius Alternative so the line-up was quickly chosen. Both performed as duos and all four musicians received, aside from their performers fee, a stipend for a free ALLSAINTS outfit! Ahead of their performances they went shopping and picked stunning outfits from the ALLSAINTS Newcastle store, after which we set up, soundchecked, and enjoyed captivating performances from both Gemma Gates and Taliraw.
ALLSAINTS’ Newcastle store offered plenty of ways we could position our stage and sound system, but against the back of the side wall, in front of the small seating area ended up being the perfect place for it. With an attentive audience enjoying some complimentary bubbly we enjoyed the music of two incredible grassroots artists and combined with being in a rather fashionable place, I loved every minute. I could have booked four more artists and stayed there all day if they would have let me! Incredible photographer Celia Medina attended the instore and captured the event perfectly, you can find some of her photos below.
With festival season behind us, we are now looking forward to tour and music conference season, simply to fight off the festival blues. Here are some music conferences we thought worthy enough to share with you.
From the 9th until the 12th of October brand new and high end music conference Beyond The Music is landing in Manchester showcasing new talent, highlighting its grassroots music venues, and giving its visitors, you, a genuine say and the opportunity to take part in conversations and discussions regarding our music industry. On the other side of the country, as part of Middlesbrough’s Twisterella, (Un)Conference will be taking place on the 12th of October, with local music industry professionals joining the conference line-up, this event will give the local industry the chance to connect and come together.
From the 16th until the 18th of October, international festival and convention MaMA is taking over Paris for its 15th edition! With live music, listening sessions, networking, and workshops, the event showcases a great big chunk of what the French industry has to offer. Presenting music and talks at several venues all over the city, MaMA doesn’t just highlight, but also supports its industry and put its money where its mouth is.
On the 21st and 22nd of November we return to Manchester for our favourite music conference, Un-Convention, which is taking place at iconic music venue Band On The Wall. With speakers including the organisers behind End Of The Road Festival, members of Blossoms, international label owners, and representatives from the Music Venue Trust, the conference is promising to be another inspiring and horizon-expanding event!
Resonate Music Conference is a new event that has recently landed on our radar, on the 28th of November the conference will be taking over Platform in Glasgow. The conference aims to help Scotland’s music industry grow, and offers insightful talks, networking, and an open mic for artists.
For those of us already looking ahead to 2025, find some music conferences taking place in spring here:
30-04 / 02-05 Wide Days, Edinburgh 03-05 / 04-05 Sound City, Liverpool 08-05 / 10-05 FOCUS Wales, Wrexham
I recently attended a talk on The Importance of the Creative Sector in Placemaking. One of the speakers that day was Shain Shapiro who wrote a book on the importance of including the creative sector in decisions made by local councils on building regulations, licences and many more topics that seem completely unrelated to the arts. He highlights how they are all very much interlinked, the book gives a great insight into what makes a city economically successful, and what makes people move to it as well as away from it. One of the terms that makes many returns is ‘Music City’, and just recently I read about Sunderland’s plea to become one.
Sunderland Music City might sound strange to some ears, if in the north east, then why not Newcastle? To me, it makes a lot of sense. The creative scene within Sunderland seems much more compact, which also makes it more tight-knit, there is more collaboration, there seems to be less bad blood and competition, because those within the creative scene in Sunderland understand the importance of supporting one another, while in Newcastle there is always another ‘clique’ to join. If that is good or bad is not up to me to decide, although I know what I personally prefer. Either way, I thought that now would be the right time to highlight some of Sunderland’s incredible creative spaces.
Independent, The Fire Station, and The Peacock are undeniably influential venues that have paved the way for many artists to come to the city, cafe and live venue Pop Recs might be less obvious, but its 200 cap events space has a fantastic and unique feel that after having set foot in the building just once, never left me. There’s The Ship Isis, Otto and The Bunker, smaller spaces for the emerging artists, and NAME Sunderland, a breeding ground for those eager to learn, grow and develop into artists with experiences within all assets of the music industry. Sunderland University houses the radio studio of Spark Sunderland who are incredible at challenging the north east scene, and Abject Gallery which is managed by Breeze Creatives, is an open space for creatives within the arts.
Festivals and live events taking place in Sunderland include inner-city festival Waves, Kubix and Monument Festival, all three managing to bring big names such as Everything Everything and The Kooks to the north east. Aside from that there is the team at We Make Culture who bring creatives together by supporting their development, and enhancing creative confidence and wellbeing. All in all, Sunderland has a lot going for it, and hopefully their aim to join the Music Cities Network will be successful!
Newcastle’s live scene is brewing and ever-growing with the recent addition of brand new live music venue Tapyard Studios. I spoke to co-owner Gabby about their plans and struggles. Read the entire interview on Music For The Misfits.
Who are you and what is Tapyard Studios? “Firstly, music is absolutely at the heart of the operation. Sam grew up playing in bands and studied music performance at Leeds college of music and then developed a love for production. He spent the next 8 years or so working as a studio and live sound engineer. Alongside his work as an engineer he ran bars over in Leeds and worked through the ranks from bartender to general manager. He always loved the idea of opening his own place.”
“I (Gabby) am currently the drummer in band Venus Grrrls, and I’ve always loved performance. Like Sam, I also studied performance at Leeds College of Music. So, in a nutshell, Tapyard Studios is the culmination of all those experiences.”
What are your plans for Tapyard Studios? “First and foremost, we’re a music venue and event space. We want to create an atmosphere where performers feel inspired to give their best, and audiences have an unforgettable experience. Aside from hosting shows, we’re a relaxed coffee setting through the day that transforms into a lively beer and food hall atmosphere by night.”
“Our philosophy is to do everything to the highest possible standard. So, while we’re working on being among the best venues in the country, our studios will be built to an elite standard, we invested in the best espresso machine on the market and had the team trained to barista standard. We’re also pouring the amazing beers through our taps, partnering with the likes of Full Circle Brew Co, Northern Monk and North Brewing Co. And on top of that, you can now get Acropolis, the kings of Greek street food, right here in our venue.”
“This blend of a killer venue, huge food and beer hall, lush coffee house and premium rehearsal rooms are all part of the long term vision. We’re gearing up to create a one stop shop where people just won’t want to leave!”
What inspired you to open up Tapyard Studios and where do you find inspiration for new business ideas? “We worked in a similar style business in Leeds. It was a key cultural hub for the city and despite the business going from strength to strength, it was forced to close simply due to a breakdown of communication between business owner and landlord. It was a tough one to swallow, but ultimately led to the formation of Tapyard Studios. Every cloud and all that…”
“With a fresh and pleasantly sweet melody hovering in the air, the way Lyons inserts the lyrical lines takes on a cadence that makes the listener remember the melody structured by Anthony Kiedis in the singing of Road Trippin’, a single by Red Hot Chili Peppers.” – Review on Roadie Music
“Taken off of his album The Human Factor, this ballad resonates with the subdued complexities of human relationships that link on an intimate and divine level.” – Review on Sounds on the Couch
“We have another fantastic folky song for you, this time coming from Irish artist Davy Lyons. One To One mixes moments of traditional and modern folk together into one tantalising song.” – Review on York Calling
“‘BLEEP’ is a grungy and impactful new alternative rock banger, Subterranean Street Society continue to showcase the raucous and expansive sound and the effortlessly charming and charismatic allure that they possess alongside it.” – Review on CLOUT
“Danish-Dutch outfit showcase their new album with this bold and driven indie-rock belter.” – Review on Mystic Sons
“This album is indie rock, but it definitely shows inspiration from the punk genre, adding to that rebellious charm that comes so naturally to each song. It’s a ride through a one-of-a-kind rollercoaster, bound to take you through ups and downs that allow it to feel so human and palpable.” – Review on Wolf In A Suit
“Across its twelve tracks, we get some keenly-observed stories taking place in the here and now, delivered against a backdrop of deliberately unnerving instrumentals. It’s modern folk in its purest form.” – Review on York Calling
Looking for a photographer, a videographer, someone to take your press shots or live footage while performing live in the north east? Here’s a list of visual artists that have impressed us before!
The north east music scene is thriving, with new acts, music venues, and industry professionals rising to the surface and improving as they grow and collaborating with others within the local scene. Find most of its fantastic grassroots music venues below.
For the purpose of my own curiosity I decided to dive into the archives and find out when Dutch-Danish rock band Subterranean Street Society and I started working together, and found out it was late February 2022 on their single ‘One And A Half Men Tent’. Two years and a few months later we finally met in person for the first time, ever. Somewhere over the course of our working relationship we’d started to talk about a UK tour, which just after Brexit seemed impossible. However, together, we made the impossible possible!
On Wednesday the 8th of May they arrived in the north east for two shows, after which they’d head to Manchester, Sheffield, London, and then Brighton for their last UK show of the tour. They started with a mesmerising completely unplugged set at Sofar Sounds Newcastle and headed to Mosaic Tap the next day for an amplified set supporting local outfit Earth Farm! Those two sets were at the same time a world of difference and exactly the same; captivating and more powerful then I’ve ever seen a band perform. It is their thunderous soundscapes and bloody honest, political lyricism that has made me stick by the band for the past few years.
By Celia Medina at Mosaic Tap, Newcastle
The band headed to Manchester for a show at Lions Den supporting Origami Tsunami and toured on to Sheffield for an instore at Record Junkee. One of our least favourite shows not solely due to the administrative nightmare it was in the lead up to the event… A show had been booked in with Kevin at Our Sound Music, who’d joined the team at Record Junkee as in-house promoter. The initial idea was always to make this a free instore and for the band to get the opportunity to sell their physical albums. We’d received a request from Kevin to make this a four band line-up, ticketed evening event instead and had of course said that that would work perfectly for us. Up until now that has been the last we’ve heard of Kevin… Eventually we were able to get hold of Record Junkee and they confirmed to make this once again a free in-store, but when the band arrived the shop was empty and management had locked themselves in their office. So much for a show in Sheffield…
Luckily things were only able to get better from there, with two Sofar Sounds London shows on the books, a fantastic line-up at The Dublin Castle in Camden, and a ‘hometown’ headline at The Folklore Rooms in Brighton! Ahead of the band’s before-last show in London we all enjoyed a wonderful meal together at Italian restaurant Goodfare which I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone looking for a delicious Italian meal. We enjoyed The Dublin Castle with incredible bands Wakey Wakey Rise & Shine, Butterjunk, and Morning Tourist, and I fell head over heels in love with The Folklore Rooms and its aesthetically-pleasing venue and stage design. Local artists Soft Top and Arjun Nala supported the band which made for a night of incredible live music we won’t soon forget.
Booking live events, organising an international tour, and filling venues with familiar and yet unfamiliar faces is a full-time job. One born from passion when done by those with the right intentions, but costing so much time and energy. Even though I am already working on the next tour, it is still a thing I need to reflect on every time a tour ends; is this really worth it? Is it the best way to go for the artist I am working with? Even though an international adventure sounds like a dream, just booking the events isn’t achieving much just yet. Deciding if an international tour is right for you, is something only you can decide, and although advice from others can be helpful, it can also be damaging. You’ll have to keep in mind all individual tasks before you even get to play your show; your route, the cities you might be able to bring people in, the venues and or promoters you’re hoping to work with, the people you hope to attend your shows, the industry you’re looking to invite, the costs for travel, accommodation, and to feed yourself.
The first time myself and Subterranean Street Society spoke about a UK tour was around June last year, it took us nearly an entire year to organise, and even though I wouldn’t have it any other way and there are only so many things I would have done slightly differently, that’s something to keep in mind when looking to book your own tour. To reiterate; with a band as talented and with their hearts in the right place as Subterranean Street Society, I would book tours all year ’round if I could!
grapevine. is leaving listeners with a longing anticipation for more. Alas the yacht pop era continues as grapevine. isn’t hiding his tropical influences, in fact ‘Like An Oasis’ parades those influences and wears them proudly. Released just in time for the summer, ‘Like An Oasis’ is the summer anthem you’ve all been waiting for.
While as luxurious sounding as the song may seem, the track can actually be seen as a desperate plea for when you’re so lost in love with someone who just seems too good to be true that it’s like finding your way through a desolate oasis (as intense as all the great classic power ballads out there). With this track, grapevine. wanted to take his love for the 80’s and the throwback pop sound that he adores most by upping the anti to pull off a track compatible to the classic 80’s anthems by Hall and Oates, Journey and The Outfield.
Not only does the track include more synths, there’s even a saxophone solo kicking off at the last third! Listeners will get a good dose of nostalgia from this new grapevine. era, solidifying his mark on the north east music scene as things definitely aren’t slowing down just yet.
LLIVELY Music 