Gig Chat 2011

Our column where invited artists talk about their experience of shows and gigs in Leicester/shire

11th April

By Kevin Hewick

Musician Kevin Hewick is a doyen of Leicester's music scene. Sometimes outspoken, frequently as insightful as he is amusing, he remains a highly respected member of our local music scene.

Here's my piece. It's not about the past. It's about now and the future and the idealism that should drive the music, in other words, a million miles away from certain aspects of last week's LMC meeting!

I 'heart' Leicester. I was born here and the plan is to die here too. Much of the ongoing bit in between has been and will be spent as an active part of the local music scene, a scene that I both adore and despair of in equal measure, but, stuck here somewhere in the middle of London domination and Manc' cool, this city often puts up a better fight than it is given credit for.

There is something about us, an attitude, an attitude that belies our supposed reputation for apathy and indifference. In fact a lot of us musical types seem pretty worked up about it, even if 'it' is some hazy, half-assed vision that one day Leicester will somehow find some place in the rock 'n' roll sun that it has never quite had.

But many great things are made in the shade and the music is sometimes at its best when its an outsider art form. We've flourished in our own light and withered in our own darkness (probably in some ill lit corner of The Shed). There are no multi-million theatre complexes for us but often more genuine moments of great art can be generated in front of the dartboard in The Criterion or on a laptop in Highfields than in the pampered place of culture that is Curve.

Though A&R have never beat much of a trail to us, modern technology has all but terminated the Roman empire excesses of the majors anyway, we really are all doing it alone now. The corporate circus may come to town (what Summer Sundae has become) or even set up an outpost in town (O2) but this is a great time to be young, smart, creative, proactive - you don't need anything but yourselves and your exciting ideas and your ability to communicate those exciting ideas.

Me personally, being not so young (and maybe not so smart either), I'll admit am a wee bit scared, it is a scary time, there's a lot of information, a lot of speed .. can attention spans take it - the stimulation, the vastness of it. Is the potential audience lost or to be found in cyberspace? Is that audience even out there?

In this quicksilver age of change I may seem to be some old guy with a guitar, (seemingly traditional but really constantly renewing and revising it with a radical slant) a singer-songwriter for want of a better phrase, but I'm one who still strives to be an of the now musical and lyrical visionary and the spearhead of his own musical movement, telling it like it is to a handful of bemused folk in a micro-arena near you and ever reaching for those elusive further horizons.

I'm here, in this time, and for as much of the future as God will grant me. I compere The Musician Open Stage on Monday evenings and I've introduced about 400 odd acts there since 2008. All that genuine feeling and emotion, all that need to get up and sing it in front of people, a few discovering they have a true gift for it.

What a city to be in for that, lots of open mics but a lot of closed doors beyond those open mics. However, doors do have handles and even the strongest lock has a key. An awful lot of people are vying for a place in a very crowded market, an awful lot of people will tell you talent and great songs aren't 'enough' but without those qualities there is nothing.

Without art and heart it's just wannabe emptiness, and very, very boring. My hot tip is: avoid battles of the bands where bands battle bands in a battle no-one seems to ever actually win, don't enter 'Auditions' for festivals (I mean, does the festival ever audition for you?) - just play the song I say and play it with spirit, imagination and energy and fill Leicester with your song.

We need rock stars and holy fools, MCs and Filbert Fox lovers to make THIS city's very own 21st Century noise

www.kevinhewick.co.uk | On Twitter | On Myspace | Hewick Haynes and James

16th February 2011

By singer/songwriter Calder McLaughlin

Calder McLaughlin © Harjinder Ohbi

"Play something we know!". How many original artists have heard this kind of instruction bellowed from the back of a local bar/venue mid-set before?

Depends what sort of gigs you tend to do. If you have no need to take every gig that comes your way, in order to make money, you may be fortunate enough to reserve your performances for when it really counts - playing gigs to a captive audience and really promoting yourself, as opposed to whoring yourself out in every bar/pub/venue that will have you.

Whilst I understand people's desires to hear music they are familiar with and I also recognise the fact that, sometimes it should be taken as a compliment that people see you worthy of singing one of their favourite songs by an artist they adore. It is also one of the most annoyingly predictable things about being a singer on a local circuit.

As artists we need to get our music heard by as many people as we possibly can but it is increasingly obvious that the vast majority of people don't really have their ears open to it. And it doesn't seem to matter how good the material is, how catchy, how contemporary or 'cool', it might be.

Sometimes you get those gigs where people really are there to hear the music and you find yourself with an attentive and captive audience, who respond with enthusiasm despite it being the first time they may have heard your songs. These wonderful people are real music fans! It is general public who just happen across music being played who's attitudes I wish to discuss.

Unfortunately, if you are playing in a local pub or bar it is not your job to tell stories and share insights or offer escapism through soundscapes of your own invention, from your own heart and your own life.

It is your job to play as many cheesy hits to please the demographic whether you enjoy it yourself or not. Somewhat soul destroying for those with their own art sat on the back burner. "So get a normal job then!" I hear you cry ... hmmm .... quite. Of course I will never manage a normal job again, it just won't sit.

So, my compromise is continuing with this business until such a time may arise that I can make it pay to play my own songs and sell my music to people who get something from it. But, how will these people ever hear my music if I just play covers all night long?

A good friend of mine, Benn Hartmann, an accomplished musician and song-writer with SUGABEAT, said to me the other day, "You write anthems, that's what you do. Trouble is, no one knows them yet."

This notion has stuck with me for days. Firstly it's a great compliment but secondly it highlights the issue. Even the biggest anthemic sounding songs are overlooked purely because you are in a local pub.

Another friend, Nick Thornton, who was writing columns for Artsin Leicestershire himself, has written anthemic ballads by the bucket load. I am certain lots of people would get something from his tunes if they gave it a chance. But people have a mind set that unless you play an Oasis song or bloody Sex on Fire, they just aren't interested (It's the X Factor generation. Glorified karaoke! But I wont start on that until next time).

There seems to be a culture of cover bands in Leicester (not necessarily a bad thing as it keeps me in a job!). But where other cities (like Nottingham) have countless real music venues offering local acts the chance to play their own stuff and a real culture for the arts to thrive, cover bands are a rarity. That's the problem in Leicester, I feel. In another city with a vibrant local scene and a real music industry, offering real opportunities to meet those important people and network with keen music fans, they have a certain amount of faith. They don't think that the stomping ground of soon to be immortalised rock stars is something reserved for 'them' elsewhere in some place far more exciting and glamorous than their city.

They believe that the guy in the corner passionately singing away on a Wednesday night in a small, half empty bar, just could be a star of the future. They feel like it is happening in their city, on their scene. They want to be a part of it. They feel they are witnessing music that could be echoing around the clubs of the nation in a year or two's time.

That's a mind set in some places. Acknowledge. Believe. Support and nurture. Celebrate. Enjoy. In Leicester there is a serious lack of effort in people following local music. You'll manage to drag your mates out who will happily watch you but when the next band come on, they all disappear like it's some sort of badly run battle of the bands, which of course sometimes it is.

It is not a competition and just coz you've never heard of these people and it is in your local town, doesn't mean they are inevitably not going to be worth watching. It shows a complete ignorance towards the arts.

It is notoriously one of the toughest crowds for national touring bands, as they show no signs of enjoyment here, where others in, say Scotland, would be absolutely ecstatic given the same performance.

It is a very stand-offish town. Coming from a few years in Sheffield where people are so open and welcoming, it is a very cold-hearted place to be here in Leicester and that colours the response you can expect from an audience.

Maybe I am just holding a huge romantic vision of these other cities because of my burning desire to be elsewhere and my domestic obligations to stay. I'm sure people would tell me similar stories about their own towns and cities. But there is an inherent attitude around here that smacks of apathy towards local talent.

Can we change that? Until we can, I think I'll just do what the only other recent 'local' band (Yes Kasabian) did and f*** off elsewhere to make it. Then everyone in Leicester can turn around and claim they supported it from the start. I don't see many people supporting acts around Leicester.

I hope to change that view point when I finally get my album finished. I will try to bring all the people that used to enjoy my songs back out of the woodwork to enjoy a real performance with a big sound and a bigger ambitions. But I have to bide my time and allow that process to run it's course.

You would hope that new venues like O2 and Highlights and the Auditorium will start to give local acts a platform to really perform. Then we can have the next step up, instead of everyone being on exactly the same level of gig, whether they are mind-blowingly awesome, absolutely rubbish or just plain and mediocre.

Now there will be a step up to the next level where we can decipher who has some staying power and bands can test themselves. They can have something to aim for, something bigger, something more exciting. With decent support slot opportunities and a bigger stage some local bands may start to get the recognition.

If more of us do put ourselves on the same bill as household names, then the people of Leicester may well start to take note and those attitudes may shift to be more positive. It wont happen quickly but a few people breaking through will surely open up people's minds to the possibilities. It IS for us too!

Thanks for reading.

Calder.

Other pages you might like:

Read the Editor's column on Live Music in Leicester

Mr. Sifter's Column, sifts through the pros and cons of live music.

Editor of Arts in Leicestershire, Trevor Locke, takes a long hard look at the live music scene in Leicester and asks: "where are we now?"

Band Talk - news and notes about Leicester's rock bands.