All good things must some to an end…
I’ve decided to leave March of Dimes.
It’s been an extroardinary few years, and I’m very thankful for the time I got to spend with them, but it’s time to move on and do something new-but-I’m-not-sure-what with music and videos and things 
Thanks to everyone who’s been a part of it.
Right. Now what happens?
Over Christmas our beloved Hope House studios flooded, so we had to shift to the room next door. The silver lining with this was a great new studio for us to practice in, and record live sessions.
Photos by Louise Distrass
I’ve been running a Podcast with Jon from the Dimes, called Foxes and Convicts, for a while now. We’ve been bringing various different acts in to Hope House to record some sessions and have a bit of a chat, and we’ve been putting them out on podcasts. If I’m honest I have no idea how many people have actually been listening to them cos I screwed up a setting on the tracking software, but that’s by the by. Lots of people tell me they listen and like it, and that’s good enough for me.
To celebrate re-opening our studio, we got some of the finest acts we have worked with on the Foxes and Convicts night to all pop down on Saturday afternoon and record some songs for a brand new version of the podcast which will be premiered exclusively on Leeds Indie Radio. It’s a great privilige to turn our daft larking around into a proper show for LIR, who are celebrating a year doing amazing things for local music. Having heard the early mixes this will be a great part of their lineup.
So – coming soon to LIR, a brand new series of Foxes and Convicts, featuring:
March of Dimes - Photo by Louise Distrass
…and many more! I’ll post up when they’re finished and scheduled in!
Depending on how the various life-changing events pan out I’ll be looking to record the next series in the late Autumn… Keep in touch if you’d like to be part of it and get your live set on Leeds Indie Radio!
In all the kerfuffle of the last week (birthdays, gigs, life altering announcements etc) I forgot to mention that I’ve recently launched a new website for my band, March of Dimes.
You can see it at http://www.marchofdimesmusic.com
It’s got videos, gig listings, and our album and EP in full to listen to (and buy, if you haven’t already!)
If you like it, it would be great if you could pass on the address to your chums. Just a wee facebook post, or tweet, or anything to share what we do.
Also, if you know of any promoters or bands that might want to work with us, put them in touch with me
For those who are wondering, I built it in WordPress (my favourite CMS!) with a metric boatload of plugins. Every single part of the site – from the base system, to the music store, to the email system) is free to set up. In fact, apart from a bit of commission we pay to Bandcamp for the sales, it’s free to run as well! Brilliant! Gotta love ya some open source. If anyone wants to know what plugins I used for any part of it, just ask and I’ll let you know.
So… go forth and share… please!
It’s a busy Monday for sure – Today I’m off to put down the bass for our new single – it’s called Sleeping Giant and should be out in the spring
Some of the Manley equipment
It’s part of a really interesting experiement – we’re recording digitally, then being mixed and mastered in pure analogue by the hugely talented Stephen Anders – should give us a real rootsy feeling, that echos some of the great 70′s country greats… For those musically inclined reading, there’ll be lots of Manley equipment on the go!
A lovely chap called Daniel has interviewed me and Jon for the Independent Music News blog, you can read it here.
That’s it for today – more Dimes news tomorrow…
Hello,
Those lovely people at Yorkshire Telly are holding a vote for the favourite videos on the site right now… They’ve got so much on the go, but it would be splendid if you could pop a vote our way, for this video we did in Ripon:
You can vote for whichever you want using the #favouriteyorkshiretelly hashtag on twitter, or posting to Yorkshire Telly’s facebook wall.
If you’re on Twitter and want to vote for us, just click here! And please tell your chums!
I’ve got lots of music goings on this week… The big things are:
We’re putting on this amazing ol’ time band at Milo as part of Foxes and Convicts tomorrow night in Leeds – it’s free in, at Milo (opposite Blue Rinse next to the Corn Exchange) and going to be a really busy one, so get down early! The fun starts at 8!
Tom’s off on holiday this month, so we’ve rearranged the songs into a good ol’ bit of footstompin’ fun. We’ll be playing them at Elbow Rooms on Friday night, then over in York on Saturday, then back to play Nation of Shopkeepers on Sunday night.
If you’re around, pop down. If only to see me sweat through trying to play 4am:division and Cracks in the Floor and a kick drum at the same time.
We’ve had quite a few people say lovely things about the band and our new EP From Those Who Were There recently.
My Life in Leeds were nice enough to plug our Cockpit gig on July 23rd.
Keep Music Live / Leeds Music Promotions were nice to say “The songwriting and musicianship on show, makes it nigh on impossible for any of the bands peers to equal let alone beat this flawless CD from a very special band.”
And Americana UK gave us 9 out of 10 and a lovely review, click on the name to read it!
Thankfully we’ve only had one smelly review, but oddly enough that’s about all we’ve had back! If you would like to review it, or know of someone that would like to, then drop me a line.
You can hear From Those Who Were There by March of Dimes on Spotify, or buy it from iTunes, Amazon MP3, or 7Digital.
Recently I was asked to write for the Betta Kultcha Blog, so here is my entry for them!
Recently a forum post asked:
“Generally, is the scene dying on it’s arse??
There are a distinct lack of venues, less gigs and when there is a gig the attendance is shocking.”
Now, whether he was just trolling, or genuinely thought this, it couldn’t be further from the truth.
I’ve lived and worked in cities all over the UK, and can hand-on-heart say nowhere has a music scene quite like Leeds.
Venues & Gigs
I’ve been in March of Dimes for about two years now, and in that time the places we’ve had the opportunity to play has done nothing but grow – as has the competition for other nights. Running the Foxes and Convicts night in Milo simply wouldn’t have been possible two years ago because a small venue like Milo wouldn’t be able to take the risk of a monthly night putting on local acts. look at a gig listing for this week and you’ll see small nights like ours on all over the place.
Bigger acts get good homes here too – with dance club Creation giving way to live venue O2 Academy Leeds and checked-ben-sherman-shirt-no-trainers townie venue The Courtyard being taken over by achingly cool Nation of Shopkeepers, and even the Holy Trinity Church handing itself over to the odd band (some odder than others), it finally feels like live music in Leeds has everything in place to be one of the main forms of night out entertainment.
Of course, there are a finite number of people that are going to come to gigs. Turn a townie venue into a music venue and you’re not going to get townies realising the error of their ways, putting down their stella and stripping off their shirts, to replace them with Herman Dune t-shirts and picking up a nice cider, but the fact that there are so many venues out there, and they seem to be doing WELL, suggests that the audience is there, it just needs to be treated a bit nicer. Great though it can be to see a gig in a sweaty room with sticky floors, sometimes you want something a little less intense. Leeds now offers that.
Acts
Obviously the most amazing band in the whole of Leeds right now is March of Dimes, but that aside in running Foxes and Convicts for the past year or so I’ve been totally bowled over by the sheer number, variety and quality of bands on the scene at the moment.
Strumming, boring acts are ten a penny. They always have been and they are in every city. Especially in Manchester, oddly. But, take a wee look at what else is out there and you’ll be as stunned as I am by the incredible creativity and talent on offer.
Pairing up incredible vocalists and guitarists has given rise to people like Jack, and Gill’s Daughter:
And while it’s not strictly Leeds, Charlie Barnes is just up the road in Barnsley – and what a magnificent talent he is. If you ever get the chance to see him live, do, for one of the most intense but easy going shows you’ll see.
People are getting smarter about how to get their music out there too. Aside from the YouTube videos that more and more people are getting more and more creative with, local starlet-to-be Hannah Trigwell has been knocking out tunes on Briggate, and it sure has an impact – barely a week goes by without someone asking either on a forum or directly “Who’s that busker on Brigate?”. She’s also got the hang of web-cam bedroom broadcasts. Not like that. But hopefully that’ll bump up the search engine results for this article. Take a look here to see her in action. NOT LIKE THAT.
I could easily mention over a hundred acts that have caught my ear over the past year, but the best thing to do is tell you about…
Leeds Indie Radio
One of the most amazing things to come out of Leeds in the past 6 months is Leeds Indie Radio. Started by Adam Williams after popping along to one of our nights, he gives an opportunity for bands in Leeds to get their music heard. Any band in, or around, Leeds can get their music played on this online station, just by dropping him a line. The system is genius, giving more frequent plays to newer tracks, there’s always something great to listen to. I’m told avarage listening time is 2 hours, which shows that once you’re tuned in, people generally find something they like.
So, if you want to hear some of the amazing results of this brilliant musical environment, just tune in to Leeds Indie Radio for an hour. You will find something that makes you go “Ooh! That’s good.”
Sean Murricane is a Leeds based blogger, web marketer and musician.
I was on Facebook this morning, when I saw this comment:
“´The whole Spotify is just a big scum… I’ve heard some opinions from the musicians… :>” (sic)
And wanted to reply…
I’m a musician, and my band’s music is on Spotify – March of Dimes, From Those Who Were There, if anyone fancies a listen.
Being on Spotify is essential for us, just as much as the ubiquitous Myspace page. We don’t get much cash from it. We’re cool with that. If someone listens, and likes our music, ideally they’ll pop along to a gig and see us live. Then, with any luck, they’ll buy an EP – which we *do* get a bit of money from.
The big difference if on spotify, if someone shares that music and picks up on it from Twitter or Facebook or suchlike, we’re more likely to be listened to. And if we’re more likely to be listened to we’re more likely to be liked by more people.
So, far from being a big “scum” (I think you meant scam) it’s no more a scam than putting your tracks on Myspace. In fact, it’s much better.
Hello,
I’ve done a video for the lead track off of the new March of Dimes EP.
Written & directed by me, it features lots of our friends who pop along to, or have played at, our monthly music night Foxes and Convicts.
Featuring cameos from:
Hannah Trigwell
Gareth Aveyard
Jo Murricane
Kat Tanney
Chris Martin (Not that one)
Jon Moss
… and the rest of March of Dimes!
This also launches the new March of Dimes YouTube channel, so keep an eye out for more videos there soon