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
Daniel Pearson
Charlie Barnes
Louise Distrass
March of Dimes
Tag Team Preacher
Secret Sirens
…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!
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:
I’ve got lots of music goings on this week… The big things are:
Water Tower Bucket Boys @ Milo, Wed 18th
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!
March of Dimes @ Elbow Rooms & Nation of Shopkeepers
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.
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.
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.
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.
One of the biggest weekends in the Leeds music calendar is here – Live at Leeds weekend!
Over something like one million venues across Leeds today bands are playing for everyone who has a wristband, and East Leeds FM is running it’s annual Music-athon… 24 Hours of non stop live broadcast, with bands from all over the region playing. Bands and musicians like Jon Gomm, Hope and Social, Rosie Doonan, Spirit of John; everyone from Hannah Trigwell to Milk White White Teeth.
I’m very excited to be taking part in two of the 24 hour broadcasts… I’m in one of the real highlights of the radio today, Maggie 8′s Jurassic Park: The Musical, which kicks off at 7pm.
Then I’ll be BACK on air at 4AM IN THE FREAKING MORNING with March of Dimes – Us? Playing in a Chapel? Why we’re making a habit of it. I think there’s a nun joke in there somewhere but I’m too excited to sit down and work it out.
So! Tune in ANYWHERE in the FLIPPING WORLD at 7pm BST and 4am BST (That’s GMT+1) – or indeed any time from 3pm BST to hear some special exciting sets from some of Leeds’ finest.
On Saturday night, we launched our EP, from those who were there, at Holy Trinity church in Leeds – thank you so much to everyone that came down ad joined in the singing!
