Goodbye and thanks to BBC Introducing in Scotland

When an announcement was made by the BBC that they were making significant changes to their Radio 1 Introducing shows, there was predictable outcry and dismay from musicians and fans of independent and DIY music in Scotland. A pro-active and constructive challenge to this decision was led by the excellent Scottish blogger The Popcop and Paul Downie from DIY promoter/label Pelmet Nights.

Hopes were raised thanks to a valiant effort from music fans; over 7,000 signatures on an online petition, there was a motion in Scottish Parliament and the delivery of the petition to the House of Commons by Jason Popcop and Paul.

Sadly, the stamp of change has been sanctioned by the BBC. There will now be one single Introducing show for the UK rather than the 4 current platforms for bands/musicians and artists in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

All of the acts I work/have worked with (Futuristic Retro Champions, Miaoux Miaoux, Nevada Base, Sonny Marvello and Vigo Thieves) have received support and airplay from BBC Introducing, it definitely helps in a number of ways.

1. Status/Recognition/Kudos – Getting a quote from Ally McCrae or his predecessor Vic Galloway and then sticking BBC Radio 1 Introducing afterwards definitely helps your website or press release to look good. It will also likely attract more fans to the band.
2. Confidence - Every single time one of the acts mentioned above received confirmation they were getting played on Radio 1 caused a great deal of excitement. It is Radio 1, even if it is the middle of the night. The exceitement, exposure and words of ecnouragement from Ally or Vic resulted in an increase in confidence. Every band/artists needs that to move forward,
3. Promotion/Contacts – The right people do listen to these shows – promoters, press, record companies (big, small and teeny tiny)- you are likely to get gig offers or something after airplay.
4. PRS money – Getting airplay on BBC Radio 1, even in the middle of the night/early morning, means PRS money. A nice reward for the hours writing, practising and recording. Even better if you get a live session.

Every band/artist has dreams. Hell, for some of the acts that have been played on BBC Introducing that is them ‘making it’….at least until after airplay, that magical 3 or 4 minutes on the nations largest radio channel can give them the confidence to see where they could get to next.

There are two sides to the tale though and the BBC’s argument (posted below) for continuing with their plans is a strong one.

I guess what annoys me the most about this decision to axe the Scottish Introducing show is the simple fact that Scottish independent and DIY music and the whole unsigned scene is so important to such a large number of people. That may or may not reflect in the listening figures mentioned below, however the on air time of midnight onwards isn’t exactly ideal for people who have work in the morning. I would hazard a guess that the majority of these listens/stats came from the online version, available for 7-days after the show has been aired.

The future - post BBC Radio 1 Introducing in Scotland

BBC Radio 1 Introducing was probably the definitive platform for new music in Scotland. It was recognition, kudos, a confidence builder….it is going.

We will have Vic Galloway’s BBC Scotland Show. Jim Gellatly has his In:Demand show that goes out across Scotland on a number of stations including Clyde 1 (to considerably more listeners than BBC introducing and at a more convenient time).

We have T-Break, GoNorth, King Tuts Summer Nights and New Years Revolution, Glasgow PodCART, Detour, MILK, Tenement TV, Radio Magnetic…..Concepts, venues, promoters, internet radio, internet TV…..

Could any of these go on to replace BBC Radio 1 Introducing in Scotland? They probably could if funded correctly so that they could do it full-time.

Collectively – getting some of these people/groups together could easily create something quite special. They are already doing that in their own way.

Just a couple of months ago the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) award started, offering the winner the fantastic sum of £20,000 and excellent exposure. Each artist that made the list also received £1,000. Young entrepreneur Richy Muirhead has also worked wonders to generate some excitement and recognition for acts with his own Scottish Alternative Music Awards (the SAMA’s).

However these excellent additions to the Scottish Music Scene are annual events. What is the for music fans who crave a weekly fix that can replace Introducing?

  

What can be done? - A pooling of resources?

There are some incredibly talented, energetic, passionate and obsessive music lovers out there doing all they can to promote new/unsigned/independent and DIY music in Scotland. I have met many of them through my management of bands and enjoyment of music and live gigs. I am constantly bowled over by their energy and passion. OK I know I have already mentioned energy and passion in this paragraph but they are two things that are incredibly important in making something work. I don’t want to name names (although I kind of did in the section above), but there are enough people who could come together to create their own Introducing show – fire it out weekly as a podcast; have sessions, maybe once a month record an online video/TV show.

My suggestion is to get these people together in a room, crack open some beers and …..talk, come up with ideas, debate, what do we want as a platform for new music in Scotland, what do we need, what do they 7,000+ people who bothered to sign the petition want and need?

A lot of these people work individually, or as a couple. I often wonder what could be done if they worked collectively. Even at times.

Of course perhaps their strength is that they get to do their own thing, highlight their own tastes, have fun doing it their way.

To end

Well it is sad news for the Scottish music scene. To get that Radio 1 airplay will become even harder. On the flipside, the new national show should be excellent and result in bands gaining even more confidence, exposure, opportunities and recognition I do hope that the people involved with Introducing in Scotland will get an opportunity to play a part in that.

This is what the BBC have had to say today in their final conclusions:

In addition we are approving the proposed replacement of the current late night opt-out
programmes on Radio 1 with a single programme that offers a UK-wide platform for
undiscovered, unsigned music and emerging talent from England, Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland.

In response to this particular change, we were presented with three separate petitions
protesting against the proposals. These campaigns, which were supported by established
musicians, noted that the current programmes provide the only opportunity on Radio 1 to
showcase up-and-coming bands and solo artists to both a nations and UK-wide audience.

They expressed concern that a single UK wide programme would lead to fewer live
sessions and outside broadcasts from musicians in the nations. In Scotland, the petition
had 7,105 signatories; with 6,359 in Northern Ireland and 556 in Wales.

We recognise the high level of response to these petitions and the level of feeling these
particular proposals have generated.

Although the restructure would mean losing the equivalent of four hours of airtime each
week, it is likely that each new music track will be broadcast to a much larger audience
than currently (across the whole UK), and we take some assurance from the Executive‟s
commitment that the new programme is likely to have a higher proportion of first-play
new music each week (that is, relying less on music repeated from previous weeks), and
will seek to include artists from across the UK.

We are also taking into account that the current opt-out programmes reach relatively few
listeners each week: 57,000 in England, 9,000 in Scotland, 12,000 in Wales and 4,000 in
Northern Ireland. We accept that this is in part due to its late timeslot, but nevertheless
the low audience, together with the relatively high costs of producing three separate
programmes, means that the current offering represents poor value for money.

In agreeing to the proposed change we also believe that both Radio 1 and the BBC more
generally will continue to support new music and unsigned and emerging artists very
strongly, in particular through:

Radio 1‟s specialist music programming every weeknight from 7pm to 4am and for
twelve consecutive hours on Friday and Saturday nights

The BBC‟s wider platform for supporting new music, BBC Introducing, a
collaboration between Radio 1, 1Xtra, 6 Music, Asian Network, Radio 3, Local May 2012 17
Radio and Nations radio stations intended to showcase unsigned, self-signed and
other emerging musical talent from the UK. This platform will remain unchanged.

Detour - Stellar Sounds at the Glasgow Science Centre Planetarium, 08/10/11

Last night Lynn and I headed along to the Glasgow Science Centre for a rather special gig, curated by the lovely chaps at Detour Scotland. The gig, more of an occasion, was in the Planetarium at the Glasgow Science Centre and was being marketed as 'live music, a gig under the stars.'


Miaoux Miaoux and Remember Remember were the lucky artists hand-picked by Detour to play in this special little theatre. 


We arrived at 7.15pm and after a walk round the venue the doors opened and we headed inside where we had a lovely chat with Halina from Glasgow Podcart, another creative collective who (alongside Detour) are working wonders for unsigned and independent music in Glasgow (and Scotland). The place would be a lot duller without them.


After a quick drink and some more mingling we headed into the Planetarium where Ally McCrae from Detour introduced us to Simon from the Science Centre.


We leaned back in our seats and Simon told us to gaze up to the ceiling. Not hard to do as the seats were at a 45 degree angle. We gazed at the 'night sky', only it was a little cloudy, so Simon instructed us all to breathe in and blow the clouds away. Simon was hilarious, he had a lovely manner.


The stars appeared and Simon gave us a quick lesson, pointing out several stars and systems.


Although we both enjoyed Simon's lesson and his humour, it was time for some music and Miaoux Miaoux was first.

Julian had tailored his set superbly to fit the setting. The room was almost completely dark, save for a few lights glimmering on stage and the universe projected on to the walls of the Planetarium thanks to a huge ball in the middle of the room that resembled the thing Luke Skywalker received his first lightsaber lesson on. 'With the blast shield down I can't see a thing.'


Miaoux Miaoux's set was largely instrumental, other than the gorgeous 'Snow'. There was a welcome return to the set for 'I Am A Microbe' from the debut album 'Rainbow Bubbles'. The slow guitar riff and beats built up into a gorgeous sound that was perfect for the venue, it really captured the mood.


Gazing at the ceiling during 'Cloud Computer' I got lost in the hypnotic guitar melody and the laser effects just added to the 'space' feel. I've never seen nor heard Julian play his old song 'Cherry Blossom Traffic' before, but it was brought out the closet for the night and it was outstanding. Sampling some old Norwegian folk song for vocals, the beats were squelchy and huge. It was a great set, with Julian ensuring that each song flowed from one to the other, there was always some sound. 'Hrvatski' was another highlight.

A half hour break allowed me to beat Lynn 2-1 on the giant Connect 4 game and play with some other scientific games before we headed back in for the second act.


Remember Remember are one of a handful of bands that I have been meaning to check out for ages. Their name has been banded about to acclaim, yet I just hadn't got round to listening to them. In some ways my laziness worked in my favour as it was a great way to be introduced to the band, although afterwards I kicked myself for not having gone to see them earlier.


Remember Remember absolutely blew me away. A 7-piece who I imagine must have records by the Velvets, Axelrod, Love and up to the likes of the Chemical Brothers and Primal Scream in their collections.


Inventive, playful and clearly talented, this curious bunch brought guitars, glockenspiel, saxophone and various electronic gadgets to a packed stage and proceeded to play the shit out of everything in an incredibly melodic inspiring manner. At times they reminded me of Sigur Ros, gentle melodies turned into huge expansive soundscapes, at others it was David Axelrod on the more groove based stuff.


The music and the setting left my wild imagination to run riot, suddenly I was in a show at the Factory in NYC back in the 60's, the projections and the lysergic music combined perfectly.


They ended with a song called 'John Candy' that was just sensational, if I could have got up off my extremely comfy seat and danced I would have. It got to the stage where I wanted the lights to come on so I could watch the band creating this melting pot of sounds. 


I bought their new album 'The Quickening' after the show on lovely gatefold vinyl (with a download code) and I've played it twice today. I can't wait to see them live again.


Top marks to Detour, the Science Centre, Miaoux Miaoux and Remember Remember, this was....a night to remember remember (excuse the pun).

Wickerman, Saturday 23rd July 2011

For the third year running I headed down to Dumfries and Galloway for the Wickerman Festival at the weekend.

Due to the birth of baby Zoe less than 4-weeks previously, I was only going down for 1-day and night on the Saturday, so unfortunately I missed Echo and the Bunnymen and James on the Friday night, my friends said they were great.

On Saturday morning I picked up Anneliese from her flat in the West End and then Julian (Miaoux Miaoux) from Glasgow Airport. Julian was fresh (well actually quite tired and stressed) from 2-weeks producing in Switzerland and unfortunately his luggage had gone missing on the way back. He had actually seen someone walking away with a bag that looked like his at Heathrow – nightmare, especially considering that the bag contained some essential equipment! 

If that wasn’t enough Julian’s flight had been delayed and we met him shortly after 10am. Julian was due to play the GoNorth tent with his other band the Maple Leaves at 12.30pm.

We belted out of Glasgow Airport at 10.20am and the new M74 extension came in very handy indeed as we picked up speed. On the way we phoned the very helpful Allan who worked at the Solus Tent and asked if he could try to source some equipment so Julian could play his set as Miaoux Miaoux. Allan was very helpful and as time went on we all felt increasingly confident about things.

Luck was on our side and we arrived on site just after 12.15pm, quickly found the artist registration, informed them that Juian was due on stage in 10 minutes and he sped off in a little golf buggy while Anneliese and I parked the car in the Artists Camping field. With no time to pitch our tents we headed off to the Solus Tent to catch up with Allan and to meet Chay the organiser. It was great to finally meet him after exchanging emails and facebook chat. Allan was still asking around for some of the stuff for Miaoux Miaoux, but with almost 3-hours until the set we were confident it would happen.

As luck would have it (it appeared to be on our side – well at least after Julian’s bags went missing!) the GoNorth tent was right next to the Solus Tent, not before we had cadged much needed beers off the lovely Chay. So we caught most of Maple Leaves set and it was quite surreal watching Julian after everything he/we had been through that morning, especially knowing how close he had been to not making it. Check out a Maple Leaves video below;

I hooked up with Lloyd from the marvellous Peenko blog, who also recently became a father, and we went down to the VIP bar and bought each other a nice cold bottle of Pear cider. It hit the mark and I was glad we had two bottles rather than one. I then bumped into my friends Lorna and Colin who were going to see the Black Hand Gang and Lloyd was heading off to the Scooter Tent, however I fancied heading to the Pimms garden/bar to find out what Glasgow Podcart and Detour were going to come up with the huge ensemble that is Blochestra. Blochestra meet every Monday evening in Bar Bloc in Bath Street in Glasgow and jam on covers with all manner of instruments. Jam is a loose description, they are much better than that!

The powers that be had brought them together with the singer from Scottish band The Bluebells to play their hit song ‘Young At Heart’. The singer certainly looked a lot older than his Top of the Pops days, but he still had a sparkle in his eye and he turned in a magnificent performance, as did Blochestra and i immediately made a note to check their Solus Tent set later. Lorna and Colin came to meet me and we had a couple of Pimms sitting in the lovely picnic garden that they had.

NOTE - video will be added a later date

After that it was time to head back to the Solus Tent for Miaoux Miaoux. Julian turned in a terrific set, thanks to the Scottish Enlightment who helped out hugely by lending him some of their gear. ‘Pixellated’ kicked things off, ‘Hey Sound’ was a perfect summer festival tune, ‘Knitted’ was sublime, ‘Autopilot’ prompted a lot of head nodding and foot tapping, there was a dedication and a ‘f**k you’ to the woman who walked off with his bag and the closer of ‘Snow’ ended with Julian lying flat on his back on stage. The pressure of losing equipment, making the site for Maple Leaves, borrowing equipment and even getting to play had been lifted and it showed, Julian clearly enjoyed himself on stage and everyone in the crowd did too.

Miaoux Miaoux

It didn’t end there as Glasgow Podcart and Detour invited Julian to play the ‘smallest rave in the world’ in a backstage caravan. In preparation, Weaver from Detour double checked the suspension (well some blocks of wood under the caravan) – just as well. Kirsten from Podcart/Pooch brought out some facepaint to help get us in the mood while Julian set up inside. We were then given orders to form an orderly queue and we made our way inside.

NOTE - The video will be added to this blog once it is available.

Julian played a brilliantly loose version of ‘Hey Sound’ with everyone joning in on the call and response vocals, Anneliese was dancing on the table, Ally McCrae had his ‘tap off’, I drunkenly sprayed some cider and everyone had big huge smiles on their faces. It was great fun. So within 4-hours of getting on site Julian had played 3-gigs!

After a beer, several ciders and a couple of Pimms and only a bowl of Special K to eat, I decided it might be an idea to grab a burger before the three of us went back to set up our tents. Our popup tent came in very handy indeed!

I caught a bit of Emma’s Imagination on the Main Stage, but left after a few songs as to be honest I don’t think her songs/sound suited the main stage, they certainly felt like a bit of a comedown after the ‘smallest rave in the world’ and fuelled by more cider I certainly wasn’t in the mood for a comedown. I did manage to catch snippets of the excellent Randolph’s Leap and most of Blochestra in between getting some nice Paad Thai.

After a wander around with Lorna and Colin we headed back to the Solus Tent to catch Discopolis, a young band who have just released their first single on the excellent Eli and Oz label. They started rather shabbily but they hit their stride and turned in a superb set that the three of us really enjoyed, as did the ever growing crowd in the tent. Check the video for their single below.

We caught a little bit of The River 68’s in the GoNorth Tent, a rather cheesey soft rock band with a singer that looks like he could be in The Quireboys. However they sure could play and their energy and enthusiasm were good fun, as were the guitar solos.

Next up was The Coral. I liked their last album, so I thought they would be good. I was wrong, the three of us didn’t enjoy it at all and spent most of the time going in and out of the VIP bar to get cider and then Morgans Spiced.

On to the headliners. Feeder on the main stage or From the Jam in the Scooter tent. We opted for the latter and had a great time. The band was formed by Jam bassist Bruce Foxton, who bounded on to the stage in a very sharp suit and they launched into ‘Eton Rifles’. There were many highlights, but towards the end of the set they blasted through ‘In the City’, ‘Going Underground’, ‘Town Called Malice’ and ‘Beat Surrender’, with ‘Down In The Tube Station At Midnight’ another highlight. Julian and Anneliese said that Feeder were good, although Anneliese’s schoolgirl crush on Grant Nicholls may have had something to do with that!

We wandered outside afterwards to stand by the wall to watch the burning of the Wickerman and the fireworks display to much whooping and shouting. I love the fact that the festival stops for a bit so everyone comes together for that moment.

It was then on to the main stage for Craig Charles funk and soul DJ set. Lorna and i danced away while Colin mumbled about going to the dance tent for some techno. Appearing back some time later with a horses head mask that we all took turns at wearing!

At around 1.20am I decided to head to my tent and lay chilling listening to the end of Craig Charles set before a band I believe to be Paws played a great campsite acoustic set of covers. A lot of songs I didn’t recognise, it was a nice end to a brilliant day. 

I hope to be back at WIckerman next year, either with one of the acts I work with or as a punter. 

Miaoux Miaoux, 13th Note, Glasgow

Glasgow Podcart Session, 22nd April 2010

There is nothing like discovering new music that inspires and makes you smile. In March I saw a poster advertising a gig by an act called Miaoux Miaoux and I immediately thought that was a cool band name, checked them out on MySpace and bought the EP 'Blooms' off his bandcamp page. I also discovered that Miaoux Miaoux had released an album entitled 'Rainbow Bubbles' 2-years ago, before moving down south the very next day and then returning back to Glasgow last year.

The album and EP are excellent examples of creative electronica, at times with an electro edge, others with a twinge of pop, always with sprinkling of melodies to bring a smile to your face. So  I was quite excited about going to see Miaoux Miaoux live at the 13th Note as part of a Glasgow Podcart Session.

Dead Boy Robotics were on first. Two guys, a number of keyboards, synths and laptops, 3 mics, bass, guitar and each with a drum that they occassionally pounded. They were a curious couple, the guy on the left seemed quite 'EMO' (without wanting to put a label on him) with shrieks and screams, while the guy on the left seemed more intent on finding melody and harmony. At times it worked and their second last song flowed into a lovely electronic instrumental, with the guy on the right conjuring up a gorgeous gentle vocal melody. At other times they were lacking a chorus or tune. The drums at the front of the stage seemed more for visual effect, rather than actually serving a musical purpose, with the same beats played several times over a few songs. To end on a positive note they are still a relatively young band and they are not lacking in ideas. From my own personal point of view I'd be curious to see what the guy on the right could do solo, but that is purely in relation to my own taste.

And so on to Miaoux Miaoux, essentially Julian Corrie. Taking to the stage (actually the floor) armed with a guitar, a few pedals, synth and a couple of interesting looking things that provided beats and samples, Miaoux Miaoux had the crowd smiling before he played a note when he realised that a battery had gone flat on his effects pedal. With help from Dead Boy Robotics he was soon creating an elctronic landscape in front of our very eyes and to the pleasure of our ears.

The first song in was the instrumental 'The Colours of Glass' and the melodies, beats and feeling from the song set heads nodding and feet tapping. The size of the crowd (only around 30) and the relaxed environment created by the Podcart team meant that there was no dancing, however I can imagine a packed club dancing away to this tune and others. 'Rainbow Bubbles' was an instrumental album, yet the 3-tracks on the 'Blooms' EP indicate that Miaoux Miaoux is indeed blossoming (pardon the pun) with vocals and a poppier edge (particularly on 'Snow' that features New Order-esque guitar).

'Pixellated' off the album feels it's way, layers are added throughout the song to create something quite special, 'Dream On' continues in a similar vein, while the aforementioned 'Snow' builds from a guitar riff that Bernard Sumner would be proud of into an epic song with the refrain/chorus 'I don't wanna be my own best friend, I don't wanna be my own best friend'.

On stage (the floor) it all looks so easy but the talent and vision required to layer melodies on melodies, change beats and introduce soaring moments that lift you higher in such a natural fashion is immense. Mylo sprung to mind a couple of times during the set, but I don't want to make lazy comparisons.

With another couple of songs from 'Rainbow Bubbles' and a free track 'Hrvatski' (available from www.miaouxmiaoux.com ) it's all over too soon and I'm already looking forward to the next time, just like an early romance, when one date ends you look forward to the next one.

For the record, Miaoux Miaoux will be playing Heavylight Darkbright at Captains Rest on May 8th where there may well be some dancing. And more romancing…

April musings

Well it is 21st April and I've not been to a gig in Glasgow yet this month.

I have ventured to Bathgate and Edinburgh, but finances, work and other mundane things have meant that I haven't been out and about much.

That is about to change, starting with a trip to the good old 13th Note this week to catch Miaoux Miaoux and Dead Boy Robotics as part of a Glasgow Podcart night.

One of the great things about the 13th Note (and there are many) is that it is cheap to hire. If you make a certain amount at the bar then the venue hire (including soundperson) is free. So that allows new bands coming through the chance to put on their own night and either make some money, or not lose that much! The booker (ex-Teenage Fanclub drummer Brendan O'Hare) is also very reliable.

The Glasgow Podcart have been a welcome addition to the Glasgow music scene. Their enthusiasm and knowledge of music is infectious and who knows where their little venture could take them.

Next week I will be heading to Glasgow Barrowlands to see one of my favourite bands/acts of current times - the majestic LCD Soundsystem. I was lucky enough to catch them at the Barras several years ago when Too Many DJ's/Soulwax were supporting. My memories of that night are a little hazy as it was a messy affair, I just remember dancing my socks off!

In other news I'm excited by the prospect of seeing Martha Reeves & The Vandellas perform Motown classics like 'Heatwave', 'Nowhere To Run', 'Jimmy Mack' and 'Dancing In The Streets' at The Arches in the summer. Although I am sure the £26 ticket will be well worth it, I am having to wait until payday to buy one.