With so many music nights in Liverpool it could be quite easy to get lost in the crowd. Away from the big names that come to the city, the music of the young bears fruit, even if some in higher places wish to attempt to take down venues that offer opportunities to the young, the hopeful and the aspiring.
One such night is Strings and Things which happens every first Sunday of the month in Studio 2 on Parr Street and offers the chance to bands and solo artists to perform. It is a very unique night, an evening of entertainment in which Liverpool Sound and Vision has had the great privilege on numerous occasions and which the music has been of the highest of quality.
With artists such as Nadjia, Nora Konstance, Helena Johnson and Kevin Critchley all having graced the stage in recent months, I was able to catch up with one of the organisers of the evening, Mr. Ian Weller, and ask him ahead of the third anniversary what made him bring it all together.
Congratulations on your third upcoming anniversary, it must be very special?
IW: “It is very special to us, we started Stillhet promotions with our live music events three years ago, it was just an idea Liam and I had saying that we had lots of friends in bands who were not getting good gigs. They were stuck in pubs next to the fruit machine, by the men’s toilets, playing to an uninterested crowd and yet having rehearsed and having played their hearts out, putting all their effort in and not getting the gigs and payment we thought they deserved.
You’re all involved in music in some capacity.
IW: “We were involved in music in different ways, I D.J. and produce as well as run our sister club events SubSound, the same with Liam and we thought we’ve got something between us, we thought we could do something special for upcoming bands. We all have day jobs but we still want to do music so that where it came from. The idea that we could give bands a stage, a show, a music venue that would be all about them, all about the music, it’s all about the grassroots of music, whether that be in Liverpool or wherever as we didn’t know where we were going to take it then. That’s where we started, looking for to always have a venue where we could put on a show and it be about them and for them and support them financially.. All the money we take goes to the acts, recognising all the effort they put in. It’s all the travel costs; it’s all those things some promoters don’t understand that means so much effort goes in, they don’t get paid for but that’s what we wanted to do – we give a good show, a good stage and with the fantastic Studio2 we have that now.
So three years on from that, we’ve developed that idea, basically whatever we do, it’s tempting to book big touring bands and headline acts but we always came back to the fact that at the early stages of a band’s career, it’s not easy to get a quality gig and furthermore, how exciting it can be for them to have a first headline gig so to speak, so that’s what we’ve concentrated on.”
How did it feel to bring it all together?
IW: “It was organic, from the first day of the first show in 2012, you can do ten degrees of separation, that from that first set of bands, we met other bands, other artists who came to the city of Liverpool looking to start out – as a solo act, band or acoustic performer; we have been here to put the show on. It was always nice to concentrate on them, to give them often their first full show in some cases, sometimes they were a year or so into the development of the band and they had the confidence to issue their first E.P. and then when they came to play for us, they were going to get a proper stage for their act. What’s always been nice for them is that I think it’s borne out of the way we curate the nights, that all the acts are equally surprised by the fact that they are used to being at venues where they are not listened to. From all the different venues we’ve used down the years, we’ve always had a stage which has sometimes, not always, builds their confidence – after one song they realise that the audience is listening to them and perhaps they’ve actually come for the music, giving the band their full attention and cheering them on and I think that’s given them the confidence to continuing and taking things to the next level. So that’s the greatest compliment to us is that the bands that come through and played for us have equally enjoyed the experience. They’ve often come back, we don’t want to repeat too often but some have come back to play with a new format, maybe they’ve gone from being a solo artist to being an ensemble but it’s always been in development of those new bands and that’s where we try and stay – promoting the new music.”
What’s nice is the fact that you as a promoter are not adverse to going out and finding that act, you’ll go to L.I.P.A. for example and watch Nora Konstanse, Nadjia, Helena Johnson and others
IW: “There’s a funny thing that happens in Liverpool, I’m conscious of it, there exists some cynicism in other quarters about LIPA artists thethat somehow the acts there get it handed to them on a plate, they’re just out of‘Fame School’, it’s easy for them but I took another view from the start really. The people we first met from L.I.P.A., yes they are fiercely creative people, they are in an wonderful environment at the School of Art but they have to work for what they get, it’s not been gifted to them, they have to craft their songs, they have to craft their stage performances, they have to learn the trade and one of those tasks is obviously performing and I think what we soon realised was that there are so many exciting ideas. We may put an artist on like Chanel Samson, three years ago she was playing a ukulele solo. I watched the last show she played for us – it was an ensemble piece with about an eight or a nine piece band with a completely different feel, dare I say ready for the international scene.”
Is that fulfilling, does it still drive you?
IW: That’s what’s keeps my appetite going, is to go and find the new music, sometimes we’re lucky, it’s organic, people come to the show, they come and see other bands and they say hey Ian, I’d like to come and play. They’ve been coming to watch for three months and they’ve plucked up the courage to ask can they play. We talk, we look at their music, it’s very rare I say no. Sometimes, it’s finding the right night, if they are solo, then they should fit in a certain way but it’s always got to be about continuing a look. In a city like Liverpool, you’re going to have people playing over a matter of weeks over different venues but as much as possible, to put on a night that’s an unique curation, an unique ensemble that people can say that was different, we went from a solo ukulele player to an electronic duo with keyboards to a folk band to a psudeo-grunge act which we’ve done before and that the music bands appreciate that – people come to the show for the night –for ‘Strings and Things’ – and to enjoy that for what it is and it will always continue.
That’s the passion now and at three years, it gives Stillhet Music an opportunity I must admit to keep striving for that next curation, sometimes things fall into place, sometimes we make mistakes, that was too easy, we should have curated that differently. We’re still looking for that new music, looking for those bands and keep giving the opportunity to those people who want to play for us, not have to pay to play and not having to sell 30 tickets before they get to play. All those things which are in the industry and no disrespect but to give them the chance, it certainly excites me and I wouldn’t want to be a promoter if I didn’t enjoy the night myself and that’s what it comes down to really. I spend many hours at gigs or from afar on Sound Cloud or U Tube talking to the acts and working them, booking them and that latter point is to try and encourage them to do something new where we’ve had electronic acts perform an unplugged set and challenge them to come and do something completely different because it kind of fits within our style. There’s an act that we’ve got coming up in May – SANA who is an electronic act and she said she’d try something different for you guys, a kind of funk thing which has kind of diversified her performance but we always enjoy that.”
What I’ve noticed about coming to a lot of your nights, is the incredibly fair percentage of acts that are female-led or female solo, it feels more than 50/50 percentage wise which is great to see.
IW: “I suppose it is semi-conscious, in terms of musical curations and style for over the evenings. We usually start with a solo performer and work up to something else but in doing so, not to come to have four male-led indie bands. One is fine but not four on one night, personally it’s not something I want to do, they may be great bands in their own right but put four together it kind of blends together and to be fair, you lose the identity of the individual bands. Blending the genders of the singers naturally works in our favour, a female led, male-led bands, other acts with different attitudes, different things to bring. It’s just brings that enjoyment really, it’s a conscious decision to try mix that up constantly not only for the musical sound but as you know, it’s not easy for someone to get a break so it’s a way to try and give everybody a chance to play.”
Where do you see String and Things/ Stillhet Music going in the future?
IW: “It’s still going to be about the co-operative work, we offer the bands a contract which isn’t a contract – come play for us and we’ll work our bottoms off to promote them and for them to work with us to bring as many people as they can with them to the night. In the next year, we really want to keep on pushing the envelope in terms of concentrating on the curation, be a bit more bold in our bookings, not rest on our laurels, keep on pushing all angles and may be take it on the road. One idea is to take the ensemble idea with dare I say our favourite bands out there and expand it the boundaries of Liverpool, we’re looking at different ideas like taking it to the Atkinson Arts Centre in Southport or over to Manchester, just to spread the Liverpool word of music, to spread the Liverpool scene a bit further afield. So hopefully in the next 12 months we can grow things and still give bands a fair day’s play for a fair day’s play.”
Strings and Things third birthday event at Studio 2 on Parr Street is June 7th at 7.30pm.
Ian D. Hall