Ask any band, anywhere, in the country and they will have a story or two to tell about, and I use this term loosely, a promoter. This recent Xtra Normal ‘Text to Movie’ really does hit the nail on the head.
However, before tarring all promoters with the same brush, we know there are plenty out there who do an amazing job, week in week out and here at R13, we want to give these people a genuine pat on the back and say “Thank you” for helping keep the live music scene well and truly alive and to have a little chat to get to know the person behind the flyer better.
The first promoter to feature is Carl from 2 Bob Promotions. Carl is already a legend in South East London for his tireless work, none moreso this up coming weekend when the Foxfest is held at The Fox in Lewisham.
R13: How long have you been promoting?
C2B: Properly? I'd say about 6 years or so. But we've always made our own parties for as far back as i can remember. A few of us had a residency in the Amersham Arms (giant place in New X) back in the 90s.
R13: How did you start and why?
C2B: In 2003/4 I was living in Newcastle (Australia). I was watching a gig at the Delany Hotel, my fave bar at the time. Amy Vee & The Virtues, great band. Amy was releasing an EP, she was so hot and so talented. It was a scorchingly beautiful day as per usual when it struck me that this was what I wanted to do with my life.
Starting to think about it seriously I began to wonder why we were paying over the odds to see our mate's bands play in overpriced venues in London. We decided we could provide a better service to bands and better value to customers. Most of our gigs are free entry as a result.
R13: What style of music do you put on and where?
C2B: While we mainly promote punk, rock, post rock, folk, blues, country anti folk and indie, we don’t have a strict music policy. We have open ears and are excited by all sorts of sounds. It's unlikely you'll see us doing mainstream pop or urban chart stuff though.
We promote exclusively at the Fox & Firkin in SE13, it's always been our spiritual home. We are looking for other outlets, but they'd have to meet our (fairly socialist) criteria. We've had great fun in other venues around SE London but we feel the Fox is the best in the area. We've also enjoyed hosting gigs further afield in North and East London, but personally I want to promote the area of London that seems to be least respected. Lewisham deserves its cool gigs too. It has a rich history in music.
R13: Do you have any special events other than the standard gig nights?
C2B: All our gigs are exciting to us! Foxfest is our biggest weekend of the year. Every year on the May Day bank holiday weekend we transform The Fox, put in an extra stage and play constant live music for 2 days. It's a unique experience, lots of fun and a pain in the arse to organise.
R13: Tell us more about Foxfest
C2B: Take a usual unsigned circuit live bar, Hope n Anchor, Monarch, Barfly type place. In this case The Fox. Rip out the chairs and tables put in an extra stage PA and rig the main stage with a massive lighting rig. Then you host 40 live acts over two days. But, the real key with foxfest is that when one stage finishes, the other starts straight away. There are no lulls or boring bits. It's constant live entertainment. All the acts are top drawer, most of them have had been played by Lamacq, Laverne and Lowe. Pretty much all of ‘em have been on Chris Robinson's introducing and all for a fiver a day.
R13: Any significant bands that have played your shows in the past?
C2B: Sadly I've seen more talented bands split up than go on to recognition. We definitely see more talent than you'll see in the charts. Grosvenor played our stage in an earlier format. Kasms are doing quite well for themselves. Johnny Flynn is now a big deal as is the wonderful Gemma Ray.
R13: Any up and coming bands that have played you recommend?
C2B: Twobob is in love with the work of the following and you should check them out while you can: Let Our Enemies Beware, Breton, William, Black Daniel, Sycamore, King Of Conspiracy, Dexy & The Handmedowns, Special Benny and The Android Angel. I could go on like this for ages, but that'll do for now.
R13: What has been the lowest point (so far) for doing the promotion work?
C2B: Chet splitting up was probably my lowest point. The greatest band we ever booked and a loss to British music. I love lots of bands but one should measure a band by how many grade 'A' 'hits' they have. Good bands have two or three on each album surrounded by pretty good songs. Chet were the reverse, they were all hit singles with a couple of pretty good songs sprinkled among ‘em. They were ours and SE London will forever hold a place in its collective musical heart for them.
Chet splitting, quite coincidentally, heralded a general demise in live music in London in my opinion. It's never been tougher to be in a band. There's so little money available to musicians. Venues are charging far too much to bands (which is criminal) and to customers (which is greedy), the recession and smoking ban have decimated audience numbers and the recent set of fresher students seem far more interested in dubstep (which is no bad thing) and guilty pleasures nights (which is unimaginative). Music goes in cycles and like the economy, we are experiencing a bit of a slump which I think will turn around by the end of the year. The internet opens a new wealth of opportunities for musicians and I'm enjoying watching the 'suits' who have had a stranglehold over music running scared at the freedoms it offers.
R13: If you could have any 5 bands, past or present, who would you love to put on as a gig?
C2B: Well Chet obviously, The Beatles were a pretty good band, I quite like that Elvis Presley fellow he could sing a bit, Joy Division seemed to live in a monochrome world that I'd like to have visited, albeit briefly and Battles are probably the most interesting thing I've seen in years so yeah. Stick that in a line up. In fact, get Elvis to compere the event, maybe sing a song or two in between the acts, get Joy Division on first followed by Battles, The Beatles and Chet to headline. Perfect! I wonder what Elvis would have made of math rock.
R13: Thanks for your time, where/how can bands contact you if interested in playing one of your shows?
C2B: Musicians should email carl@2bob.co.uk with links to their sites and we'll happily talk to them.
If you know of any promoters that you feel go that extra mile and deserve the praise, then please email neil.richardson@roomthirteen.com