How did Read the Fanzine get started?
Anyone who has ever been to a low-key gig where a great band has been let down by poor organisation/promotion have probably thought to themselves "I could do better myself". Many even discuss the possibility of putting on their own night. But how do you make the jump from talking about it to actually doing it? Well this is our story.
On Thursday December 22nd 2005 I JK met up with an old friend and ex-work colleague called Tris for a pre-Christmas drink at the Phoenix theatre on Charing Cross Road in London.
Whilst putting the world to rights we inevitably got on to the subject of music, and in particular Steve Lamacq's "Punk Rock Karaoke" that I'd recently attended which was basically karaoke where instead of a machine you sing with a real live backing band.
We were analysing the format and trying to figure out whether he made any money at it, or if he just did it for fun.
The night went on and we got to talking about how the word "Indie" had changed it's meaning over the years, and how I couldn't see how bands such as The Killers could be described "indie" in any of it's varied meanings.
| "Only after seeing Dave Howard girate around in a wheelchair like a deranged madman ... I realised weird was not neccesarily a bad thing." |
You see, I grew up like most people listening to Top 40 Chart music, unaware that there was anything else worth listening to. I viewed The Chart Show's Indie rundown on Channel 4 with suspicion as it looked a bit weird. Only after seeing Dave Howard girate around in a wheelchair like a deranged madman in the video for his cover of the old David Essex song "Rock On" I realised "weird" was not neccesarily a bad thing. It opened the floodgates to a whole wonderful world of music I'd known nothing about. In particular it was a breath of fresh air in an era where the mainstream charts had been taken over by the dreadful production line pop of Stock Aitken Waterman, and Poodle Rock power balads.
Inspirational - "Rock On" by The Dave Howard Singers
| "How many "Majors" were run by anyone as memorable or charismatic as Tony Wilson or Alan McGee?" |
Although technically "Indie" referred to being on an independent record label, what I was into wasn't so much the labels themselves (though how many "Majors" were run by anyone as memorable or charismatic as Tony Wilson or Alan McGee?) but the fact that there seemed to be no rule book - a typical Indie rundown would traverse wildly different genres, some bands were quite polished, others made up for lack of musical ability with attitude and enthusiasm.
| "if "Alternative" stations such as XFM and 6 Music had existed back then to give them exposure many of these bands would have gone a lot further than they did." |
Anyway, aside from a few notable bands who reinvented themselves as pop oriented dance acts and found chart success (Soup Dragons, Pop Will Eat Itself, The Shamen) most of the bands from that era sunk without a trace, and I explained my belief that if "Alternative" stations such as XFM and 6 Music had existed back then to give them exposure many of these bands would have gone a lot further than they did.
In a Eureka moment I made a suggestion - we hire the venue that Steve Lamacq uses for his Punk karaoke - perhaps midweek to keep costs down, and do a night where we play overlooked classics, after all "New Music" was a big thing back then, and whilst technically "Old Music" it would be new to most of the audience!
I think Tris liked the idea as he went up and ordered a bottle of champagne!
| "if strangers turn up then it's a bonus." |
It's all very well coming up with big plans to put on a night when you've had a few drinks too many, but in the cold light of day with a hangover, it just seemed like a lot of hassle and it nearly didn't happen. But I mentioned it to another mate JG, and he suggested that we treat it as a party for a few mates, if strangers turn up then it's a bonus. His suggestion, coupled with the boredom of a cold January, and Tris still being well up for it, and I was determined to give it a go!
Being new to putting on nights, I thought that venues would have a "Book Now" button on their websites, I soon found out that most decent venues don't have to, and those that do are generally not venues you want to use, nevertheless I came across a pub called Extra Time, a sports bar in Barbican with a hirable upstairs.
Tris and I popped over, gave it the once over and booked it there and then for the princely sum of £125. Suddenly, after all the talk it was finally real.