Grassroots venues are under threat - what we need to do to support them

I've just been speaking to Jumoke Fashola on BBC Radio London about the plight of the UK and London's small venues. I have a special interest in this. I mentioned that of the London venues the False Dots have played in our 45 years, maybe 50% have closed. Fantastic venues such as The Purple Turtle in Camden, The Moonlight Club in West Hampstead, The Cricklewood Hotel and the Ad Lib club in Kensington are just a few of the excellent venues we lost. Then there are the pubs, often where we played many times over many years, including The Copper on Tower Bridge Road, The Bald Faced Stag in Burnt Oak, and the Midland Hotel in Hendon are examples of great pubs the band played many times, but we've also lost. In 2015, we started the Save London Music Campaign, launching it on the Robert Elms show on BBC Radio London. It is a passion of mine.

There are still some brilliant small venues left. My band The False Dots are playing the Dublin Castle in Camden Town on Saturday 3rd Feb (why not help out and click here to book a few tickets).  We sold out our last gig on 23rd December which was an amazing night. There are audiences when venues are well run and decent artists are put on. I see such artist at my  studios  Mill Hill Music Complex. We saw Brit awards winners such as Amy, Kate Nash and Floemerge, they needed small venues to hone their trade. 

The problem is that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Amy Lame, the Mayors nigh time Tsar  are simply not doing enough. Small music venues are a very niche area of the economy with massive influence, but almost no share of the £5 billion UK Music industry pie. The industry needs a proper scheme that is easy to access The UK government receives huge tax income from the UK music industry. It would make no difference at all to give grants to all struggling venues and would ensure the ongoing health of the sector. 

The government has taken some measures, which should be acknowledged, such as rates relief on hospitality venues, but this is simply like giving a cancer victim a drip to keep the hydrated so they live a couple more days. The UK need a coherent strategy for grassroots venues. So what can be done?

The Mayor needs to make London musician friendly, with exemptions from ULEZ and Parking charges. Transport is a key requirement for musicians. we have gear to cart around and we usually have old cars and vans. It is simply not feasible to say "Buy a new van that is compliant".  If my band plays in London and we need to bring gear, that costs me £25 in Ulez and God knows how much in parking charges, if you can find somewhere to park. 

As for the government? I'd like to see small promoters given a grant. If they were given a £250 grant towards every band they put on for aa one year period, this would transform London's music scene, with a maximum of £500 per day. This would be a huge shot in the arm for promotors and give them a real incentive to put live music on. I'd stipulate that 50% of that was guaranteed as a payment to bands. This would help cover the costs of bands, engineers and promotion. It would encourage promoters to take risks with new artists, that maybe they wouldn't otherwise. It would make pubs and clubs 'try out' music. 

I promoted my first gig in 1980. I was seventeen years old and at school. As we made a profit, it meant we were inspired to do another one. We were also lucky in that there was a vibrant local press and they supported us. See the pic >>>>>

 I know many people who started in the same way. Now, it is almost impossible to do that. The UK music industry is built on mega artists, who benefitted from that environment. If the UK economy wants to continue to lead the world in music, we need an environment where young people can promote gigs and start music businesses. The grants would give people time to find their feet and learn the lessons. 

The UK music industry contributes a massive amount to the UK economy and gets zero specific support from the government. In other countries, all manner of schemes exist to help musicians, venues and promoters. I totally get that people like Sunak and Khan do not understand such a niche area as grassroots music. There are amazing organisations such as The Music Venues Trust that can advise them. Sadly, small venues, bands and promoters find it difficult to get heard at table. I contributed to a Parliamentary enquiry on live music, a few years ago. Sadly, the whole thing largely got hijacked by people with an exe to grind about secondary ticketing and nothing really got done for small venues. 

And finally, what can we all do? Support small venues and promoters. Come and see gigs like my band at The Dublin Castle on the 3rd February. We have a band coming over from Dublin called Inbetween Honey supporting us. They may be the next U2 for all I know. Earlier in the blog, I mentioned the Moonlight Club in West Hampstead. I saw U2's first ever London gig there. They were playing with a band I liked, called Modern Jazz. If, like now, the Moonlight was closed, maybe they wouldn't be the band they are now?

Here's what they sound like

And this is what you can expect from us.