Sound City wrap-up

A ‘Sound’ weekend of music

By BETH LINDOP

Liverpool is a city synonymous with many things: football, culture and a pretty distinctive accent to name just a few. But there is perhaps nothing more intricately woven into the region’s rich tapestry than music. For decades, Liverpool has been seen as the birthplace of some of the entertainment industry’s biggest names, and whilst the city revels in its illustrious musical history, events such as this year’s Sound City are paving the way for a whole new array of stars to be born.

‘It’s really great that music is back! ’

Last weekend, over 100 artists took to the stage at various venues across the city as part of Sound City’s 2021 offering.

The three-day festival welcomed a combination of established names and up-and-coming talent in a celebration of Liverpool’s musical dynamism and diversity.

Such talent included Dune Boy; a four-piece band fronted by 21-yearold Seb Westwood.

“It was really great!” Westwood enthused.

“I’ve never played a festival before,

but I think the set went really well and people seemed to like it. Even just hanging out around the festival was great - seeing other bands was brilliant.”

The Hope University student, who is currently in his third year of a Music and Music Production degree, has been writing and producing music since the age of 13.

He said: “I’ve always been into music really. I was doing it for years with other bands. I’ve been recording music for about four or five years but for a long time it was just my own projects.” Whilst Westwood is something of an old hand at writing and recording, performing live is a more of a recent prospect; one made less daunting by the support of his bandmates.

Although Dune Boy were only established a few months ago, their Sound City set at Kazimier Stockroom proved a hit with a Merseyside audience.

“It was a really great atmosphere and there were a lot of people there for us as well which was great.” Westwood said.

Kazimier Stockroom joined performance spaces such as Grand Central Hall, Arts Club and The Jacaranda as one of the hosts for this year’s festival.

The Seel Street venue was created as a grassroots space for live music, comedy and film and has asserted itself as an exciting hub for the artists of tomorrow.

The Jacaranda (Top Right) and Leaf (Bottom Left) are just two of the venues used at Sound City 2021

After a turbulent 18 months for the arts sector owing to the Coronavirus pandemic, the importance of such venues and the live entertainment they provide could not be overstated by

Westwood. “It’s really great that music is back!”

He said. “Even as a fan of music, it’s great to be back at gigs again. Social media can be useful and people hear your music on Spotify and stuff but I still think that seeing someone in action live on stage is the best way to find your music. “At a festival, you can see so many new bands and if you see a good set then you’re going to remember the name.”

You forget how human big, loud sounds make ‘

you feel ’ Certainly, Sound City has produced a plethora of memorable names since its inception 14 years ago. During that time, iterations of the festival have taken place across three different continents and played host to artists such as Ed Sheeran, Stormzy and The 1975. While this year’s festival saw fan favourites such as King No-One and Red Rum Club return to Liverpool, Scottish Art Pop four-piece The Vegan Leather were amongst the dozens of artists making their Merseyside debut at Sound City. “The city was fantastic. We were absolutely buzzing the entire day coming down.” Said Gianluca Bernacchi, the band’s guitarist and singer. “We got in and we set up and started to kick about – it was amazing. Also, Liverpool is full of such nice people. It’s a bit like Glasgow in that way.” It was that trademark Scouse affability that helped to assuage some of Bernacchi’s pre-gig nerves as the band prepared to take to the stage for their first performance since February 2020. “Before we went on, I had a deep sense of dread which I never used to get. I was like ‘Oh my god, am I going to forget a whole minute of music when we’re up there?’ but people were just so welcoming.” The Vegan Leather hail from Paisley – a small town which neighbours Glasgow. The quartet, who were formed in 2014, released their debut album ‘Poor Boys/ Broken Girls’ in October 2019 but saw their promotional tour curtailed by the pandemic. Bernacchi said: “We’ve spent a lot of time over the last few months getting the live set ready to go again.” Despite some initial anxieties, Bernacchi was fervent about the success of the band’s first post-lockdown gig, which took place at Leaf on Bold Street. “The atmosphere was jumping!” He effused. “People were very up for dancing and getting down which was really nice to see. People were so friendly.” With the band preparing to release an EP later this year, Bernacchi spoke of his joy at the return of live music after a catastrophic couple of years for the industry. He said: “You forget how human big, loud sounds make you feel. I think it’s just so important for release and affirmation. It’s good for the mood and good for the soul.” With tickets for Sound City 2021 having sold out before a single chord had been struck, the festival can only be regarded as a huge success. As the world establishes a new normal following on from the pandemic, one can only hope that live music continues to soothe the soul of the city for many years to come.