M60

Members Music Magazine Issue 60 June 2016

portishead mersey paradise Scouse second coming

THE SMITHS

PETITE MELLOR

hello europe Touring tales

THE INVISIBLE

HUW STEPHENS

digital edition

contents

log on to make sure you don't miss out m-magazine.co.uk

COVER FEATURE

PORTISHEAD Myth, mystery and music.

18

MEMORIES OF THE FUTURE

JUST JOINED Meet PRS for Music’s newest members.

How Liverpool’s new songwriters are creating their own legacy.

22

4

60 SECONDS

ISLAND TO MAINLAND

The Invisible Creativity after calamity.

How to survive and thrive in Europe.

28

MARK ALLAN

5

BUSINESS NEWS

I WROTE THAT

PICTURE THIS

PRS financial results, music futures, digital market perspectives, US visa issues, composers’ health and wellbeing.

Iain Archer on penning an Ivor Novello Awardwinning hit with James Bay.

The story behind that iconic 1985 shot of The Smiths.

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17

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SOCIAL @m_magazineprs @m_magazineprs /prsformusic /prsformusic /m_magazineprs

cover photo: portishead

EDITORIAL

PRODUCTION

Editor Paul Nichols

Production & Design Carl English

Associate Editor Anita Awbi Senior Writer Jim Ottewill

Membership Advisor Myles Keller

CONTRIBUTORS Eileen Fitches, Amy Field, Stuart Fleming, Liam McMahon, Cerian Squire, Alex Sharman.

PRS for Music, 2 Pancras Square. London N1C 4AG T 020 7580 5544 E magazine@prsformusic.com W www.prsformusic.com The printing of M Magazine is managed on behalf of PRS for Music

by Cyan Group Ltd, Twickenham. www.cyan-group.com Advertising 020 3225 5200 ISSN 0309-0019© PRS for Music 2015. All rights reserved. The views expressed in M are not necessarily those of PRS for Music, nor of the editorial team. PRS for Music accepts no responsibility for the views expressed by contributors to M, nor for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations, nor for errors in contributed articles or advertisements. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited.

M is printed on paper manufactured using chlorine-free pulps and the raw materials are from fully managed and sustainable forests.

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just joined

sign up for information about becoming a member visit prsformusic.com/joinus

babeheaven

petite meller If you’re a believer in pop’s power to ridicule and subvert, then the nouveau sounds of French starlet Petite Meller should have already smeared rouge all over your musical radar.

Petite’s music writhes above an eclectic appetite for culture’s outer cosmos - she cites Marquis de Sade and Fela Kuti as inspirations, is studying for a Masters in philosophy and uses her appearance to challenge how female pop stars are often overly sexualised by an industry hell bent on mass appeal.

Born in France, Petite’s initial influences have always been disparately colourful. Those early years saw her weaned on a diet of Euro-pop, the jazz of Dizzy Gillespie plus the croon of singers such as Serge Gainsbourg before she entered academia. Following stints in Europe, Tel Aviv and New York, she now calls London’s East End home, balancing her studies with twin thirsts for music and fashion.

A handful of singles illustrate how Petite has become adept at transforming her musical fantasies into realities via a blend of HI-NRG pianos, angelic vocals and chart tickling hooks that Lady Gaga would wrestle a butcher for. Baby Love, dubbed as one of 2015’s cooler summer moments, has racked up almost eight million YouTube views to date, and helped Petite perplex crowds at the Latitude, Leeds and Reading festivals.

While sounding ostensibly populist, this pig-tailed agent provocateur has painted her own path, leaving nothing sacrosanct from her creative touch. While she drinks tea with giraffes in her videos, in interviews she discusses the plight of Nigeria’s kidnapped schoolgirls and her love of new wave cinema.

Now in the studio putting the icing on the cake of her debut album, Meller is on a crash course for chart success without letting up on the stylish bamboozling. Zut alors! petitemeller.com

West Londoners Babeheaven were born out of a shared sonic dream between singer Nancy Andersen and guitarist Jamie Travis. When they first met, the pair enjoyed a mutual love for trip-hop, soul and electronics, and were working day jobs - Nancy in her grandmother’s antique shop, Jamie in an organic farm store meaning it wasn’t until night fell that they set about channelling the spirits of Massive Attack and Cocteau Twins into their creative cloud.

Last year’s debut single Heaven was the first fruit of their labours, a sultry slice of experimental pop that sinks deep into the conscience, writ through with expansive reverb and dub recording techniques. They’ve since split their time between studio and stage, in part thanks to backing from the PRS for Music Foundation’s Momentum Music Fund and a growing fan base, gathered in the wake of the single’s success. New music is expected this year from the five-piece, plus hotly anticipated live shows dotted across the festival season including Latitude, Visions and Festival No.6. babeheavenband.com Find out about more of our new members on m-magazine.co.uk

jodie harsh Dubbed ‘the real queen of England’, drag artist, club promoter and DJ Jodie Harsh is already a cult figure, but now has her heart set on grabbing ‘the overground’ by the short and curlies. Some see Jodie as one of UK nightlife’s hottest messes, but she’s a rapidly rising force to be reckoned with inside clubland’s counterculture.

Rather than relying on her abilities to lip sync or cause havoc on the runway, Ms Harsh 4_june 2016_m60

DJs at clubs, festivals and A-list parties, having lit up stages for Robyn and Beth Ditto, as well as spinning at Glastonbury, Bestival and the BRITs. In the studio, Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake have been tucked up by a Harsh remix while Jodie’s writing credits are building into quite the portfolio, working with the likes of Charli XCX, SOPHIE and William Orbit. Come kiki with her in 2016… twitter.com/jodieharsh Babehaven #fundedbyprsf

members & music

sixty seconds THE INVISIBLE London’s The Invisible are one of the UK’s hardest working bands. Led by songwriter and producer Dave Okumu, the Mercury Prize-nominated trio have played with everyone from Jessie Ware to Yoko Ono and are now making a name for themselves with their hybrid of electronic-pop-soul.

Uploading pictures to Instagram and making bedroom beats is not the whole human experience…

It’s important that we look outwards and don’t miss what’s around us.

They have faced some personal challenges following the death of Dave’s mother and his on-stage electrocution during a festival in Lagos, but they’re now back and sounding more alive than ever with their third album Patience.

How did you start your musical journey?

I [Dave Okumu] come from a large family of music lovers so was exposed to pop, soul and funk from a young age. My siblings made me mixtapes, then I started buying my own records - Prince’s Sign O’ the Times and De La Soul’s Three Feet High and Rising were on constant rotation.

How did you begin playing music?

I got into jazz - Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. It sounded so alive. Then I became engrossed in Tracy Chapman’s songs. My brother showed me how to play them on guitar and it was only then I realised this was a way of expressing yourself. I didn’t put the guitar down for the next five years.

How did The Invisible get together?

We go back a long way, Tom [Herbert], Leo [Parker] and I. Tom was one of a number of musicians I met at the Weekend Arts College in South London. It was a great, formative experience, meeting people my own age with real musical passion. Tom and I were in our late teens when we met Leo. We hit it off and have been playing together ever since in various guises.

Patience is your new album – what are the circumstances behind it?

Every album feels significant and so they should, otherwise there’s no point in making them. But this one is really significant as we’ve been through such a journey. During the course of the second record Rispah, my mum passed away.

It was a real shock and informed the record’s whole character as it’s a tribute to her. It was a really difficult experience but precious to go through with my two best friends.

Just before that I sustained a serious injury while performing. I received an electric shock on stage in Lagos which resulted in my leg breaking. I’m very lucky to be alive. But it meant we weren’t able to tour or promote the second record which was really difficult having worked so hard on it.

How did these traumatic events impact the band?

I’m really proud to say we were able to transcend them. I didn’t think our friendships could get much deeper but inevitably, as you go through hardship, they do. We’ve grown as human beings and there was a real desire to capture that on record. That’s what bands do - with every record, they aim to create a statement about where they’re at. As we survived, we also had this sense of excitement and celebration and wanted to bring that out in our new record.

Dave Okumu #fundedbyprsf

You recently directed the Gil Scott-Heron tribute gig, Pieces of a Man how was that?

That really took me out of my comfort zone, which was part of its appeal.

You never know whether you’ve done something well enough until the night so there’s this constant low level anxiety. Is there some amazing song I’ve missed? Inevitably there will be but you just need to accept that. After I was asked, I took some time entering Gil world to pick material, then started making demos and imagining who would be involved. I’d send things to people, others sent me songs saying how much they’d love to do them. Joan as Police Woman sent me demos hours after I’d asked her. I tried to create a musical foundation but also facilitate as much personal expression as possible.

Hopefully it made for a worthy tribute.

Have you any advice for new artists?

Let your work speak for itself. We live in a time where it’s hard to sustain a creative career, particularly as there’s real pressure to use social media to present yourself in a certain way. That’s important if it helps a person’s creative life, but it can also be incredibly distracting. It can shift the focus from what’s important, which is making good work.

Making a record on your laptop is amazing but it also drives people into bubbles. If I hadn’t interacted with others, then I wouldn’t have learned how music works, how to build relationships, things that humans were put on earth to do. Uploading pictures to Instagram and making bedroom beats is not the whole human experience. You look at heroes we’ve lost - Prince, David Bowie - they didn’t do that, they were having conversations, experimenting and getting their hands dirty working with other people. It’s important that we look outwards and don’t miss what’s around us.

Patience is out now through Ninja Tune. ninjatune.net/artist/the-invisible Published by Just Isn’t Music m60_june 2016_5

members & music

britain’s got talent

Damon Albarn, Portishead, Adele and Happy Mondays were among the outstanding songwriters recognised at this year’s Ivor Novello Awards.

The ceremony, now in its 61st year, drew an army of top drawer talent, with everyone from Alan McGee and Graham Coxon to Jess Glynne turning out to honour 2016’s winners and nominees.

Adele collected the coveted Songwriter of the Year Award for the second time, following her global success last year, while the PRS for Music Outstanding Contribution to British Music Award went to pop noir trio Portishead (see page 18).

Band member, Invada Records head and screen composer Geoff Barrow also collected a second statuette (with Ben Salisbury) for the soundtrack to the film Ex Machina.

Elsewhere, the PRS for Music Most Performed Work accolade went to James Bay’s Hold Back the River, co-written with Iain Archer, while Happy Mondays, helmed by Madchester maverick Shaun Ryder, took the Inspiration Award.

Blur’s Damon Albarn was the final UK songwriter of the day to be honoured, receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from his friend and ‘big brother’ Graham Coxon.

The last accolade of the day went to multi-million-selling Canadian songwriter Bryan Adams, who received the PRS for Music Special International Award.

Head over to m-magazine.co.uk/interviews to watch our red carpet interviews with winners and nominees, and to see the full list of winners.

Clockwise from below: Happy Mondays with Alan McGee; Wayne Hector; Jamie Lawson with Craig David, David Holmes and Keefus Ciancia; Bryan Adams (centre) with Ray Davies and PRS Chairman, Guy Fletcher. Inset: Damon Albarn (top); PRS for Music Chief Exectutive Robert

MARK ALLAN, FABRICE BOURGELLE

Ashcroft with Iain Archer and James Bay.

The Ivor Novello Awards are presented annually by the British Academy of Songwriters & Composers and sponsored by PRS for Music

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members & music

plastic fantastic

sonic superhighways Percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar is the one of the first musicians to emerge blinking into the sunlight after an immersive PRS for Music Foundation and Steve Reid Foundation mentorship programme – and he’s got a cracking debut album to show for it.

As one of the inaugural alumni from the charities’ InNOVAtion award scheme, he’s benefited from close-up contact with its mentors Four Tet, Emanative, Floating Points, Koreless and Gilles Peterson.

Sarathy’s earthy sound pricked the ears of all five mentors, who were intrigued by the blending of his Hindustani heritage with the templates of US jazz masters and post-millennial electronic London.

Box Bedroom Rebels is a boutique DIY record label established by Manchesterbased music nut Kev Rolfe. Since its inception in 2014, it’s released a string of beautifully crafted seven-inch records from the likes of Horsebeach, Temple Songs, Lost Tapes (above) and Water World.

Before embarking on the scheme, the lure of India and America’s roots had already set Sarathy on a path of discovery from the US, to Chennai, India, and finally London, where he fell in with likeminded sonic wayfarers Arun Ghosh and Shabaka Hutchings.

Here, Kev shares his top tips for industrious songwriters and artists thinking of releasing their own vinyl.

But the grounding he received via the mentorship programme has accelerated his creativity and helped him cement his own flavourful fusion of jazz, electronic and Indian harmonics.

Start small: People have to discover you. Start with a small vinyl pressing of 50 to 100 seven-inches with a simple wraparound sleeve that you can sell yourself through free sites like Bigcartel and Bandcamp.

Think local: Search thoroughly for a pressing plant nearby that will do small runs. All offer free quotes and you can put out 100 white label seven-inches for around £450.

Avoid pressing plants which are based abroad, as that will delay everything.

Reduce your speed: Release 33rpm seven-inches rather than 45rpm to get more music for your buck. You can get eight and a half minutes per side – that’s 17 minutes in all. If you wanted to, you could easily release a mini LP on a 33rpm seven-inch.

All killer no filler: Make sure all the tracks are excellent. You have to be ruthless. You’re paying for this so it should to be something you can listen to again and again.

Mixing on the cheap: Record and mix the tracks as you want to hear them on record and send WAV files to the pressing plant. You don’t have to spend a fortune on a sound engineer as the plant will do that for you so the tracks are vinyl-ready.

Get creative: A wraparound seven-inch sleeve is 185mm x 370mm. Get creative and print both sides, have numerous designs, play with the format. Use the personal touch, make them numbered, unique. Or if you want to be completely DIY, photocopy your own sleeves on A3 paper and cut them down.

Added extras: You can get seven-inch record bags from eBay for nothing. Download codes come printable from most sites you buy them off and cost as little as £2 for 200.

Offer extra tracks as download exclusives. Add inserts, lyric sheets, stickers, badges; again, the personal touch is everything.

Get out and about: Contact record shops directly to stock your release and use social media. Distributors won’t touch small releases and if they do they’ll want a percentage, which is a loss for you.

Count your beans: Pace yourself financially. A record takes eight to 12 weeks to press. Get that ordered and paid for in one month, then the following month sort out the artwork. The following month you can look around for cheap bulk-buy inserts and extras. By the time all that is done, folded, prepared and ready, your record will be ready for delivery. boxbedroomrebels.bandcamp.com For more on licensing your own release, visit prsformusic.com/users/recordedmedia

He tells M: ‘I grew up with a lot of Hindustani classical music in the house, as both my parents are trained classical singers. By age 12 I’d been playing tabla for four years but I was also listening to The Doors, The Beatles, Janis Joplin.

‘The album is a product of the entire mentoring process that Steve Reid Foundation and PRS for Music Foundation provided. It’s the culmination of two years of work and is testament to the fact that involving very creative and generous people in music-making is the only way forward.’

So how does he feel now the album is ready for the world? ‘Anxious! It’s my debut record so I’m really hoping it’s well received. I’m very happy that it is coming out on such a great label (Ninja Tune), and I’m also really pleased that I got the opportunity to work with some supremely gifted musicians like Shabaka Hutchings, Giuliano Modarelli, Al Macsween and Domenico Angarano. So regardless of how the record does, it has been a great experience for me personally.’

Sarathy’s album Day to Day is released on 8 July through Ninja Tune.

Read the full interview with Sarathy at m-magazine.co.uk and learn more about the Foundation’s work at prsformusicfoundation.com. m60_june 2016_7

members & music sound effect

Huw Stephens, 35, is a trusted tastemaker, broadcaster and curator. Joining the BBC aged just 17, he’s since gone on to build a career out of his uncanny knack for unearthing originality and spark.

Now at the centre of the BBC Introducing initiative, he helms the In New Music We Trust and BBC Introducing radio shows on BBC Radio 1 and also runs a regular slot on Radio Cymru. A restless entertainer, he supplements his busy DJing diary compering at gigs and clubs, and over the last few years he’s hosted and curated stages at most of the bigger UK festivals.

Not content with his integral role in British broadcasting, Huw co-founded Cardiff’s Swn Festival back in 2007. What tentatively began as one of the UK’s first inner city festivals has since blossomed into a national beacon for both new Welsh music and upcoming acts from around the UK. We caught up with him at SXSW, Texas, where he was curating this year’s PRS for Music showcase, to learn more about the soundtrack to his life…

the first music i remember hearing was…

S4C theme tunes for kids’ television shows in Welsh. There was a song called Ffalabalam from the eighties’ show of the same name, which went ffalabalam balwm balam bale. That’s still one of my favourite pieces of music. the last great record i listened to was…

The Tame Impala album Currents, the first Sulk record and the First Aid Kit album The Lion’s Roar. Those are the three that have been big favourites of mine over the last couple of years. the song i wish i’d written is…

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, just because it’s amazing isn’t it? There’s nothing quite like it. To break that down and learn how to do something like that would be brilliant. the song that makes me cry is…

The one that nearly makes me cry is Into My Arms by Nick Cave. The words are just beautiful.

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the song that makes me laugh is…

Again, it’s got to be Bohemian Rhapsody

by Queen – because it’s brilliant and ridiculous! the first record i bought was…

Actual record? That would’ve been Basement Jaxx’s Red Alert. Previous to that it was cassettes in Asda and CD singles from HMV. the song that makes me want to dance is…

Anything playing at a wedding. the only song that i know all the words to is…

Datblygu’s Can I Gymru. the song i want played at my funeral…

I don’t mind really. @huwstephens Huw Stephens is a PRS for Music Foundation ambassador.

LARKINGS LIST FOR STAND EASY STUDIO SCREENS

Stand Easy Audio screens, short & full size with and without window, on casters GET YOUR NAME ON OUR MAILING LIST T. 01234 780126 www.larkingslist.com

making music

myspace We ask a selection of UK songwriters, composers and producers to let us behind the velvet curtain and show us where the (musical) magic happens…

Indie-rock quartet Tangerines, self-built studio, Peckham, London @feeltangerines

Experimental singer-songwriter MALKA, home studio, East London @MALKAmakesmusic

London-based producer and DJ Kasra V, home studio, Dalston, London @ItsKasraV

Songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Shawn Lee, ‘The Shop’, Finsbury Park, London @iloveshawnlee

BAFTA Scotland New Talent winning composer Atzi Muramatsu, bedroom studio, Glasgow @AtziComposer

Jazz composer and pianist Peter Edwards, home studio, Harrow, Middlesex @pedwardsmusic

Peter Edwards #fundedbyprsf

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money & business

prs reports record royalties for 2015

The Performing Right Society (PRS) has announced its 2015 financial results, revealing a record high royalty income of £537.4m.

This represents an increase of seven percent on 2014, when measured on a constant currency basis, with year-on-year growth across all revenue streams.

‘we cannot live in a broken digital market’ PRS for Music Chief Executive Robert Ashcroft used his speech at the Performing Right Society (PRS) Annual General Meeting (AGM) in May to share his views on the ongoing dysfunction within Europe’s digital music market and call on all members to support positive change at legislative level. Here’s an excerpt: Twelve months from now I anticipate we shall look back and see that 2016 was a year of both consolidation and delivery of many of the things we set out to do years before.

I hope to stand before you once again to announce record financial results, but above all to say that Europe has led the world in turning the internet into a fully functioning market for creative content.

Now it is time for your voices to be heard. While we have secured sympathy for our cause at the highest political levels of the European Commission, not least with Vice-President Ansip and Commissioner Oettinger, who are responsible for the Digital Single Market policies.

There is, however, much work still to do and we need your support to convince the parliamentarians, both here, and in the European Union (EU), of the need for reform of the safe harbour loophole.

We are under no illusions as to the challenge ahead of us. We are significantly out-gunned by the lobbying efforts of the technology companies, whose business models work for them, and work for consumers, but do not, in the words of Irving Azoff, work for us. And if they don’t work for us they don’t, in fact, work for either the technology companies or the consumers in the long run.

We cannot live in a world where the only online model is funded by advertising revenues. Your works have an inherent value and this needs to be reflected in a proper price. We cannot live in a broken market, in which innovation is stifled, start-ups perish and growth is constrained. Nor, in the long run, can either the technology companies or consumers.

We now have a unique opportunity to address the failing in the online market through the European legislative reform programme - whether or not the UK votes to leave the EU. This is where the decisions on the future of our industry will be taken and in this forum, your voice is many times more powerful than mine.

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The organisation said that, unlike previous years, the figure doesn’t include Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society Limited (MCPS) financial figures.

The uplift at PRS, which equates to an 8.4 percent increase in distributions to members, was driven by continued growth in the online market, the success of members’ repertoire overseas and efficiency improvements.

Online revenues increased 12.8 percent to reach £42.4m while international revenues totalled £195.6m, an increase of 10.4 percent on a constant currency basis.

Broadcast revenues rose by 4.1 percent to £124.2m, in part due to growth in advertising on commercial radio stations, while public performance royalties grew to £175.2m, an increase of 4.1 percent on 2014.

Robert Ashcroft, PRS for Music Chief Executive, said: ‘Our numbers for 2015 reinforce PRS’ position as a global leader in collective rights management and our commitment to delivering increasing value to our members.

‘Our revenue growth is fuelled by the strength of the repertoire we represent and the dedication of our people who are critical to our success. As we modernise our operations, our performance will continue to showcase PRS as one of the most efficient collective rights management societies in the world.’

He added: ‘We have had to invest to secure this impressive revenue growth and to position PRS to respond to an increasingly competitive marketplace. With a major joint venture with PPL, the commencement of a new digital transformation programme and some exceptional litigation costs in support of landmark licensing deals, PRS is making positive steps to deliver real value to its members.’

agm news The 102nd PRS AGM took place at the British Library, London, on 26 May 2016. New publisher director Simon Anderson, Director of Publishing at Audio Network, was voted onto the PRS Board. He was the only new director for 2016 and replaced Edwin Cox, Managing and Creative Director/President of West One Music Group.

The remaining publisher directors include Jackie Alway (Universal Music Publishing), William Booth (Sony/ATV EMI Music Publishing), Nigel Elderton (peermusic) and Richard King (Faber Music). There was no change in the writer director line-up, which still includes Steve Levine, Julian Nott, Mitch Murray, Nicky Graham and Barry Blue.

business

financial review 2015

for a full copy of the 2015 financial review and infographics visit prsformusic.com/aboutus

safe harbour The European Commission (EC) has outlined detailed proposals for its Digital Single Market strategy, which MEPs have ruled to be ‘a step in the right direction’.

The new initiatives, which cover digital communications and cross-border online regulations, were welcomed by the majority of MEPs in a recent debate in Brussels.

Included were plans to allow consumers and companies to buy and sell products and services online more easily across the EU, plus improvements to crossborder parcel delivery and enforcement of consumers’ rights across borders.

e-Commerce Directive upheld In the associated Communication on Online Platforms paper, it was suggested there may still be ‘broad’ support for maintaining the existing principles of the e-Commerce Directive, first published in 2000.

The directive introduced the so-called safe harbour principle, which allows providers of certain online hosting services, in certain circumstances, to be exempt from liability for unlawful activity which takes place on their service.

Although the provision has been widely criticised by the music industry, including PRS for Music, it is likely the EC will uphold it, and the wider e-Commerce Directive, in its Digital Single Market strategy.

However, the EC has recognised serious issues in the remuneration of rightsholders when their works are used by online platforms. To balance this, it has committed to an autumn copyright legislative package to achieve a fairer allocation of value generated by the copyright content on online platforms.

It has also committed to review the need for formal notice-and-action procedures, which occur when rightsholders request digital service providers remove their copyright works.

In all, the Digital Single Market Strategy includes 16 initiatives to be presented by the end of this year.

your next paydays Performing (PRS): 15 July 2016 14 October 2016 15 December 2016 14 April 2017

Mechanicals (MCPS): 30 June 2016 29 July 2016 31 August 2016 30 September 2016 m60_june 2016_11

WE SUPPORT SONGWRITERS AND COMPOSERS IN NEED The help and guidance we provide can include grants, assistance with sheltered accommodation, debt management advice, career counselling and access to much needed physical and mental health care.

To find out more and apply for help, visit prsformusicfund.com or call 020 3741 4067

PRS for Music Members Benevolent Fund A Registered Charity No. 208671 Facebook.com/prsfund Twitter.com/prsfund

money & business

business

stellar performance from international showcase fund

New UK acts supported by PRS for Music Foundation’s International Showcase Fund (ISF) have helped generate £4m in revenues for the music industry and UK economy in the last three years, according to new research.

The ISF Impact Report, which covers 2013 to 2016, shows that total revenues of fund-supported acts increased by £4m, up from £2.8m in 2013, to £6.8m in 2016. Average individual revenues more than doubled, increasing from £19,200 to £46,700 per annum.

According to the study, every £1 invested generated an additional £8.90 for its beneficiaries, equating to nearly a nine-fold return on investment.

During the three-year period, the fund invested more than £431,000 supporting 146 artists.

The initiative, run by PRS for Music Foundation in partnership with UK Trade & Investment, British Underground, Arts Council England and Musicians’ Union, has helped support a range of artists including Slaves, Little Simz, Kate Tempest and Everything Everything. PledgeMusic are now on board as a partner for 2016 and beyond.

The Square (grime crew supported by the International Showcase Fund) (l-r) Streema (MC / producer), Elf Kid (MC), Lolingo (producer), Blakie (MC) and DeeJillz (MC).

grime raises international stakes

Vanessa Reed, PRS for Music Foundation Executive Director, said: ‘Showcasing in a new territory is one of the most important opportunities for an artist; yet it can also be one of the most expensive, particularly as the costs of travel, accommodation and visas are on the rise.

Ed Vaizey, the Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy, has said that MC Stormzy and The Square crew have helped grime ‘take the US, Canada, UK and the British Government by storm’.

‘The ISF has therefore been pivotal in supporting many of the UK’s most talented and distinctive musicians to develop their careers in new markets.

As we celebrate the milestone of our tenth anniversary, we look forward to building on this success and supporting more of the many UK musicians who deserve the chance to connect with new audiences overseas.’

He used his address at the International Showcase Fund (ISF) Impact Report launch to praise the work of British artists overseas, pointing to the growing stature of grime in the US and Canada as a prime example.

The ISF Impact Report was launched at a recent event in Parliament for songwriters, composers, government ministers and ISF partners.

The ISF was celebrating its 10 year anniversary and a nine-fold return on investment for artists supported through the initiative. Vaizey, whose Department for Culture, Media and Sport backs the scheme, said at the Portcullis House event: ‘The Square are mentioned in this report – and they’re all over this room as there are loads of them.

‘They have joined the likes of Stormzy in contributing to the brilliant rise of grime music, which is now taking the US, Canada, the UK and the British government by storm. I just want to show you we are completely on it.’

He added that he was ‘proud’ of the report, which shows that the ISF has helped generate £4m in revenues for the music industry and UK economy in the last three years. ‘But much more important than the economic statistics are the real stories of the people who have been helped to get a break,’ he continued.

‘It’s great that people can have access to small grants that can get them over a ridge – they’re starting out, they’re thinking about going out into the world and this fund exists to help them.’

Jake Isaac (singer-songwriter supported by the International Showcase Fund),

Find out more about the support available at prsformusicfoundation.com

Vanessa Reed (Executive Director, PRS Foundation), Ed Vaizey (Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy). m60_june 2016_13

money & business

building a music future uk artists facing acute us visa issues Blockchain can provide the framework for a future music industry 10 times larger than today, according to ATC Management Partner/ Director Ric Salmon.

Addressing the recent PRS for Music Explores Blockchain event held in London, he explained the new technology offers an opportunity to ‘rewrite the rulebook’ and build a modern music business ready for growth.

British acts are facing huge problems securing US visas, which is damaging cultural exchange between the two nations, a panel of experts at The Great Escape has warned.

‘I staunchly believe that we are on the edge of what is about to be the greatest era for the music industry in its modern times,’ he added. ‘I believe we’ll get to a point in the next decade where we’ll see revenues double, quadruple, grow tenfold, to become the biggest they’ve ever been.’

Salmon went on to explain that growth would be based on micropayments, which will make up 99 percent of the business. He continued: ‘At the moment we find ourselves in the slightly frustrating position of building a modern music industry on a very old fashioned fabric and framework – and it’s just not working.

‘What blockchain potentially does is provide us with an opportunity to rewrite the rulebook. So, while I’m feeling muted and cautious, I have a very optimistic view of it all.’

Blockchain is a decentralised, transactional system with no single entity controlling it. It’s of particular interest to the music business because it offers transparency of ownership by publicly associating music files with the correct rightsholders in real time.

Just as music distribution was disrupted at the start of the millennium with the rise of peer-to-peer file-sharing platforms, blockchain technology could now offer new opportunities for its monetisation.

Andy Heath, Chairman of Beggars Music and UK Music, was also on the panel, and expressed a similar cautious optimism about the technology.

‘I think blockchain is a very exciting, sensible idea: what we do with it is something else completely. Blockchain needs to be taken very seriously as one of the tools that will work going forward.’

But he cautioned that while the technology is robust, it is not a ‘silver bullet’ that will ‘solve everything’. He added: ‘What it could be is a super-helpful element of the future of music distribution. We should embrace it and welcome it.’

The panel was chaired by Graham Davies, PRS for Music’s Director of Strategy and Digital, and also included songwriter and technology expert Rupert Hine, songwriter and PRS Board member Crispin Hunt and Phil Sant (Omniphone).

Talking at British Underground’s UK Musicians and US Visas session, the Musicians’ Union’s (MU) Dave Webster said that despite repeated attempts to tackle the situation over recent years, more must be done to ease the passage of UK musicians to the US. He said: ‘We’ve been listening to our members who have had huge problems over the last few years. They’ve been turned away, they’ve had to cancel shows, they haven’t had their visa applications turned round in time so they’ve had to cancel flights and rebook. This is all at massive cost to the musicians and a huge detriment to the cultural exchange between the UK and US.’ He went on to explain that the situation is now so acute that the MU has assembled a Music Industry Taskforce with 10 other organisations including the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, British Underground, UK Music and UK Trade & Investment.

‘We’re trying to arrange a meeting with officials at the US Embassy to get them to understand our problems and also to learn about their issues. We want to find a way to achieve an easier and cheaper process for musicians to go and work in the US,’ Webster explained.

Although the MU and UK Music have met with US Embassy officials in the past, regular staff changes at the embassy mean vital connections are easily lost. UK Music’s Jo Dipple, who was also on the panel, added: ‘This is an extremely important issue. British artists export their music all around the world and if we don’t have the ability to go to other countries to play music, we don’t have a market.

‘The macro-politics of homeland security means it’s very difficult to get traction with any one political master. We can go to the Department of Culture and they’ll point us to the Home Office. But the Home Office will say it’s the American Embassy. Then the US Ambassador will say he can’t interfere with homeland security.

‘We’ve had two meetings with the American Embassy to tell them there’s a real blockage which is costing UK artists a lot of money, and they say they will make things easier. But a year later all those officials have been moved back to the US and we can’t find anyone we had the meeting with… It’s extremely frustrating.’

The next PRS for Music Explores event will cover the relationship between the music and gaming industries. It takes place on 20 July.

14_june 2016_m60

Earlier this year, the MU and British Underground produced a booklet for artists travelling to the US. Read it at musiciansunion.org.uk

comment

time for a creators’ health service?

Dr Deborah Charnock, Chief Executive of the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM), considers the merits of creating a cohesive health network for musicians, songwriters and artists.

Throughout our industry, physical and mental wellbeing has often been neglected, but is a vitally important area. Music creators set themselves extremely high - often impossible - standards, measuring themselves against others in a very competitive field. Peak performance requires mastery not just of musical skills but also those required to maintain good health and manage the pressures of work. More needs to be done to help people overcome health problems common in such a challenging career.

It’s been great to see a new enthusiasm throughout the industry for meeting the unique health needs of creators and performers. In particular, mental health in the music industry has been the focus of much recent discussion. Building on this, I think now is the ideal moment to ask some vital questions: Do we need a performing arts industryspecific healthcare service and what should this uniquely provide?

What relationship should this have with existing healthcare providers?

What will ensure that such a service is effective, safe and accessible to people in widely varying circumstances?

What role should the music business and related performer support organisations play, including record companies, publishers, collecting societies, unions, educators and charities?

Although answering these questions is not straightforward, BAPAM has been providing free specialist health services to music creators and other artists for over 25 years and has unique insight in the field.

We connect creators, performers, students and teachers with committed, expert healthcare practitioners. We give free medical advice about work-related health problems including playing-related pain and repetitive strain injury, voice loss, hearing problems, performance anxiety, stress and other psychological issues. Some people come to us because they have problems that have proven too career-specific to be effectively

assessed in non-specialist services. Sixty percent of our clients have already seen a health professional before attending a BAPAM clinic.

Expert career-specific medical advice enables people to make informed decisions and facilitates effective ongoing care. Many of the artists we’ve worked with tell us that our help in navigating a sometimes bewildering situation has proven invaluable in helping them beat career-threatening illness and injury.

Practical solutions always require a combination of approaches – self-help strategies, NHS services, independent practitioners offering highly specialist services, help from writer and performer support charities like PRS for Music Members Benevolent Fund and Help Musicians UK, and other organisations including MIND, the British Voice Association, British Tinnitus Association and alcohol and substance misuse services.

Sometimes specialist treatment is provided by private practitioners who work with many performing arts clients, either because highly specific expertise is difficult to access on the NHS or NHS referral timescales are not compatible with a performing arts work schedule. Musicians and creators are likely to be self-employed or under pressure from management. If unable to work they need to find effective solutions quickly.

More needs to be done to help people overcome health problems common in such a challenging career.

Psychological services are one area where the practitioner’s experience with a particular client group is of vital importance, but there are others – for instance physiotherapy, where the solution to a debilitating problem may be missed by someone who hasn’t worked with many musicians.

Whatever form a performing arts health service takes, it is vitally important that systems are in place to ensure all patients receive safe, evidence-based, effective, and data-secure treatment. If charities and other music industry bodies offer their own service, or refer their clients, artists and members elsewhere, they should very carefully monitor the quality of those services and ensure their resources are being used ethically to best support those in need.

BAPAM is a Care Quality Commission regulated medical organisation that has delivered a proven service in this complex field for many years. Its experience strongly suggests that improving healthcare provision throughout the performing arts requires effective collaboration as no single organisation has all the answers. It aims to work together to ensure that people who need expert medical help are able to find it. bapam.org.uk

m60_june 2016_15

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Annual Membership Digital £20 Standard £90 (£7.50 per month via direct debit) Professional £162 (£13.50 per month via direct debit) Apply online at basca.org.uk/join

At its heart, the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers & Authors (BASCA) is a professional, not for profit, membership organisation.

We’re a single, powerful voice for all songwriters, composers and lyricists across all genres.

We provide unparalleled opportunities to network with your peers as well as an ever growing list of member benefits and services.Whether you’re just starting out in your musical career or have had a string of successes, BASCA speaks for the entire music writing community.

We work for fair copyright law, the best possible royalty returns and for wider recognition of the priceless contribution that music makes to our culture and society.We’re driven to ensure that our member’s voice is heard and their needs are always taken into account when it really matters!

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PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Free insurance: Professional and Standard members are automatically insured for £1m Public Liability plus equipment insurance Free legal & tax advice Discounts, offers and more: Specially negotiated discounts from various partners including workshops, seminars and networking events CELEBRATION BASCA owns and organises The Ivor Novello awards, the British Composer awards and the Gold Badge awards. As a BASCA member, you can take advantage of special industry ticket prices TRAINING Acquire new skills, improve your knowledge and make new contacts through our range of development seminars

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song writing

i wrote that Iain Archer is a formidable songwriter, artist and producer who earned his stripes as a member of the multi-million-selling indiepop band Snow Patrol. He received his first Ivor Novello Award for their number one hit Run in 2005 and has since gone on to write with Jake Bugg, Rhodes, SOAK and James Bay. This May, Iain received a second Ivor for his and James’ gilded folk ballad Hold Back the River. The track, which peaked at number two in the UK singles chart, also delivered them a Grammy Award nomination and made James a household name on both sides of the Atlantic. Here, Iain chats about the song’s creation…

I have a studio in the bell tower of an old church in North London. It’s a great room for singing because it gives you an awful lot back. It’s got alcoves and beautiful stained glass windows so it’s an inspiring place both visually and sonically.

When a phenomenal singer like James comes along, the space really responds.

Generally when I’m in there I’m writing, but writing for me is always in permanent inverted commas. Writing is hanging out and spending time with people, eating, drinking coffee, talking… It’s the stuff in between the actual business of writing that informs the song as much as sitting down and playing instruments. I’ve come to learn there’s an awful lot that orbits the songwriting process.

MARK ALLAN

James is an amazing guitarist and he just started playing several bits that have come to comprise the central parts of the song. It all sounded awesome and led us on a voyage of discovery. You spend time in a room together chasing the tail of multiple ideas, conversing about the stuff of life, getting so far down the line and then deciding to float for a while and try something else. It’s a great thing to do because you never know when that special thing is going to happen that’s just undeniable. James started playing, we tried a few ideas and then we were off. It was well worth waiting for!

I love it when a song has the ability to mean something of real importance to lots of different people. That’s always an emotional objective for me when I’m writing, because I’ve seen the power

Iain Archer and James Bay - PRS for Music Most Performed Work Award winners at the 2016 Ivor Novello Awards.

of those songs before. I want to be so absorbed by a song I can find myself and the most important parts of my life in it. When I look in people’s faces as James plays Hold Back the River, I can see people responding in a similar way.

When you make something very strong melodically, you instinctively try to write in a way that would make the song mean just as much to others as it does to you. We’re all aware of the unstoppable passage of time and the tide of life and that’s what we felt we were tapping into with Hold Back the River.

As much as we were concentrating on writing, we were remaining open to possibility and to our instincts. It ’s important not to switch off either the technical or emotional side. I feel this song, from the word go, has a genuine directness, which is really autobiographical for James. With us as songwriters, it ’s not always natural to be so heart-on-sleeve and it ’s really nice when you strike it right.

When we knew we had it, James slammed the guitar down and recorded his vocals. The demo happened really quickly. We always spend so much time during the day just hanging out and writing that recording can be a rush. But everything that we captured there in that demo came through on the final track.

It’s straight from the heart, a piece of soul, a genuine slice of us.

I’m genuinely really proud of the song. I think the fact that it’s written with James – who is not just a very special artist but also a very special person, makes it so satisfying. It’s amazing to see someone as gifted as James get the recognition he deserves.

I’m really gratified that we were able to do this together, the two of us, in a really natural way. It’s straight from the heart, a piece of soul, a genuine slice of us. Sometimes it seems the more honest you are, the more people respond. iainarcher.com Hold Back the River Written by: Iain Archer and James Bay Published by: Kobalt Music Publishing

Watch video interviews with Iain and James on m-magazine.co.uk m60_june 2016 _17

PORTI

PROFILE FOCUS

Main image: Portishead

SHEAD Anita Awbi heads over to Bristol in search of Britain’s most mysterious musical trio…

M60_JUNE 2016_19

Above: Portishead performing live

If Portishead were a cult, they’d be a shadowy guerrilla unit, occasionally breaking cover to hit popular culture right between the eyes with their indoctrinating transmissions. As a benign Bristolian pop trio, their stance is far less confrontational - but no less radical.

Together, Beth Gibbons, Adrian Utley and Geoff Barrow have released a modest body of work (three studio albums in 22 years), but their subversive smudge on the grubby face of British pop is long-lasting, uncompromising and totally compelling.

Last month their overarching powers were recognised via the PRS for Music Outstanding Contribution to British Music Award at The Ivors – an accolade never before given to a band with so few albums to their name.

It marked a quarter-century of discerning artistry, and brought the trio fleetingly – reluctantly – back into the public eye. The moment was flagged by Geoff’s trademark cynicism, ‘I’m not going to say thanks because I don’t believe in these things… but we’re delighted to have been invited,’ and raised more questions about their creative future than their prodigious past…

Artistic outsiders The enigma surrounding Portishead crackles audibly across their albums, each one a successive line in the sand for their sonic dexterity and complex band dynamic. Travelling to Bristol to visit Adrian – the only member willing to meet – I’m trying to gauge how much he’ll reveal about their clandestine internal workings.

MARK VANEMA, GETTY

Adrian’s house is perched on the edge of a ramshackle suburban hill overlooking the city centre far below. Mugs of tea in hand, we decamp to the two-storey studio, a breeding ground for the band’s lauded 2008 LP, Third, and the scene of cross-genre collaborations with Perfume Genius, Marianne Faithfull and many more.

The studio is a shrine to analogue reverie and early electronic gadgetry, with a MiniMoog bearing the signature of its late, great inventor Bob Moog, holding pride of place. It’s a collector’s den, where vintage guitars lean against iconic

synths - and where Adrian seems to feel most comfortable discussing technical processes. With so many competing projects now preoccupying all three members (see box out), it’s easy to see how the Portishead train has been periodically derailed. But with the years clocking up since their last release, how does he view the band dynamic these days?

‘I think we’re defined more by what we haven’t done than what we have,’ he says. ‘We’ve always not done things with unity, you know? For 20-odd years there’s been an aesthetic between us – and a trust – that we won’t do this, or that, because we can tell immediately it’s not the best thing for us,’ he explains.

It might be an isolating stance in terms of purely professional success, but it’s one that has undoubtedly helped the band remain in a fertile, albeit semi-functioning, state over the years.

Freedom from Portishead have perfect poise, which they dished up with relish on the noir-drenched debut Dummy back in 1994. The record’s far-out eeriness, cut-and-paste wizardry and visceral laments unintentionally embodied a wonky new electronic sub-genre (trip-hop) and surprisingly shifted more than two million physical copies.

Accepting only a tiny advance from Go! Discs (now a Universal subsidiary) meant they recouped in record time and quickly learned the power of ‘No’ when cajoled to play the game, which back then meant a schmaltzy turn on Top of the Pops.

It also granted the band instant freedom from the pop apparatus, and while tapping major players including London Records and Mercury/Island for subsequent releases, they’ve maintained strict artistic integrity ever since.

Adrian says: ‘All the bands that were important over the years - nobody ever told them what to do. I’m not being big-headed and I don’t mean that in a weird revolutionary way – only, this is our life. I want to make music with this person, I want to play with these instruments, I want to learn a bit about composition, I want to do this, I want to do that. We’ve worked hard for our freedom and we don’t need to follow.’

All the bands that were important over the years nobody ever told them what to do.

PROFILE

I think we’re defined more by what we haven’t done than what we have.

Audibly askew Back then, Portishead’s prowess lay in Beth’s raw songwriting and visceral vocals, Adrian’s fluid musicianship and Geoff’s mercurial sampling style. Their sound was led by Geoff, whose rigorous pruning of old hip-hop beats and jazz tracks sent songs slipping in and out of tune and rhythm in a revolutionary way.

To compensate, Adrian would regularly slide between half notes and broken timbres, while Beth was only given rudimentary backing tracks to sing over, which would be stripped out later.

This was new territory, and the results were audibly askew.

‘It was a happy collision of people with different skills that fitted together,’ Adrian remembers. ‘The first Portishead track I ever played on was Sour Times and to fit Geoff’s beat I had to retune a quartertone to play the chorus…

‘I don’t think we knew entirely what we were making. This was a new way of thinking, and I found it really exciting. It had this thing that you couldn’t get from just playing live instruments.

There was a different tonality. I’ve recently listened to music from around that time and I think, “Christ, what key is that?

That’s really weird.” But actually it’s wicked, you know?’

It didn’t just stop there: Portishead’s whole DIY approach was painstakingly thorough. The band would make demos of their tracks, get them pressed to vinyl, scratch them to smithereens and then incorporate the hissy resonance and stuttering flow into their final output. It was a labour of love that, in today’s world of digital hyper-manipulation, seems almost unimaginable.

Safe futures An early appearance on Later… with Jools Holland quickly taught them the merits of performance planning, though, and for their eponymous record in 1997, Portishead had developed a sound more synonymous with a live setting.

That process even went on to inform their latest record, Third, which although was a largely electronic album, involved more live play and off-the-cuff motorik soundscapes than ever before. The widespread love it attracted launched the trio off on a series of tours and headline festival dates which kept them busy until last year.

During it all, the band maintained a healthy distance from the public spotlight, and undercurrents within Beth’s brooding lyrics and their wider musical template hint at something deeper than plain old media aversion.

I wonder if Portishead, as intensely private people, may have unwittingly built a cult of mystery around themselves, which they’re now quite happy to maintain. Adrian offers: ‘There is always a massive level of trust about our aesthetics and the future and musicality. There is a trust with those people for me – I can’t speak for them – that I don’t really get elsewhere. It’s a solidarity.

We all know our musical endeavour and our aesthetic is safe together.’ Like their music, the mystery lies in what goes unsaid.

Pop’s procrastinators With just three studio albums under their belts, I ask how Adrian views the band’s legacy thus far. ‘It would be nice to have more records… We need a new one,’ he openly admits. ‘I think that’s basically how we all feel. We don’t just want to keep on playing when there doesn’t seem to be a point to it, you know?’

So what’s holding them back? Surely, as Bristol natives, they can find some shared time to come together and make new noise?

‘It’s about actually sitting down and doing it,’ he explains. ‘You see, with our band we tend to avoid things a little bit. Then we go into a kind of frenzy of work.

‘It’s so allusive, creativity, isn’t it? I mean everybody has different methods and I think for many it involves a healthy amount of procrastination.’

With everything and nothing now clear, I leave Portishead HQ fully expecting to hear some new sounds – or equally, a deafening silence – very soon…

WANDERING STARS Outside the Portishead camp, Adrian, Beth and Geoff are musical powerhouses in their own right. Here are some of their unmissable highlights…

Adrian His ample production credits include Perfume Genius’ incredible third album Too Bright, and The Coral’s The Invisible Invasion record, which he piloted alongside Geoff.

As a musician, Adrian’s jammed with PJ Harvey, Jarvis Cocker (most recently at Guy Garvey’s Meltdown in May) and Marianne Faithfull (most notably on her 2014 LP Give My Love to London).

Solo work includes his essential interpretation of Terry Riley’s minimalist composition In C with his 18-strong Guitar Orchestra, involving John Parrish and Thought Forms.

Beth Her haunting 2002 album Out of Season, created in partnership with Talk Talk’s Rustin Man. Beth’s ‘glacial roar’ for a giant model polar bear that Greenpeace used to lead a Save the Arctic street protest in London, 2013.

Her spidery piano ballad Strange Melody, written for Jane Birkin’s 2004 album Rendez-Vous.

Geoff Everything released on his magnificent Invada record label, including his band Beak> and his nouveau-kraut collaboration with Berlin-based chanteuse Anika.

His production magic on The Horrors’ stereoscopic sophomore album Primary Colours.

His 2016 Ivor Novello Award-winning soundtrack, composed with Ben Salisbury, to Alex Garland’s dystopian sci-fi Ex Machina.

Jump over to m-magazine.co.uk/listen to hear them all in action.

M60_JUNE 2016_21

LIVERPOOL ECHOES Ever since Liverpool’s 2008 Capital of Culture nod, the city’s musical offerings have grown increasingly weird and wonderful.

Jim Ottewill gets up close and personal with a tight music community, more eclectic and innovative than ever before…

‘It’s hard for Liverpool’s up and coming bands. They’re in the shadow of what’s gone before. It means they have to rebel against that to do something great.’

James Skelly, songwriting chief from psychedelic popsters The Coral, is toying with the perpetual conundrum facing the city’s latest songwriters. For him, Liverpool’s musical future is being drawn by those who note its melodic heritage but have their sights on what’s next rather than what’s gone before.

Chasing the tail of a dream With new album Distance Inbetween, The Coral, from the Wirral on the opposing side of the Mersey to Liverpool, are back at their hypnotic best. Among writing and recording, James has his fingers round the pulse of the grassroots scene, both in the studio and via the Skeleton Key label. Production duties have seen him fine tune Liverpool groups like She Drew The Gun and The Sundowners as well as Stockport’s Blossoms.

‘New acts need to take the bits of the past that work and throw away the rest,’ he surmises on the challenges for Merseyside groups. ‘Even if you like the past, you have to discard it and go against the grain.’

If the current flood of talent running through the city is a barometer, then many have already heeded James’ advice. From wonky electronica to contemporary opera via classical, R&B, folk and earworm-heavy pop, there’s a tsunami of new Liverpool artists succeeding by creating their own musical stories. XL artist Lapsley, neon pop magicians Stealing Sheep, the MOBO UnSung winning R&B act MiC Lowry, composer Mark Simpson, rockers Clean Cut Kid and Hooton Tennis Club, singer-songwriter Bill Ryder Jones… the list of talent is enviable and endless.

Rewiring history ‘If you look at Compton in LA, it produces amazing rappers.

There’s something about the environment that creates them. And there’s something about Liverpool that creates great songwriters,’ says Louisa Roach from She Drew The Gun. It’s certainly true that this love for melody and harmony is built into the bricks of the city. Since the primordial soup of pop was first placed on the hob, Liverpool has been at the bottom of the pan, bubbling through its very heart. From Gerry and the Pacemakers and The Beatles to Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The La’s and The Zutons, the list of great scouse pop merchants is endless. The challenge for new bands is to overcome the Fab Four stereotypes, something made harder by those acts still being such big business. Recent research by the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University revealed that The Beatles legacy adds £81.9m to the local economy annually, creating thousands of jobs.

Louisa is spearheading the new wave of Liverpool acts doing their best to forge their own paths while doffing their caps to the region’s trippy, harmonic culture. With her debut album Memories of the Future, born from sessions with James at Parr Studios, she’s succeeded with a distinctive sonic style, blending cloudy bleeps with classic songwriting nous. It’s a talent that will see her playing this year’s Glastonbury Festival after winning the event’s Emerging Talent Competition.

For James, Louisa is a great example of a new act ripping it up and almost starting again. He says: ‘She’s taken from the Liverpool thing, then moved it somewhere else. It’s still lo-fi, interesting, outside the system.’

profile REGIONAL

Main image: Forest Swords

‘In the past, Liverpool's had a bit of an identity crisis - a kind of low selfworth perhaps - but it's now realising it can exist on its own terms.’

Bill Ryder Jones, Blossoms, Hooton Tennis Club, Lapsley, MiC Lowry, Mark Simpson, She Drew The Gun, Stealing Sheep, Clean Cut Kid #fundedbyprsf M60_JUNE 2016_23

When people hear the LYRA the reaction is unanimous

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REGIONAL

‘If you look at Compton in LA, it produces amazing rappers.

There’s something about the environment that creates them.

And there’s something about Liverpool that creates great songwriters’ Above: The Coral Above Right: Clean Cut Kid

What does Louisa see as the secret behind the current purple patch Liverpool’s musicians are enjoying? ‘There’s something about round here that produces good pop songwriters, but there’s also a great psychedelic culture too,’ she explains.

‘If you mix that up with the close sense of community, then there’s a strong current of artists and music all feeding off each other.’

Culture capital Much of the groundwork for these new voices can arguably be traced back to the city winning Capital of Culture back in 2008. Peter Guy, founder of the Getintothis blog (GIT) and GIT Award, believes this financial injection solidified the city’s scene, seeding it with a new vigour and ambition. ‘Suddenly everything just seemed to align between the cultural and commercial setting,’ he explains.

As a music journalist, Peter set up GIT to champion local talent.

With award winners including Bill Ryder-Jones and previous M magazine cover stars All We Are, it’s a platform now dubbed the ‘scouse Mercury Prize’. He believes the cultural recognition marked a real turning point for the city.

‘All these new people came to the fore, making it a hugely collaborative place. In the past, you had all these guitar bands. There was ambition, because The Coral and The Zutons were global successes. But there were a lot of inward looking things too. Now everyone’s collaborating.

It’s become a really healthy scene, with a huge amount of ambition and drive.’

Liverpool International Music Festival The Liverpool International Music Festival (LIMF) is indicative of this new drive and diversity. Alongside Sound City and Liverpool Psych Fest, it’s just one of many events acting as calling cards for the city’s scene. With headliners including Wretch 32 plus locals The Wombats and Esco Williams, the council-run festival also incorporates an educational academy as well as concerts from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. It’s a huge musical mix that one curator Yauw Owsu thinks reflects the city’s make up.

All We Are, Esco Williams #fundedbyprsf

‘It's got to be diverse. That's the only way it can happen,’ he says. ‘We can have Echo and the Bunnymen play on one day, then the next have Labyrinth performing. That’s very Liverpool.’

This new eclecticism is linked to the ways music is now consumed.

‘We’re no longer just into one sound. We can pick and choose thanks to the web. That’s in the DNA of Liverpool. Everyone's a scouser but no one is at the same time.’

MiC Lowry, a five-piece vocal harmony group, are one of the city’s brightest new stars. After winning the MOBO UnSung competition, they’ve won over Glastonbury and attracted plaudits from BBC 1Xtra.

The band’s Ben Sharples says people are often surprised when they realise where they’re from.

‘People just assume we’re American or from London. When they find out we’re from Liverpool, it’s surprising but that can definitely be a good thing. You just wouldn’t necessarily associate a soul/R&B act like ourselves as scousers.’

Informing and inspiring LIMF is a clear sign of the city’s authorities taking a renewed musical interest in supporting emerging artists. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic will be hosting an event as part of LIMF in July but has also moved itself closer to Liverpool’s heart.

As Michael Eakin, the organisation’s Chief Executive says, the ensemble not only performs with local musicians and club nights such as indie stalwarts Cast or the recent Cream Classics concert. Through its In Harmony initiative, it plays a key role in educating the next generation of music makers.

‘In Harmony gives children a chance to make music and develop their talent,’ says Michael. ‘It’s about us being part of the community. So it’s a social change programme as well as music. We have 75 fantastic musicians working in Liverpool. They all perform but many are now doing education work. It has helped ensure people view us differently to how they might have before.’

M60_JUNE 2016_25

Manic depression stopped me from playing to the point of getting rid of my guitar to pay for somewhere to live. Help Musicians UK got me back on my feet. I dread to think where I would be without them.

Your support means we can help more musicians like Matt when a crisis stops them from playing. helpmusicians.org.uk 020 7239 9100 Backing musicians throughout their careers.

Registered Charity No. 228089

Help Musicians UK_Matt_HP_M Magazine v2.indd 1

02/03/2016 16:40:00

profile REGIONAL

‘There’s something about round here that produces good pop songwriters, but there’s also a great psychedelic culture too.’

Above: LIMF's Yaw Owusu Left: She Drew The Gun

Cross pollination Liverpool’s size certainly lends itself to musical connections. As with many towns and cities outside the capital, it only has limited rehearsal and practice spaces, meaning musical hubs are created, helping breed collaboration. Pete from GIT says this stirs a camaraderie among songwriters and acts.

‘New bands need to ask what is more important: having the space and time to be inspired to create music, or meet business people?

Staying here has been important to us. I just don’t think Clean Cut Kid would have emerged how we have if we hadn’t been immersed in the city’s scene.’

‘You’ve got the luxury of being able to cross from one side of the city to the other, meaning you’re permanently in touch with everyone,’ he says. ‘I was walking down Bold Street the other day and two members of The Coral were at either end of the street. You’re just always surrounded by all these people. You can see bands connecting in front of you and making things happen all the time.’

New confidence Electronic producer Matthew Barnes, aka Forest Swords, is another artist who believes his creativity has benefitted from staying in Liverpool. The Massive Attack collaborator recently unveiled Shine, a new dance piece commissioned by arts organisation Metal, featuring a score made from human body sounds.

Geography While much is owed to The Beatles for making Liverpool a musical mecca, now there is arguably the sort industry infrastructure emerging which meant the group may not have left the city if they succeeded now.

‘The city has always seemed to exist in its own sphere creatively, partly because of geographical and socio-economic reasons, partly the character of the people. From that, interesting art crops up and is allowed to exist,’ he says.

A network of management companies, publishers like Sentric Music and Parr Street Studios where James records and much of The Last Shadow Puppets album was made, means bands can thrive by staying in the city.

This new surge in the city’s music scene is attributed to more creative people just getting on and doing it. ‘In the past, Liverpool's had a bit of an identity crisis - a kind of low self-worth perhaps - but it's now realising it can exist on its own terms,’ he continues.

Electronic indie band Clean Cut Kid are another PRS for Music Foundation success story. They arrived in Liverpool as students, drawn by the Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts and musically hit it off. While in the past they may have upped sticks to the capital, the group opted to stay in the North West.

GIT’s Pete Guy agrees that success often breeds success. While these new music makers sound different, they’re united by a sense of purpose and burgeoning self-confidence.

MAGNOLIA PICTURES

‘Liverpool gave us a chance to be a band,’ says the group’s Evelyn Halls. ‘It was so cheap to rent out a rehearsal room and a place to live that we could do these little jobs and survive.’

Less time at work meant investing more in their songs and the city’s scene. They were able to hone their skills as a group before confronting the industry.

‘You can just tell already that the next wave of acts are learning from their peers. When you’re surrounded by people who are bright, innovative, and have a savvy knowledge of the industry, then there’s just a boss chance of success.’

Read the interviews with everyone now at m-magazine.co.uk/interviews

M60_JUNE 2016_27

LIVE AND KICKING

Fancy touring Europe but are unsure how the cross-border live circuit works? Adam Woods gets the lowdown from artists and songwriters who’ve been there, done that‌

profile LIVE

It’s been a lifetime coming, but here it is: your first European show. Goodbye UK, hello world. A legendary international touring career begins now. Just blink into the lights and say something cool…

German live business alone was worth €2.8bn in 2014 (source: Music Industry in Germany); the UK €1.2bn (UK Music); France €746m (CNV); Italy €260.5m in 2015 (Assomusica); and Spain €194.5m that same year (APM).

‘I said, “This is my first show in Europe,”’ remembers Hertfordshire singer-songwriter Rhodes of his international debut at Eurosonic Festival in the Netherlands. ‘And someone shouted back, angrily, “The UK is in Europe!”’

For new acts, these are pots of gold to marvel at, rather than dip very deeply into. But there are still opportunities to be found on a continent that has 4,200 festivals and 18,300 clubs and music venues (source: Julie’s Bicycle). So, how to begin?

Well, it is. But still, the step from island to mainland is a significant one for any emerging British artist. A successful touring career is now an economic necessity, but also, it’s what musicians do: hone their craft, build a fan base and grind it out on the road.

Taking the plunge The ideal first step for a rising UK act is to secure a booking agent, usually working from London. Agents plan shows and tours in exchange for a commission. They typically cater for a large roster of artists, but a degree of realism is required at this stage: even the best-connected agent can’t magic up a crowd in a foreign land for an untried act without a following.

Although the combined value of the European live music business is unreported, the sum certainly has some large parts: the

Main image: Cristobal and The Sea

M60_JUNE 2016_29

Above: Amber Arcades Top right: Rhodes

With or without an agent, there are a few ways to find one.

Showcase festivals – such as Hamburg’s Reeperbahn, Groningen’s Eurosonic and UK events such as the International Festival Forum and The Great Escape – exist to put new talent on the industry’s radar. ‘They can be a dime-a-dozen for the artists sometimes, but it gives people an opportunity to get to see you,’ confirms agent Phyllis Belezos of International Talent Booking (ITB).

Eurosonic, for one, helped kick-start the careers of Bastille, James Blake and Royal Blood, and all of the above festivals have user-friendly portals through which any aspiring artist can apply.

Finding support slots with sympathetic bands a step or two up the ladder is another way to get in front of an international audience.

‘Where financially possible, it is always great to go out and do as many supports as you can,’ Phyllis continues. ‘It’s the best way to get out there and get in front of some faces, without having the monkey on your back of having to sell tickets.’

Finding support Again, it doesn’t necessarily take an agent to get things started.

Artists should identify musically compatible domestic and international acts with dates scheduled and approach their agent (check their Facebook pages for details).

‘You have just got to keep emailing around: “Can we do support for you? Can we do support for you?”’ says Dutch musician Annelotte de Graaf, known as Amber Arcades, who is signed to Heavenly Recordings in the UK and is embarking on a European tour this June.

Popular club nights represent another possible way in - a local promoter who pulls a committed crowd every week or month may take a chance on an appealing untried act. Promoters market shows and bear the burden of risk, and if a band can point to evidence of a local following or previous successful visits to the country, it all helps.

It makes life so much easier to have someone you know and trust looking after the gigs.

NICK HELDERMAN

Money matters Touring, says Phyllis, is an expensive thing to do at even the most basic level, with travel, accommodation, equipment and per diems set against often nominal fees.

Annelotte agrees: ‘I think this headline tour should roughly break even, but the first couple of tours, when we were supporting and getting, like, £50 a show, were a real investment.’

But it is possible to boost your cash flow, both when you’re on the road and after you’ve returned. International royalty payments from PRS for Music can provide a welcome income stream after you’ve played (see breakout box), while merchandise can help fund the tour while you’re out there. For UK acts, there is also the possibility of upfront funding from organisations such as the PRS for Music Foundation and UK Trade & Investment, the Government’s export department, which offers grants from £5,000 to £30,000 through its Music Export Growth Scheme.

Artists with a record deal may already have a limited tour support budget. But bands with that facility are advised to use the money wisely - don’t blow it on a flurry of live adventures and leave nothing for later on.

Important allies A booking agent or regional promoter, when secured, can be an asset of immeasurable value. ‘It makes life so much easier to have someone you know and trust looking after the gigs,’ says Rhodes. ‘I met a promoter called Hauke in Germany when I was supporting Sam Smith at Berghain and he came and stood outside with me after the show, handing out flyers.

‘I thought, “Wow, I've only just met this guy and he's grafting outside the venue with me.” He's been a huge part of building my profile in Germany for the past two years.’

Rough and ready A great support regional promoters and agents may be, but when it comes to touring, expect no frills and plenty of graft.

When London-based Cristobal and the Sea go out into Europe, they do it on their own, without so much as a roadie in sight.

‘Even though we are under a label like City Slang, we do everything very DIY,’ says bassist Ale Romero. ‘It’s just the four of us. You have to be very professional about everything, because there is no one looking after you. You wake up at 7am and you have an eight hour drive in front of you. You learn fairly fast that you can’t really be getting wasted every night.’

Every artist has a different international tale to tell, and there is no one European circuit for hopeful UK acts. Ale recommends sunny Portugal; Rhodes has fond memories of Scandinavia alongside ‘stress-free’ Germany and the Netherlands. Both prefer festivals to club shows, given the choice.

‘I think the best experiences I've had are at festivals,’ says Rhodes. ‘It seems that every new artist is playing to a packed tent and everyone is treated equally, no matter who you are or where you're at in your career.’

DIGITAL LIVE

EARNING INTERNATIONAL ROYALTIES Last year, PRS for Music collected £16.8 million for members from their European live shows. It’s a healthy, buoyant area of the business which helps provide a vital lifeline for songwriters, composers and artists making the costly leap overseas.

It’s not normally the newest acts who fail to grasp the significance of the overseas royalties payable when a PRS for Music member plays a song on a European stage.

‘Usually, the bands at the bottom are very good at submitting their live data, because every penny counts,’ says Mark Courtney, International Data Manager for Live at PRS for Music.

Neither do the big acts overlook this source of revenue, which can amount to tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds from big shows. ‘It’s the section in the middle, the medium-profile bands, who used to submit their data, but now have moved up a level and are assuming someone else is doing it,’ Mark explains.

But the process of international live reporting isn’t complex: bands on tour submit their set lists and details of the venues, dates, location and promoter of their shows to PRS for Music via the Online Live Performance Reporting system.

The organisation uses this information to notify the local collecting society of the claim. If the event is licensed, the local society issues a payment to PRS for Music, minus its own administration cost.

If the show isn’t licensed, the local society seeks to issue a licence. The money arrives in members’ accounts in the next quarterly distribution.

‘The key to it all is that the royalties don’t just happen by magic,’ says Mark. ‘It is not necessarily huge amounts [for small shows], but if you have played the main stage at a foreign festival, it's probably going to pay your air fare.’

For more info on overseas royalties, visit prsformusic.com/overseasperformances

M60_JUNE 2016_31

BASCA exists to support and protect the artistic, professional, commercial and copyright interests of songwriters, lyricists and composers of all genres of music and to celebrate and encourage excellence in British music writing.

BASCA is owned by and run for the benefit of its membership of approximately 2,000 songwriters and composers.

BASCA is self-funded and relies on the continued support of its members to carry out its work. If you are a composer or sound artist then you are welcome to join. Contact us for more information at info@basca.org.uk

british composer awards Celebrating the art of composition – that, in a nutshell, is what the British Composer Awards are all about. Founded by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) in 2003, the awards are unique in making contemporary music, jazz and sonic art the focus of their annual celebration. The award ceremony, sponsored

by PRS for Music and run in association with BBC Radio 3, plays a vital role in promoting the creative talent of composers and sound artists and in bringing their music to a wider audience.

From orchestral work to sonic art, from brass band to jazz, and community and education to chamber ensemble, categories are wide ranging and each features jewels of sonic adventure. Last year’s winning works included Alive by Kate Whitley, a composition for children’s choir and orchestra, performed by amateur and youth groups in Peckham’s Multi-Story Car Park; Julian Anderson’s String Quartet No. 2 featuring the composer’s take on 300 German Christmas songs; and Yann Seznec’s Currents, creating sound art with the fans that cool our personal computers.

Ready to discover the sound world of the British Composer Awards? Then visit the awards website where soundbites of many previously shortlisted and winning works are available for streaming.

Photos: MARK ALLAN

The awards are particularly popular amongst composers, as the winning works are chosen by peers. Each category is judged by a different jury, compiled of composer, performers, conductors, promoters and festival directors and we take pride in having one of the most diverse and extensive set of panellists for any major music award in the UK.

Clockwise, from top: BBC Radio 3 presenters Andrew McGregor and Sara Mohr-Pietsch; Kerry Andrew; Kate Whitley; Julian Joseph and Orlando Gough; Jessica Cottis and Julia Haferkorn; Julian Anderson; Jessica Cottis and Sinan Savaskan; Christian Mason and Sir Harrison Birtwistle.

"Composing is so solitary that it can be really heartening to receive the support and approbation of fellow musicians, and the British Composer Awards is a very encouraging event for people who commission new music."

Judith Bingham

"The British Composer Awards are something really valuable in the world of contemporary music because they embrace the new in its widest sense, often offering up interesting surprises."

Joe Cutler Diversity and inclusivity is at the heart of the awards. Unlike other award schemes, it is free to enter and anybody – including the composer – can submit a work. Last year we introduced a new digital system, making the process of submitting a work easier than ever before. We were delighted to see a rise of 33% in nominations, increasing our reach and diversity further.

The nomination process is now open and if you have heard and enjoy a new composition by a composer born or resident in Britain that received its UK première between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2016 we would love to hear from you. Follow the link on the awards website – britishcomposerawards.com – and submit your favourite work. We’re really looking forward to discovering new music that reflects the excellent work being made by composers and sound artists across the UK. Should your nomination be shortlisted you will receive an exclusive invitation to the awards ceremony. Taking place on 6th December at the BFI Cinema on London’s South Bank, the ceremony is a glittering affair, with recent guest speakers including percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, actor Juliet Stevenson, and young hotshot conductor Jessica Cottis. And you never know, your nomination might be the winning work. In a year that saw Leicester win the premiership anything is possible!

Julia Haferkorn and Ed McKeon Artistic Directors, British Composer Awards

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got a photo to share and a story to tell? magazine@prsformusic.com

The Smiths, outside Salford Lads’ Club, November 1985.

Stephen Wright first photographed The Smiths in 1984. A year later, he went on to take this iconic shot for the inside cover of their third studio album The Queen Is Dead. Thirty years on, he recalls how it happened…

I first started taking photos in the early eighties.

I was a student in Manchester, won £40 on a Premium Bond and used it to buy my first camera.

I was a novice but a music fan and The Haçienda had just opened. I went along, said I could take photos for the student newspaper and asked for access. Howard Jones, who became the first Stone Roses manager, said: ‘Alright. If we need a picture, you sort us out. Here’s a pass.’ So I was given an open door.

I saw some great acts. New Order obviously as they owned it, plus Gil Scott-Heron, Curtis Mayfield, Grandmaster Flash. I first saw The Smiths in February 1983. I couldn’t get anywhere near the front to take pictures. It was like a rugby scrum.

But they were fantastic. Morrissey’s stage presence, the whole band… they were like nothing else.

About a year later, they’d been in the press and on the radio, and I saw them again at the Manchester Free Trade Hall. That was probably the best show I ever saw. Again, it was this scrum of people.

But I went to the side and got some nice shots of Morrissey with the flowers hanging from his back pocket.

STEPHEN WRIGHT

I sent the pictures to Rough Trade, Morrissey liked them, and I was asked to do some more gigs. Then, in October ’85, I was asked to do some photos with The Smiths - that’s what led to the pictures outside the Salford Lads’ Club.

They were shot on a northern November day. It was fucking freezing and really dark. You can see them shivering. And remember, this job was given to a man who only had a camera for a few years.

I was a great Smiths fan and it was a real honour.

But it should have gone to Anton Corbijn. He did all the U2 Joshua Tree images and worked for NME. I lived in a shared house in Longsight, a place most people try to get out of. I used to sleep in the darkroom. Rather than Anton, this job went to a broke Smiths fan with a camera. It was ridiculous.

34_june 2016_m60

On the day it was so dark we should have cancelled.

But we went round to Victoria Station, then to the Salford Lads’ Club, which was Morrissey’s choice. We did various pictures outside the club and at the other end of Coronation Street.

We probably spent half an hour outside the Lads’ Club. Yet, miracle of miracles, it worked. It’s not me - it’s the band. A fellow at The Independent once

described it as the Abbey Road photo of the eighties.

There’s something about the way they’re standing.

And Morrissey’s face, that Mona Lisa smirk.

I am proud to say I’m the only honorary member of the Salford Lads’ Club in 100 plus years. All these people from across the world have this picture on their walls. My wall has got my Salford Lads’ membership card on it.

The Truth About TAXI… An Unedited Forum Post from TAXI Member James Kocian http://forums.taxi.com/post353820.html#p353820

H

i Friends, It's been awhile, but I'm still here!!

TAXI has been the singular catalyst for me in the past 2 years. I am closing in on 2 years of membership and my experience has been overwhelming. I will be at the Road Rally this year, as I've recently been invited to speak at the 'Successful Members' panel.

This is all beyond humbling to me, and I feel indebted to Michael and his incredibly talented staff.

Taking Risks…

In a nutshell, TAXI has motivated me and allowed me to take creative risks; to dabble in genres I didn't even know existed, and to develop relationships with high-level music professionals I otherwise would NEVER have had access to.

Major Publishers

So far this year I've signed 13 songs with major publishers. I'm writing with people all over the USA, and have made regular trips to Nashville a part of my routine.

I've been co-writing with a guy who has had multiple (recent) #1's.

It boggles my mind actually.

Once in a Lifetime Opportunity!

I'm writing Hip Hop tracks for a well known rapper's next project, and I'm connected to a MultiPlatinum, Grammy-Winning Producer who allows/asks me to regularly send him material to pitch to the biggest artists in music. That in and of itself is enough is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and it's been ongoing for nearly a year.

There's more, but this isn't about me. It's about: T-A-X-I Have I mentioned that I live in GREEN BAY, WI? I mean, sure, we have the Packers — but it isn't exactly a music hub for anything more than Journey tribute bar bands.

I really can't stress how invaluable TAXI is to people who are willing to put the CRAFT into the ART of songwriting and music production. The "Forwards" section of the [TAXI] forum itself is worth the membership fee. Why?

Figured Out What Elements I Missed…

It's not to brag about Forwards.

What I did was hit the [TAXI] Forums after I got “Returns” and found members who received “Forwards” for the same listings.

Then I went and LISTENED. I analyzed the differences in our songs.

Lyrics. Vocals. Arrangements.

Instrumentations. Productions. I re-read the listings, and figured out what elements I missed. And I adjusted accordingly.

Where else can you get that?

The success of members (at least this member) is a TEAM effort. And I am honored to consider TAXI part of my team. It is possible to succeed.

To “make it.” To realize our dreams.

Don't quit. Don't settle. Don't lose hope. And stick with TAXI.

The World’s Leading Independent A&R Company

1-800-458-2111 • TAXI.com

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