BIG INTERVIEW Patrick Cunningham lifts the lid on life at Exeter Phoenix

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RISE LIKE A PHOENIX Multi-arts venue Exeter Phoenix is at the centre of supporting local creative talent. So, how’s it diversifying during these challenging times? We caught up with director Patrick Cunningham to find out…

“Covid-19 is creating gaps in the retail landscape that creative and cultural enterprises are well poised to fill”

Patrick unningham is a man with ngers in a lot o eter pies highlights include co-ounder o the aern lub, director and co-ounder o radio station honic , chair o n eter, the usiness mproement istrict or the city centre and, o course, director o arts enue eter hoeni. ts a career that spans both the creatie and the commercial, and where memories o prestigious shows and sweaty club nights sit happily alongside each other. t the moment, o course, it is challenging times or arts enues. hen lockdown happened and eter hoeni had to close its doors it was noticeably uick off the mark, diersiying with creatiity, hosting oer eents oer e months with their ront oom hoeni serice o online streamed perormences, proects and lms. une saw them re-open their aker art shop in andy treet, while they re-started their ca bar in uly sering customers on the outdoor terrace both o which went down etremely well with locals.

How are things now? erything is gradually coming back we re-started our cinema and ehibitions in early ctober and ollowed up with lie shows later in the month, says atrick. e will retain an online presence, particularly with our art and digital media classes. ecause o the restrictions its been much harder to bring back lie perormances and, as things stand, it wont be until net spring beore the bigger touring shows music, comedy and theatre return as they ust arent iable at the moment.

The cinema is now open at Exeter Phoenix

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That said, Patrick remains optimistic. ee done better than some much bigger cities in getting ootall back up, he says.

The city has always had a good grassroots cultural scene lots o musicians, artists, theatre makers. t has a ertile mi o being an attractie place to lie, well connected and with a liely community spirit. ts perhaps this optimism that has helped make atrick one o those people that, well, ust makes things happen in eter. e was a concert promoter back in the day, putting on gigs in enues across eon or audiences rom to , mostly rock, reggae and olk bands. Then, in the early s, he co-ounded and ran the aern lub. e started rom scratch with a rundown old pub and uickly built up a successul music enue, learning how to run the business as we went along, atrick says.

Any standout gigs along the way? e put on hundreds, probably thousands o gigs and its mostly the sweaty, intimate ones that stand out, e.g. an indie band called tump in a club on the uay, where there was so much condensation generated by the packed audience dripping rom the ceiling that had to crouch behind the guitar amps holding a towel to catch the drips and preent a rather sudden and dangerous end to the show he says. articular highlights at the hoeni are too numerous to mention in detail but i had to pick a ew then ohnny arr, ary uman, ce T, ichael

EXETER PHOENIX IS A BEAUTIFUL BUILDING, WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT ITS HISTORY… “I recently researched and wrote a history of the site and building as part of the Heritage Open Days week. It was built in 1910 to house the University College of the South West, later to become the University of Exeter and utilised the latest innovations in building technology – no timber, all concrete beams and a hollow brick construction, but faced with red brick and Portland stone to give it a more traditional look.”

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“We’ve done better than some much bigger cities in getting footfall back up”

Kiwanuka and Femi Kuti – not just great shows but real, buzzy events.”

The importance of these venue spaces when it comes to championing and building up local artists cannot be underestimated either. “At the Cavern we had both Muse (who were almost the house band for a number of years) and Coldplay – both bands with local roots who of course have since conquered the world. t the hoeni wee had bands like lt-, iffy lyro and Idles who’ve gone on to be much bigger.”

Patrick came to Exeter Phoenix as director in 2003. t was still nding its eet ater a ery dicult rst ew years with uite a big changeoer o staff and some nancial problems, he says. wanted to up the prole o the lie eents and develop the audiences a bit more, get a younger audience in and be a bit more relevant.”

Since arriving, the venue has come a long way – with added facilities, tenants providing extra services, a considerably bigger arts programme, as well as partaking in some great festivals.

“I think the most recent building changes – adding the cinema (Studio 74), creating top class gallery spaces and adding a balcony to the auditorium – have been the most important changes so far.”

What was your shutdown like? “It all happened fairly quickly, in fact we shut a few days earlier than most other places as all the events dried up,” says Patrick. “We really didn’t have much choice and then, within a week, we were all in lockdown anyway. Luckily the furlough scheme came through soon after. We furloughed per cent o the staff, with ust e o us let to look ater the building, hold on to the staff and keep things going as we best we could.

“I came in to work every day and it was mostly just me on my own or the rst weeks. t was uite lonely at times but there was so much to do that the time ew by.

How about the finances? “In a normal year we generate 84 per cent of our income from ticket sales, the café bar, rentals etc. so during lockdown that was all zero. oweer, we still had the other per cent, regular funding from the Arts Council and Exeter City Council, and that has kept us going – plus we were successful in getting a few emergency grants. We aren’t out of the woods yet and do need to generate more income but if we can do that, we should be OK.”

So, what’s ahead for Exeter Phoenix? “Keep an eye open for pop-up activity and new development, not least our new bar in Gandy Street, the Mermaid, which will open next month and will be a place like no other,” says Patrick. oid- is creating gaps in the retail landscape that creative and cultural enterprises are well poised to ll. The changes we are seeing, including more people buying online and also working from home rather than commuting into work is going to lead to a different looking city centre in the future.” ■

For more: www.exeterphoenix.org.uk