Palm Reader Discuss: The Boileroom & UK Live Music
With Guildford venue the Boileroom facing the possibility of closure, TMMP caught up with the immensely passionate Palm Reader to discuss the Boileroom and the state of the UK’s live music scene.
This interview is part of a larger TMMP feature which can be read in full here.
What is your general opinion of the Boileroom?
The Boileroom is a fantastic venue that caters for a wide variety of music lovers’ tastes. But it’s SO much more than that. There are evenings and days dedicated to spoken word, craft fairs, and cinema as well as various music and non-music-related workshops.
I have been coming here & working here on and off since it opened in 2007. The staff are always friendly, helpful, and welcoming. I can’t think of any other venue in the UK that offers such a wide variety of activities, and one that unashamedly shows such great community spirit.
What would happen if the Boileroom were to shut down? What impact would that event have?
At the risk of sounding of sounding like my grandparents, it would be an absolute travesty. As well as being the only proper music venue in Guildford, the Boileroom is the ONLY venue of it’s kind in the area – possibly in the southeast. I grew up in a small backwater market town and we had our two venues close down. Speaking from first hand experience, it takes YEARS to build up a healthy live music scene in a town once the venues have closed down.
What is your favourite Boileroom-related memory?
Watching The Bronx play there – a full-time touring US punk rock band. The kind of band that draws crowds of thousands at festivals and is renowned for having one of the best live shows in the scene. I was designing that month’s gig listings and saw they were playing our humble venue. I honestly couldn’t believe it. True to form, it sold out in record time and was one of the best, hottest, and sweatiest shows I’ve ever been to.
How do you feel about the state of the UK’s live music scene right now? What could be done to improve things?
The UK scene is once again getting back to full health after a slew of venues such as the Boileroom closed down in the past few years. It is a real stab in the heart when venues close and promoters go out of business BUT the upside is it makes everyone fight harder for the chance to play shows so in the struggle, the bar really gets raised.
Links
Palm Reader on Facebook and Twitter.
Follow TMMP on Twitter for more interviews and awesome music! If you’re a regular reader, thanks for the support! Don’t stop, and keep going!