Prosperina Discuss: The Boileroom & UK Live Music
With Guildford venue the Boileroom facing the possibility of closure, TMMP caught up with Prosperina frontman Gethin Woolcock 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 an exceptionally well-run venue. I don’t use the term ‘exceptionally’ with reckless abandon either – the team at the Boileroom have got their shit together. We’ve played a ton of venues around the UK and I’d say the staff there are as professional as the staff at any of the larger venues that get run like clockwork. When you arrive at the venue you get a briefing on the situation and they treat it as if the venue’s survival depends on it, which it now does. Very respectful people.
How did you feel when you heard about the Boileroom’s current problems?
Pretty gutted to be honest. The thought of all those nice, honest, hard-working people losing their much-loved jobs and workplace rankles us.
What would happen if the Boileroom were to shut down? What impact would that event have?
It would be a blow to the UK venue circuit. Just to have a small, vibey place like the Boileroom is a massive boon to the UK venue circuit. There aren’t many places like that left and so every one that gets taken down by these types of people is a body blow to the live music scene.
Lets not forget that music has deeper reaching benefits than just the obvious enjoyment of punters. We know people who have quite literally been saved from a life not worth living by the power of music. Take away the venue and you’re taking away an outlet for people’s creativity. Keep repeating that process and the shit will soon start to hit the fan in other areas.
What is your favourite Boileroom-related memory?
Me and Yo (Walsh, drums) used to live nearby back in 2000/2001 when we were in Guildford, so our favourite Boileroom memory has to be returning after a long absence when we were on the recent Nick Oliveri tour. Great times! It was emotional – like opening the book on your former life and seeing it all over again.
How do you feel about the state of the UK’s live music scene right now? What could be done to improve things?
Musically, the scene is thriving. There have probably never been so many great and diverse artists. This is exciting to us, but in our opinion the big problem is that it’s just too difficult for venues to get off the ground and survive.
We live in an age of right of centre, profiteering, red tape madness. Yes, there have to be rules – but when they serve only the rich and exclude the working and middle class then it gets tough to even begin thinking about how to set up something like a venue. Another problem from what I can gather is the greed of brewery chains. They are swiftly putting all their own outlets out of business by demanding extortionate prices. Not sure where they’re going with that but they either have some sort of cunning plan or they’re setting themselves up for a giant fall.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Be nice, everyone.
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