Yearbook Discuss: The Boileroom & UK Live Music
With Guildford venue the Boileroom facing the possibility of closure, TMMP caught up with ultra-passionate rockers Yearbook 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 great venue, especially since it was refurbished a year or so ago. The stage is really spacious for a venue of its capacity, and the sound is always second to none. As far as venues in the area go, its top of the pile.
How did you feel when you heard about the Boileroom’s current problems?
We were all pretty annoyed. They have done so much at The Boileroom to make sure their impact on the surrounding area is kept to a minimum. It’s such a shame, as musicians and music are the backbone of Guildford. People travel from all over the world to attend ACM, and if The Boileroom closes they will lose out on seeing a lot of touring bands that pass through the city currently.
What would happen if the Boileroom were to shut down? What impact would that event have?
It would cause such a void in the local scene. There are some great promoters in Guildford (GU1 PUNX & Genrebomb for instance) and they can only carry on doing what they are doing if there are places for them to put shows on.
What is your favourite Boileroom-related memory?
The first time we met our guitarist Tom was at the Boileroom. We were playing one of the final shows with our original guitarist and Tom came along with a mutual friend. He was wearing an awful deep V-neck t-shirt and I called him out on it looking like a woman’s blouse. A couple of weeks after that we heard that he wanted to try out for our open guitar spot. Thankfully he left the V-neck at home when he came to try out.
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 music scene is a really tough thing to discuss. It’s equal parts great and awful.
There are some really great bands, promoters, & venues out there but finding them amongst their disorganised, under rehearsed & badly equipped counterparts can be a struggle. Once you start getting a few promoters and venues that you trust sorted though, it’s really easy to ask them for help if you are looking for someone worth talking to in a certain area.
There has been a lot of improvement in the scene over the last few years, with more people getting involved for the right reasons, so that is a good thing. The 2012 live music act was liberating for live music overall, but definitely put the nail in the coffin for a few venues that had already been struggling. I think that overall there have been more gains than loses though, so it balances out in a way.
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