Opinion: David Brewis On The Sunderland ‘Scene’
The Guardian’s Northerner Blog recently ran a piece on the successes of the Sunderland music scene – but it left some of those mentioned wondering just how wide of the mark their view was. Here, David Brewis of Field Music tells us how he sees it.
It seems odd, 7 years on from our debut album, to be thinking again about the formula for Sunderland’s brief flurry of musical activity which, to outsiders, begins with The Futureheads releasing Hounds of Love and ends, well, as soon as they stopped noticing that we were all still releasing records. Or maybe those onlookers have just discovered Sunderland’s ‘regenerated music scene’ because the council and others are trying to promote their 2008 Music City strategy document and can point to a whole host of stadium bands playing their stadium shows at our very stadium-y Stadium of Light to give credence to their optimistic daydreams.
The impetus for this overarching music strategy for the city, of course, came largely from the success of The Futureheads and, to a lesser extent, Field Music and The Golden Virgins. It would surprise me greatly if the authors of the strategy document or those now promoting its conclusions had heard of or cared about This Ain’t Vegas, Mavis, Written From Negative, Hoth, Pretty Girl 5, Brilliantine, The Bubble Project, let alone all of the bands and permutations of bands which only lasted for one or two gigs, but which made music in Sunderland seem quite exciting between say, 1999 and 2005. And when I say exciting, I mean exciting in an unpredictable, argumentative, slightly-defeatist, self-sabotaging, crotchety and all-round inconsistent way.
When our little milieu began starting bands and throwing around ideas as if they were simultaneously sacred scrolls and hand-grenades which shouldn’t be held onto for too long, The Bunker was in a financial and literal mess; so much so that we made it our mission to set up our own practice space as soon as we realised we were allowed to. Gigs took place in the upstairs room of The Royalty pub with borrowed PAs and £2 door charges or in the function room of Ashbrooke Cricket Club.
James ‘Jam’ MacMahon and his Boyeater nights were a catalyst. A student at Sunderland University, he brought a knowledge of underground music and culture – of fanzines and DIY and band t-shirts – which was alien to most of us. He put on gigs and talked and wrote about music as if nothing could be more important. His own bands were like a potted history of alternative music from 1992.
“Sparks flew. Bands were formed, ditched, reformed and reformulated. It was brilliant.”
Another nexus was the youth music project run by Dave Murray as part of his Sunderland City Centre Detached Youth Project. Peter and I were tutors here from 1994 until 1999 and true to the opinionated teens we were, we cajoled and indoctrinated, tried to encourage but probably mostly bullied. Amidst the Saturday morning cacophony, we forged friendships which have lasted for the best part of two decades and still inspire us. Barry Hyde turned up one morning with a bunch of schoolfriends and was so obviously in possession of an unusually musical brain and ear we immediately set about recruiting him to play with us. We didn’t think about recruiting his precocious brother, Dave, because he was only 12 and couldn’t come every Saturday due to his scouting commitments. Barry and Dave easily countered our attempts at indoctrination by way of their dad’s gargantuan record collection. Sparks flew. Bands were formed, ditched, reformed and reformulated. It was brilliant.
But not many people came to the actual gigs. We watched our friends’ bands and they watched us for the most part. At least until This Ain’t Vegas came along with a year or two’s youth and a ready-formed community of Fugazi-loving friends to their credit. This Ain’t Vegas were the kind of band who inspired devotion and, more so, they inspired other bands to form. Not only that but TAV (as everybody knew them) made links with bands from other cities and dragged them north to play Beats Happening nights alongside the merry-go-round of newly-minted Sunderland bands. When you put this together with Dave ‘Heartstrings’ Harper’s evenings of song and dance and mild-anatgonism, you’re looking at the kind of thing which could be mistaken for a music scene.
It’s also worth noting that there was a latent music scene in Sunderland before we had anything to do with it. Lucas Renney and Neil Bassett already had a couple of years under their belts, first as the Rolf and Cindy Band, then as Brilliantine and eventually as The Golden Virgins. John Peel had already noticed the verve of Comatose. Boyeater and the rest made being in a band in Sunderland seem worthwhile. And I don’t mean worthwhile in a ‘making it big’ way. There were many different opinons rattling around our disparate little community but making ourselves commercially-palatable was not on anyone’s agenda. The Futureheads – standard bearers for commercial acclaim in Sunderland music – were trying to do something quite extreme. Their earliest songs were usually less than 2 minutes long, had next-to-no repetition, were sung by four mackem voices shouting and trilling in complete opposition to each other and at breakneck speed. Their first gig consisted of 6 songs played in 8 minutes.
“At least a few of us had to learn how to record. A few of us had to be able to work a PA. Someone had to print the flyers. Someone always has to work the door. Nobody needs a dressing room.”
A successful music scene does not come from a monolithic infrastructure or a clever long-term business strategy. It doesn’t come from lots of industry-savvy bands making the most of their commercial potential. Whatever commercial success came from Sunderland’s early 00′s music scene grew from a defiantly-anti-commercial spirit of creative risk-taking and community spirit. We all had our own strongly-held, and often loudly-voiced, take on what was good and what was terrible. Living in a town with so little infrastructure and so little support allowed us to develop a myriad of cultural ethics, which then rubbed against each other, sometimes complementing, sometimes not. Playing in venues which weren’t really venues at all meant that it didn’t matter if nobody came. At least a few of us had to learn how to record. A few of us had to be able to work a PA. Someone had to print the flyers. Someone always has to work the door. Nobody needs a dressing room.
I don’t want to be excessively critical of Sunderland Council or of the people and organisations who want to promote Sunderland as a ‘music city’. However, in trying to map out a clear, linear route from the practice rooms of The Bunker to a floodlit stadium stage they risk curtailing the diversity of opinion and experimental drive which made it worth listening to Sunderland in the first place.
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David Brewis of @fieldmusicmusic gives his answer to @GdnNortherner piece on Sunderland Music http://t.co/iOLp8hQS
David Brewis of @fieldmusicmusic gives his answer to @GdnNortherner piece on Sunderland Music http://t.co/iOLp8hQS
David Brewis from @fieldmusicmusic gives us his opinion on the Sunderland music 'scene' http://t.co/kLRjfDU7
David Brewis of @fieldmusicmusic gives his answer to @GdnNortherner piece on Sunderland Music http://t.co/iOLp8hQS
David Brewis from @fieldmusicmusic gives us his opinion on the Sunderland music 'scene' http://t.co/kLRjfDU7
David Brewis from @fieldmusicmusic gives us his opinion on the Sunderland music 'scene' http://t.co/kLRjfDU7
David Brewis from @fieldmusicmusic gives us his opinion on the Sunderland music 'scene' http://t.co/kLRjfDU7
David Brewis of @fieldmusicmusic gives his answer to @GdnNortherner piece on Sunderland Music http://t.co/iOLp8hQS
David Brewis from @fieldmusicmusic gives us his opinion on the Sunderland music 'scene' http://t.co/kLRjfDU7
David Brewis from @fieldmusicmusic gives us his opinion on the Sunderland music 'scene' http://t.co/kLRjfDU7
Well said. http://t.co/Sj5AHgz7
RT @kyeotv: Opinion: David Brewis On The Sunderland 'Scene' http://t.co/Tw0kYTgy
David Brewis from @fieldmusicmusic gives us his opinion on the Sunderland music 'scene' http://t.co/kLRjfDU7
David Brewis from @fieldmusicmusic gives us his opinion on the Sunderland music 'scene' http://t.co/kLRjfDU7
Field Music's David Brewis gives his response to *that* @Guardian article | http://t.co/h8JQywtm (@fieldmusicmusic)
Field Music's David Brewis gives his response to *that* @Guardian article | http://t.co/h8JQywtm (@fieldmusicmusic)
Field Music's David Brewis gives his response to *that* @Guardian article | http://t.co/h8JQywtm (@fieldmusicmusic)
David Brewis from @fieldmusicmusic gives us his opinion on the Sunderland music 'scene' http://t.co/kLRjfDU7
Listen to this man, he knows what he is talking about. RT @kyeotv: Opinion: David Brewis On The Sunderland 'Scene' http://t.co/pnSJpwaI
David Brewis of @fieldmusicmusic gives his answer to @GdnNortherner piece on Sunderland Music http://t.co/iOLp8hQS
David Brewis from @fieldmusicmusic gives us his opinion on the Sunderland music 'scene' http://t.co/kLRjfDU7
David Brewis from @fieldmusicmusic gives us his opinion on the Sunderland music 'scene' http://t.co/kLRjfDU7
great article. anyone who's been part of a music scene in a shitty town or small city can relate to this… http://t.co/0IMMPh2j
In case you missed it earlier, David Brewis of Field Music fame responds to yesterday's Guardian article | http://t.co/h8JQywtm
In case you missed it earlier, David Brewis of Field Music fame responds to yesterday's Guardian article | http://t.co/h8JQywtm
"@kyeotv: David Brewis of Field Music fame responds to yesterday's Guardian article | http://t.co/m2OUsrwM" eloquently put.
http://www.kyeo.tv/2012/05/02/opinion-david-brewis-on-the-sunderland-scene/
[...] Guardian, who decided to tell us all that the stadium was the “jewel in Sunderland’s crown”, prompting a fantastic response from Field Music’s Dave Brewis on this very site. In fact, that article absolutely incensed pretty much everyone who associates themselves in any [...]