Apart from being a musician, I’ve been lucky enough to work a lot of different jobs in the live music industry. From production assistant to backline tech and from sound engineer to tour manager.
Let me tell you, it can be seriously hard work. I remember jobs where we started at 5am and finished at 6am the following day.
Here’s the thing though, the shows that come from that hard work bring real joy to millions of people AND bring serious money into the economy (£5.2 billion in 2019 in the UK).
Us prima donnas on stage are a pretty poor representation of what is actually a massive industry full of brilliant and highly-skilled people. These people NEED THE GOVERNMENT’S SUPPORT.
It’s not just a case of starting venues and gigs up again when we are able to, the industry will basically collapse without the amazing people needed to run and operate it. Please use the hashtag #WeMakeEvents to get in touch with your local MPs and ask them to take action.
Maybe you can give them an idea of what you might have spent to go and see one of your favourite bands or artists or tell them why live music is important to you. Thanks and love. Jesse
Earlier this summer we were proud to join members of the UK music community in lending our names to the Let The Music Play campaign, which significantly influenced the culture package that was announced just days later by our government.
Today we want to acknowledge once again the scale of the jobs and companies that make up the UK music industry that need urgent help - it is vital that whilst the government is deciding the distribution mechanism for the fund they understand this.
We could not do our jobs without the hard work of the members of our team, from our crew on the road, to our management, agents, promoters, record label, publishers, producers, and beyond.
It’s exactly 8 years since Strangeland came out. We all love that album - you might have noticed that songs from Strangeland tend to make up a large proportion of a Keane setlist! (1/4)
Sovereign Light Cafe is probably the song that represents the album best, rooted as it is in the seaside towns where we grew up, and the day we spent making Lindy Haymann’s video for that song was pretty special. (2/4)
We shot the video in Bexhill and it features striking cameos from many local community groups. It must be tough for community groups like these not being able to meet up and share their passions at the moment, so we’re thinking of them and sending lots of love. (3/4)
This is the kind of question I’m talking about! Err, Razzmatazz in Barcelona is a cracking venue but the toilets are where Coronavirus first spread to human beings.
Plans, yes. But I think (like everyone else) that we just have to take it a day at a time for now. Obviously we’ll let you know as soon as we have concrete information...
It’s hard to believe that our album #CauseandEffect was released just over six months ago, on 20th September! That same day we played a sold out homecoming gig at The De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill, an evening we will never forget at one of our favourite venues.
During this difficult time, please do whatever you can to support your local independent venues. They are a vital part of what makes the live music industry so special. Over the next few weeks, we will be unveiling videos from the concert to share with you all.
The first of these will be #Phases, premiering tomorrow at 5pm BST.