I am class at doing everything other than making this record

I’ve been doing lots of things recently and almost none of them are conducive to getting GREEN recorded and released.

Yes these things are all in the general music space so probably do contribute a net positive to the project, but none of these things have involved sweating in the practise room and tracking parts.

I recently produced and co-hosted the Local Music Show awards with presenters Lucy Shields and Jenny Dean. This is the third year we’ve hosted a live event for this and it was probably the best yet. As well as a great opportunity to reward and recognise local musicians who’ve smashed it in the last year, it’s also a great opportunity to take the piss out of said musicians, which I think we exceeded at.

I then went to see KEO in Leeds courtesy of the legend Alex Boddy. This is a group some of the lads in moody guitar rock bands (Crooksy, Noel, young Kieran) rave about so I checked out the tracks and fucking love this band. Lazy description is Wonderhorse without the anthemic indie parts, it’s more loud/alternative. When Bodd told me he’d been following them around the UK on their last tour, I knew I had to see it for myself.

The venue was Stylus in Leeds which is a 1k cap venue with a pit in front of the stage and standing balconies surrounding - thought it was really cool. The gig was class, so busy and fans sang along to every song despite this band only having 5 released. Grateful I got to see them before they blow up proper given the festivals they’re playing this summer. We had Tooth on our date (missed them), but the main tour support was Bleech 9:3 who I’m also fond of and will have to see live at some point.

The Radio 1 Big Weekend lineup also came out and as predicted the Generator-programmed BBC Introducing stage failed to live up to the expectation of ‘being full of local bands’. Some had speculated that securing Big Weekend off the back of Sunderland winning Music City status would mean more representation for the artists that have contributed to the culture and have sold tickets off their own back. This was obviously just never the craic so can we really be annoyed about it? Tough one.

I did feel a widespread sense of disappointment though and so worked with Richo to programme HUGE WEEKEND, which is a secret music festival for all the artists who probably should have been booked by the Beeb given what they’ve achieved in Sunderland. The lineup is absolutely excellent and I’m so proud that people now have something to look forward to on 22nd-24th May. It’s also cheap as fuck - £20 for the weekend as 20 is plenty, or £10 a day.

At its core yes it is a spite festival, but actually it’s about extending the festival atmosphere from Herrington into the city centre and upstairs in my favourite boozer.

So aye the record isn’t getting made yet but class craic nonetheless. See you round the twist!

CRISPY