Openback

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Now this is a fast paced episode! Alot has happened and we had alot to cover but its a good one! 

We're diving into the exciting world of artificial intelegence and its potential involvement in music and how it's already changing the way we create, produce, and experience music. 

We also look back on our msot recent convosation with Jazz Guitarist Tom Ford and consider some of his aproaches to the industry. Paticualry his inovative apraoch to progression and pushing ones self to do the next thing. "stop saying when im ready" is soemthing we have repeated over and over, but we know its not always that easy. Well, we think Tom gave us the golden soloution so now were going to dig a little deeper between ourselfs. 

Have a great year and thank you so much for supporting us! Bring on 2023!

Welcome to our sit down with Tom Ford; Jazz guitarist, songwriter and producer. Amazingly this episode is recorded on a boat! As you can imagine, this was a novelty we were incredibly excited about!

Tom has built himself a fascinating portfolio career in music.  His vast expanse of musical experience is suspended above his love of jazz and all things theory. With a career consisting of everything from playing in a line-dancing band to writing, recording and releasing his own experimental Jazz music, Tom has a lot of knowledge and wisdom to offer us all.

We learnt so much in this conversation and were defiantly introduced to some new ideas and perspectives. Something that really stood out to us was the importance of building strong "Creative relationships".  In many ways this harks back to our conversation with Promoter Alex Eales regarding building a sense of community, but this time on a much more one-to-one basis. We discuss how the relationships away from music can inform how we function in a collaborative musical environment.

On top of all this Tom’s unique approach and attitude to social media is one which serves the importance of authenticity. This is something which has become increasingly prominent in many of our conversations so far. 

We hope you enjoy the episode

3 Industry guests in a row! So is it any surprise we need to sit down and discuss everything we've learnt? The Interviews have been amazing but now it's time to play devil's advocate.  This week we take a deep dive into some of the themes and concepts brought to us by Kaspar 'Berry' Rapkin, Russell Lissack and Alex Eales, and God there is a lot to get through. Spoiler, We're going to need to do another one (or more)  of these episodes because there's just so much. 

This however is where we desperately want to open the conversation up to you, Our listeners! So if you have any thoughts or think we've missed anything, speak up in the comments below.

In this episode, we look deeper into what you should send to a promoter when trying to land gigs, what's the most important factor and how long should it be? 

Also, everyone has that band we used to love, and now hate what they do. How and why does this happen and is there still a place for changing direction as an artist in the modern music industry?

The Pioneer Club is a venue with a rollercoaster history hosting bands including Motor Head, BMTH, Trash Boat and Enter Shikari. However, Alex Eales, alongside the amazing team at the Pioneer Club, is now responsible for the post-pandemic rebirth of this iconic music venue, and boy is he making moves! 

The energy and passion that Alex puts into his work as a promoter and events manager is genuinely inspiring. Alex's endless effort and commitment allows them to book incredible bands and organise amazing nights as well as enable them to see the industry at its best; when people are working together for a common cause. This episode is truly a goldmine of knowledge and experience as well as documenting some incredible stories and behind-the-scenes trivia. 

If anything is clear to us after speaking to Alex, it is that being a kind and honest person is a key factor in perpetuating one's self in this industry. 

Links

The Pioneer Club

Alex Eales Instagram

Alex Eales Spotify 

We are beyond excited to bring you this extraordinary episode of Openback featuring guitarist and songwriter Russell Lissack. Best known for his band Bloc Party, Russell has been through it all, building it up bloc by bloc, from empty pub gigs to multiple world stadium tours and Glastonbury! 

Join us as we talk to Russell about his amazing career in the music industry. His unique perspective on the way the industry has changed and adapted over the last two decades is eye-opening and quite frankly, it’s the knowledge we all need to hear. To recognise that the methods and approaches of 20 years ago simply don't work in the same way anymore, allows us to explore potential new approaches to growing a band and one's footprint in the music industry. 

Russell's focus on collaboration within music and the creative process is truly inspiring. I speak from experience when I say that too many of us young musicians are happy to lock ourselves in a room and practice, compose and perform alone. This emphasis on collaboration is something he is not only able to see but he is able to explain in such an articulate way. For people like us, at the very start of our industry journeys, this talk has the potential to change our trajectory for the better. 

This week we are joined by blues guitarist, songwriter and promoter Kaspar Berry Rapkin. From recording in New Orleans to events manager at the oldest pub in the UK, Kaspar has some of the broadest experiences of anyone our age. His genuine love and care for one of the most niche genres going - Delta Blues, is truly inspiring. 

The Respect and understanding surrounding the history of Blues is at the heart of what Kaspar does and in this conversation he shares this with us. 

As well as regularly gigging his own solo set, he can also be found in a band setting with Kaspar and the Swamp Dogs as well as Vipera two bands with very different approaches to Blues.

Kaspar is working tirelessly to try and get his YouTube to 1000 subscribers so please, if you listening, go and subscribe to his channel and let's all do our bit to bring Delta Blues into the spotlight:

Useful Links 

-  KBRBLUES.com

- Youtube

- Instagram  @kbrblues

- Kaspar and the Swamp Dogs 

- Vipera 

Episode 10!! Crazy to think that you're still here listening to us talk about ourselves and music, Thank you!!

In this episode, we backtrack slightly and discuss something Grace George said in Ep4. This convocation ultimately leads us to the idea of theory as the killer of creativity. Yes, its an age old convosation, but one that is relevant as ever!