A five-minute train ride from Piccadilly Station lies Levenshulme – one of Manchester’s many suburbs. It is here that Sam and Ruth of SM Promotes and We Are Manchester have hosted their festival, Neck of the Woods, in The Klondyke pub, for the second year in a row. Music festivals run by independent organisations and which are filled with independent artists are essential to Mancunian culture and fight in the front lines to keep the city’s ever-growing music culture accessible and alive.

That Saturday afternoon, it was raining in Manchester as it often does. Tucked away down a residential street, The Klondyke is a partially outdoor venue with a large room for the main stage and a smaller, covered outdoor tent for acoustic acts and more, located in a surprisingly spacious green event space. In the centre of the space, a large canopy protects three stalls, each selling unique bits of art and fashionwear, and a patioed seating area populated by old sofas and armchairs sits next to an outside kitchen, featuring two fire pizza ovens. Everywhere I looked, adults lounged and chatted, kids ran around kicking balls and playing Hide and Seek, and stylish people – who I can only guess were the band members – moved heavy-looking cases back and forth. The whole scene played out to the soundtrack of one of the bands, whose raucous blues rock riffed out from the open entranceway.

After some reorienting, which mainly included locating the bar, finding somewhere for my soaked umbrella, and navigating around small people, I cornered Sam Brunt for an interview about the event. We wiped the rain off a pair of old sofas and had a chat.

There are a few different festivals going by the same name – ‘Neck of the Woods’. Are they connected?
They aren’t connected. We came up with the name and launched the festival, and three weeks later we were contacted by a second Neck of the Woods with far more budget who tried to tell us to change the name, even though we’d gone for it first.

How did you get around that?
We launched it first, so we told them to do one.

Where did the name come from, then?
Local bands were the focus of it, so, “We’re getting bands from around this neck of the wood“ – and that’s where the name came from.

The festival is connected to We Are Manchester. Is that a radio station?
It’s Ruth’s promotion organisation. She does lots of gigs around Manchester, mainly at venues like Peer Hat.

Neck of the Woods is independent, but it’s working with We Are Manchester?
Yeah, but on an independent basis. SM Presents is my promotion brand. When I was in Suave Martyrs, that was what it was – ‘Suave Martyrs Presents’.

Why do you think it is important for artists and these more admin-based organisations to work together?
Because it’s a load of bloody work, being in a band, and you need all the help you can get. And having people [around you] that are in the industry – at a grassroots level – who can also kind of help you out, and put [events] on not just because you’re going to make a load of money, is really important because – the long and short of it is – you aren’t going to make a load of money or any money. So you need people who are willing to do it because they like doing it.

What about the other way around, then? Why do you think it’s good for a radio organisation or a magazine to work with artists in this way?
Because it’s just important that we have independent artists that aren’t with major labels. Major labels are fantastic if that’s what your brand is, but a lot of people and a lot of artists are never going to be major artists or major label artists, and they deserve an opportunity to have exposure and gigs and create a fanbase, even if it isn’t a large one.

*****

A space for the local independent scene

One reason I was drawn to Neck of the Woods was its stellar line-up. Sam and Ruth had managed to get a number of Manchester-based artists on the bill that I have had my eye on for a while. Pyncher are a moodier take on the typical indie sound, adding more elements of alternative rock. Bards describe themselves as post-grunge and bring an especially sassy energy to their performance. Olivia Browse leans further into pop, with often ironic vocal melodies warped by autotune. Bleach Boy toes the line between alternative indie, rock and shouty grunge. Tay Temple – who I have covered on Messed!Up previously – melds energetic rock and her older country influences to tell her stories about being a queer woman in the industry. I could go on.

Among some of the larger names include the god of punk and goth, John Robb of the Membranes, who had come to discuss his latest book on this history of goth. Also, Dermo of brief Northside fame, bringing his bottled-up creativity and Madchester energy to the headline slot.

There are a lot of independent artists and events in Manchester. Even though this is only Neck of the Woods’ second year, you have managed to get a lot of artists on the bill who are rising to the top of their scenes – they have that potential and I can see a lot of unique personalities in there. Where do you see Neck of the Woods in the wider Manchester scene at the moment? 
It’s a bit off-kilter from what a lot of what the Manchester scene is. There’s a lot of indie that is more ‘straight-up’ indie, and that’s great, but this is a kind of place for stuff that is not necessarily that. It’s still associated with indie. It’s not metal, it’s not pop, but it’s not Sam Fender or Oasis either, and it gives a space for those bands that don’t necessarily work well with those, but that are still in the independent Manchester scene.

You could have chosen Night and Day or Gullivers – somewhere closer to the city centre to put it on – but we are in Levenshulme. Why did you choose this location?
Well, the contact gave us the opportunity to have multiple stages within the same venue, and also the opportunity to have independent stalls and artists. So, we’ve got an artist over there – Jupiter – who’s doing their own clothing line based on their art. And it gave us that opportunity to have it all confined within one space. There’s loads of really good multiple-venue festivals in Manchester, but we wanted something that was more contained.

Did you have a vision when you started Neck of the Woods? Was it a career decision? Did you want to be more involved in the scene?
Never, ever make a career decision based on independent music, would be my advice. We want to create a space for people to have a good time, and for artists to come and showcase what they can do.

What about the future of Neck of the Woods?
We want to continue growing it, we want to work with bands that we like.

Who do you want to work with?
I mean, The Wytches would be a massive one – someone like that; kind of independent, but still big and actually doing their own thing. There’s loads of bands we would like to work with because there’s such a plethora of bands to work with at that level and of that standard. It’s not [about] necessarily naming names – there’s just so many. So we would like to have that thing where we connect the artists that we have, like at today’s festival, with those guys that are at the next level, and keep pushing the scene.

In terms of people like John Robb and Dermo who have been in music for decades and have loads of experience and real followings around them, how did you get them to take an interest in Neck of the Woods and actually come to represent it?
Well, I met John when I helped him do a showcase for independent journalists. And he was doing an interview with Clint Boon, and we were doing the music, and he spoke so highly about the Manchester scene that I wanted to get him involved in the festival, essentially. And I think that he’s so passionate about independent music that it’s an opportunity that he jumped at.

At many independent festivals, you see a lot of new bands, but why do you think it’s important for older artists to really show an interest in them? And who would you like to see take part in Neck of the Woods?
Well, they know how it goes down. They know a lot more about the music industry than a new band. Someone like John Robb, he’s fantastic. We’d love to get the Membranes to come play. And Clint Boon is always fantastic with new music, he’d be great to get down. We’ve had support from Dave Sweetmore, and loads of stuff like that. There’s loads of people in the Manchester scene who are from a different era but who are massively passionate about promoting new music. Anyone on that level, we’ll continue to work with.

Something I have spoken to a lot of artists about recently is that there is a distrust of promoters. I’ve heard about the actions of certain promoters and how they are predatory in ways, especially toward small, vulnerable artists. What can promoters and events companies do to separate themselves from that and instead boost artists, and prove to artists that they can be trusted?
A lot of it essentially comes down to working harder. You can go and book bands that you know are going to do a certain amount of tickets together, and that’s what you focus on because you know you’re going to cover your costs or make money. But it takes a bit more work to promote bands that are in more of a niche. And if you’re running a business, the [right] business decision would be to concentrate on the bands that continue to make you money. But in terms of an artistic decision, you don’t want to be losing money, but also [you need to] promote artists that aren’t necessarily initially going to give you exactly what you need, but that have the potential to grow because of their unique playing style or genre. It’s taking a punt – or taking a risk – and then, through experience, kind of knowing what risks are going to pay off.

I caught Sam again later as his new band Big Cat Chic were scheduled to play later, and in the meantime, Courtney and I enjoyed some of Manchester’s more unique artists, ate stone-baked pizza, and dodged footballs launched off a nearby bouncy castle. Chatting to another photographer, we even enjoyed a short spell of sunshine. Later into the evening, we got trapped under the outside canopy as the rain came down heavier than ever, and thunder rumbled overhead. A group of festivalgoers picked up stay instruments and began to sing together. We laughed with those who braved the downpour and ended up drenched, laughing too.

The Klondyke is a hidden gem in Manchester’s suburban sprawl, easily accessible by train, and I then understood why Sam and Ruth had chosen such a wholesome spot to host their festival.

As I have already said, these independent festivals are essential to the life of music in cities such as Manchester. They act as safe spaces for artists to experiment and network. Merch sales reap a 100% profit cut for the artist, instead of the vampiric merch-fee policies that certain larger venues are now demanding. To me, Neck of the Woods is easily one of the more attractive events to play, boasting a varied line-up and managed by people who really care about the music, not just the numbers.

If you want to learn more about the event, visit their website here, or follow Big Cat Chic and We Are Manchester for news.

Photos: Courtney Turner
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