I’m not looking at this as a career – I came to it as a 47-year-old lover of music. My ethos was if we could break even within a few years then it’s worth it. If you’re going to do it, do it properly. Our naivety has really helped us; we’ve gone on the warm up show route and that’s got us the likes of Fat White Family, Sleaford Mods and Neneh Cherry playing shows. We got Jungle Brothers because Sheffield O2 pulled out and I’d been going on about it to their agent. That sold out, and now Baby Bam is actually going out with my daughter! We look after people and all bands get a meal at a local restaurant called Kumar’s, which won a national award. When bands say they’ve been looked after really well, it means a lot.
BABY BAM IS ACTUALLY GOING OUT WITH MY DAUGHTER
We’re the only venue in Kent really – there are bigger ones like the Margate Winter Gardens but nothing for smaller bands at all. There’s 35,000 students down the road in Canterbury and fuck all places for them to go. We’re lucky that we’re the only place around here because in London you’re always fighting five or six other venues where you’d get maybe three or four big shows a year, whereas we’re trying to get one a month.
INDIE50 