In Conversation with Ray Rose: Shaping Plymouth's Live Music Scene
Bracken Jelier, Content Director for What's On Plymouth Culture, interviews Ray Rose, a well-known music promoter in Plymouth with decades of experience in the local live music scene. Ray shares his thoughts on how Plymouth's music landscape has evolved over the years, the importance of grassroots venues in nurturing talent, and the challenges and opportunities for both local and touring artists. He discusses the pivotal role of venues like The Junction and Steel Brew in supporting original music, while reflecting on the loss of other iconic spaces in the city. Ray also offers valuable advice for young musicians and promoters trying to make their mark in Plymouth today.
Ray, you've had such a long history in promoting live music in Plymouth. Can you share a bit about how the local music scene has evolved over the years?
When I started booking bands, 90% original music there were a number of venues available in Plymouth where a band could grow their following and increase the capacity of the venue they played. We now have only a couple of venues where local artists can play, other than pubs: The Junction and Steel Brew.
Grassroots music has been a huge part of your career. What do you think makes the local scene in Plymouth special, and how do the smaller venues contribute to its growth?
We have so many talented solo artists and they can play pubs at the weekends, and that is key to their development. Promoters need to find support slots for these artists and if they start a band like Jon Fazal, Alex Hart, and Joanna Cooke, I love watching their development.
You’ve worked with a variety of venues around the city. Can you talk about the role each venue plays in the music community and how they collaborate to keep live music thriving in Plymouth?
Steel Brew is a relatively new venue (2 years) and they built a great stage and their room holds 400. They are moving from tributes to more original music. The Barbican Theatre is a fabulous 144 seated theatre and is perfect for artists to move from playing pubs to the next level, sometimes hiring the theatre themselves or working with me on a split basis. Artists such as Alex Hart, Jon Fazal, and Andy Quick are doing shows alongside established touring acts Tom Robinson, Benji Kirkpatrick, Peter Knight and John Spiers, Rosalie Cunningham as well as the occasional tribute like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell.
The Quad Theatre, Marjon is either 395 seated or 250 standing and 250 seated, and this allows different types of shows to be booked. We can go from an all-seated Seth Lakeman show to a standing/seated Goldie Lookin' Chain show.
What are some of the standout moments or acts you've had the privilege of working with that truly encapsulate the spirit of Plymouth's music scene - now and historically?
I love working with Mad Dog Mcrea, who I have worked with for over 25 years. I have enjoyed original bands like The Outlanders and D.I.R.T who work in different genres and are fantastic. But we have great solo acts Richard James, Rob C, Alex Hart, Jon Stafford, Daisy Mae, Vince Lee, and Russell Sinclair to name a few.
At a touring level, I have worked with The Boomtown Rats, UB40, The Levellers, Razorlight, Babyshambles, Heaven 17, Stereo MCs, The Beat, The Selecter, Skinnyman, Stiff Little Fingers, Toyah, The Skids, Sham 69 and many many more.
As someone who’s seen the music industry go through so many changes, what do you think are the most positive developments in today’s music scene, particularly for local bands and musicians? What do you miss - and how could you bring that back?
I miss venues like The Hub, The Cooperage, The Breakwater, and The White Rabbit, all of whom played a huge part in the development of local music. Positives come from young bands and artists, and I love the artists being developed at The Barbican Theatre through the ReBels system; every year new and exciting artists come through.
We no longer have venues for bands who are playing original music to build a following, play regularly to improve their performances. If we only feed our audience cover and tribute bands the local music scene will die. We can cater for solo and duo's but not bands. Thank god The Junction still exists. Jamie Symons and his team are doing are fabulous job supporting local and touring acts.
Looking forward, what are some of the exciting trends or opportunities you’d like to see emerging in Plymouth’s music landscape?
Venues booking more original music, local and touring. Venues offering support slots to local acts when a bigger touring act is in town.
Unfortunately outside of the Junction no venues are booking touring acts. The city needs other venues to believe in original music at all levels.
If you could implement one change to improve the music scene in Plymouth, whether it’s infrastructure, opportunities, or something else, what would it be?
Hopefully, somebody wants to open a 1,000-capacity music venue and we can get back on the touring circuit.
Sorry to repeat myself but we need to support our younger acts and give them a venue to aim for. I am pleased that Home Park have had a competition for a local band to be on the stage with The Kaiser Chiefs. The winners The Outlanders are a fabulous local band.
What advice do you have for young, aspiring musicians or promoters trying to make a name for themselves in Plymouth today?
I might be repeating myself, but write original music and aim to get signed, like Haunt The Woods.
Sign up to the unsigned guide and find out about venues, promoters in other towns and cities. Build a decent EPK and do the hard work of contacting people, target the right kind of venue and promoter don't just email everyone, I know other promoters who specialise in jazz or folk are fed up with receiving emails from rock bands, pointless and time wasting for everyone. Do your research and have respect for your band that when you do wrote to someone looking for a gig the venue or promoter is booking your genre of music.
