23-05-2025
'Gigs don't have to cost £400 - the next Taylor Swift could be down the road'
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For music fans hoping to see the next global superstar before they hit stadiums, or simply find your new favourite band, grassroots venues are the answer.
For singer-songwriter Frank Turner, who spent years honing his craft in independent venues all around the world from London to Louisiana, they're the lifeblood of the music scene, as well as being an affordable way for fans to experience art.
He exclusively told Metro: 'It's all very well going to see Taylor Swift play to stadium, and good luck to her. I think she's phenomenal. But it's just like, you know that going to a gig can also cost 15 quid or 10 quid or whatever?
'It doesn't have to cost 400 quid, and it can be at the end of your road, and it can be a thing where you meet the band afterwards, and you stand in the front row.
'It's just a different cultural event. And you might end up encountering a band who go on to become the next Taylor Swift or whatever. But even if they don't, they might just be great in and of themselves.'
Frank, typically flanked nowadays by his backing band the Sleeping Souls, has long being a champion of organisations like the Music Venue Trust and the work they do to support the scene.
'The culture that is my both professional and personal and social life is a noisy one, and it needs a space in which to exist. And if those spaces don't exist, the culture cease to exist,' the 43-year-old folk punk musician warned.
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It's not just the next Taylor – British institutions like Ed Sheeran, Adele, Radiohead and recently-reformed Oasis all came up through the independent venue circuit, as well as rising stars (and Frank's occasional tour mates) The Lottery Winners.
'If those places hadn't existed, none of those bands would exist,' he added. 'We'd still probably have Simon Cowell's contribution to music, which is fine, but it's not everything.'
It's why Frank has continued to voice his support for London's grassroots scene, after Metro helped launch of the London Grassroots Music Tube Map.
The new campaign is being run alongside the Mayor of London, Transport for London and organisations including the MVT, Featured Artist Coalition, Outernet and Universal Music.
For Frank, it all started in those small rooms, which are constantly at risk.
He's played more than 3,000 shows to date (under his own name, there are many more in other projects like newly-reformed post hardcore act Million Dead), and the journey started 30 years ago.
'I went to my first gig at Indie venue in 1995 onto the Joiners Arms, and it was a really important moment for me. I was a very alienated, isolated kid. And then I found a punk crowd and I found my tribe,' he smiled.
He also recalled his time at venues like the Camden Barfly and the legendary Nambucca, with the likes of Libertines, Marcus Mumford, Laura Marling, The Libertines and Frank himself championing an almost mythical scene from the old Holloway Road venue.
In those rooms – and other 'wonderful, strange little places' across London and beyond – musicians are able to hone their skills, build an audience, and discover something even more profound.
Recalling an early gig at The Bridge House in Copsale, Surrey in 2007, when Frank was roughly 300 shows into his now-3,043 (and counting) run of gigs.
'It's in the middle of nowhere, at a road junction. I was skeptical in the extreme, and I went down, and it was rad,' he beamed. 'Ryan, the guy who ran the place, was a diamond, and end up playing accordion with me on stage that night. I stayed over at the bar, stayed up all night and made friends for life.'
These places are at risk, with MTV's establishment in 2014 being a turning point to give some 'consideration' and support to venues battling everything from 'changes in planning laws' to 'increases in business rates'.
He added: 'If you look at the kind of funding that goes towards opera and classical music and stuff like that – which is fine, I'm not objecting to it in principle – but there's just gallons of public money that gets flushed around that world.'
As Frank himself pointed out, in the UK he's outgrown the independent venue circuit (despite occasional ventures back into that world), but his current US tour is almost taking his act back to its roots as just a man and his guitar.
'Load in takes about three minutes, which is a nice,' he laughed. 'I get to play with the set list a bit more and be more conversational and all that. But ultimately, if you put a gun to my head, I would choose band shows. But thankfully, no one's doing that!'
He's currently on another leg of his Undefeated world tour, promoting the 2024 album of the same name. Despite usually being immediately critical of his most recent work, he's 'oddly' content. More Trending
'I'm as happy with Undefeated today as I was on the day when I finished it, which is unusual for me,' he smiled, acknowledging that his typically blunt self-assessment generally helps him push on with his next album.
'It's slightly paralyzing the fact that I feel as good about it because I'm not quite sure what comes next,' he admitted. 'Having said that, I've got a few new songs in the bank at the minute that I'm more pleased with than the other ones I've written recently.'
It's too soon to know what his 11th studio album could sound like – he joked he probably won't revisit any old idea of making 'a white soul album' – but for now, he's content to go with the flow.
'I'd be quite happy for this to be a two, three year album cycle. I'll do another record when I'm ready,' he promised, as well as teasing another to-be-announced European run. 'But for the time being, I love being on tour. I love these songs, and I'm enjoying myself.'
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