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Okay
So you know I do some band reviews. I go along, have a brief but meaningful relationship with a pigeon (see Harem Pilots), listen to a great band, and then head home. The beers been drunk, the bands are packing up, the audience are looking for buses and taxis; heading away to find love, beer, kebabs, a toilet and a bed, in no particular order, or with any guarantee of success. Some would say finding a kebab is easier than finding love, but that’s a matter for the philosophers. But for one guy, the night isn’t over yet. He’s the guy who pulled it all together, who got the venue, and got four bands to assemble. He’s the man who pulls all the bands in. When I say pull, I mean it. It takes a lot to get a band to come all the way from Liverpool or Leeds to come to Manchester. Nick Logan is the right man for the job, even though he has a name that sounds like it’s been made up by a committee of executives casting a Chuck Norris movie (most of which should be ‘chucked’ in the bargain bin at the supermarket beneath tins of dented cat food; fish head and road kill flavour. |
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 Nick is an annoyingly good looking twenty-something. Sit with him, and you’ll automatically be summed up under the universal law of ‘less attractive mate.’ When I interviewed him, I brought along a Sammy Davis Junior impersonator, bless him, so I could come somewhere in the middle in the attractiveness stakes. So, here I am, in Bar 8, in exotic Chorlton with a man who, at the very least would get a walk on part in Friends; a passing love interest for Rachel who would be billed as, ‘good looking guy makes innuendo with doughnut’ in the script. I would be billed as ‘man who obviously eats a lot of doughnuts’ and my cardboard cutout could be cast as the new ‘flat’ mate. Forgive the pun.We sat with a pint each, my laptop between us as I typed this in. Actually, it’s only a laptop if you have a lap like Roseanne Barr, but it does the trick. I asked Nick, how he became a promoter? Nick: ‘I was never really into music, until I went to see a band called The Little Flames. I was blown away with the energy of it. It was such a great vibe I just wanted to be part of it; the excitement and the lifestyle.’ ‘You’re a frustrated musician?’ ‘Well, I have pretty much no musical talent (never stopped James Blunt, with his oddly appropriate, rhyming slang surname). I did buy a guitar, at one point, which just confirmed it. The guy in the shop asked me what kind of guitar I wanted, and I had no idea; something with strings and a strap; I had no idea. Through it, I found out I can play to a rhythm, but unfortunately it happens to be my own internal one, totally unique to me; it’s a bit like playing all the right notes but in the wrong order.’ ‘So that was why you became a promoter instead of a musician?’ ‘Yeah; it was the only way I could be involved, above and beyond being a punter, and be able to put the passion I felt for it to good use. I’d also studied Business and Marketing and got a degree in it. ‘Was that a calculated choice, considering what you do now with promoting? ‘No. I was far too young to make any sort of informed choice about what to do with my life when I started it. The music thing came after it. I value the time at uni’ because I met people who changed my life. I can’t say I feel academically, any better than I did before. I did, however, wonder if I could use what I had learned to sell something I was interested in’. ‘So it’s just a lucky coincidence that you studied what you did? ‘It is. I think if I had that time back now, I’d like to study something more media based. At the time, like I say, I didn’t really know what I wanted, and to be honest, it was a way of getting out of Wales, moving to Leicester to study.’ ‘You don’t like Wales?’ Nick laughs, ‘No, I don’t mean it in that way. It’s a beautiful place to grow up and a beautiful place to grow old in. It was just the bit in the middle that seemed a little unnecessary. I come from a village where there are two buses a day. Miss one and you’re fucked. It always surprises me in Manchester; there are stops for the same bus every thirty yards and a bus every ten minutes. When I first arrived in Manchester, I thought, ‘lazy bastards!’ Anyway, when I go back to the village, everyone just seems older, fatter and balder, with the same jobs and hanging about the same pubs, which is fine, but not for me. It just confirms my decision to leave for the bright lights.’  ‘What experience did you have in the business before setting out to do your own thing?’ ‘I was Involved with a company Sketch Pad PR for a while. I got to observe how it works, writing press releases and that kind of thing. It was dance music though, which isn’t really my thing. So I decided to bring my degree and this experience together. Oh, I also handled the diary for The Zutons for a while, which was quite an eye opener for me. My cousin owns the label they were signed to, Deltasonic Records.’ ‘Why did you stop doing that?’ ‘Sony took them on. They own forty percent of the label, and when a band gets to a certain degree of success, the label, in this case Sony, step in and manage them directly. It’s a purely logistical decision. I was involved in the admin at Deltasonic for a while, seeing how that all worked together and how all the different departments compete for time, all pulling in d  ifferent directions but seeing how it all comes together for the band. Doing the diary for The Zutons gave me an insight into life on the road. It was scary. In the studio, doing gigs, and then three days earmarked for writing. It takes some doing; a lot of discipline. Time becomes scarce.’‘Yeah, I think that’s why a lot of bands have a problem with the third album. By the time they are signed, they usually have a backlog of songs they can dip into, but that’s usually enough for the first two albums. After that, the well is dry.’ ‘Yeah, that does seem to be the case. I could see it in motion while I was working with my cousin. It was great actually. I’d love to do it again because I learned a lot there. In fact, it was my cousin who said ‘you have to get out of Wales,’ and I did. I left and slept on the floor of one of his mates for ages. ‘Did you go straight from university into promoting?’ ‘No, the first thing I did was travel. My dad passed away, which, as you can imagine, messes with your mind. I had a lot of things to sort out and I thought travel would help me to find an answer. As it happened, what I found was wine, women and song. I started in Norway… I looked quizzical at the choice of a place to find answers. If you were looking for something outside of an IKEA catalogue, then Norway seemed like an odd place to start. Nick picked up on my expression. ‘I’d read a book where the main character did just that, he just picked a random Scandinavian country and went from there. Norway was random enough for me, so off I went with two mates. ‘And did you find the answers you we’re looking for? ‘No. But I did manage to stab myself in the arm on the first night.’ ‘How the hell did you do that?’ ‘I was trying to get into some pre-packed meat with a penknife. Luckily enough one of the things I’d packed, was a first aid kit so I managed to avoid bleeding to death. Death, as it goes is a pretty definitive answer to life but not the one I was looking for. I had to make do with debauchery with various Scandinavian women and the underbelly of a couple of German cities. As for Amsterdam… well, you can imagine. It was a pretty crazy time. In fact, I actually managed to get mugged in my sleep in Paris. I was in a youth hostel and I had one of those money belts on, one of those you put around your waist. I took it off to go asleep which, in retrospect was a bit dumb, especially in the hostel I was staying in. When I woke up it was gone.’  I first met Nick at one of the nights he was promoting in the Star and Garter. It was the night I saw Harem Pilots. The second time I saw him, was after I had interviewed Leigh and Phil, the two frontmen from that band. And now, the third time I meet him, he says, ‘they split up after the interview. Or, not long after anyway.’What a pisser. They were a great band. I feel like the kiss of death. It reminds me of the time I interviewed Ben Eyler, a great songwriter from New York. He had been in the city when the Twin Towers came down on that dreadful day, the one that Dubya used as a PR stunt to justify invading Iraq. I did the interview and he just disappeared, as far as I am aware off the face of the earth. At least, musically speaking; well, as far as I’m aware. Last thing I heard, he got married and then… nothing. Mind you, I may be just looking on the pessimistic side of things here, The Pilots may have decided to go their own way, but I hear the pigeon I talked to, in the same interview, has a daytime talk show; obviously a pigeon with no ambition. What about Nick Logan? ‘I’m kind of mixed up ambitious, in that I have no idea as to what I want to achieve first. With regard to being a promoter, by the criteria I first had when I set out, I’ve succeeded. I’ve got my own website, I put gigs on, I do press for different bands. But, my criterion has changed since I started. I want to do this to the point where I can live on it and that’s hard. I have to work to support the promoting, and to support myself. I make a little money from putting the nights on but if it wasn’t for the love of it, I wouldn’t be doing it.’ ‘That’s quite some dedication you’ve got there.’ ‘Well, sometimes it’s hard. Motivation is an uphill struggle in those days when I get back from work, and I’ve had to channel all that energy into just paying the bills, rather than promoting. I also find I have to work hard at not doing stuff, socially, because there’s so much going on.’ I wondered, not having considered it before, always having been on the punter side of things or the band, for that matter, how much work went into promoting a night? Bands themselves do a bit of promoting, but that usually consists of saying you’ll get all your mates down, and then being embarrassed because there are only two of them; and one of them only came because he thought he was going to be interviewed by a pigeon with it’s own chat show. Nick takes me through a promotion. ‘I write a press release about the night and the bands. To do that, I’ll listen to the bands involved and make up two sentences at most. That’s quite an art form in itself, being succinct without stooping to cliché. Then I’ll contact different newspapers and magazine with it. I remember my first one. I was so happy with it, because it didn’t have a single lie in it. With the magazines, you have to be really persistent, and try to personalise your contact with them. Ring up and get the names of who you are sending the press release to. You also have to make it relevant to the magazine or papers you’re sending it to. Horse breeders weekly will probably get you nowhere. The readership of the magazine counts for a lot. I pestered one guy from the South Manchester Reporter until the he pointed out that the average age for the readers was 65 or something like that. I gave that one a miss, but generally, you get the idea how time consuming this all is. You also need to follow up what you send out. Then, two to three week before the gig I’ll go round the Northern Quarter and put up posters. I’ll hand out leaflets around the students union, and places like that; and also down in Fallowfield, because of the students down there. Saying that, if you’re putting up posters down there, round the curry houses, they always want a donation so it can cost about eight quid. I’ve got to say, I hate handing out flyers but it’s got to be done. That whole thing about someone giving you something you don’t want, and probably aren’t interested in…’ Nick laughs ‘I’ve actually done all this, and not actually had any bands to put on. One time I actually rang forty-five bands before I could get anyone to play. ‘And how are things with it now?’ ‘Better. Word is starting to get around about how good the nights are. It’s had a few write ups too, which is great. I’ve also learned quite a lot about putting my own nights on. Rather than getting three bands from all over the country, and one Manchester band to make up the quartet, I’ve changed the formula. The response for the out of town bands was great, but obviously, it’s difficult for them to bring down a group of people with them. That puts a lot of emphasis on the Manchester band to have a good turnout. This time I’m going to have two Manchester bands instead of one. That’s how important the local crowd is to this formula for ‘Out Of Town Presents’ I need to cover my costs for putting on the night.’ ‘I have to wonder, why not just put on Manchester bands? Surely that would minimise the risk of falling on your face, financially. The local bands can bring a crowd, even if it’s just their mates.’ ‘True, but even though I want to make some money, that isn’t why I do this. Surely, the point in being here is to do something worthwhile. I work with a lot of people, in my day job who are just driven by sales. Life has to be more than a flash car and money. Sometimes I think I’m a little jealous of people like that. Not the things that they have, but the fact that sometimes it seems so simple for them. For me though, the point is to do what you really want to do. I guess, if I do have an ambition, it’s to be doing something that, if I wasn’t being paid to do it, I’d still do it. Being a promoter is the closest I’ve ever come to achieving that. I just don’t want to get stuck in a job, to support a lifestyle I don’t need.’  I’ll drink to that, I said, ruefully, raising my glass.Nick raises his, and nods, and says, ‘the challenge is, can I make a load of people come and see a load of bands they have never heard before…?’ Well… We will see. The next gig night for ‘Out Of Town Presents’ is in September Two bands from Liverpool versus two bands from Manchester. A microcosm of the musical echoes which have resonated throughout the world, will gather in Manchester. The offspring of each city's great musical tradition will raise the roof of the Star and Garter. And maybe, just this once, someone will remember, that after the bands have gone, and the ashtrays have gone cold, butts crushed and chucked into the bins, one man sits and counts the cost. He may breathe a sigh of relief, and smile, content, vindicated. Or he may close the door of the venue behind him, walk out into the cold night, pull his collar up around his neck, and turn his mind to the morning. To the day job. The cold slab that rests upon our dreams. Will the next 'Out Of Town Presents' be a success?
You can keep track of what Nick is up to by checking out his blog below... |
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The Slovak ProjectOn Wed Nov 1st Out Of Town presents "The Slovak Project", for your entertainment a night of all out funk, punk, rock, indie and Ska Featuring: The Tonics Ricker Thee Neerlymen DirgeisDead Visit the Badger Here at Out Of Town we’ve been busy little monkeys over the past few weeks, with a host of gigs set up at The Star and Garter, we've got plenty to warm those cockles through the chilly winter months. We kick off on Wednesday Nov 1st with The Slovak Project. After a year fighting our way through Manchester’s seedy musical underbelly, unearthing the loudest, freshest, and most diverse new bands in the city, we thought... what a good idea to stick em all on the same bill on the same night. Word has already spread around the city as the night promises to blow the roof off The Star and Garter and bring a tear to the eye of every proud Manchester music lover. After the success of OOT's first Manchester Vs (like Battle of the Bands, but better) in September, the night returns in late Nov and Dec. November 29th sees Manchester take on an entire country in the form of our long suffering neighbours, France. An evening to build cross channel relations, featuring an eclectic mix of no holds barred Northern Rock N Roll and Euro French indie-pop. If the Star and Garter survives the French... December 13th sees two front runners from Liverpool’s recent resurgent Punk scene get their claws into Manchester’s Harem Pilots historic last ever gig in the city. So with Slovakian locals, the French revolution, and our friends from down The Mersey to contend with, it looks like Manchester will have plenty to keep it warm over the coming winter months... For more information on all upcoming events visit www.myspace.com/outofmanchester here....
Cheers Logan Jesus...July alreadyHere I am again, 5th time round at the begining of another long road to The Star & Garter. Venues booked, bands are interested, lots of people who probably wont turn up have said they'l come, and so it begins. The task for the rest of July...(Jesus, July already!)...is to find two smokin' Manchester bands and two, equally smokin', bands from another UK city. After a recent excursion down the M62 with a certain ex Harem Pilot and an encounter with an Irishman named Carcus, I'm thinking Liverpool. But, as I've find out more often than not, you never know... Logan 
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