The Wales-wide music scene is very colourful, diverse and vibrant. I speak not as someone with a vested interest in all things Welsh or Wales based but as a late-comer to the party, an Englishman who once believed that everything created within the Principality was ten years behind the cutting edge and of no interest to anyone except for those for whom small is beautiful and Breton folk music a much loved if distant relative.
My prejudice was at first compromised and then finally conquered by bands such as The Hot Puppies,
Suns of Thunder,
Funeral For A Friend and
Jarcrew. These, and others, are the next generation of the post
Tom Jones/
Shirley Bassey legacy that turned me off Welsh popular music for what seemed like good and blinded me to the emergence of the Golden generation that was
Gorky's,
Catatonia and
The Super Furries. Thankfully, I have now got the message, however late, and as West Wales and Powys Co-ordinator for Complete Control Music (Community Music Wales' touring and recording arm) can add a fresh voice (untainted by long or over familiarization) to the existence and output of some great Wales-based talent.
Away from the more populated areas of the East, and in some ways apart, West Wales is currently the home of five potentially significant bands:
The Hot Puppies (Aberystwyth), Suns of Thunder (Swansea), Dogzuki (Pembroke Dock),
Nikolai (Carmarthen) and The Caves (Swansea) .
Each has one thing in common: a superb craftsmanship in the writing and delivery of songs. Between them they generate enough energy to run a power station and produce sufficient melodic sustenance to keep a whistler in tunes for a week! Indeed, it is a characteristic of the West that melody seems very integral to the point, but without losing that essential emphasis on "cool" and the energetic.
Of course it's difficult to describe bands that need to be seen and heard, and it's here that my remit really comes into its own. As well as "discovering" bands such as The Hot Puppies and The Caves ( and where appropriate developing them ) it's also paramount that they be brought to the collective attention of the Wales gig-going public.
As such a network of venues has been established by myself and my East and North Wales colleagues (in partnership with local promoters and/or musicians familiar with an area) to provide outlets for bands from all over the country to play. These venues range from 100-capacity rooms in the backs of pubs to theatres and concert halls, depending on the size of the gig and popularity of the band. Currently I promote gigs in Swansea, Llanelli, Carmarthen, Haverfordwest, Cardigan, Aberystwyth, Narberth and Ammanford, all in all a quite comprehensive area of action.
Thus, Complete Control Music is right there at the heart of what will be tomorrow's Wales-based successes and stars, and anyone interested in finding out more about the organisation and / or what it can do for you (as a band, artist, promoter), and who operates in the geographical area of West Wales should contact myself :
David Sedley
West & Mid Wales Co-ordinator.
Complete Control Music
Room 9, YMCA
1 The Kingsway
Swansea
SA1 5JQ
Tel/ Fax: 01792 476608
email: ccmwest@communitymusicwales.org.uk
